Chapter 1077: The Meddler
After asking several questions to the Pocket Dimension host, the Descartes Spirit floated back with a mysterious expression. Of course, this mysterious expression was something Bohemia had conjured up in her mind because she was convinced that the Descartes Spirit would have that demeanor.
"Hey, I asked," it said with a deliberately hushed tone, "You can add the Circle Mystery from the Prison Storm as a question into her exam paper right now. And because you have a higher level of permission, she must complete it immediately."
"Oh, I see—complete it immediately?" Bohemia was taken aback. "She only has 9 minutes! Are you saying that, within 9 minutes, she has to solve both the Circle Mystery from Prison Storm and the creature"s question?"
The mosaic ent.i.ty gave a few ups and downs, seemingly indicating "yes."
"Then she will have a terrible death," Bohemia hesitated. "Look at her right now, struggling to breathe, her brain barely functioning..."
"Take advantage of someone"s illness, you end up killing them," surprisingly, from this conversation, no one would guess that the two speakers were actually Lin Sanjiu"s allies. "It"s because she won"t be able to complete two tasks in 9 minutes that we can use this creature to give her a hard time."
Glancing at Lin Sanjiu with her head hanging low and her face bright red, Bohemia found it hard to be ruthless.
"Do you... have a plan?"
The Descartes Spirit suddenly manifested two snow-white hands from the mosaic. He rubbed them together, "Here"s what I"m thinking. First, we"ll give her the question to solve the Circle Mystery. I can tell you, just understanding the ins and outs of this circle will take more than five minutes... While she"s answering, we can try to unveil the true form of this creature... and then, give her a wrong answer for it before the 9 minutes are up."
This was tantamount to killing someone.
"Don"t rush," the Descartes Spirit hastily explained. "The host just said, you see, answering a question on the paper wrongly will result in a penalty, right? If she gets the answer wrong for this creature question, the punishment will be that the creature will grow on her. So, as long as this creature isn"t an obedient bunny, we can easily give her a hard time when the time comes."
"Is that so?" Bohemia pondered and asked, "But, isn"t this plan risky? She"s been studying for a while now, and she doesn"t know the answer to this creature question. What if we can"t solve it either? In the end, if we don"t figure out the nature of this creature, it could end up devouring her... It"s not that I"m worried about her dying; it"s just that she owes me a lot."
"If I can"t answer it in the remaining 9 minutes – no, 8 minutes, then I believe she won"t be able to answer it either," the Descartes Spirit said, carrying a hint of arrogance. "We might as well give this plan a try."
Bohemia clenched her teeth and nodded. After informing the Pocket Dimension host, when Lin Sanjiu realized that Bohemia was causing a disturbance at this crucial moment, her face turned even redder, "What are you doing? Do you know how dangerous this is?"
Just as Bohemia was starting to waver, Lin Sanjiu continued, her voice low but determined, "I can"t die here. My true purpose in life lies out there!"
"You might as well die here."
Bohemia immediately made up her mind. A new question slowly appeared on Lin Sanjiu"s exam paper, pus.h.i.+ng the creature question from earlier down. As the Descartes Spirit had mentioned, just providing information about Prison Warden Sandy Winters, the file folder, and the circle diagram used up half a page of the paper, yet the countdown in the upper right corner of the paper was unaffected, steadily advancing toward seven minutes.
"Don"t worry," Bohemia spoke softly, seeing Lin Sanjiu"s face alternating between pale and flushed, and the white membrane on the back of her neck growing increasingly large. "We"ll help you with the creature question; when the time is up, we can tell you the answer. Just focus on answering the questions about Prison Storm."
Now, even if she didn"t believe her, Lin Sanjiu let out a soft breath as if releasing pent-up tension and finally began to read the questions about "Prison Storm."
The Descartes Spirit couldn"t wait to rush toward the paper, and Bohemia"s gaze also fell on the creature question. Suddenly, everything went dark before her eyes, and she heard the distant hum of cicadas. To her surprise, she realized that the contents of the question were being materialized right in front of her.
"It"s really high-tech," the Descartes Spirit marveled. "Even though it"s a Pocket Dimension the same as me, they have better equipment than I do... I see, it looks like there"s a village up ahead, doesn"t it?"
The night was not particularly clear, with the moonlight half obscured by mist and dark clouds, blurring the boundary between the sky and the ground. The tall and short dark silhouettes loomed ahead, resembling various-sized buildings. Fences cut through the darkness, and fields stretched out, with crops barely visible in the night, reflecting faint glimmers.
"Hurry up," Bohemia urged. "We may only have seven minutes left."
As they walked into the village, everything around them was silent, making the loud chirping of cicadas more prominent.
"Tonight is the fourth night after a mysterious creature attacked the village," a voice suddenly rang out, startling them both. After a moment of confusion, they realized it was the voice describing the question"s context.
"Four days ago, this mysterious creature began attacking a villager every night. So far, three people have been found dead in their own beds," the voice continued. At this point, three farmhouses not far away suddenly lit up, seemingly guiding Bohemia and Descartes. "The three corpses are still lying in their beds, awaiting further examination."
Bohemia frowned - it seemed like answering this question would involve dealing with dead bodies.
"Tonight, without any surprises, the mysterious creature will strike again. Everyone in the village is restless and unable to sleep at this moment. Those who own dogs have brought them inside, while those who don"t have dogs have borrowed them. However, during the first three deaths, the village remained quiet, with no reaction from any dogs or poultry. Of course, you cannot see the actual attack site."
"Hurry up," Bohemia said impatiently, taking a leaf from somewhere and inspecting its texture under the moonlight. "We don"t have much time."
The voice resumed, this time at a faster pace.
"Now the attack begins. The attack is complete. Please immediately enter the village and investigate for clues..."