Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 208: Chapter 12: The Truth Behind Huangquan Island

At his shield and spear’s most decisive moment, Bai Wu had only attacked from behind once before, and that was the direct cause of that person’s death; if one person must die without doubt at this time, it is his first number one.

Bai Wu’s most obvious front-back logic with his shield and spear had become the initial round of advancement, from number nine to number one, in short.

Bai Wu had also done his utmost; Lin Rouwu could not survive.

The fourth token shield was his Forbidden Word Card, simultaneously with Lin Rouwu’s.

The third token shield of Lin Rouwu was his crafted lie to Lin Rouwu; the second token shield of Lin Rouwu was her own Number One Self-Destruct; the first token shield of Lin Rouwu was his own self-destruct.

He had given the four token shields to Lin Rouwu. Bai Wu needed to protect Lin Rouwu, this being one of his prime objectives.

He had clearly become the obvious choice to be targeted after Bai Wu’s Number Five was revealed, which was due to Number Five’s highest level of priority.

Number Five, Number Two, Number One had become the direct targets.

After choosing to pull someone underwater, both people would be the same; after selecting one of the three in front of them at Number Nine, the crucial point had arrived.

Number Ten issued a statement, Number Ten, Number Nine had their turn, now the pivotal point.

Was this the only card that could reveal the secret? Why else would Bai Wu start pulling together numbers seven, eight, and nine for selection?

Bai Wu hadn’t used this line of thinking at all, but fundamentally he had the option of Number Four.

The game would become even simpler if he initiated this line of thought, because the others would much more easily adhere to Number Four’s evident desires.

If not a single one of the people here was a venerable elder forced into the game, then Number Nine was an apprentice who could self-immolate; Number Eight was one who desperately wished to see his mother; Number Seven was extremely good at disguising, not just a simple matter.

The only possibility was still Number Seven or Number Eight being among Number Nine.

This would cause Bai Wu to start his second plan—find a new ally; abandon the judgment, feign selection of Number Four, and remain silent.

Number Five had already been a kind of pact to eliminate Number Eight; because of this, So Number Five had entered the game.

Hoping not to drag this game into the next round, Being a judge without being judgmental, singing praises of Number One’s unstable certainty.

If Number One’s playing of the death card is a sure way to keep on killing, then only that way, since Number One can most effectively maximize killings, can ensure your own advancement, or is it to eliminate yourself the soonest? That’s why Number Four eliminated Number Seven.

Who wouldn’t hope to advance to the next round? After all.

Although he wasn’t smart indeed, Bai Wu had also fashioned this not so smart Lin Rouwu due to his shame of self-murder. If that’s the case, then playing the game with foresight, wouldn’t Number Four, who hopes to have a smooth game afterwards, be the most foolish person to be labeled by this crowd? freёwebnoѵel.com

If Number Four is not the one who might kill Number Two, then since they ultimately choose to believe in Number One’s statement. Finally, Number Four chose to believe in Number One.

If they don’t believe in Number One, the biggest possibility is only to abandon the judgment; otherwise, if they believe in killing Number One, taking into account all those behind Number Thirty and including Number Four, the risks would obviously increase.

Two consecutive deaths wouldn’t be a coincidence, as a rule, for the people who have been bewildered and already beguiled by Number One’s rhetoric at this time.

And Number Four, having not been judged by Number One and having already witnessed the success of two predictions, Number One eliminates Number Three, Number Two eliminates Number Six.

This game is really very straightforward.

Finally, Bai Wu had made some changes, despite that Number Four’s choice didn’t benefit much, after all.

Lin Rouwu should’ve felt it was only reasonable, or was it that she didn’t feel a thing? Is she not too fortunate? Yin Shuang always had an uneasy feeling in her head.

["The best thing for you is to go visit him quickly while the young sprout is still not dead. You have caused someone’s attention by just saying a few words, but the original reason you are here in this place is because you have encountered wandering spirits that you couldn’t avoid. This place is called Yellow Spring Island. As for him, someone has peeked into the details, someone has grasped the main points, and even the sequence itself has become chaotic, just like a messy book, the pages overriden when the Well appeared. Elderly sickness and death occupy an important place in one round, this originally being the name for a rule in the world’s library, although being just an empty page, a multitude of intricate details will be derived from the main thread that descends below.]"

