Chapter 232
Fortunately, the time to turn off the lights could never be changed by the human’s will. Darkness swept in and the only remaining light was swallowed in an instant. The sudden emotions lasted less than five minutes before being interrupted by the black shadow coming towards him.
The jailer’s footsteps were steady. ‘It’ patrolled here and turned to look at Xiao Li. Xiao Li didn’t look at ‘it’ at all. He maintained his original posture and didn’t look at ‘it’ at all. He could only vaguely feel the pause in the footsteps but he still felt sleepy.
This drowsiness was so ferocious that he fell into a deep sleep again without struggling. Before going to sleep, Xiao Li thought that if the jailer could be taken out, it would probably be the gospel of many contemporary insomniacs.
***
“I’m sleeping so well in the instance world but another impulse torments me.”
Ye Zeqing poked at the tomato scrambled eggs with his chopsticks. He was much better mentally compared to the listlessness that ordinary reincarnators would have but he was gasping heavily.
The moment he woke up this morning, he was unable to restrain his urge to run. He rushed out of the room and ran from the level where the reincarnators were to the platform below. Then he ran back and so on, repeatedly. It seemed that after running a whole marathon, this urge was controlled within the range where he could stop.
The price was that his legs were now aching and his throat was dry from gasping. There was still a lot of food left in front of Ye Zeqing but w.a.n.g Huai had eaten everything on his plate. Not even a grain of rice was left and he still wanted to add more rice.
His punishment was hunger and he couldn’t fill up his hunger no matter how much he ate. He stared at the plates of the others with bright eyes but he still restrained his impulse. However, if time dragged out a bit longer, w.a.n.g Huai felt like he might impulsively eat the leftovers and then the soap.
This wasn’t good. The punishment dealt by the adjudication prison was more desperate than the ghosts that were visible to the naked eye. There didn’t need to be too many ghosts here and even the jailers didn’t need to be strong. There was no need to watch the prisoners. As long as the prisoners were in the prison, they couldn’t escape the punishment imposed by the ruling.
The prisoner would watch themselves die little by little unless they could endure the torture until the end of their sentence or they escaped from prison. This was the choice given by the task. Everyone present was punished to a considerable extent, including Xiao Li. He felt that his shoulders were as heavy as carrying a big bag to travel. Still, it was within the range that he could bear.
Setamon pushed the rest of the plate away and laid her bent arms on the table. In order to avoid being heard by the jailer, she asked everyone to remove their brooches and used a silence item. This type of item could create an enchantment so that only people within a specified range could hear her words and see her actions.
She said, “Based on the approximate timing, the next batch of newcomers will enter the prison this afternoon, close to evening. At that time, the prison door should open. We need to be waiting nearby.”
“I have an item.” w.a.n.g Huai wiped his mouth with a towel he had brought and took out a pair of binoculars from his task book. “Binoculars, the owner was a thief, a voyeur and a maniac. He often used this to peep at the beauty on the other side of the building taking a shower. It can be used to monitor movements in the distance and can see through obstacles such as walls. The distance limit is one kilometre.”
“Very good. The only question we have now is how to distract the jailers.” Setamon took out a marker she carried and drew a map directly on the cafeteria table. “In fact, I have always found it very strange. Apart from feeling them at the welcome party, they only patrol every night. At other times, it is like the jailer doesn’t exist.”
Xiao Li had been sitting in silence. He had been unusually quiet since this morning and he didn’t let Shen Chenzhi give him the fruit. He grabbed the binoculars and placed it to his eyes to look into the distance. It really pa.s.sed through the cafeteria and the walls in front, step by step until it reached the prison door. It couldn’t pa.s.s through the outer layers of the prison.
“According to experience, perhaps only a major event can bring them out during the day. Perhaps… a gathering of people for a fight? Or…” Setamon suddenly stretched out her foot and kicked the chair in front of her. “Smashing and burning?”
The chair fell to the ground and made a loud noise.
“Still, I don’t dare go too far. Who knows what the punishment will be if I really provoke them? Maybe I will be locked up?” She retracted her foot and showed a ‘you know’ expression. “I don’t dare to enter confinement here. I won’t be able to stand it if I’m given a double punishment. I will die.”
“I have an idea. Well, it isn’t my intention but they are criminals and they have all killed others.” Park Heesoon spoke while raising his hands. “Yu You died this morning. Lian Susu is still alive. We cank2026;”
He didn’t finish it but everyone present knew what he meant. They could use Lian Susu, forcing her or inducing her to commit a violent act of destroying the prison so as to elicit the jailer and observe the reaction afterwards.
This was something that some reincarnators would do. For example, the Judges and others would use more ruthless methods. If there weren’t enough plot characters then they would use weak reincarnators to ‘explore the path.’
Setamon rubbed her chin while thinking about it.
Xiao Li suddenly opened his mouth. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Setamon wondered, “What?”
