The Trial Game of Life

Jin Cheng handed the matter of Meng Yufei to K, but four days passed without any progress. It seemed as though after entering the dungeon, he had vanished from this world, leaving not a single trace behind.

He might also be dead, but would someone who managed to survive Jin Cheng die so easily in a dungeon? Neither K nor Jin Cheng thought so.

Because of this, K’s face looked a bit too black these days. He didn’t want to destroy his reputation just because of Meng Yufei, so he desperately put in even more effort to hunt him down. In fact, he wanted to figure out some clues before Jin Cheng entered the next dungeon.

But the results were disappointing.

He didn’t find Meng Yufei, but found something else.

Chen Liu of Heaven’s Will gang was dead.

The man who had always been snobbish about himself being a ‘veteran player’ and always isolated Jiang He, which eventually made Jiang He leave Heaven’s Will, died in Zone G prison four hours ago.

Chen Liu was the type of man who could easily offend anyone. He was killed by someone and sent to jail, which was pretty much expected. Heaven’s Will of today was no better than before, because many of the members were kicked into jail by Jin Cheng, which had obviously hurt their spirits, not to mention they had also lost Jiang He. They barely managed to keep their footing in Zone A now, but those who didn’t dare to attack Chen Liu before had finally grown the guts to.

So at first, Chen Liu heading to prison didn’t attract anyone’s attention, and even Chong Yanzhang didn’t take it to heart.

Rather, he even felt a hint of satisfaction.

After all, Chen Liu was the main reason why Jiang He left.

Chong Yanzhang wasn’t a fool; of course he knew that ten Chen Lius together wouldn’t be as good as one Jiang He. But since Jiang He had chosen to part ways, he could only turn to pacify Chen Liu and other veterans in the gang. This time, when Chen Liu once again headed to jail, Chong Yanzhang only hoped that he would learn a good lesson and stop causing trouble for himself.

Who would’ve thought that Chen Liu completely perished in prison?

The news hadn’t yet reached Zone A. K’s eyes and ears got the information from the people who just got out of the prison and informed K at once. Nicely at that point, K happened to be discussing with Jin Cheng about Meng Yufei, and after a bit of thinking, he sold the news to Jin Cheng.

“Consider it as deferred interest.” Because of Black Hat, K had become a lot more generous recently.

Of course, Jin Cheng accepted the offer, and his first reaction after hearing the news was — “Heaven’s Will is over.”

K nodded in approval, even with a hint of sarcasm at the corner of his mouth: “Chong Yanzhang abandoned Jiang He for other veterans, but now that Jiang He is gone, he can’t even keep Chen Liu. As soon as their minds are no longer together, everything is over.”

This time, Tang Cuo also came with Jin Cheng. Hearing the two of them singing back and forth “Heaven’s Will is over”, he suddenly remembered one issue that had been overlooked: “But where did Jiang He go?”

K glanced over: “It’s not easy to know Jianghe’s whereabouts. He’s the Mist Assassin, a very fitting role for the darkness of this Yong Ye City.”

“He’s just asking if you know.” Jin Cheng tapped the table with his finger: “Why spill so much nonsense?”

K rolled his eyes: “I’m talking to Tang Cuo, it’s none of your business.”

Jin Cheng raised his eyebrows: “So do you or do you not know where he is? You’re clueless about so many things, I think your business should close down soon.”

“You jinx my business every few days. Do you have any grudge against me?”

“Just showing you my tender loving care.”

K picked up the cup and almost wanted to hit Jin Cheng’s head, but he thought of the high value of this cup and dropped the idea. After thinking back and forth, his annoyance was deflated and he took a deep breath: “Someone saw him in Zone F about 10 days ago. As for what he’s doing and why he’s there, no one knows. Jiang He is now a lone fighter, and the amount of people who want to recruit him is aplenty. As far as I know, Lawless has sent people to look for him.”

Lawless was the gang that The Puppeteer Yao Qing belonged to.

Jin Cheng thought for a moment and smiled: “You’ve sold this news for a good price, right?”

K smiled and didn’t answer. This piece of news hadn’t been leaked, and now that it was in K’s hands, he could always find a suitable buyer and sell it at a good price. Perhaps he knew some other things, but Jin Cheng’s attention right now wasn’t on Jiang He and he didn’t want to waste too many points for that.