——A light gathered at the doorway, catching his eye with a point of brightness.

Could Lin Rouwu and Yin Shuang be without a response plan?

Suddenly, the third card became a distinct item, whereas before it had been part of a group objective; but Bai Wu furrowed his brows at the sudden loss of his teammate, whom he hadn’t expected to disappear so unexpectedly.

...

...

Yin Shuang had returned to the city.

She could have stayed here forever if she continued to delve deeper, but the woman told her directly she only had a vague sense that she would hear a familiar voice outside the door, not knowing why anyone would know what was outside. She didn’t know what was outside, and didn’t have much of an idea about it.

That was Bai Wu’s first crucial moment, as he mentioned.

Yin Shuang had initiated the Reincarnation disk, not wanting to trouble him and not wanting to cause him annoyance, because looking down, Bai Wu was not like an ordinary person. Yin Shuang was convinced of Bai Wu.

Suddenly, the death of an exploration-type Seven Squad member transformed into a painting was discovered, enveloped in Bai Wu, nearly three months prior.

But even though he had died many times, the luck of Wu Jiu relied on the fact that he was very strong, and was immediately equipped as the Seventh Squad’s first choice.

However, Wen Xian was pitiable, having unwittingly intruded into many areas, which led to the Investigation Tower’s secret regulations being excessively divine over the past seven hundred years.

But the Investigation Tower’s troops, though emerging from the Investigation Tower, were always very cautious and careful in their approach to the tower’s outer rules.

At the same time, Yin Shuang activated the Reincarnation Disk and returned.

"Lin Rouwen, if you can hear this, hurry back!"

She shouted loudly, though ultimately she had no intention of bothering with it.

Yin Shuang couldn’t help but let a pained expression cross his face as he remembered some past events.

"It sounds so familiar... like the voice of a mother... but what should I do now?"

"But I have no way to deal with Bai Wu and Lin Rouwen, and if the evil spirit remains, I might not even be able to survive the third round because Lin Rouwen and I will recount the events that happened on the island later, if there’s no Bai Wu to act as the second checkpoint."

Yin Shuang guessed that this might be the third checkpoint.

Suddenly, the door of the hut swung open, and Bai Wu and Lin Rouwen were nowhere to be seen.

She faintly heard a familiar voice calling her, a girl crying beyond those doors, as if at this end too, Yin Shuang opened a single door.

But both Bai Wu and Yin Shuang had vanished.

A mournful howl eerily transmitted from outside as Lin Rouwen also discovered that this gloomy room’s door had opened abruptly.

At the same time, the surrounding area was completely invisible, overpowered by the sudden appearance of Bai Wu, and not far off there was a glimmer of light.

The scene underwent yet another bizarre transformation, and the crowd couldn’t dig down to the root of the matter.

It seemed as though living for seven hundred years was not something so unimaginable in the outside world’s regulations; however, such a thing was very unusual.

Could it really be that this person had lived for seven hundred years?

Are all his actions joyance of his own self, a reassessment of the Number One? Control by the Number Five was also a surface change, and so were the Numbers Forty and Thirty.

But of course, guessing the Number One was impossible.

"Your guess?"

Bai Wu was already full of divine secrets.

"Are you, Number Five, exactly the person who has lived for seven hundred years? Are you saying that because you didn’t die in the tribunal? Since you were just now controlling me? Could it be that some sort of strength is hidden in your body?"

Evil Spirit Number One said, although a voice suggesting a hint from the previous line didn’t come through.

Suddenly, there was light in this dark and gloomy room.

...

...

In the end, Number Thirty was killed by Number Sixty, and Number Forty by Yin Shuang. If Number Thirty wished to pass, the best strategy was just to go to the tribunal.

This sentence of Bai Wu gains importance as the evil spirits have an increased propensity for mutual slaughter, especially the second major function.

But Bai Wu started asking such a question—what if things return to themselves after death?

At this time, his only choice was silence; there was no use being clever on the line now if it’s like what Number Thirty said.

But why did Number Twenty-One die differently? Could it be that this represents all mankind? However, this Number Two said that dying too stupidly of shame is not his own choice. But Lin Rouwen obviously didn’t die; Number Ten just sentenced him.

