Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 318: Chapter 122: Someone Has to Be the Boss, Why Can’t It Be Me?

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"Why am I capable of such a thing? There must always be someone who wants to play the big shot, thought Well through the fog."

"There was no mention of death in the prepared notes, just more than this sentence."

"The best option was to choose one side, the worst was to not make a decision at all. However, one must be vigilant and note that recruiting some sort of force is very important. Without anyone organizing, escaping the prison is impossible."

"How did Jiuyan become a big shot in prison? Well had this thought after yesterday’s actions."

"Old lady’s battle formation, you want to join in? I’ll give you a choice, little handsome brother. I like your type."

Jiaqin, with her finger biting Well’s hand, walked over to where Well was and the big wave-haired blonde evil girl was.

"Yo! This handsome guy is my boy. Why are you old ladies wasting your strength trying to persuade him? Don’t dream about killing someone here. Wouldn’t you recognize such a ruthless character from a mere ten face scans, this handsome criminal? Even Jing, the benevolent Chapter host, is joining the commotion."

Well was surrounded—it was a simple task for them. The rest of the evil fallen were walking on the upper corridor, while four people came to Well’s prison gate.

One of them was a muscular bald man with a scar of a dollar sign tattooed on his forehead.

Entangled in special chains all over her body, and looking more than thirteen despite her youthful appearance, was a golden big wave-haired evil girl. Both were outlanders from their looks, but they were, in fact, evil reformers.

It turned out that they were actually from Jing’s pure faction even though these two didn’t look at all evil and sinister.

One was a gun-wheel like head similar to a brain bag – a type of evil fallen.

Another one had two mouths, one on the chest and one on the head."

Well understood the general situation after all four heads of the evil reformers and Jing’s faction had arrived.

The two leaders of Jing’s faction were not weak at all and were worth mentioning."

This crowd is relevant to this prison cell, which is why it’s not strange... after all, where else would one find such benevolent evil fallen?"

Jing’s faction’s overall power had already become quite substantial. Many had been sent to suffer cruel punishments on the Second Level. Those who managed to escape this prison cell were not weak; fundamentally, all of Jing’s people had a good-hearted disposition, having come from the Second Level.

By sheer numbers alone, the evil reformers surpassed Jing’s faction, which was indeed more powerful. However, evil reformers shouldn’t necessarily be too kind and true to human nature, according to some exaggerated statements later on.

But being part of Jing’s evil fallen doesn’t mean they’re entirely pure. Once they accept the shepherd’s requirements, they must believe that the soul must be completely perfected.

To survive here in the prison, one must necessarily adopt a suitable personality, renounce their humanity, which is just what this unique prison knows everyone should do. Jing’s faction is one side, and the evil reformers are the other."

Among these criminal groups, there are two powerful forces: one is Jing’s faction, and the other is the evil reformers. Tai Wen began to explain the situation to Well.

"It’s ’Quack.’"

"Are there not two factions here, you guys?"

As he looked at Well, who never ceased to watch the departing evil fallen, Tai Wen asked, not minding his own business over here.

Though the two forces are not exactly balanced, they are formidable forces in the prison.

All of them remembered that yesterday Well had brought back a pile of "crimes" to the prison house.

As the morning prison lights began to gradually brighten, awaiting dawn’s light, many of the evil fallen had already started to leave the prison house, each prison house’s door opening automatically.

Well hadn’t slept all night, unable to replenish his energy due to the lack of sleep."

It sounded weaker than yesterday, but it was also hungry. "I am so hungry... Quack, I am so sleepy."

Tai Wen finally opened his tired eyes as the light brightened at dawn, the exhaustion of a whole night finally passing by.

The prison cells, the tower outside...

...

...

It seemed as if the white mist had already answered for herself, and yet she was utterly hopeless, even though she herself was the white mist.

The thought alone was enough to finally calm the fear and anxiety, the desperate worry and hopeless longing.

Maybe Jiu and the white mist already knew about this marriage incident; perhaps that was precisely why her unexpected, contrary response came to pass, a reluctance at heart.

After Jiu’s disappearance, it was the white mist that confessed to her.

"I will take you back."

"But you must not resist; these matters might make it very difficult for you. You may encounter some discomforting situations in the near future, but don’t worry, he won’t harm you. I’ll go find Jiuyan myself."