But no matter what state Jiang He was in at present, he was still an elite of Zone A. He was sent to jail by Jin Cheng but not demoted, so why was he in Zone F again?

Jin Cheng looked at Tang Cuo to see him deep in thought. A moment later, he looked up and asked: “Who killed Chen Liu in prison? Was it the one who killed him in Yong Ye City or someone else?”

“It’s very likely the same person.” K narrowed his eyes: “He was killed in the central area. The opponent struck extremely fast. Before anyone at the scene could react, Chen Liu and the killer had disappeared. Then he was killed a second time in the prison, with no more than an hour’s buffer in between, so shouldn’t it be the same killer who never shifted his gaze away from Chen Liu?”

“And we don’t know his real identity?”

“He was under disguise.”

In Yong Ye City, talented players came in waves. There were countless ways to become unrecognisable, hence it wasn’t a surprise that the killer’s identity was unknown as for now. In any case, to put it bluntly, this was a matter concerning only Heaven’s Will, so Jin Cheng and Tang Cuo didn’t have much to comment.

After Wen Xiaoming got out of the dungeon, he came to Zone E to report every day. Jin Cheng told him about Heaven’s Will and asked him to keep an eye on the changes in Zone A. That was seemingly the end of the matter.

But who would’ve thought just one day later, the place was caught in even bigger turmoil.

At that point, there were still 16 hours before Jin Cheng and Tang Cuo triggered the forced mission.

Less than two hours after Wen Xiaoming left Zone E, he furiously trotted back from Zone A. Charging through the door and not even having the leisure to sip on some water, he announced: “Chong Yanzhang went to prison in person to avenge Chen Liu. Who would’ve known, a riot took place! They took him down and beat him to death! “

Jin Cheng was confused: “What did you just say?”

Wen Xiaoming: “Chong Yanzhang! Beaten to death! In prison!”

Jin Cheng: “Such a damn thing can actually happen?”

Wen Xiaoming nodded frantically.

Tang Cuo: “Why was there a riot? Did the warden not bother?”

This was a great question.

Jin Cheng thought about it for a few seconds and replied: “Because the man is twisted. Our powerful warden likes to see everyone jumping around but still unable to escape from him. In fact, he doesn’t really like well-behaved prisoners.”

With this very intriguing reason, Tang Cuo was convinced. Then he turned to say: “Chen Liu and Chong Yanzhang have suffered one after another, there must be a connection between these two incidents. “

Jin Cheng nodded and slightly took back his idleness: “No matter what, Chong Yanzhang was once in the top ten of the Red List. It’s beyond anyone’s imagination that he would have such an ironic ending.”

As for why he ‘was once’ but not ‘was now’, it was because after the battle at East Cross Street, he fell out of the Red List’s top ten.

Finally, Jin Cheng said: “We have to go to the prison to see what evils are hiding there. But before that, I’d like to know where Jiang He is at the moment.”

Tang Cuo: “You think that Jiang He has something to do with these incidents?”

Jiang He would definitely not attack Chong Yanzhang. With his character, unless Chen Liu asked for death by himself, Jiang He wouldn’t take the initiative to kill him. But Jiang He just left Heaven’s Will, so no matter whether this matter had anything to do with him now, it would definitely be in the end. 

After a pause, Jin Cheng said again: “Now that Heaven’s Will is over, the remaining men will either turn into fallen stray dogs or mad dogs biting people everywhere. When Chen Liu was killed, Jiang He must be the first suspect.”

Jin Cheng’s view on Heaven’s Will had never been very favourable. It seemed that apart from Jiang He, he held none of them in high regard, even Chong Yanzhang.

Saying so, Jin Cheng immediately asked Wen Xiaoming to visit the Ruby Bar to continue inquiring about Jiang He’s whereabouts. As for himself, he felt that it wasn’t enough for just him and Tang Cuo to break into the prison. He had to find a bodyguard.

No matter how Tang Cuo looked at him, Jin Cheng didn’t seem to be scared at all. Rather, his lips were tugging into a wicked smile, and after hearing him say who the bodyguard was, Tang Cuo couldn’t help but look behind him.

Jin Cheng: “What’s wrong? Is there something behind me?” 

Yes, a big wolf tail.

Asking Leng Miao to help you because he had experience sitting in jail, aren’t you trying to piss him off?

