Chapter 77

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Bai Zhi and Xiang Chen straightened out their clothes then hurried deeper into the long passage.

The atmosphere between the two shifted subtly. Xiang Chen became more vigilant. He walked half a step in front of Bai Zhi and kept his eyes and ears peeled for any abnormal sights or sounds.

The walls of the passage were lined with a dark-colored brick. It gave off a bone-chilling coldness as the two passed through. After walking for a long time down a straight path, a turn appeared. Bai Zhi and Xiang Chen approached it with caution. They could see a faint, flickering blue light just behind the bend.

Xiang Chen turned his head to look at her; his expression was grim. Their eyes met, and as if in tacit understanding, they both softened their footsteps.

A slight breeze whistled between the walls, but there were no other sounds—nothing to indicate who or what awaited them.

Xiang Chen poked his head around the corner.

“Watch out!” Bai Zhi exclaimed.

A heavy, metal rod as thick as an arm swung down directly above Xiang Chen’s head.

The youth reacted swiftly and sidestepped just in time. The solid metal rod smashed onto the ground with a loud boom. Its impact was enough to leave a small crater where it landed.

Xiang Chen looked up. He stared, wide-eyed at the person holding the metal bar. “Xiao Yang!” He hissed through gritted teeth.

Bai Zhi rushed to Xiang Chen’s side.

She saw Xiao Yang holding the metal bar in front of him in a defensive posture. There were thin beads of sweat formed on his forehead. And from the look in his eyes, she could tell that he was in bad shape.

At the sight of Bai Zhi, his entire body tensed, and his hands clenched even tighter around the metal bar. He glared fixedly at the spot behind her. When no one else appeared, he visibly slumped in relief.

“It’s just the two of you?” Xiao Yang loosened his grip on the metal bar.

“Yes.” Bai Zhi nodded. She had an inkling of what he was worried about. If Zhao Zixun were also here, Xiao Yang wouldn’t have had a chance at fighting back.

Zhao Zixun was a different beast altogether. He was ruthless—he would never spare his opponents for no good reason.

However, despite all this, Xiang Chen’s behavior still seemed overly wound up.

Bai Zhi frowned. She didn’t voice her suspicions aloud, but instead asked, “Why are you here alone?”

Xiao Yang put down the metal bar and leaned back against the wall. He looked mentally and physically exhausted.

“Did you split up with Zhao Zixun?” The corners of his mouth raised up imperceptibly.

Xiang Chen countered, “Who was the person you met up with earlier?”

“Take a guess,” Xiao Yang toyed with the metal bar in his hands. His bangs hid the light in his eyes. “Perhaps it was Gu Ze…”

Xiang Chen didn’t think so.

Xiao Yang continued, “Or Gao Qiu? Maybe I brought Di Qing and Lu Ye? What do you think? Any guesses?” There was a glimmer of wild laughter in his eyes as he squinted at the two in front of him.

“I think you only brought one person with you tonight,” Xiang Chen said.

Bai Zhi tuned out of their conversation. She turned to scan the vast open space. It was a rectangular-shaped room. The walls were built using the same cold, hard brick as the passageway. In the middle of the room was a circular pit filled with black-colored mud. A dozen or so short, gray stone tablets were arranged awkwardly in the mud. They stood haphazardly as if they had been placed in a hurry and eroded with time. Each stone tablet had a cross etched into the middle.

She felt a sense of foreboding. Was this what she thought it was?

Amid the sea gray and black, a glint of something sky-blue caught her eye.

In this dull, monotonous prison, there shouldn’t be anything so warm and free. It reminded her of the open blue sky that stood behind the mesh of barbed wires.

Curiosity got the better of her, and she walked over to check it out. It was the only tablet painted a different color. At closer examination, she saw that there was writing engraved on the tablet.

Name: Lin Lan

Number:

Died: May 2012

Cause of Death: Suicide

She stumbled back in horror. She felt a strong sense of dizziness as if her soul had been ripped out of her body for a split second.

“Ah-Zhi?” Xiang Chen called her name in concern. “What’s wrong?”

“Xiang Chen…… Come here…… Take a look at this.”

“Is that… a headstone?”

Blood drained from Bai Zhi’s already pale face. Swallowing the bile rising in her throat, she nodded.

One by one, she checked each of the headstones. The more she looked, the colder she felt.

Each headstone had a name, a number, date of death, and cause. Only that sky-blue headstone had a blank after “Number:”.

—She wasn’t the first to be without a number.

The so-called “Unnumbered Ones” were not restricted by the rules of the game. From the very start—the very first game—these Unnumbered Ones have had an indispensable role in this sick, deadly game.

At the periphery of the burial ground were three blank tablets.

“These three blank headstones… Was there no one left to erect them because they were the last to die? Or did they…” Xiang Chen speculated about the different possibilities.

“They… they didn’t die. They were the three winners of the last game…” Bai Zhi’s face was pale, and her voice unsteady.

Three blank headstones… three victors.

It was exactly as Di Qing had said.

He didn’t lie to her. Aside from the three winners of the last game, everyone else died… Including the other Unnumbered One…

Other resources: Character List

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