Chapter 40: Ways to Eliminate the "Traitor"

Long Qingye glanced at the brass scales: "He broke the rules."

Xie Liang nodded in agreement: "There may be two opposing factions in this copy, namely the devil and the human. He should have been killed by the saint holding the scales in the door painting."

"Libra generally represents justice. I wonder which rule Huang Jinwu broke?" Hong Guo frowned.

Wen Qingqing seemed to recall something when she heard Hong Guo's words. "I read in a book that some sects within Western Judaism have rules that stipulate fair and equitable distribution of food. Could it be related to the fact that he ate a few extra portions of food yesterday?"

"It is possible that some religious rules have similar regulations, and there will be fixed amounts of food before each meal, such as not being able to eat certain livestock meat, and fasting on specific days," said Xie Liang.

"This room is no longer habitable, Lu Xin. You should squeeze in with Lan Song and the others." Hong Guo said as she pulled up Lu Xin who was slumped on the ground.

Lu Xin's body was still shaking at this time. He had just woken up and saw this bloody scene in front of him. Perhaps the shock was too great for him.

After Xie Liang left the room, he asked everyone to disperse. After closing the door, he walked to the sofa in the long hall on the second floor and sat down.

He didn't sleep well last night, and his head was groggy at the moment. He fell asleep on the sofa without realizing it.

It was soon eleven o'clock, but the old nun who was supposed to deliver meals today did not come.

Everyone was starving and sat at the dining table on the first floor waiting.

"Is today a fasting day?" Chen Jing's voice was soft and sounded weak.

"Is today Wednesday? I remember some Protestant Jews fast on Wednesdays," Wen Qingqing said.

Lan Song stared blankly at the empty seat where Zhou Gui had sat before. "What's wrong with that Zhou Gui? Is he a human or a ghost?"

Xie Liang glanced at him and said, "This is probably the world in the painting."

Lan Song was confused and asked, "Painting? What painting?"

Wen Qingqing looked at Xie Liang and asked, "The Last Supper?"

"Yeah, but I'm just guessing." Xie Liang said.

"I've seen that painting," Wen Qingqing said.

Long Qingye squinted his eyes and glanced at Xie Liang, then leaned back in his chair with a drowsy look.

After a while, Wen Qingqing suddenly said excitedly, "I understand. There are thirteen people in The Last Supper, which corresponds to the number of people who first descended into this instance.

"In the painting, Jesus announced to his twelve disciples during dinner: One of you will betray me. Does that mean that Zhou Gui among us is the betrayer?" Wen Qingqing said and looked at Xie Liang, as if asking for his opinion.

Xie Liang gathered his thoughts and said, "If Zhou Gui represents the traitor, then killing him might lead to the door appearing."

Thinking of the rule in the small world that those who descended cannot kill each other, Xie Liang added: "No matter what is holding Zhou Gui's skin now, we can't just kill him directly."

"The Madonna and Child mural on the ceiling will emit a circle of light after the lights are turned off at night. We can tie Zhou Gui over there and let the holy light shine on him." Xie Liang said.

Wen Qingqing nodded: "I think it's okay!"

As soon as she finished speaking, her stomach started to growl. Not only her, but everyone in them was starving and could only drink the water from the sink in a daze.

"Go to sleep. Sleeping can reduce energy consumption." Wen Qingqing suggested.

Lan Song lay on the table and said, "It's creepy. I don't dare go upstairs alone. I'd better sleep here."

Some of them dozed off leaning on their chairs, some lay on the dining table in a daze, and some squinted their eyes with their elbows supporting their heads.

But in fact, it was impossible for them to fall asleep. The hunger in their stomachs could no longer be ignored. They just closed their eyes to rest.

Darkness slowly approached, and the light coming in from the window gradually dimmed.

Xie Liang looked out the window and could see something moving back and forth among the trees.

The demons in the mural began to struggle. They kept surging and struggling in the mural, trying to tear open the wall that bound them.

At this moment, the large glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling lit up, and the murals on the wall returned to calm under the warm yellow light.

Everyone went up to the second floor one after another and lay down on the sofa in the long hall, starving.

Long Qingye took a rope and threw it on the coffee table, saying, "Tie Zhou Gui up." After that, he walked back to the room.

Xie Liang looked up at everyone sitting on the sofa. Only Hong Guo stood up and grabbed the rope on the coffee table.

Xie Liang followed her to the room where Zhou Gui was. Hong Guo knocked on the door and said, "Open the door, I have something to tell you!" The room was quiet, without any sound.

Xie Liang then knocked on the door: "I'm going to share a room with you tonight. Open the door, I want to go in." Not long after he finished speaking, footsteps were heard in the room.

The moment the door opened, Xie Liang used all his strength to pounce on Zhou Gui and pressed him to the ground.

Zhou Gui was extremely strong. He growled and broke free from Xie Liang's restraints. With bloodshot eyes, he rushed towards Xie Liang. Xie Liang was caught off guard and was knocked to the bed by him.

At this moment, Zhou Gui opened his bloody mouth and bit towards Xie Liang's shoulder. He was like a ferocious beast, and his sharp teeth pierced into Xie Liang's skin.

