I Return From Hell

Chapter 70: Chapter 66: Game Over

Killing intent rose in Xie Xiaolei.

Xia Yu and the others couldn’t move anyway, helpless before her.

However, the Treasure House owner shook his head and said, ”Aside from the white mist and the rules, no one is allowed to kill anyone during the game.”

”That includes me.”

”Otherwise, I would have done it myself just now.”

His voice was much weaker.

’Was this the price he paid for giving Xie Xiaolei the power to decide who lives?’

Doubt crept into Xia Yu’s mind. She had a feeling the Treasure House owner wasn’t so simple. After all, someone who could run such a large antique shop couldn’t be this shallow.

’What’s his backup plan?’

”That makes sense.”

Xie Xiaolei nodded in agreement.

”If we survive, we’ll definitely kill you.”

Xie Shaokun yelled hastily.

Xia Yu frowned. ’Saying things like that will only provoke Xie Xiaolei.’

A crooked smile spread across the Treasure House owner’s face.

”Threatening me?”

Xie Xiaolei, who had still been pondering her choice, let out a cold laugh and pointed at Xie Shaokun. ”I choose him.”

Instantly, everyone except Zhao Xianghe grew extremely tense, desperately hoping they would win.

No one wanted to die!

Even Xia Yu could only await the judgment of fate. As powerful as she was now—strong in every aspect—she was still as weak as an ant before the rules.

But she would never resign herself to fate!

She refused to entrust her life to others or to the rules.

So...

’I choose the Treasure House owner!’

She roared in her mind, focusing all her spirit and willpower as she resolutely made her choice.

Drawing on her ten years of experience and insights into the rules since her rebirth—especially after witnessing their formation and changes up close this time—she, who had always been adept at comprehending them, seemed to grasp something.

At this moment, her accumulated knowledge finally paid off.

BZZZT.

In the unseen world, the rules here seemed to be affected in some minuscule way.

It broke the original balance.

It compromised the fairness of this ’gamble’!

”Game over.”

”Liar, die.”

”Wrong accuser, die.”

A mechanical, hollow voice rang out immediately after.

Everyone could move again.

”No!”

The moment Zhao Xianghe’s despairing shout erupted, he exploded.

Xia Yu hid under the table.

She dodged the shower of blood and gore, gasping for breath. She found herself drenched in sweat, a profound exhaustion seeping into her body and mind, threatening to pull her into sleep at any moment.

This showed just how draining that single moment had been for her.

Fortunately, she had won.

Moreover, she could now vaguely perceive a trace of the rules’ trajectory, and her affinity with them had increased significantly.

This was a breakthrough from zero to one!

It was of immense significance!

BANG!

Another body exploded.

Xie Xiaolei.

Dead!

”Cough, cough.”

The Treasure House owner slowly turned around, his face deathly pale and extremely weak.

He wasn’t dead!

”Stupid bitch.”

Glancing disdainfully at where Xie Xiaolei had been, he said coldly, ”You thought you were worthy of scheming against me?”

”My last privilege wasn’t to save someone, but to find a scapegoat who couldn’t fight back to bear the consequences of my failure in the game.”

”Unfortunately, this privilege doesn’t last long, as it constantly drains my vitality.”

”Until I die completely.”

’No wonder his complexion is so bad,’ Xia Yu realized.

”You are truly a respectable opponent.”

The Treasure House owner fixed his gaze on Xia Yu, his eyes narrowing. ”To think you made it to the third floor so easily, exposed my trick, and won the game.”

”I’m very curious.”

”How did you figure out that I was the real liar?”

”Were there that many flaws in my plan?”

Xie Shaokun gripped his pig-killing knife and moved to Xia Yu’s side, on high alert.

Little Nannan also scrambled out from under the table to Xia Yu’s side. She messily wiped the bits of flesh and blood from her face, surprisingly resilient enough not to have fainted, though she was vomiting uncontrollably.

”Many.”

Xia Yu nodded. ”There were many. Flaw #1: The red embroidered shoes, the Autumn Mountain Fisherman Painting, and the Armor all vanished, but you didn’t. Instead, you were here hosting a game. That made me suspicious.”

