Chapter 180
Chapter 180
Inside the necklace, Steward Wang sneered at the gemstones in his hand.
Let’s see what you do now!
But the group did not panic as he expected. Instead, every one of them sank into thought.
According to the First Law of Clinging to a Powerful Backer, Brother Liu was always right. That was the fundamental premise.
Working from that basis, could Brother Liu possibly make such an elementary mistake? Impossible! He must have lost the gemstones deliberately.
Which raised the question: why would Brother Liu do that?
The answer was obvious. Brother Liu had discovered something the rest of them had missed.
Zhang Ru reviewed the situation. If that reasoning was correct, Brother Liu believed inserting the gemstones would be dangerous.
But why would it be dangerous? The rules said that the more gemstones they inserted, the more… Hmm?
A bolt of realization flashed through Zhang Ru’s mind. Her eyes widened as she carefully recalled everything they had seen.
“I understand!” she murmured.
Zhang Shun immediately asked, “What did you discover?”
Everyone turned toward her.
Zhang Ru did not answer at once. She looked at Liu Ye with lingering fear. Thank goodness Brother Liu had noticed the issue. Otherwise, every last one of them would truly have remained here.
“Everyone except Brother Liu was deceived,” Zhang Ru said with a sigh.
“What do you mean?” Zhang Yanyan asked quickly.
Steward Wang began listening from inside Liu Ye’s necklace as well. How had something gone wrong again?
“We were mistaken from the very beginning. This isn’t the exit at all.”
“What do you mean? Didn’t the rules say…”
Zhang Yanyan’s mouth fell open. She had realized the crucial point too.
“You mean the rules are wrong!”
“More precisely, they should be read in reverse. Don’t forget, this is the Chamber of Lies. Its entire theme is falsehood. So the true rules should be:
“1. Do not follow the correct path to the exit.
“2. The gemstones are useless at the exit gate and may even be harmful.
“3. Failing to enter immediately will not cause any Great Terror.
“4. White houses are danger zones.
“5. Anyone who fails a challenge on this level will remain here forever.”
Reality was exactly as Zhang Ru had guessed. Inside the white house, countless nails pinned Wang Weiwei to the floor as tears streamed from her eyes.
“Why… Why wasn’t I sent back to the first level? Why am I still here? When will I ever escape?”
“If this isn’t the exit, then where is the real one?” Big Gold Tooth asked.
“The place where we entered. The door there was marked Entrance, remember? Under this chamber’s rules, that makes it the exit.”
The first rule had hinted at the same answer: do not follow the correct path to the exit.
All they needed to do was retrace their steps.
Liu Ye had not imagined there would be so many twists. He thought Zhang Ru was truly remarkable.
To his surprise, everyone was looking at him with worship in their eyes.
Liu Ye was speechless.
In their minds, Zhang Ru might have explained everything aloud, but Liu Ye had undoubtedly discovered it long ago. Think back to the river. Someone as powerful as Liu Ye could never have been dragged into the water so easily.
He had probably been trying to hint at the truth even then. They had been too stupid to understand. They thought Brother Liu was operating on the first floor, never realizing he was up in the stratosphere.
The group retraced its route. With Liu Ye there-or rather, with Steward Wang there-they encountered no danger.
They soon returned to the entrance. Under everyone’s expectant gaze, Liu Ye pushed open the door.
Whoosh!
The entire group vanished.
When their senses returned, they found themselves in a familiar place.
It was a ward in Huicheng Hospital.
“I made it back?” Zhang Yanyan exclaimed in delight.
“No, you didn’t,” Zhang Ru said, shaking her head.
…
Meanwhile, when Liu Ye and the others first entered the nightmare space, John and his colleagues at the Fiend Investigation Bureau were studying a report in contemplative silence.
“You’re saying something happened at Huicheng Hospital?”
“Yes. We lost contact with our agents inside,” Frog replied.
After a building at Huicheng Hospital exploded, the Bureau had expected further trouble and dispatched investigators. Instead, those agents disappeared.
“Those scumbags again?”
John glanced toward Xiaoshuai, who was playing a video game. A sudden chill swept over Xiaoshuai. He raised his head and found John staring fixedly at him.
“Why are you looking at me? I’ve already abandoned the darkness and joined the light.”
“You’ve been here all this time, and none of them have contacted you?”
“No. They probably know I defected.” Xiaoshuai did not sound concerned.
He was doing well enough at the Fiend Investigation Bureau. With his abilities, he could thrive anywhere.
Just then, another person hurried into the room.
“Director, Team Leader John, we’ve received word that Liu Ye is also inside the hospital.”
At the mention of Liu Ye, John and Xiaoshuai immediately perked up.
Swan massaged her aching forehead.
“Wonderful. There goes another hospital. This is one of only two top-tier hospitals in Huicheng.”
“Director, it’s still standing,” Frog offered comfortingly.
Swan gave him a long, somber look.
Frog fell silent.
“At least… it’s standing for now. If necessary, have Boss John contact Liu Ye and ask him to show some restraint.”
Swan looked pleadingly at John.
“Don’t look at me. My words don’t carry any weight with Brother Liu,” John refused without hesitation.
As far as he was concerned, Liu Ye could do whatever he liked. The rest of them would handle the aftermath.
Swan had known he would refuse.
“Couldn’t he at least rein it in a little?” Frog held up a stack of documents, tears streaming down his face.
“City Hall is furious. After these recent incidents, Huicheng’s GDP has fallen by at least thirty percent.”
Everyone was speechless.
“So what? Without Brother Liu, there might not even be a Huicheng left,” Xiaoshuai said disdainfully while continuing his game. “Why worry about that? Look how many high-level Fiends Brother Liu has eliminated. They have the nerve to protest? If it were up to me, I’d gladly sacrifice all of Huicheng to eliminate those Fiends.”
He hated people who did nothing but talk and obstruct those handling real work. If not for parasites like them, the Illuminati could never have expanded so quickly.
“You can’t put it that way. We still have to consider the public impact. Ordinary people don’t know about any of this,” someone nearby said.
“Enough. We’ll discuss that later. Let’s focus on the matter at hand.”
Swan pressed a button on the remote, and information appeared on the whiteboard ahead.