Earth’s Redemption: Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Question and Answer Amusement Park (8)

Proofread by Cloud Chip Cake

Mo Xiaoyou neither came out, nor managed to send back any information.  

The scene fell into an uneasy silence.  

Had they overestimated Mo Xiaoyou’s abilities, or underestimated the traps laid by Black Cloak?  

Ning Buwen continued nibbling on an apple, though at a much slower pace, while Zuo Qingcang sat nearby, jotting down notes and making calculations. Both seemed troubled. No one dared to disturb them, and one by one, the others silently entered the haunted house.  

What if?

If no one managed to clear the level, they were all doomed to be wiped out anyway. Facing certain death, they might as well gamble on a slim chance at survival.  

Typically, game instances had time limits. If no one progressed to the next stage, it could trigger uncontrollable consequences.  

So even knowing their efforts might be futile, some still entered to buy time for Zuo Qingcang and Ning Buwen.  

By nightfall, Zuo Qingcang finally stopped.  

By then, only a handful of people remained outside the haunted house.  

Not a single piece of information had been relayed back.  

“Looks like it’s my turn now,” Zuo Qingcang said with a soft laugh. “I’ve considered countless possibilities and eliminated the less plausible ones. I’m down to three theories. Luo Xiang likely confirmed one of them, so I’ll test another. I’ll leave you a message inside when I figure something out.”  

“You trust me that much?” Ning Buwen paused mid-bite of his apple. “What if I can’t pass this level either?”  

Zuo Qingcang tapped his temple. “Your way of thinking is different from ours.”  

“What’s that supposed to mean?”  

“Our thoughts follow conventional patterns, and our problem-solving relies on a fixed logical framework. But in Pandora, you can’t adhere to strict logic. Although we haven’t known each other long, I can tell your thinking is incredibly flexible,” Zuo Qingcang explained carefully. “You give off a strange vibe, like nothing can stump you.”  

“Pfft.” Ning Buwen burst out laughing. “You’re not wrong. My biggest headache right now is figuring out how to turn down someone who’s pursuing me.”  

“Didn’t you already accept?”  

“What?” Ning Buwen froze.  

“The apples.” Zuo Qingcang pointed to the fruit in Ning Buwen’s hand. “Even though the person who approached you yesterday seemed odd, you ate the apples they gave you quite happily. I assumed you must like them. When people eat, their expressions don’t lie.”  

If you like someone, you like them. If you don’t, you don’t.  

If it’s someone you dislike, even looking at their gifts would feel repulsive, let alone eating them.  

But Ning Buwen was different. Not only did he eat without hesitation, but he seemed to genuinely enjoy it. Clearly, he didn’t dislike the person as much as he claimed.  

“Ptui! Ptui! Ptui! I was just hungry!” Ning Buwen protested stubbornly.  

“We all brought our own food,” Zuo Qingcang remarked without pressing further. “Anyway, I’m leaving this level to you. I think that once we clear this stage, the rest of the instance will be much easier. Otherwise, the difficulty curve of this game would be absurdly high.” 

“Go on, go on,” Ning Buwen sat back down. “When I get us through this, make sure to give me some money after we clear the level. I’m really broke.”  

“Deal.” Zuo Qingcang waved a hand and steadied himself before heading toward the haunted house.  

He needed to find the information Luo Xiang had left behind and make it clearer for everyone. Otherwise, this level might truly end in a team wipe.  

Outside the instance, the Legion representatives watching the dwindling number of participants felt uneasy.  

“This level is indeed confusing for first-timers,” one representative remarked. “I remember when I tried a similar stage, it took the deaths of many people before we figured out the pattern.”  

“I think Ning Buwen and Zuo Qingcang already know how to clear it,” another chimed in. “But with so many people having been caught earlier, they can’t use the simplest and most direct method. Sometimes, people need to be a bit selfish. These two, on the other hand, are too selfless, and it’s costing them.”  

“It’s also a matter of abilities. If that woman from the Clown level hadn’t died, this stage would’ve been a breeze.”  

“What’s so bad about being selfless? Even though they haven’t known each other long, they’ve already developed a sense of teamwork. When we go through instances with companions, we’re all prepared to use our bodies to pave the way for each other. Without this mentality, our society would be dominated by endless violence, leading to an even faster collapse. As long as humanity survives, it’s not truly the apocalypse.”  

“Alright, alright, I’m not arguing philosophy with you.”  

“Speaking of which, Zuo Qingcang and Luo Xiang are rare leadership types. With proper guidance, they’d make excellent strategists. As for Ning Buwen…”  

“Ning Buwen? Isn’t he a textbook example of a laid-back group leader type? No. 2, doesn’t he remind you of your own captain?”  