”Flaw #2: The game’s name is ’Who is Lying?’, and the rules mention that everyone has an identity card. Does that include you, the Treasure House owner? You’re a living person, too—I more or less confirmed that when you were going up and down the stairs.”

”Flaw #3: The rules can mete out punishment on their own. Why would they need an extraneous human like you? I suspected you were part of the rules themselves.”

”Flaw #4: Everyone lied. That made me realize all our identity cards must have said ’Liar’. This clearly doesn’t fit the game’s setup, which means there had to be one true liar, and you were the prime suspect.”

”I even suspect that the reason all our cards said ’Liar’ was your doing.”

”Flaw #5: I noticed that, just like us, you couldn’t move anything except your head and arms. This further led me to believe that you were a participant in the game, not the referee.”

”Flaw #6: As far as I know, the probability of a rule-type resource being generated here is very high, practically a certainty. Yet you claimed there wasn’t one.”

Hearing this, the Treasure House owner’s expression turned ugly. He clearly hadn’t expected his supposedly perfect plan to have so many flaws.

The main issue was the short time between the mist’s appearance and everyone arriving at the stairs to the third floor.

He didn’t have enough time to plan further.

”Flaw #7: Your ’privileges’ were too specific.”

Xia Yu continued, ”Little Nannan is very honest and the most likely to reveal her identity, yet she was restricted from looking at her card.”

”I have the strongest analytical ability, yet I was restricted from pointing out the true liar.”

”The real rules wouldn’t be so targeted. They would only restrict players randomly.”

”You’ve interacted with us and know a bit about Little Nannan and me. That makes you the most likely person to have those two privileges. And since those privileges are most advantageous to the real liar...”

”It wasn’t hard to guess your identity, was it?”

CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.

The Treasure House owner applauded in admiration. ”Brilliant.”

Xia Yu spoke again. ”Flaw #8.”

’There’s more?’

The corner of the Treasure House owner’s mouth twitched violently.

”You once said that peeking at another person’s identity card would result in punishment. But when Xie Shaokun flipped over Zhao Xianghe’s card, he wasn’t punished. What does that tell you?”

Xia Yu continued, ”It means that rule was likely something you made up yourself. The real rules don’t include it.”

”That’s what made me absolutely certain that you were a participant in this game, and that you were the true liar!”

”The game began after the rules announced, ’During the game, rule-breakers die.’ The rule for the first round of speaking was the start of your lies. There’s no way the rules could have evolved to be so complex in such a short time.”

Uhh...

Xie Shaokun’s body went stiff.

’If there really had been a punishment, wouldn’t I have kicked the bucket right then and there?’

A wave of fear washed over him after the fact.

”You really are incredible.”

”If I also had the power to choose the liar, and if luck had been on my side at the end, I definitely would have won this game.”

The Treasure House owner was completely convinced, feeling utterly crushed. However, he believed it was only because the rules had restricted him too much.

”No.”

Xia Yu shook her head. ”Even if that were true, Xie Xiaolei wouldn’t have helped you. You would have lost even more miserably.”

Ugh.

’That’s true.’

The Treasure House owner faltered. He had to admit Xia Yu was right. He said hatefully, ”You’re the one who made me pay such a heavy price and become further enslaved by the rules. So, I’m going to personally...”

”Kill you!”

Originally, his luck had been off the charts. He was a lucky one, chosen by the rules.

All he had to do was kill the other living people in the Treasure House under the rules’ authority, and he would have obtained a rule-type resource, survived, and been able to leave this place.

But now, he was further enslaved by the rules. Even if he fulfilled the conditions, he could only survive and become a real person, but he couldn’t leave.

There wasn’t much food or drink here. Sooner or later, he would still die.

How could he not be filled with hatred?

”If I’m not mistaken, your constitution has a naturally higher affinity for the rules than an ordinary person’s. That’s also why you were chosen by them.”

Xia Yu said flatly, ”What an enviable stroke of luck.”

’Too bad this lucky guy didn’t get a chance to grow in my past life, or I would have definitely heard of him.’

”Because of my constitution?”

”You know so much.”

The Treasure House owner had a moment of realization and felt Xia Yu’s terrifying nature even more keenly. Not daring to delay any longer, he made his move.

”No matter how strong a person is, they can’t fight the rules!”

”So, die!”