Chapter 65: Splattered Brains

"Mmph, mmph, mmph!"

The Middle-aged Woman was immobilized, half-lying in the chair, with wet book pages plastered over her face.

She struggled, thrashing her head from side to side in a desperate attempt to shake off the objects on her face. However, the soaked pages acted like facial masks, adhering perfectly to the contours of her face and making them impossible to throw off.

In stark contrast to her utter despair, the other three captains appeared completely relaxed.

The Middle-aged Uncle tore the books apart, passing the ripped pages to the next person.

The Gold-Rimmed Glasses Captain took the pages and submerged them into the mirror. When he pulled them back out, the pages were entirely soaked through.

Liu Xing stood in front of the chair, receiving the wet paper and adjusting the angle before laying it flat over the Middle-aged Woman's face.

"I have a question. During the Drawing Lots earlier, Liu Xing went first. If he had picked the number you wanted, wouldn't your cheating method, which is similar to the Monty Hall Problem, have completely failed?" Gold-Rimmed Glasses asked, looking at the Middle-aged Uncle.

Hearing this, the Middle-aged Uncle shot him a surprised glance before responding with a peculiar expression. "I had prepared two backup plans in my mind. Plan A was for me to draw number one, and Plan B was to draw number two. This means that whether Liu Xing drew one, two, or three, it wouldn't have affected me at all."

With that said, the Middle-aged Uncle turned his head to look at Liu Xing, who was currently applying the "facial masks" to the Middle-aged Woman. "I have a question as well. Liu Xing, you clearly looked like a desperate gambler who had lost everything earlier. Even I thought you were going to lose. So why did you end up drawing the checkmark?"

Liu Xing smiled but remained silent.

At that moment, the Handcuffs restraining the Middle-aged Woman automatically clicked open, and her body slid off the chair onto the floor.

The three men looked toward the spot where the Middle-aged Woman's Liar-Slayer had previously fallen. Seeing that the Liar-Slayer had vanished, they confirmed she was dead.

They picked up her corpse and placed it on the correct chair. Then, they moved the four bodies by the coffee table and positioned them in their corresponding spots.

Chen Ran and Qiu Yinong had aligned themselves properly, the three captains had aligned themselves properly, and all five corpses were now aligned perfectly. After confirming there were no issues left...

The trio stepped through the mirror.

Escaping this Secret Room.

A wave of intense dizziness washed over them, and in their dazed state, they heard that familiar voice:

"My dear enemies, welcome to my home turf!"

The five players opened their eyes. First, they verified their numbers and appearances with one another, and then they began taking in the surroundings of this new Secret Room.

The Secret Room was incredibly spacious and empty.

In the center stood a long table. Two people, a man and a woman, sat at opposite ends of it. They both held Guns, staring each other down as if they were engaged in some kind of standoff.

The five cautiously approached the table.

They found Poker Chips, Chest Plates, and a notice board laid out on the surface.

There were twenty Poker Chips in total, ten for each person, and every single one had a face value of one hundred million.

There were also twenty Chest Plates, with ten placed in front of each seated individual. The Chest Plates in front of the Young Inheritor were all Blue Badges, while the ten in front of the Young Heiress were all Red Badges.

The notice read:

[Rules of the Heir Game!]

[Rule One: Before the game begins, everyone must choose either the red or blue camp. The difference in the starting number of players between the two camps cannot exceed one.]

[Rule Two: For each round of the game, both camps will send one person to participate. The inheritors cannot wager more than two Poker Chips per round.]

[Rule Three: During the games, the winner will plunder the loser's Chest Plate. Those who lose their Chest Plates may choose a camp once again.]

The two inheritors looked at the five contemplating players. The Young Inheritor spoke up:

"Can you hurry up? Does it really matter to you which inheritor killed the Old Man in this game?"

Upon hearing this, the eyes of the five players lit up.

'That is right!'

'There are twenty billion worth of Poker Chips on the table. That means the Old Man's fortune was found after all.'