After hearing Jin Cheng’s request, Rong Yi also remained silent for a long time. He began to ponder whether he made a wrong decision to partner with Jin Cheng outside the Black Hat Miscellaneous Store.

“If you ask for his help, he may not hold back the urge to stab you with a knife in the middle of business.”

Jin Cheng: “Miao Miao is a wizard, so he won’t need a knife.”

Rong Yi: “…I’ll give it a try.”

By saying “give it a try”, Rong Yi meant that he would convey the words on behalf of Jin Cheng, but he felt that it was already a very risky move to speak on Jin Cheng’s behalf, because it meant that he might lose his friend Leng Miao.

Sure enough, after hearing his words, Leng Miao directly crushed a cup.

“Is there something wrong with his head?”

“There doesn’t seem to.”

“It’s hidden, can’t be seen.”

“That I agree.”

Chi Yan has been following Rong Yi, and Rong Yi didn’t deliberately avoid him either. When the two big bosses spoke, he didn’t dare to interrupt, but in his heart, he was madly holding a grudge and planned to run back to report to his ge.

At this point, there were 13 hours before Jin Cheng and Tang Cuo triggered the forced mission.

Wen Xiaoming couldn’t get more information about Jiang He from K, but the turbulence in Zone A continued to spread, radiating throughout the whole city from the central area.

It had been a long time since a big figure like Chong Yanzhang died in Yong Ye City. He was a powerful man who knew plenty of ways to save his neck at the critical moment and wouldn’t die easily. Moreover, after the elites in Zone A had reached a position like him, they tended to have a sense of principles. Unless the opponents were mortal enemies, there was no need to kill.

But even if that was the case, Tang Cuo still felt that the speed at which this news was spreading was a bit too fast.

“Someone is fishing in troubled waters?” He said.

“Which fish?” Jin Cheng asked back.

“For example, you.”

“Then a fishing rod alone isn’t enough, you’ll need dynamite.”

Jin Cheng lay lazily on the sofa, hugging a pillow and looking all sloppy. He looked up at Tang Cuo, who was walking by the sofa, and continued: “There are still many Ancient Tomb Sect古墓派 [Gu Mu Pai] refers to the fictional martial arts sect in the wuxia novel The Return of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong. Their name is due to the fact that they live in a tomb. In this context, by ‘Ancient Tomb Sect players’, Jin Cheng means that these players wander in the darkness and haven’t shown themselves.players in Yong Ye City. How many people are hiding behind the scenes and waiting to stir up trouble? I’m afraid even Lin Yandong can’t be completely sure. Players like Rong Yi who act all righteous will have a difficult life here.”

Tang Cuo declined to comment.

At the end, he asked: “Why Leng Miao?”

Jin Cheng smiled: “Spatial Manipulation is a very useful skill.”

At the same time, in Zone A.

On the empty long street, numerous lamp posts stood upright, their dim lights flickering. A shadow walked under the light but his figure couldn’t quite be illuminated. It looked as though he was wrapped inside a mist and would drift away with the wind at any point.

A commotion suddenly came from the front. Countless pairs of eyes were watching from the dark, and at the focus of these gazes, vague curses and furious clamour could be heard mixing together, then everything abruptly blew up.

That was Heaven’s Will’s base camp.

The vague shadow was Jiang He, and he was only one street away from the villa that he used to be so familiar with. Looking at it like this, he felt that he was getting further and further away.

He was a tad taken aback.

Chong Yanzhang actually died just like that.

Up to this point, Jiang Ha still felt that it was unreal. He used to be grateful to Chong Yanzhang, and he used to hold a tinge of resentment towards him back in prison, but he eventually figured that they could peacefully go back to being strangers. He truly didn’t expect that Heaven’s Will would collapse so quickly.

“Chen Liu is dead and the boss is dead, this must be revenge! Who else could it be beside Jiang He? Who else would have so much hatred for us?!” A voice came from the villa.

There was no emotion in Jiang He’s heart. He only felt that his memory of the past year had suddenly faded. The incident was obviously only half a month ago, yet it seemed as fuzzy as last year.

A long while later, he remembered what Zheng Yingying said to him before they separated: “After you’ve clearly thought about it, go outside the prison and wait for me. I won’t force you to be with me.” 

The little girl seemed very doubtful, and she even looked a little bit irate.

“Nothing that’s forced can ever be right.”