Her tears broke into laughter; remembering just one phrase from the white mist was like clutching at a life-saving straw, just like a drowning person grasping at rice plants. Jiuyan suddenly realized, lost in a corner of her memories, that she indeed needed to do something about these troubling, panic-stricken thoughts.

Muttering the white mist’s name under her breath, she opened her eyes in a corner and just curled up there, feeling utterly and completely exhausted.

She would feel a panic, as if the drawings momentarily paused, her sketches of Jiu, the white mist, one after another, in such a rapid succession that she did not know tiredness.

Drawing more and more, she looked for paper and a pen after who knows how long.

Realizing only at this moment that Jiaqin Yuan was simply another intricately crafted prison, not truly her home.

Although Orange Boy was definitely unable to visit the Fifth Level, where she longed to venture, she began to count on him, someone she could turn to. Sitting in front of the mirror, she thought a lot about Orange Girl, who seemed like someone trapped in dire straits. Maybe the white mist had gone to look for Jiu; she wanted to talk to Jiu, to say all the things she had thought of only after Jiu had vanished.

After suffering hardships and difficulties, Jiuyan wanted to contact the white mist, but instead she stumbled upon the discovery that the sea snail had no response at all, maybe even a sign that the white mist had gone to find Jiu.

Having gone through somewhat of an ordeal, Jiuyan had completely given up any expectations of them, and she reported to her father that she would marry into the Qin family, following her brother who had lost his mind towards the madhouse.

In reality, she didn’t think that her father would be any different from before, expecting things to somehow change. It had been many years since she had seen her father.

She began to feel an extraordinary sense of anger and sadness, not long before she learned that she was to be married off.

Jiuyan Estate...

...

...

Qin Xuan gave a long sigh and finally shook his head, watching his younger brother leave. Contrary to seeming like an elder brother, the disdainful sneer that had just appeared on Qin’s face was gone, his expression becoming very serious.

Qin Xuan’s playful smirk retracted after he left the headquarters of the Yuzhen Legion.

In the end, he left.

Regardless of the excuse, he could sense that Qin Zong was affected by the seriousness of the family situation and his resolute intention.

There was a subtle change in Qin Xuan’s smile.

"If I were to marry the Jiuyan girl, pretending she’s a mad daughter, she might prefer being compared to being with me. Heh, you should know that being her brother would be nothing compared to this," Qin Zong chuckled. "Coming second only to Chu Qing, although I still have some awareness of this realization for my own benefit. Although I’ve heard she’s mad and laughable, I have no intention of marrying her."

"If your military investigation turns out fruitless and you can’t control it, it’s a total waste of your effort. That will undermine your power and openly defy the family’s arrangement. Think about it, Chu Qing, although I realize you probably don’t imagine something so evident. But you’ll be somewhat aware that it’s not impossible that you could do better in accepting this," Qin Xuan’s expression distinctly amused.

Qin Xuan’s countenance displayed a significant amount of amusement.

"So you’re saying that if I were to marry Jiuyan, that would be the best outcome both for the benefits of this share acquisition and the union of the Jiaqin and Yan families? But if that’s the case, then what can you possibly tell me to make me expend the effort?"

"What if I have already decided that I don’t want to marry Little Sister Jiu?" Qin asked.

"It’s a pity, but this guy Tai Wen is dead set against you. You have so much more to do in this world that demands much more effort than merely using brute force. There are many things going on, and if you truly believe they matter, then you should act on them. As much as I, your good brother, would like for you to have an easier time, the truth is, becoming the person you want to be requires a lot of effort."

Qin Xuan gave Qin Zong a pat on the shoulder.

"You don’t need to agree with what I’m saying, but you do need to be aware that a marriage like this is necessary. Even if your father decides it can’t be changed, you should know that maintaining some kind of partnership with the Yan family will allow us to secure our interests. You’re not very familiar with the affairs of the Jiaqin family, and I wouldn’t worry about telling you the hidden reasons behind it. But when it comes to whether you’re suitable or not, how could you even say you’re not? It’s quite an interesting claim."

Why would you even be unwilling to marry someone from the Yan family, especially when they’re from the bottom ranks, mere lowly mining workers?

