Deceitful Game

Chapter 13 Illusions? Or perhaps...?

—Blue, or red?

Lin Ya's heart clenched instantly.

This question, literally speaking, is incredibly simple—

After all, Lin Ya had no reason to save the raccoon.

Her only wish was to be resurrected.

Even if we take a step back and assume that Lin Ya's death is indeed related to the power of time, preventing her from being resurrected so easily, or that she might be murdered again after succeeding... then when she wants to seek help, wolves are definitely more reliable teammates and advisors than raccoons.

Therefore, if the wolf's command is true, Lin Ya will choose red without hesitation.

...But is the problem really that simple?

Although Lin Ya couldn't understand wolves, she could understand raccoons.

When she wrote the "blood letter" before, she deliberately didn't move so that the raccoon would take off her mask.

In this way, she could observe the raccoon's expression and thus judge her thoughts.

If the wolf gives the raccoon a mask and commands her to choose blue, and tells her that he will choose red, the raccoon will immediately realize that she has been abandoned.

She should be feeling fear, resistance, or even emotional breakdown right now.

Similarly, if the wolf only tells her to choose blue, but doesn't tell her what she should choose herself, the raccoon should also hesitate, waver, and think carefully. After all, this is a crucial choice concerning her life.

but……

Why is she making such a strange expression?

It was as if those weren't just a few words, but a glimpse into past memories. The raccoon's expression shifted repeatedly, so complex that Lin Ya couldn't quite decipher it.

So, in a state of intense unease, the rabbit considered another terrifying possibility:

Could it be that the one who was abandoned was actually myself?

After all, foxes and raccoons are "useful teammates" to wolves, while wolves themselves are of little use.

And that wolf-like move... he did it at the very beginning. He pretended to clap his right hand then, but secretly switched his vote to his left. Will he use the same trick this time, pretending to vote red but actually changing it to blue?

But... after all, I received a bargaining chip from the wolf; I was an ally who was "bought" by him!

Chaotic thoughts swelled in Lin Ya's mind.

Various possibilities, tearing each other apart like wild beasts, make it impossible to discern who is right and who is wrong.

Thinking of this, Lin Ya suddenly paused, remembering the game the host had mentioned about "escaping the sheepfold".

Wait, could it be...?

She looked at the wolf in astonishment.

—Could this be a wolf's "revenge"?

Because of her invitation, the "wolves," who were originally more capable than them, were drawn into this fair game where "luck decides the winner."

In this game, neither the powerful "dog" nor the intelligent "fish" can fully utilize their strengths and are eliminated.

The few "strong ones" are eliminated by the majority of "weak ones".

From this perspective, the rabbit has done a great job!

She brought a boss they couldn't normally fight into a luck-based format where they had a chance to defeat it.

The wolf is also happy to accept life-or-death battles—he seems to enjoy the thrill of being so close to death.

When he survived, he didn't feel any lingering fear of "barely surviving"; instead, he felt a sense of release, as if he were being bathed in a downpour, and even his voice and attitude became genuinely gentle.

It's almost like a period of post-coital reflection...

But the wolf had not forgotten how he had gotten into this situation.

The root cause of all this was that the rabbit dragged him into it; and the direct reason he needed to gamble with the fish was because Lin Ya proposed that "sure-win method" that was destined to fail.

He intervened and saved Lin Ya's life.

Now, he demands that Lin Ya, whom he rescued, cannot simply remain safely in the rear.

Instead, we should gamble with our lives just like him!

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

That's fair.

To punish Lin Ya, the wolf even risked putting himself back on the wheel of death—there was a very small chance that he would be accidentally thrown out by the overthinking Lin Ya and the raccoon!

Thinking of this, Lin Ya gritted her teeth and decided to trust the wolf.

After all, he already knew that wolves were definitely much smarter than him. So, his current thoughts were very likely all within the wolf's predictions.

The wolf asked itself, "Can you trust me under any circumstances?"

Then I'll... trust you this once!

Don't be so clever!

I'm not going to be so clever anymore!

Overwhelmed with emotion, Lin Ya slammed down the button.

--carry out an assignment!

Lin Ya took a deep breath, feeling a surge of fear rising in her heart, and her legs trembled uncontrollably.

That feeling, as if someone were pointing a revolver at your head and slowly pulling the trigger.

At the same time, it made her feel an almost suffocating fear...

...There was even a twisted, pleasurable feeling of tormenting oneself?