'They both have a Gun in their hands, and the muzzles are pointed at each other. This indicates that for the two inheritors, this is a life-or-death game. Whoever loses all their Poker Chips will likely be shot dead by the other.'

'The crucial point is winning or losing, not the choice of camp. Therefore, choosing either side is fine.'

Chen Ran looked at Qiu Yinong and quietly asked, "What color do you like?"

"Red, I suppose."

And so, the two of them walked over to the Young Heiress, picked up the Red Badges, and put them on.

The remaining three exchanged a glance.

According to the rules, the difference in the number of people between the two camps could not exceed one.

The trio had no choice but to step in front of the Young Inheritor and equip the Blue Badges.

Just as the five players finished securing their Chest Plates, a door suddenly appeared on the eastern wall. Above the door were two words: Extreme Difficulty.

Seeing this, both the youth and the young woman—the two inheritors—frowned.

The Young Inheritor muttered, "Are you kidding me? The very first round is extreme difficulty."

He looked at the three members of his camp. "You have your Chest Plates now, so I cannot dictate who goes into the Secret Room. However, I have to warn you—you had better send someone smart."

"Is there any danger in the Secret Room?" the Gold-Rimmed Glasses Captain inquired.

"There is a certain level of danger, yes."

"Understood." The Gold-Rimmed Glasses Captain walked up to the door and looked at Chen Ran, who was already standing there, smoking a Cigarette.

"My name is Geng Hao."

"I am Chen Ran."

The two exchanged names as a sign of mutual respect, then stepped through the door together.

Ignorant of the true capabilities of these two players, the Young Inheritor and the Young Heiress merely tossed a single Poker Chip into the center of the table as a probing bet.

...

Geng Hao and Chen Ran appeared inside a Secret Room. The room was incredibly simple...

...

Geng Hao and Chen Ran appeared inside a Secret Room. The room was incredibly simple...

There were only two chairs.

Perhaps due to the psychological trauma left by their previous trials, just looking at chairs gave them both a headache now.

The surroundings were completely blank and white, offering absolutely no clues. They had no choice but to shift their focus back to the two chairs.

The two men exchanged a glance. Since the chairs were the only objects here, it meant this place was not the actual setting for the game's Secret Room.

Without overthinking it, they simply sat down on the chairs, only to instantly feel a wave of vertigo.

When they regained their senses, they found themselves in another Secret Room, except...

They had seen this Secret Room before.

It was the First Secret Room of this Instance!

The only difference was that inside this Study Room, there was no Hourglass, no Glass Beads, and no Second-round Simplified Characters. The three bookshelves were also completely intact, showing no signs of having been blown up.

"Are we back again?" Geng Hao asked, sounding uncertain.

Chen Ran was just about to say something when he suddenly felt the hairs all over his body stand on end. A wave of panic seized his heart, as if a profound terror had just descended upon them.

Bang!

Bang!

Two shots rang out. The gunfire was deafeningly loud and fired from close range.

A Bullet...

Tore right through Geng Hao's skull.

A Bullet...

Tore right through Chen Ran's skull.

The brains of both men...

Splattered violently.

Their consciousness faded almost instantly. They were as dead as dead could be.

It was incredibly bizarre. Neither man had lied, they had just arrived in the Secret Room, and they had not triggered any traps. With the Liar-Slayer protecting them the entire time, how could they possibly have been shot to death?

From the darkness behind where the two men had fallen, two figures stepped out.

They holstered their Guns at their waists. One of them dragged the corpses away, hiding them behind the bookshelves, while the other began cleaning up the mess and wiping away any traces of the scene.

Once finished, they approached the bookshelves, squatted down on the floor, and knocked on the floorboards.

They discovered that the floor was solid.

One of them furrowed his brow and murmured, "Earlier, Zhang Jinhua triggered the trap and blew the floor open, revealing the entrance to the Basement. Logically, shouldn't the floor be hollow beneath?"

The second shadowy figure ignored him, opting instead to light a Cigarette for himself first. Only then did he point toward the tightly shut main doors of the Study Room and say, "Do you think there is a possibility that we can just walk out through the front doors of the study?"