Could he possibly be friends with the evil spirits, Number Two? But Number One has already proven to be an evil spirit. It’s clear to all who have eyes that Number Two and Number One are companions.

But both Number One and Number Two lied, and Bai Wu, as Number Five, is a strange kind of alive person who spoke the truth.

Number Thirty, confronted with such a situation, had to choose whether to believe Number One or save herself.

The only thing worth mentioning about Number Thirty is that he has no second thoughts about it.

He is well aware that Number Thirty has no life-threatening danger, and if that’s the case, it won’t follow him in a life-and-death struggle.

A single Well Six was arranged on this island for the safety of Fifty-Two of them, and that was Number Twenty.

But all who lived had suffered through the tribunal, be it Number One, themselves, or Lin Rouwen.

Even Bai Wu himself couldn’t imagine something like this.

"You have been silent for a while," the grey-robed figure spoke in a low voice.

"What the hell is going on with this island? At the very least, you should tell me something. It’s none of your concern whether I enter the realm of life and death, the rules of this place,"

pointed Bai Wu towards the bridge below.

"What if I don’t want to help you?"

"If you don’t want to help me, you still haven’t answered my question,"

said the grey-robed figure.

Although Bai Wu didn’t want to learn more, he already had a sense that Bai Wu had learned a great deal of information.

"Maybe he is indeed a redemptive figure. There are certainly many who despise evil; among these dead people, there are many who yearned for life, perhaps this person is also a redemptive figure in disguise. However, this person is just assuming a guise, since there are always people waiting for the cycle of life and death to play out, unlike those who seek to defy death. When I look at him and others, it seems like he came to this island with a different purpose,"

"Could this person actually be one of the staff on the island? That’s what I am thinking. After all, you are the only one who has ever reached this forbidden island, even those of them mentioned you explicitly,"

Since Bai Wu hadn’t forgotten the information he had collected, everyone believed this was the same from a few cycles of Reincarnation ago.

"The people of this island are constantly seeking salvation, and once every one to two hundred sixty years, someone will appear. In the ranks of the defender of the spectrum number seven, number eight, number nine, someone is always mentioned,"

"Maybe they can come back to life if they win against them. But their evil spirits have lost eventually. It looks like some kind of redemption, though it’s just a game for them, with the ultimate goal of deceiving people into suicide. I’ve always thought this island was even more contradictory, a weapon of extreme, from the very beginning. But I still don’t know what your bottom line is, you seem to understand a lot more than most others, but your intentions are still unclear from the start,"

"So why are they mentioning me? Why do I need to be eliminated as number seven, number eight, or number nine, if you already knew about me?"

The grey-robed figure had not expected Bai Wu to guess his identity.

"Do you think I would stoop to such desperate tactics to force someone to continue a mission a hundred and seventy years ago? If I don’t help you, will it put him in danger?"

To his surprise, Reincarnation displayed an unexpected softness, although he did not argue back.

"There won’t be any issues for the time being, that clumsy fellow, the girl, has already left."

"There is danger to my friend."

On the contrary, it was the other party who had preemptively voiced his concerns, unable to respond in kind.

Bai Wu laughed.

The grey-robed figure, however, carried a somewhat youthful vitality.

Bai Wu recognized her voice as one of those women who sounded significantly better in person. The voice of this grey-robed figure was very young indeed, almost as good as, but not quite Bai Wu.

"Would you be willing to help me? This suggests you’ve already run out of ways to replace yourself in what you call a predicament, coming to me for more information. From the very beginning, you seemed to know a lot more than many others, but I still don’t know what your intentions are or what cards you’re holding,"

"So is this the rule of the game then? That you fail me?"

If he mentioned it, Bai Wu wouldn’t expect to see the corpses on this bridge laugh out of joy at any point; he wouldn’t even consider it, especially since that might be taken as a sign of encouragement, and Bai Wu would surely not.

Anyone would inevitably feel a tad queasy walking on a bridge like this.

A strange, eerie laughter erupted, as if emanating from the excruciatingly pained spectral eyes hanging beneath, as he stepped out onto the hanging bridge.

Bai Wu, who was not entirely unfamiliar with spirits, saw different scenes from what Master Well and Reincarnation had encountered.

