V1C22

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The four of clubs, the three of hearts, the nine of diamonds, an eight, a two, a pair of sevens, and a pair of kings. If he discarded the doubles, Lin Jue would be left with five cards.

After the deal, almost everyone could get rid of one or two pairs.

The candles on the round table weren’t very bright and in the weak light, everyone’s expression seemed unsettling and indistinct, all of them aiming wholeheartedly to free themselves of their death sentence.

Even at such a close distance, Lin Jue couldn’t see Gao Yifei or Song Hanzhang’s cards. Even though her cards were facing him directly as she drew from Zhao Liangsheng, all he could see were five blank sheets.

Just who held the joker?

Everyone was playing their game in their own way- Song Hanzhang with his expressionless calm, Lu Ren with his careless smile, Liu Shan with his uncontrollable shaking, but Lin Jue was unable to make a decision.

The most unlucky person was probably Zhao Liangsheng who sat right after Lu Ren. Everytime Lu Ren turned around to let him take a card, his face paled a shade, and the same went for Liu Shan who sat before Lu Ren. Everytime Lu Ren reached out for a card, Liu Shan looked as if he was being choked.

A three of hearts and one more pair was discarded. Lin Jue let out a breath of relief. Now, he had Gao Yifei’s five of hearts, as well as his previous nine, eight, and four. Song Hanzhang had already taken his two of diamonds.

The pile of cards on the table grew larger and larger and the cards in everyone’s hands grew less and less. Luck favored Liu Shan and he had already discarded all but a single card, and his opposer, Lu Ren, was just about to draw that last one.

“I’ve gotta say, your luck is really quite good, little mouse.” Lu Ren expressionlessly moved his hand in front of Liu Shan who was dripping with sweat, and lightly drew away his last card.

Liu Shan stood up frantically, his chair falling down with a bang.

Lu Ren smiled softly looking at that card. “It really is a good card huh? I can tell you all, the joker is now in my hand. You should be careful.”

Liu Shan half-rolled, half-crawled his way from the card table and cowered in a corner. The easter egg girl laughed a little. “I just knew it! It’ll get more and more interesting as we reach the end.”

Lu Ren shuffled his three cards and placed them on the table. “Pick one. I recommend the one in the middle.”

Zhao Liangsheng stared at him with a rigid face and resolutely pulled out the card on the left. His face turned the same shade as a piece of paper the moment he flipped the card over.

“Tsk, you need to try and trust me every now and then.” Lu Ren grinned as he took back up his cards and glanced cockily at Song Hanzhang.

Zhao Liangsheng reshuffled his cards many times. He didn’t even have the courage to look at them himself and placed them in a pile in front of Gao Yifei. “Pick one,” he croaked.

Gao Yifei looked at him in fear and took the second card from the top.

She obviously didn’t get the joker as she threw out a pair from her deck.

Another round passed. Everyone held only a few cards and this time, Gao Yifei had lost her luck. Almost the moment the card left Zhao Liangsheng’s hands, his expression relaxed while Gao Yifei looked like she was going to cry.

Lin Jue’s heart missed a beat. In this moment that was so close to the end of the game, if he picked the joker…

He couldn’t help but look towards Song Hanzhang. He was staring calmly at Gao Yifei, as if contemplating something.

——Kill Gao Yifei.

Song Hanzhang’s cold voice flashed through Lin Jue’s mind, his whole body shivering before straightening out.

Why would he suddenly remember that sentence? Why was it that at this moment, the first thing he thought of was that? This kind of deep-rooted evil, Lin Jue thought it was horrifying of him.

“It’s your turn now,” Gao Yifei spoke with a hint of a tremor.

Lin Jue turned to the voice. Maybe it was because he didn’t have enough time to hide his previous thoughts, but one look from him made Gao Yifei cower back into her chair, her hands shaking uncontrollably.

Gao Yifei looked at Lin Jue, her eyes begging and red but still insistently holding up the three cards towards Lin Jue.

No-one wanted to die, no-one.

Lin Jue reached out and took the card in the middle.

And in the instant he picked up the joker, he suddenly found that what he felt wasn’t surprise, but just a kind of disappointment.

So it turned out his luck wasn’t that good either.

So, this was what the joker turned out to look like.

A little black clown with a big twisted grin, its joyful expression unnaturally hideous.

In that moment, there was a sliver of regret in the depths of his heart, but he refused to look at the reason behind it.

Lin Jue calmly shuffled the three cards in his hands, shuffling slowly and carefully, then raising them in front of Song Hanzhang.

Song Hanzhang moved his hands along the three cards, but his eyes were fixed on Lin Jue.

Lin Jue was never someone who could hide his troubles. His expression always showed too easily on his face, especially in his eyes.

Song Hanzhang’s finger stopped on the middle card and Lin Jue’s eyes shut forcefully, finally moving to Song Hanzhang’s line of sight.

——Don’t pick that card. Lin Jue’s eyes said it cleanly and clearly.

——No, if you don’t pick it, I’ll…

Conflicting emotions tumbled in his eyes until they at last dispersed into a confused emptiness.

Song Hanzhang looked into his eyes for a long time without saying a thing. At last, he let out a breath, like coming to a decision.