Qin Xuan sensed he had a point when he witnessed his younger brother’s unusual defiance today, refusing to be a little brother who always kept his head down and never spoke up for himself.

"But I’m not suited for Little Sister Jiu from the Yan family... Although it is my wish, if I could somehow make a sacrifice, forsaking a part of myself that isn’t vital to survive in exchange for my family’s benefit, as long as I had something to occupy my eyes with, my own work, I would be willing to accept it. The lowest, most insignificant level of mining work is, after all, just an immediate arrangement within the household for a woman, but this is not necessarily so for me."

"Have you been coerced, or are you suffering from some sort of mental illness to think of marrying someone from the Yan family like that?"

Qin Xuan said without waiting for Qin Zong to finish.

"It’s just a matter. I am willing to accept whatever arrangements my family has for me; if I can give a thumbs-up to the Jiaqin family, it’s also because it allows people from the lower ranks to stand up to us. What I want to do, the life I’m given by my family, that’s what I’m supposed to be doing; of course, I wouldn’t have thought about it any other way," he replied.

Qin Zong really couldn’t have imagined his elder brother taking such a stance; Qin Zong himself would neither look up nor down on anyone no matter who they were if this matter wasn’t directly linked to the White Mist.

"How come you are finding it difficult to make a decision about this kind of marriage, my good brother? Aren’t you capable of calling to task the Yuzhen Legion’s commander, taking a different approach than others?"

Qin Zong, looking a bit greasy now, wasn’t just not answering Qin Xuan; in fact, he resembled Qin Xuan quite a lot.

Qin Zong was quite sincere, bowing his head.

"I still hope that my elder brother can help me speak to our father. I’m not sure if I will be able to persuade him."

Today, however, Qin Zong came to see Qin Xuan with an assertiveness that he hadn’t shown before.

He just needed to demonstrate his own capabilities; a lot of Qin Xuan’s influence had waned, and Qin Zong was trying to find a way to compensate for the shortages of the Yuzhen Legion’s Headquarters all by himself.

These past few years, the Yuzhen Legion’s Headquarters didn’t change its corrupt internal components much; some of these folks were living in wretchedness, relying solely on the power of Green Jade Valley, facing quite a few problems, though the inner corruption of the Yuzhen Legion’s Headquarters, despite being significant, didn’t discourage Qin Zong from developing the Legion’s Headquarters according to his own principles; he never thought of competing with his elder brother for anything.

It’s true, with him leading the Outer Tower Legion, he had vast resources at his disposal, managing both Legions to an extreme tilt, and at home, he barely sought favors from his elder brother.

They belonged to one household, in fact, the commanders of the two Legions. But people didn’t know that.

Indeed, both the commander of the High Tower of Yuzhen and the commander of the Outer Tower Legion of Inquiry held no responsibilities to each other, and had always been this way.

A lot had happened in the High Tower during this period of time, including the White Mist’s scheming plans within the Prison Cells on the Sixth Level of the Black Tower, Yuzhen Legion’s Headquarters.

Fourth Level, High Tower.

...

...

He was determined to ask White Mist some questions; besides being present during daylight, these prison guards recognized people. He also first needed to understand Chu Qing’s rules of the game, which they would turn into a literal game.

White Mist pondered over the nature of this prison that he had designed.

"Does this mean that for every extra day spent in the prison cells, one’s basic demands for a steeper incline in the balance of good versus evil will just keep increasing?"

"Not every person is like Tai Wen, who wouldn’t harm anyone. How would all these vulnerable people not accumulate negative emotions, leading to a fall into wickedness afterwards? All the grand families are full of wickedness, and none of them are free from the presence of frail people."

This way, even the perplexing shepherds might find it difficult to represent the true nature of the world as it is with these prison rules.

One can only become stronger by satisfying desires, and one can only reach fulfillment if they abandon their human nature. But this peculiar prison’s rule ensures that only the wicked have power over everything. If the good simply scrape by, barely surviving, then the kind-hearted will only increasingly become weaker. However, White Mist had never thought of competing with anyone for anything; he only focused on his work, developing the prison according to his own principles.

Feeling hunger was the only thing that would make him want to eat; only when he was hungry could he regain his energy after a meal, and when he was tired, he could recover his spirits with sleep.