Blood seeped through Xie Liang's white shirt. He gasped in pain, "Don't just stand there! Quickly put a rope around his neck! Pull him away!"

Hong Guo reacted after hearing what she said. She quickly put the rope around Zhou Gui's neck and pulled Zhou Gui out with all her strength.

Xie Liang took the opportunity to cover his shoulder and stood up.

At this time, the people in the long hall heard the noise and rushed over one after another.

Lan Song placed his hands on the rope and, along with Hong Guo, pulled Zhou Gui out of the room. "No way! Two people can't beat one person?"

"Tsk! That's easy to say. Why don't you try it?" Hong Guo said as she released her hand that was pulling the rope. The huge pulling force made Lan Song stagger a few steps towards Zhou Gui without any preparation.

Seeing this, Xie Liang hurriedly reached out and pulled the rope together with Lan Song, steadying Lan Song's steps as he gradually fell towards Zhou Gui.

Lan Song was furious: "Fuck! You stinky woman!"

Hong Guo said coldly from the side: "Huh, didn't you say it was easy?"

"You're looking for death!"

"Okay, stop arguing, both of you. Help tie Zhou Gui up first." Wen Qingqing said as she walked in to help.

With their help, Xie Liang tied Zhou Gui up tightly like a rice dumpling.

After finishing, Wen Qingqing looked at Xie Liang's blood-stained shirt and asked, "Are you okay? Did you bite it too deep?"

Xie Liang pulled open his collar. The deep bite wound on his collarbone was still bleeding. He pressed the wound randomly and said, "It's okay, just a minor injury."

They dragged Zhou Gui to the sofa in the long hall.

Xie Liang divided the people into two halves, half stayed in the long hall to look after Zhou Gui, and the other half went back to their rooms to rest.

Before lights out, those who have returned to their rooms to rest will come out to replace those who are guarding Zhou Gui, allowing them to return to their rooms to rest.

The ones who stayed in the long hall to look after Zhou Gui were Wen Qingqing, Chen Jing, and a man named Wu Xiaobo. After Xie Liang gave them a few words, he walked towards his room.

When Xie Liang returned to the room, Long Qingye was already asleep on the bed.

Xie Liang sat on the edge of the bed, took off his shirt, took out disinfectant powder from the bag beside him, and sprinkled it evenly on the wound.

Long Qingye woke up when Xie Liang opened the door, but he knew it was Xie Liang, so he didn't open his eyes.

Long Qingye turned sideways on the bed and stared at Xie Liang's back. Under the warm light, Xie Liang's skin had a faint amber luster.

His gaze moved down along Xie Liang's beautiful butterfly bones and almost perfect waistline until Xie Liang put on his clothes. Only then did he reluctantly look away and narrowed his eyes.

As soon as Xie Liang lay down beside Long Qingye, he heard Long Qingye curse "waste".

He thought he had misheard: "What?"

"Waste." Long Qingye said again.

Xie Liang was hungry and tired, feeling dizzy and too lazy to pay attention to him. "Well, I'm a waste." After saying that, he closed his eyes and rested.

The night seemed to stretch infinitely longer, and Xie Liang was sweating coldly in his sleep. Under the dim tungsten light, his face was flushed, and his dry lips kept exhaling hot breath.

Xie Liang woke up half an hour before lights out. When he came out of the room, Long Qingye and the others were already sitting on the sofa in the long hall.

"You all go back and rest. Brother Ye, Xie Liang and I will be able to go." Hong Guo said to everyone.

"I'll go too. I've slept all day. Let me see if there's anything I can do to help." Lan Song said.

Hong Guo looked Lan Song up and down and said disdainfully, "You? You'll only cause more trouble if you come."

"I say, woman, are you done yet?" Lan Song's voice was full of frustration.

Seeing that they were about to quarrel, Wen Qingqing interrupted them and said, "Chen Jing and I will go back to the room to rest first." After that, she took Chen Jing aside and left.

In the end, Lan Song and the quiet Wu Xiaobo chose to come over to help, and helped Xie Liang carry Zhou Gui down to the first floor.

Xie Liang felt dizzy all over. Every step he took felt like he was walking on clouds. It felt unreal.

Just as they went down to the first floor, the big chandelier on the ceiling suddenly went out. It was lights-out time and the castle fell into endless darkness.

"Don't move, don't get close to the wall!" Xie Liang shouted.

Everyone quickly turned on the flashlights they had prepared, and beams of light lit up.

Xie Liang and Lan Song carried Zhou Gui and walked carefully towards the light circle in the middle of the hall.

Just as everyone was walking towards the holy light, no one noticed Wu Xiaobo walking behind them. He seemed to be bewitched by something and walked towards the mural on the wall.

It wasn't until the devil in the mural hurt his arm that he woke up from his dream and screamed, "Ah! Save me! Save me!"

Hongguo heard the sound and turned her head hurriedly. She only had time to see a shadow, and Wu Xiaobo had been dragged into the painting by the devil in the mural!

Wu Xiaobo's shrill screams were still echoing in the empty hall. Xie Liang was in a daze. He shone the flashlight at the surrounding murals several times, but could not find any trace of Wu Xiaobo.