Xiao Li explained, “Letting Lian Susu do the experiment. Even if there is a result, we won’t have a human hand. Someone must give up the opportunity to leave, diverting the jailer away while letting the remaining power leave.”
“If we let her do this when the door is open, no one will be watching her and there is no guarantee she will do it.”
“So it is best to have a ‘person’ who can try it for us without letting us do it personally.” w.a.n.g Huai spoke while pressing a hand to his stomach. His face twitched slightly and he wrote something in his task book using his other hand.
“Don’t tell me you also have a way.”
“Yes, I do but I need a bit of help.”
Xiao Li replied, “You say it, w.a.n.g dreaming of being an A.”
“…A rotten doll.” w.a.n.g Hui gave a brief introduction. “This is a doll that is often held in the arms of a little girl. Long contact made it form a spirit. It can dance alone at night and follow some simple instructions, including completing the little girl’s wish to make her parents disappear when she was scolded by her parents.”
Zheng Yi muttered, “…I am already imagining the doll moving alone and coming to the parents’ bed…”
“It was a nice instance. The clues were messy and had to be put together like a jigsaw puzzle.” w.a.n.g Huai commented. “I haven’t used it since I got it. Its function is to set the behaviour before you use it. It will do what you ask it to do like a remote controlled robot.”
Xiao Li had never seen such a thing and asked curiously, “If you ask it to finish the university entrance examination’s physics paper, can it get a full score?”
w.a.n.g Huai closed his eyes. “…I will correct my words. It can do simple things that you ask of it, including but not limited to smashing prisons, breaking gla.s.s, etc.”
“We’re not sure this type of behaviour is useful—”
“But it is the only method right now.”
***
That afternoon.
The reincarnators chose to wait in the room closest to the entrance, chatting about task-related topics for a while. They occasionally checked with binoculars while waiting for the time to come. The doll was placed in the furthest room by w.a.n.g Huai. Once activated, it could cause a huge disturbance at any time.
Xiao Li held the binoculars casually. Then he looked at the pa.s.sageway and randomly said, “There are four pa.s.sages and one I haven’t been to, the infirmary.”
“I went exploring and wanted to see what was inside. I found that the door is the same as the library. There is no door. It should be a hidden place.” Ye Zeqing spoke immediately, his voice trembled. He didn’t know if it was due to nerves or something but his legs were constantly trembling. His toes were pressed against the ground like he would jump up and run in the next second.
“If it is just wounds then Lian Susu and the others were all wounded. However, none of them met the condition for entering the infirmary.” Xiao Li was thoughtful. “Could it be that the wounds caused by other prisoners, ghosts or themselves don’t count?”
He took his eyes off the binoculars. “If there was more time, I would really like to punch you to see if you can get in.”
Ye Zeqing, “???”
He asked, “Why can’t I hit you?”
Xiao Li replied, “I really want to go in but I am afraid of pain.”
“Then you want to make me feel pain?” Ye Zeqing asked bitterly? “Have you learned to have double standards? What about him? Don’t tell me you are reluctant.”
He pointed to Shen Chenzhi.
Xiao Li gave a light ‘tsk’ before saying, “…It wouldn’t really hurt you.”
He raised the binoculars back to his eyes and pointed it at the pa.s.sage without answering.
Shen Chenzhi leaned against the door of this room, arms folded over his chest as he raised his eyebrow at Xiao Li.
This continued until evening. It was the time when the reincarnators had previously entered and the binoculars had changed from Xiao Li to w.a.n.g Huai. His voice was tense and he grabbed a bubblegum-like thing and threw it to the ground. “There is movement at the door. Be prepared.”
The object emitted smoke and formed a light-coloured protective bubble that enveloped everyone in it.
“Speed items, now! Run!” w.a.n.g Huai shouted.
Ye Zeqing couldn’t control himself and was the first to rush to the door. “Finally, I can run—”
Along with the sound of everyone’s rapid footsteps, there was an explosion from the end of the pa.s.sage. It was the sound of the gla.s.s door breaking along with the bed completely collapsing. Perhaps there was also a small explosion that spread to four rooms. It was as if a miniature bomb had exploded.
The doll was still causing damage. In accordance with w.a.n.g Huai’s instructions, it rushed to the foundations of the building, wishing to directly interrupt the connection between the upper and lower floors. The sound traveled along the pa.s.sage until it entered the ears of the reincarnators. It was quite clear even if they were far away.
It seemed that this doll’s destructive power was very high…
However, the sound lasted less than five minutes before coming to an abrupt end. There seemed to be a force that directly contained all of this and stopped the doll’s destruction.
Five minutes was enough.
The exit was right in front of the eyes of the reincarnators. There was the prison door that didn’t exist previously and three newcomers were preparing to go inside. The leader was going to cross the threshold—
It was now!
The author has something to say:
Surprised little yellow book: He can’t bear to hurt me.
Um, I can’t bear his pain. I’ll be very light but the size here…
6th Anniversary Event Page (Final Submission Date: 15th November)
Proofreader: Tofu