The long, slender finger lifted up lightly and the joker left Lin Jue’s deck, along with the shadow of death that had been clouding over him.

“Song…” Lin Jue pushed out a sound from his throat, but he was cut short by Song Hanzhang.

“Do you think you’ll have a chance to get rid of the card if it stays with you? Someone like you who writes everything on their face is truly not suited to lying.”

He didn’t look at Lin Jue as he said it but rather at his cards, his voice calm as if he was discussing something that didn’t matter at all.

Lin Jue regretted it. He should have listened to Song Hanzhang, he should have pulled out the gun and ended everything the moment he got the joker.

After Liu Shan took the first win, the person after Song Hanzhang was Lu Ren. If Song Hanzhang wanted to get rid of the joker, he would have to face Lu Ren. No one knew what Lu Ren would do, and if Song Hanzhang lost his life because of it…

The gun in his pocket weighed heavily, along with the antibody in his other pocket. He already owed Song Hanzhang too much. One after another, that person would easily and calmly help him face off every deadly threat.

If Lu Ren made any surprise movements, Lin Jue would definitely point the gun at him.

Didn’t he already promise that? On matters like killing others, let him do it!

Song Hanzhang shuffled his cards and placed the three in front of Lu Ren. Lu Ren, who had previously been yawning from boredom, finally became a little energized and smiled lazily. “Sacrificing yourself? That doesn’t sound like you at all.”

“Pick one. I recommend the one in the middle.” Song Hanzhang said the exact same thing as Lu Ren.

“You’re still so uncute. The best method against this type of play is this.” Lu Ren raised his eyebrows and flicked the three cards around, so much so that even he no longer remembered the original order. Then, he placed his hand on the card in the middle and smiled. “You know, I’m actually really good at following advice…”

He flicked the card over and sighed with a little bit of regret. “It’s just that my luck isn’t very good.”

Lin Jue’s heart finally returned to where it was supposed to be. He looked excitedly at Song Hanzhang, only to see him take back his remaining two cards expressionlessly.

Just when he thought that Song Hanzhang wouldn’t notice him, he suddenly looked at Lin Jue, and mouthed one word: ‘Careful.’

‘Careful’? What?

“Alright, everyone’s luck is terrible, so it’s your turn again. I still recommend the card in the middle.” Lu Ren lounged in his chair and looked half-smilingly at Zhao Liangsheng.

Zhao Liangsheng’s entire face was tight, every muscle on his body frozen. His eyes stared unmovingly at the cards on the table, as if trying to see through to the contents beneath.

At last, he decided to copy Lu Ren’s method, to reshuffle the three cards’ orders before picking. Lu Ren looked at him dumbly swapping the cards with interest before tilting his head and saying, “Oh dear, I can’t seem to remember which one is the joker anymore.”

Zhao Liangsheng’s hand stopped. He hesitated, then decided on the card on the right and slowly reached out.

At that moment, Lu Ren, who had been lazing in his chair, leapt up, a bright flash of metal slashing through the dim room like a fleeting but dazzling comet falling into everyone’s eyes.

With a dull thud, something heavy fell onto the ground and rolled a little before hitting a wall and stopping. The next second, blood fell down like rain from broken arteries, the dense and slightly musty air immediately overruled by the stench of blood, an endless nightmare.

Lin Jue was the first to react. He pulled out the revolver and stood in front of Song Hanzhang, gun pointed at Lu Ren and shouted, “Stand up, don’t move.”

Lu Ren stayed sitting and sheathed his dao, turning around slowly, a smile still on his face. “Your weapon is nice, but the aim of a beginner normally isn’t too good. If you want to get rid of me, you only have one chance.”

Lin Jue had never been so focused as the two stood unmoving against each other until Song Hanzhang made a barely audible sigh.

“The game has already ended, there’s no need to add any unnecessary casualties. Lin Jue, put the gun down.” Song Hanzhang covered Lin Jue’s hand with his. Lin Jue hesitated before slowly lowering his gun, his eyes still staring unblinkingly at Lu Ren.

Lu Ren shrugged and sheathed his dao before flipping over his deck of cards and picking out the joker, placing it neatly onto Zhao Liangsheng’s chair. He then turned towards Gao Yifei who was trying to shrink into her chair and asked, “Do you want to keep playing, little miss?”

Gao Yifei sobbed and shook her head, half of her face covered in blood, not daring to meet Lu Ren in the eye.

“Tsk, women,” Lu Ren said in disappointment before excitedly scrutinizing Zhao Liangsheng’s dead body.

The headless neck was still pouring out blood, but no longer spraying the entire room with it, looking more like a can overflowing with blood.

“Hey, someone died so we can leave now, mm?” Lu Ren turned and asked the girl sitting not far away.

The girl with pigtails hummed in satisfaction. “I’m not called ‘Hey’, you can call me Lilith.”

After speaking, she lowered her head and sent a short message on her phone.

At the same time, everyone’s phone buzzed.

Lin Jue opened his phone to see: 【Player Lin Jue, completion requirement met, leaving the maze. PS: Please come again. ^^ From the Easter Egg Collector, Lilith.】

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