…  

“Zuo Qingcang is about to break through the level,” The Second Legion’s representative suddenly noted. “His thinking is correct.”  

At that moment, Zuo Qingcang stood at the entrance of the haunted house, blindfolding himself with a piece of cloth.  

He was going to attempt the level without using his eyes.  

Luo Xiang’s clue was clear to him.  

The sound of the wind?  

Zuo Qingcang heard numerous faint sounds.  

Feeling his way forward, he surprisingly encountered no obstacles. Instead, he advanced smoothly, eventually reaching the black-cloaked figure.  

“You’re smarter than the ones before you,” Black Cloak rasped. “There was a young man earlier who also tried to blindfold himself, but he fainted the moment time was up.”  

He was likely referring to Mo Xiaoyou.  

Mo Xiaoyou’s [Detective: Five Minutes] had also deduced the method to clear the level, but the five-minute limitation was too restrictive, preventing him from relaying anything.  

Zuo Qingcang sat at the table and groped around its surface.  

He found the mark Luo Xiang had left behind.  

“无(None).”  

Luo Xiang had left a single word: Nothing.

The simpler the mark, the less noticeable it would be.  

Luo Xiang had clearly put a lot of thought into it. 

“This level isn’t hard to clear; we were simply blinded by our own assumptions,” Zuo Qingcang sighed. “From the start, we were misled into believing this was a haunted house, and that’s how you deceived us.”

This wasn’t a haunted house at all.  

If it were, he wouldn’t be able to hear the sound of the wind.  

Perhaps this place was merely an imagined space, and in the eyes of Black Cloak, all of them were just standing on an open field. Black Cloak could clearly see all their “plans,” while they were trapped in an illusion.  

The haunted house was fake, the cards were fake—only Black Cloak was real.  

So no matter which card they guessed, it wouldn’t matter because the cards didn’t exist.  

If something doesn’t exist, how can you guess it correctly? How can you clear the level?  

From the first level, they were warned that what their eyes saw was false. In the second and third levels, they were told that what their ears heard was false. Now, in this fourth level, it was their very thoughts that were false.  

This haunted house existed only in their self-assured minds.  

They were told in advance that it was a “haunted house,” so they “saw” a haunted house.  

In any other setting, they might have been suspicious, but a haunted house naturally had dim lighting. Coupled with the one-on-one format and the inability to communicate with the outside world after entering, the difficulty was significantly increased.  

“So, do you know where the joker is?” Black Cloak asked the same question as always. “Even if you’ve figured it out, you still have to answer. Those are the rules. Only by answering correctly can you clear the level.”  

“It must be on you,” Zuo Qingcang replied confidently. “To balance the game’s difficulty, I should be allowed to search your body for it, right?”  

“Of course,” Black Cloak responded. “I have no eyes, so I don’t know where on my cloak the joker is hidden.”  

Zuo Qingcang stood up.  

“But I must warn you,” Black Cloak chuckled with evident delight, “all your companions’ souls are also on me. You’d better pick the joker in one try, or your companions will disappear forever.”  

Covering your eyes allowed you to see the truth.  

But covering your eyes also meant you couldn’t find the joker.  

It was a no-win scenario.  

“That’s why I said earlier: If even one of you clears all the levels, you could have freed everyone in time. But you chose not to abandon your companions, so you all walked into my trap one by one,” Black Cloak said, his voice laced with temptation. “Of course, you can make repeated attempts, picking until you find the joker. With some luck, you might save at least half of your companions.”  

Zuo Qingcang’s hand hovered in midair.  

“What’s the matter? Afraid to make a choice?” Black Cloak fanned the flames. “If you try, there’s still a chance. If you don’t, there’s none at all. Isn’t this what you players believe in? Even a 50% chance is already high. This is the fastest way for you to clear the level.”  

“Before the apocalypse, I was a law student at the best law school in my country,” Zuo Qingcang suddenly said. “In my country, anyone with a criminal record could never work in a legal profession.”  

Black Cloak couldn’t understand why Zuo Qingcang had suddenly brought this up.  

“Even in the apocalypse, I still believe that the reason we’ve survived Pandora’s disaster until now is because many people sacrificed themselves for us. Our predecessors cleared levels and brought back the Judges to ensure our real lives wouldn’t be ruled by crime and chaos. That’s how we’ve been able to enjoy three years behind this safety barrier. Even those unsuited for the game have been able to maintain a semblance of life from two centuries ago.” 