]Black represents death while white represents life; if there is a day when white turns to grey, it signifies the consequences of life and death—the sky has already tilted. If there is a day when grey turns to black, then it becomes a dirge of death in due time. You may trust him, or maybe not, as only a few have caught a glimpse of the rules of this man. But in the end, it’s up to you how to choose; one cannot simply observe oneself.[

Though Erleipu’s eyes did manage to catch some information, it was nonetheless a cryptic note about this person clad in the grey cloak.

A figure in a grey cloak stood at the other end of the bridge, face unseen.

The bridge resembled a hanging fish bell, with dead bodies hanging underneath as if it were modeled after it.

Beneath the hanging bridge, dead bodies were hung one by one, not making the structure of the bridge any simpler as seen through the gaps.

Bai Wu could even hear occasional faint sounds akin to screams, faint but discernible, as if leading to the gateway of a dungeon.

The pit was so deep that its bottom was invisible as he looked downward.

Looking upward, Bai Wu could see the clear outlines of the surrounding area, although the daylight was invisible. It was as though he was standing in the middle of a deep abyss on a hanging bridge suspended high in the sky.

Looking around, Bai Wu could see purple mist from outside, signaling the presence of strange rock cliffs with dancing claws and teeth; it was an ethereal environment.

The disconcerting purple light seemed, but there was an external light at the door.

At that time, he had already sealed his fingerprints along these thread lines of inquiry.

Bai Wu had already come across not a few thread lines during the puzzle game of life and death, reaching the second stage.

What had he experienced after all, Bai Wu had already begun to investigate the mysteries of this island master at the first stage of the reality.

"This world has no gateway between life and death, nor hell itself, it only seems eerily similar, underneath the bridge, dwell countless wraiths, but these so-called wraiths are merely parts of matter separated by the special rules of this island."

"But the range won’t exceed this island, at least for now; as for the future, that’s uncertain."

The words of the man in the grey robe carried hidden meanings, which Bai Wu caught on to:

"What do you mean? Are you saying that the rules of this island might spread to other areas?"

"Yes, in the future this island will be at the core, and death will become impure."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Bai Wu asked.

The grey-robed man countered:

"When death is no longer pure, do you think people will still cherish life? If creatures all around the world were to die and exist here in spirit form, then this world, which originally had no hell, might just become a real one."

Bai Wu understood: "So you want me to help you?"

"Exactly, you must stop another me. You don’t need to be puzzled as to why it’s another me; just know that I am responsible for guarding the island, while he is tasked with expanding it. I’ve always believed life should strive to survive, but he thinks death is the final destination for everything, eager to usher everything into it early," the grey-robed man said.

So there were two island masters, which explained the contradiction of the island.

Bai Wu posed a critical question:

"Who exactly are you? What does this ’other you’ look like?"

The grey-robed man removed his hood, revealing his youthful face:

"I have forgotten my name, but the outside world calls me Tomb Guardian. As for my other self, under the pretense of punishment, he ushers people into death, and he goes by another name in the external world—"

"Judge."

Bai Wu was startled.

A Judge actually exists?

Doctor, merchant, blacksmith, butcher, judge, traveler...

His initial speculations turned out to be unexpectedly accurate. Now Bai Wu deduced that the Tomb Guardian probably could not leave the island, which is why he had sought out Bai Wu.

But this Judge... to which force did he belong?

What was the true purpose of this island’s existence?

Seeing the expression on Bai Wu’s face, the grey-robed man said:

"It seems you’ve heard of it?"

"I haven’t heard, I’ve only speculated," Bai Wu replied.

"Then your intuition is surprisingly sharp," he remarked.

Bai Wu asked directly:

"Who’s behind the Judge?"

The grey-robed man was taken aback by such a question but after thinking for a moment, he said:

"Someone hidden in a coffin, waiting to be resurrected. The memory of this has been taken by my other self, the Judge. I only know that he is extremely dangerous, even in a post-apocalyptic world overrun with monsters, he would be the most perilous." ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

After a slight pause, the grey-robed man revealed another secret:

"I need you to find this person, and at the same time stop my other self. I can’t remember where that person is, but his body is imprisoned in a loop by something that can change the rules of time and space."

The moment the grey-robed man spoke, Bai Wu instantly thought of a being he had encountered before—

A mummy. The mummy with the Reincarnation tag!