Chapter 138
Chapter 138
“If this is how you intend to play, don’t blame me for punishing you a little more harshly.” The Mad Hatter arched a brow.
The pain of his severed fingers made Xiao Huai tense and tremble under the violent shock. For a moment, blood seemed to pour endlessly onto the ground. He kept his head lowered, gritted his teeth, and said nothing.
Xiao Qian’s pupils contracted. He reached toward Xiao Huai, only to draw his hand back halfway.
Xiao Huai was an adult. He had to bear responsibility for his own choices.
Xiao Qian had given him the clue. Xiao Huai simply had not believed it.
If Xiao Huai had trusted him, perhaps he would not have suffered this punishment.
But if Xiao Huai truly had trusted him, Xiao Qian might have felt an inexplicable disappointment instead.
How could players trust one another so easily?
What was wrong with remaining cautious?
The two players punished earlier knew the pain of losing a finger. They were astonished that Xiao Huai did not react at all, his expression as cold as ancient frost.
“Such a pity about those beautiful hands.” The Mad Hatter laughed softly and raised a hand. Xiao Huai’s three severed fingers flew over and were put away.
Xiao Huai swept a cold gaze over the Mad Hatter. “You want these too?”
The Mad Hatter had not expected Xiao Huai to remain capable of speaking in such an even tone, showing no fear at all.
“Indeed.” The Mad Hatter weighed the fingers carefully, then even lifted one and took a bite.
The other players were frightened by the sight.
This player named Xiao Huai was truly miserable. An evil god had taken a fancy to him, and there was a good chance not even an intact corpse would remain in the end.
Xiao Huai said, “There are tastier parts of me.”
He suddenly laughed softly. “If you have the nerve, make the game harder and claim all of me.”
The Mad Hatter froze. A burning meteor seemed to blaze in Xiao Huai’s eyes, making the god’s heart race. But the Mad Hatter knew those words could never be spoken.
The Mad Hatter knew perfectly well who ruled this *Vampires* instance.
The god could torment Xiao Huai and draw out more of his expressions, but Xiao Huai could not belong completely to the Mad Hatter. At least while he remained in the vampire instance, he could never be claimed.
He had to belong to Edwin.
Who would dare compete with him?
The Mad Hatter could leave Xiao Huai half-dead, or even kill him and deliver the body to Edwin. But to possess everything before Edwin got to him?
To make Xiao Huai belong to the Mad Hatter?
Edwin would never permit such a thing.
Even so, Xiao Huai’s provocation had worked. Covering that smiling face, the Mad Hatter snickered softly. “You truly are interesting. I may not be able to claim you, but I can satisfy your wish for greater difficulty.”
The roulette wheel shuddered again. The white sections flipped to black, adding five black sections to the field, while one red section disappeared.
One gold section was added, only two spaces away from Xiao Huai.
The two spaces between them were one white and one black.
The other players glared furiously at Xiao Huai. “You! If you want to fucking die, don’t drag us down with you! You’re insane!!”
The girl in the short skirt cursed even more viciously. Xiao Qian glanced at them. “Do you honestly believe the game’s difficulty would increase so easily because of one thing Xiao Huai said?”
How incredibly stupid.
Game difficulty could not change on a god’s whim. If gods possessed that kind of authority, why would players bother with the games? They could simply flatter the gods, act cute, and beg for mercy.
The Mad Hatter was only playing with their minds. The more they turned on one another, the more entertaining the spectacle became.
The Mad Hatter had intended to keep watching the show, but Xiao Qian exposed the little prank at once. Finding it boring now, the god pursed those lips.
Xiao Qian studied the altered wheel. “Xiao Huai, you know greater risk means greater reward, don’t you?”
Xiao Huai met his gaze. His lips were slightly pale as he nodded.
Among the remaining red sections, the chance of receiving a coin would rise. There might be more black sections, but were there not also more gold sections that offered escape?
The more gold sections there were, the greater their hope of escaping.
No matter how faint that hope might be.
Xiao Huai’s punishment ended, and a new round began.
This time, the Mad Hatter asked, “What are you afraid of?”
The single weight on the right side became two.
The young man answered first. To be safe, he listed several things. “I’m afraid of spiders and clowns.”
Perhaps he possessed an innate streak of luck. Not only did he remain unharmed this round, he received yet another reward.
The girl in the short skirt ground her teeth at the sight. Comparing oneself to others truly could drive a person mad.
Having learned from the first round, everyone else answered the Mad Hatter conservatively. But the roulette depended entirely on luck, and the brown-haired woman received her first punishment.
Losing a single finger was enough to make her scream endlessly in pain.
She could not understand how Xiao Huai had endured it without seeming affected.
Ever since the previous round ended, Xiao Huai had remained silent, paying no attention to anyone’s answers, rewards, or punishments.
When Xiao Qian’s turn came, he glanced at the sea and said one word in an even voice. “Water.”
The moment he spoke, Xiao Huai’s eyelids lifted almost imperceptibly.
The left side sank far below the right, proving he had told the truth.
Fortune favored Xiao Qian once again. The pointer moved to a red section, granting him a third reward.
The girl in the short skirt went after him. She swallowed hard, knelt on the ground, and squeezed her eyes shut as she prayed for heaven’s protection.
But reality was always cruelly dramatic. The greater the hope, the deeper the despair when it shattered.
The Mad Hatter snickered before she even began answering.
Although she successfully made the pointer spin, it still landed on black.
The sea rabbit had been waiting beneath that black section for a long time. The instant she arrived, the section crumbled into dust. Before she could even scream, she fell into the monster’s gaping maw.
The black line around her neck turned solid and strangled straight through it. Her head came off as easily as the detachable head of a doll.
Despair remained frozen on her face. Her head and body had already separated, trapping her forever in the most agonizing instant of her life.
The entire process took no more than three seconds, yet blood had already dyed a wide patch of ocean red.
The remaining three players sucked in startled breaths and let out faint cries.
Xiao Huai kept his eyes lowered, showing little interest.
The other players watched the bloody scene unfold before them and began retching uncontrollably.
The Mad Hatter could not conceal that smile. Excitement flashed in those blue-green eyes.
Even the god’s voice trembled. “All right, one last player. Your turn, Xiao Huai. What are you afraid of?”
Xiao Huai’s wound was still bleeding, turning the white section beneath him into a filthy red mire.
Everyone knew he had used his own body to test how the scale assessed the value of speech. Having paid once already, he would surely answer seriously this time.
Even the players and the Mad Hatter were curious to hear his answer.
They stared at Xiao Huai and waited for him to speak.
After a moment, his lips parted, and he said only one sentence.
“My name is Li Ming.”
Every player fell silent.
The Mad Hatter did too.
Fine. They understood. His name was Li Ming.
Li Ming, the man with no fear of death. Was that it?