As Zuo Qingcang spoke, he removed the cloth covering his eyes. “Many people have said I’ll die someday because of my stubbornness, but I think that’s fine. Even in a game, I’ll never choose to end someone else’s life.”  

“For this level, I give up.”  

“For a game with such a gambling nature, there’s someone better suited than me to clear it.”  

Ning Buwen waited outside for ten minutes, but Zuo Qingcang still hadn’t come out.  

The remaining players were completely panicked.  

“Zuo Ge hasn’t come out?”  

“This is it—we’re really going to be wiped out here, aren’t we?”  

“Enough.” Ning Buwen set aside the half-eaten fruit basket. “Zuo Qingcang hasn’t returned, which means he’s already ruled out one possibility for me. Watch my fruit and my dog for me. I think I’m the most suitable person to tackle this level.”  

“Mr. Ning, are you really going to try?”  

“What if you don’t come back? Maybe I should go instead.”  

“With your current state, you’d just be throwing your life away.” Ning Buwen glanced at them and slowly shook his head. “The first four levels tested intelligence, so the next three are likely to test physical strength. Rest up—I’ll handle this.”  

Ning Buwen stretched his muscles and walked to the entrance of the haunted house, but he didn’t rush inside.  

“Mr. Black Cloak, I don’t think this is a haunted house. Can we go to the real haunted house to play cards?” Ning Buwen called out from outside.  

Black Cloak fell silent for a moment before reluctantly getting up to approach.  

There were three possibilities in Ning Buwen’s mind: One required entering the haunted house, and one did not.  

Black Cloak had previously stated that the game would take place one-on-one inside the haunted house. If the players believed this to be the haunted house, it could be considered valid.  

However, if the players requested to go to a real haunted house, that too could be valid.  

Zuo Qingcang had covered his eyes to test the first possibility.  

Black Cloak’s behavior had also been peculiar. When entering earlier, Black Cloak had been holding a crystal ball, but it had disappeared once he’d gone inside.  

If the crystal ball had no purpose, why bring it out?  

Perhaps this wasn’t a haunted house at all, but just a small space within the crystal ball.  

Everyone who had gone in before had merely been playing house with Black Cloak inside the crystal ball. The real haunted house must be here.  

Black Cloak emerged, holding the crystal ball once again.  

At the same time, the haunted house in front of them disappeared, replaced by a smaller, shabbier one.  

“Let’s begin,” Ning Buwen said, moving faster than Black Cloak. He quickly entered the haunted house and found a seat. “This is where the real game starts, right? We’re playing ‘Guess the Joker,’ aren’t we? Shuffle the cards.”  

Black Cloak reluctantly began to shuffle.  

“I must remind you,” Black Cloak repeated his usual trick, “your companions’ souls are sealed in the other four cards. If you guess wrong, they’ll never return.”  

“Oh,” Ning Buwen replied nonchalantly, “then I just won’t guess wrong.”  

Black Cloak was momentarily at a loss for words.  

“You’re not going to watch me shuffle?” he asked.  

“No need. I’ll go by instinct.” Ning Buwen shook his head. “Card games are my specialty. I’ve been playing ‘Guess the Joker’ since I was three. I can’t possibly lose.”  

“That’s not guaranteed,” Black Cloak said, his tone eerie as he chuckled. “All right, tell me—which one is the joker?”  

The five cards were laid out on the table.  

“The first one on the right,” Ning Buwen answered without hesitation. “Let me flip it over for you.”  

Ning Buwen moved faster than Black Cloak, flipping the card in moments.  

Sure enough, it was the joker.  

How could he have guessed correctly?  

Impossible.  

These cards were designed to be unguessable.  

And he had his eyes open!  

“What’s wrong? Did I break any rules?” Ning Buwen asked with a cheerful smile.  

Black Cloak was stunned for a moment. “No, you may proceed. You can take the joker to the next level. If you’re fast, you can save your companions.”  

“No, thanks.” Ning Buwen propped his chin on one hand. “It’s already night outside. Even if I go to the next level, would the amusement park still be open? If I leave now, by the time I clear the levels, most of my companions would be dead.”  

“Then what do you want?” 

“Such a long night, Mr. Black Cloak. Surely you wouldn’t be so cruel as to leave me wandering alone in the amusement park,” Ning Buwen sighed dramatically, placing the joker card back in its original position. “There’s no rush; let’s keep gambling.”  

“What do you mean?”  

“One person at a time.” Ning Buwen held up a single finger. “For every joker I guess correctly, you release one of my companions. Consider the last round as me redeeming myself. From now on, I’ll win back each of my lost companions, one by one.”

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