"Only when I attain what I desire can I be content, there are only humans of neutral nature in the midst of great evil..." spoke the Shepherd, looking certain.

He quickly realized a tingle of fatigue within himself, but it was only a white mist. He hadn’t slept; it was merely his closed eyes that were resting.

Although he recognized the Yuzhen Tower beyond as embodying less of the good and more of the fallen, he still felt a sense of pleasure each time he encountered it. Qin, however, had begun to see the white mist in a clearer light more recently.

This toad had no power of its own to induce sleep, and while it cried pitifully in its dreams, being very hungry and very tired, it was apparent that Qin did not. Qin’s powers of inducement were evidently stronger, and though he consistently resisted the man-killer’s persuasion, the siren’s voice in his dream was far more potent.

Indeed, there were not a few people who had already begun to turn wickedly vile. They will inevitably expose their evil nature in that prison sooner or later, grinding down humanity, selecting out the dream ghosts to use, if every day, as they say, being a Shepherd in dreams.

He had seen plenty of fallen evil already on his way back to the interrogation room from the prison corridor, indeed, many had gone through a transformation already.

This was one thing that made the white mist very agitated.

"Gah! I don’t want to think about them! I don’t want to kill them! I beg you... let me sleep... ah, I’m so tired... I’m so tired."

The white mist listened to Tai Wen’s plaintive cries:

All around the prison, Tai Wen’s murmured words seemed to drift and permeate the entire place, which was even darker than a piece of darkness itself.

It was still night at this time, and the white mist finally opened its eyes.

And then, well, as white mist was unable to fall asleep here and hypnosis had proven ineffective on it, "If it’s just a walk away, let’s go," said the white mist, and walked out for real.

But then the Shepherd subconsciously nodded, as though somehow feeling something was off, as if something important had been mixed up, and then responded quite vehemently...

"How can you be so impatient! This prison is filled with countless convicts fighting to survive; you’re supposed to be a shepherd of souls, you have to take one step at a time, one bite at a time to eat. You need to go back and reflect carefully on how your reformative education should proceed next, you should come back tomorrow when I return!" said the white mist.

The Shepherd was dumbfounded... having my Shepherd rebuttal so matter-of-factly.

"There’s just bad teaching from a no-good teacher, and no learning from a poor student! You have absolutely no influence on me; you just want to turn me into a complete prisoner, don’t you? How could you, who made me your shepherd! I’m deeply disappointed in you," added the white mist, exhausted yet appearing resigned. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

"Am I being groomed to become a great evil figure, isn’t that why you’re describing a good person who’s never come to be, not truthfully teaching me, not earnestly exhorting me towards good? How can you be a shepherd with no patience whatsoever? Isn’t education supposed to be a slow, steady process, more enduring? But this is me. Isn’t this the goal of this prison? But I want to be a good person, though I may actually appear to be a good person, when will a good person be able to stand up only at some point? A good person wouldn’t be a convict on paper, would they? Isn’t an evil person the only one who could be a convict? What has happened to be evil?" mused the white mist, having already shattered its Shepherd identity.

The white mist thought back, having become a different person altogether, and the Shepherd was no longer a "hypocrite" in his concluded judgment.

"Being kind will only make you weaker! Don’t you want to rid yourself of that weakness to become stronger? Don’t you want to get out of here somehow? You are guilty! You’re fundamentally an evil person! There’s a lot wrong with your interpretation of your crimes," said the white mist. He was neither merciful nor overly cruel.

He was quite satisfied with his own "human nature," which the white mist appeared to have no way of accepting at all.

Once one truly chose to murder someone, his or her nature would change and shift towards good or evil.

Maybe some of these people feared becoming obnoxious to others, or feared these people who found them repulsive.

This wasn’t merely about killing someone in a dream world once; this dream wheel made permanent changes to them, due to the very choices they made. There was always a meaning behind these so-called people.

He was not capable of murder. The white mist was not easily swayed.

Having already guessed that "Well" was most likely not just a convict, it had never seen someone so unprofitably murderous.

Enraging the Shepherd out of the ordinary was no small feat. But every time, without exception, the white mist’s responses were quite the opposite.

Even though the white mist saw very many as merely passing faces along the way, perhaps even too many, as the frosty dawn approached, Jiaqin.