章 16: Chapter 16: The Unpredictable Zhou Baiyu
Evening.
When Zhou Baiyu suddenly disappeared into an unknown time and space as the countdown arrived...
Ling Hansu, who had searched for Zhou Baiyu to no avail for a day, also entered a peculiar space.
In the pitch-dark world, there suddenly was light.
The orange glow lent the space of less than eighty square meters a dusky air.
Below the chandelier was a long table opposite four rows of bookshelves, with books of various materials and covers arranged on the quaint shelves.
There were manuscripts, books resembling bamboo slips, scrolls, and books that appeared like dictionaries.
An old man with male-pattern baldness, wearing large-framed reading glasses, and looking very aged, was holding a book, his expression tinged with confusion, as if curious about a certain problem.
But when Ling Hansu entered, he quickly became calm, and in an aged voice he said:
"Even in my lengthy career, there aren't many cases like yours."
The structure of the room, due to the rows of bookshelves, presented a "川" character layout.
Ling Hansu stepped into this library, while the old man who seemed to be the librarian was on the other side of the long table.
"How did I suddenly enter here? I didn't see the countdown..."
Ling Hansu looked at the old man, confused.
The old man spoke:
"Do you know why the rules don't choose to simply eradicate those like you who fail the challenge, and instead opt for a strange forced suicide?"
Ling Hansu shook her head.
Failure in the challenge, leading to forced suicide, seemed to be the destiny of all the failed pioneers.
No one asked why, no one cared about why the "God" made such complicated rules.
It wasn't until today, when Ling Hansu was saved, that she began to subconsciously ponder this question:
The elder stated directly:
"It is redemption."
"To give you a chance for resurrection. But whether anyone is willing to save you, willing to take on the risk that's nearly equivalent to death, you need to earn and seize that opportunity yourself."
"So suicide can be prevented, but prevention comes at a price."
Ling Hansu remained silent.
"Your luck isn't bad, a blind cat ran into a dead mouse. You actually happened to encounter someone participating in the trial for pioneers."
"And this person's trial has already begun."
Ling Hansu was shocked.
The trial for pioneers?
Her body trembled, her legs suddenly went weak, and she leaned against the bookshelf.
"How could it be... the trial for pioneers... He's actually a newcomer?"
No matter how others fawned over Ling Hansu, her status as the Sky Eye revered, in the old man's eyes, she was just a foolish girl, a disappointing foolish girl:
"What else? As an observer of us, don't rely on having more information and not think. Use your pig brain to think carefully, other than a newcomer, who would save you for no reason?"
"I really don't want to be your middleman, but this is a debt I must repay. If you want to survive, you need to think more."
Ling Hansu silently nodded, taking the advice to heart.
There are nine professions, nine middlemen.
Each middleman has their own characteristics.
A seductively mature gambler woman, a violent and irritable instructor, or a librarian spreading knowledge...
They are remnants from a certain battle, forced into service to train pioneers.
Of course, apart from imparting professional knowledge, their main task is to drain the pioneers' initiation value.
To find ways to make every pioneer exhaust their initiation value.
No matter how different the personalities of the nine middlemen are, some truly regard pioneers as students. Like this elder—Mo Sangyu.
Mo Sangyu is the middleman for the God of Knowledge and Wisdom. He dearly hopes that these pioneers survive.
After all, only pioneers who are alive are worthy of having an initiation value.
He always teaches them: think more.
Think more, just three words, but in that apocalyptic version that made countless people fearful, with its numerous bizarre rules, very few could manage to think more.
Ling Hansu's heart was in turmoil, about to speak.
Upon seeing her frantic appearance, Mo Sangyu scolded:
"What's the panic? I've told you to think more. If the newcomer fails, you're already dead. Since you're here, that means his journey hasn't ended."
"But he's a newcomer! Without my help, how could he possibly survive?"
Mo Sangyu snorted coldly, the strict elder revealing a sneer:
"A brain that refuses to think will degenerate, and those with degenerated brains become arrogant. You are truly arrogant. You can't even complete your own challenge, so what help do you think you could provide in this even more difficult challenge?"
"Do you think you're mutually redeeming each other? In fact, your actions are tantamount to murder. You are simply forcing others to save you."
Ling Hansu didn't dare talk back; she desperately wanted to survive, so she resorted to such methods.
If Zhou Baiyu failed the challenge, both she and Zhou Baiyu would die. She was eager to know what had happened to Zhou Baiyu.
"I want to peek into his situation."
"You can, for the payment of 430 points of pre-emptive value and I will permanently take away one of your privileges. This matter is non-negotiable."
This matter truly was non-negotiable because it was a punishment mechanism. Ling Hansu had forcefully taken a life from Zhou Baiyu, so 430 points of pre-emptive value and a privilege were the debt she owed Zhou Baiyu.
Of course, her debt was far from just that.
The elder took out a book from the second shelf. The cover of the book featured three twelve-sided dice.
It was a very thick book.
When Mo Sangyu pulled it from the shelf, even he was surprised, as it had been a long time since a book from the second shelf was to this thickness.
Although he had already divined an outcome, knowing that Ling Hansu wouldn't die, he did not expect...
The owner of this book could write such densely packed pages.
"How is this possible..."
Strange things happened again.
Just when Mo Sangyu thought the book was thick, it started to change...
It began to thin out.
To thin out meant the pages were decreasing, which meant the protagonist's experiences within the book were diminishing.
But how could that be possible?
"Impossible... absolutely impossible..."
Yet the impossible continued to occur.
As a Sky Eye, a fourth-order being of clairvoyance, Mo Sangyu simply couldn't accept that a thing whose fate should be fixed was constantly changing.
This made him momentarily doubt all the knowledge frameworks in his mind.
But quickly, he still managed to calm himself:
"Knowledge can't be wrong; there must be some new situation. I just haven't found the reason... Yes, that must be it."
The book with the three dice on the cover continued to fluctuate in thickness.
But some pages were indeed fixed.
Mo Sangyu recalculated, confident that the result of his original divination hadn't changed.
"You can only look at the first few pages. 430 points of pre-emptive value, and the prerogative you once gained before the summoning in version 1.19, are the cost of reading this book."
This was an incredibly steep price. But Mo Sangyu would never have forced a sale before.
Fearful of being scolded, Ling Hansu was momentarily silent, forced to think.
"I'm about to die, wealth is external... it's not worth caring about, but Master Mo doesn't seem like the kind who would exploit even the dead."
"Could it be... Mr. Zhou Baiyu survived?"
The book returned to its original thickness.
The heavy book was almost weightless, and Mo Sangyu was well aware that the thickness of this book was now a mere appearance.
The young man's future... was uncertain.
Ling Hansu ultimately had no choice but to accept the deal and turn the first few pages she was allowed.
Before long... she was blushing furiously.
"This... this, this can't be possible. Mr. Zhou Baiyu... how could he be such a lewd person!"
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