In the air, the corners of the mouth of the [Holy Serpent] hidden under the mask were slightly raised. The next moment, he appeared directly next to Jiang Ran, waved his hand, and the entire chessboard froze!
If the condition for becoming a card in their hand is "approval," and the referee [Sacred Serpent] is also a strange creature, then it can be inferred that as long as this condition is met, [Sacred Serpent] can also become a card in their hand!
"This is unreasonable!" Burroughs roared from the air, "[Holy Serpent]! Didn't you say you wouldn't join the game?!"
"No, no, no, I am the Holy Serpent! How could the Holy Serpent play games with humans?"
These are the exact words of the Holy Serpent!
"Don't take things out of context—" [Holy Serpent] raised its head, "I remember I had another half-sentence, didn't I?"
"Everyone in this room, except me, can be a gamer!"
That's right, he didn't appear as a player, but rather as a "chess piece".
"Stop making excuses!" Burrough waved his hand. "You broke the rules too! There's one of our strange creatures right next to Jiang Ran, how could you possibly be there! You set that 300-meter radius yourself!"
"Really?" [Holy Serpent] yawned, then shook its head indifferently. "It seems like there was such a thing? Oh well, that rule doesn't exist anymore."
"you!"
"What do you mean, 'what do you mean'?" [Holy Serpent]'s tone was incredibly irritating. He crossed his arms. "My rules, I can change them whenever I want. I'm the referee, is that reason enough?"
"I will do it again!"
[Sacred Serpent] raised his right hand, and six beams of light lit up the chessboard. The remaining six [Sacred Fruits] flew into his hand at the same time, including the two held by Old Ox and Big Black Dog.
"Okay, let's leave it at that. It's too much trouble. Let's just disregard the 30-minute rule as well."
Burrough was indeed almost driven mad by anger, but the more the [Holy Serpent] continued to speak, the more he lowered his arm.
If the creators of the game world of ghost stories could change the rules at will, chaos would have ensued long ago. [Sacred Serpent] is not qualified to change the rules it created, but it can hide a part of them.
"Actually, the game is already over once the [Holy Serpent] is summoned."
What happened before was just [Sacred Serpent] teasing them.
Han Xiaodong stood up, his gaze fixed on Jiang Ran.
"I'm very curious, what exactly did you say in just one sentence that made the [Holy Serpent] acknowledge you?"
"Guess."
The world shattered, and everyone returned to the back hall. Burroughs instinctively took a step back. He clearly remembered the words of the [Holy Serpent]: if they didn't have a single [Holy Fruit] by the end of the game, they would die here!
"Don't worry, everyone, I'm a civilized monster," [Holy Serpent] chuckled, "so I won't kill you!"
Was the [Holy Serpent]'s previous statement also a lie to fool them?
"Cough cough..."
Before Burroughs could even relax, he felt a suffocating sensation and quickly covered his chest with his hands!
"etc......"
When he looked down, he saw an empty soul lamp lying on the ground.
"This is... my soul lamp?"
[Holy Serpent] That bastard! He deceived everyone! His game did not stop time at all. Everyone's soul lamps were left burning quietly in the back hall, and there was not a drop of oil left!
Seven [Sacred Fruits] floated above Jiang Ran's Soul Lamp. The fruits burst open, and the black lamp oil inside flowed into Jiang Ran's Soul Lamp!
No wonder, no wonder they would die without the [Sacred Fruit]! It turns out the [Sacred Serpent] wouldn't even make a move!
John was dumbfounded. The reason he was still able to avoid despair at the end was that he thought he could hit the Holy Serpent with the Moon Bullet and make it lose its killing intent towards him. He never expected that this would be the result!
"Cough cough!"
Han Xiaodong leaned against the wall with one hand, his face extremely pale.
"Jiang Ran... Jiang Ran! At least... at least tell me... tell me how I lost! What exactly are you... cough cough!"
Jiang Ran knew what Han Xiaodong wanted to ask: how exactly did he gain the "approval" of the [Holy Serpent]?
Han Xiaodong was not unaware of this, but the game should have ended when the situation became truly irreversible and overwhelming, at which point the [Holy Serpent] would recognize the superior side and end the meaningless game.
"What exactly...did you say?"
"Sigh, I see you're so curious. But don't overthink it. So-called 'recognition' only takes a moment, so as long as we can give the [Holy Serpent] a moment of surprise, this isn't too difficult to do."
"I just said something he thought I absolutely didn't know."
"What is that...?"
Han Xiaodong collapsed to the ground, barely clinging to his last breath. Both Burroughs and John had already passed away, but Han Xiaodong stared at Jiang Ran with his bloodshot eyes.
"Do you really want to know?" Jiang Ran walked closer, squatted down, and brought her mouth close to his ear. "Unfortunately, I don't intend to tell you."
Farewell.
"Is that so..." Han Xiaodong closed his eyes, "You won't even let me die knowing the truth?"
"Farewell... Jiang Ran..."
Han Xiaodong's hand finally fell to his sides.
[The death of Vilence Terren, the ghost story teller from the land where the sun never sets...]
Han Xiaodong is really dead... Even though he still had one chance to use his talent, he couldn't escape the suffocation of his soul lamp going out.
"Take it." [Holy Serpent] handed the fragment of the cross to Jiang Ran. "Kid, you surprised me. How did you guess it?"
“Combining everything I’ve seen, and then using the process of elimination,” Jiang Ran held up a finger, “and finally, adding a tiny bit of luck.”
"Here's a piece of advice, kid, don't die." [Holy Serpent] sat down in the chair and waved to Jiang Ran, "Perhaps we'll meet again someday."
"Oh? You'll become a bizarre entity? Otherwise, we probably won't be able to meet in other instances."
“You don’t need to try to trick me.” [Sacred Serpent] pinched his fingers. “This time I became your pawn, but we are all pawns, and in the end, we can never become the ones who wield the pieces.”
"Remember, if you want to survive, the worst thing a chess piece can do is have self-awareness!"
Jiang Ran left the back hall, and Gwen was teleported out of the game along with him, as was the big black dog. Unfortunately, Planck and Xu Ying disappeared just like that.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Gwen tugged at Jiang Ran's sleeve. "What were you guys talking about? What chess pieces and what? I don't understand at all!"
Jiang Ran gently patted her head after a long time: "Then don't think about it."
"Hmph! But I'm still very curious—" Gwen tiptoed closer, "What exactly did you say to the [Holy Serpent] before?"
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