She glanced instinctively at the raccoon, wanting to see her answer.

It's like going to other top students to compare answers after an exam.

But Lin Ya suddenly froze.

She had no idea what the raccoon was seeing at that moment—

Suddenly, the raccoon covered its head with both hands, and crimson flames flickered in its pupils.

She let out a heart-wrenching scream of pain.

"What...is this?"

Shock, fear, and sudden realization.

A trembling voice squeezed out from between the raccoon's teeth: "What is this—?!"

She hadn't thought that much about it—and was about to press the red button without a second thought.

But just before she was about to take the picture...

The raccoon trembled as if struck by lightning.

In that instant, her expression changed rapidly and became extremely complex.

Even Lin Ya couldn't understand what she was thinking.

The feeling, as if she were seeing someone possessed, sent chills down her spine.

Suddenly, Lin Ya thought of someone.

She suddenly looked at the fox and found that the fox was looking at her at the same time.

They were thinking of the same person!

That short man who suddenly went crazy and ran out!

"...Wolf, do you still remember me?"

The raccoon stopped what it was doing, stared intently at Mingpo, and asked a seemingly random question.

Mingpo, who was being stared at, looked back with interest: "Oh? Should I remember?"

Under the dimly lit round table, one could vaguely see a few faint rays of light, like candlelight, flowing from his eyes.

Just staring at that dim, yellowish light made the raccoon's already pale face grow even paler.

She trembled violently, as if she had seen a demon that only appears in a nightmare, and couldn't help but let out a terrified scream!

Her features were contorted and groaning as she gasped and sobbed, her hands unconsciously scratching her fragile neck until it bled profusely.

It felt like someone had grabbed my neck with an invisible hand!

A gentle and kind "wolf"?

A gambler who likes to risk his life?

—No, none of those!

This is all a facade!

He's a devil, a demon!

Vague fragments of memory surfaced in my mind.

This might be her hallucination, or it might be valuable information she sent back from the future... or it might just be that she finally broke free from the demon's illusion.

"I don't believe it! This must still be a hallucination you've created!"

She screamed, her once innocent and naive eyes now filled with fear and resentment: "You still want to lie to me? I won't let you use me anymore!"

Raccoon—or rather, Liao Tinglan—stared intently at Mingpo.

Mingpo's once neat clothes now appeared to her as stained with blood. Even her seemingly clean and fair hands seemed to be covered in fragments and blood.

For a fleeting moment, Liao Tinglan thought she was still in that game of wolves and sheep, acting as an accomplice to the wolves.

He stood there at the entrance to the burning manor and turned around.

A smile, exactly the same one he wore at that moment, appeared on his face—a happy and serene one. His pupils burned with a bright, dazzling, dusky yellow light.

When she was locked onto by the dim yellow firelight, she fell into a new illusion.

The emaciated patient, with both legs severed, crawled towards the open manor gate, howling in pain.

"Both are dead, and two are alive."

As if completely unconcerned about the deaths of those people, or how they died, the man looked at her with great interest: "Is this a difficult choice to make?"

—And for a fleeting moment, Liao Tinglan felt that she had actually been participating in "The Death of the Minority" from the very beginning, rather than "Escape from the Sheepfold".

Wolf was indeed a gentle and refined older brother from the very beginning, a reliable teammate who could be trusted... Although he seemed a bit reckless, he was generally a good person.

Such a game, where life and death are determined by luck, is so compassionate and so fair.

The figure in the hallucination overlapped with the figure in reality.

"I absolutely—"

She stared at the wolf, her eyes filled with hatred: "I will never, ever believe your lies again!"

The next moment, the raccoon slammed its blood-stained left hand down hard!

--blue!

"How rude of me," the man in her hallucination sighed. "I haven't told you a single lie. Didn't I give you a way to survive? And I even let the extra people survive too, so why are you taking it out on me?"

In reality, Mingpo was also watching her.

"How rude of me..."

Mingpo sighed: "I haven't told you a single lie so far. I clearly gave you a way to survive, but you were the one who didn't choose it."

Two voices, different yet almost identical, overlapped, causing the raccoon's pupils to tremble violently.

Mingpo looked at the raccoon with pity and calm: "How does it feel to be fooled by the facts?"

"You made the wrong choice."

He said calmly, "However, I respect your choice."

"Round 4 is over."

The host's voice rang out simultaneously as the raccoon lost control of its emotions.

"Minority, Raccoon."

The host announced almost simultaneously:

"—Execute him immediately."