Chapter 166 Night Candle Rules 44 South Gate, you'll regret this!
The judge appeared, plunging the entire barrier into silence.
Zhang Jin looked up at the judge, and Nanmen Jue stared straight at him.
Terra bent down and retrieved Zhu Wenjun's body.
"Don't worry, I won't use her to exchange for points," she whispered to Nanmen Jue. "Once we get back, I'll hand her over to you to deal with."
Nanmenjue certainly wouldn't suspect Terra of doing such a thing.
Unlike the previous day, this time the judge stood on the right side of the scales.
The familiar light screen reappeared in front of everyone.
"The second question has been posed; please answer it."
Unlike before, this time, in addition to the problem, a countdown timer appeared in the upper left corner, showing ten minutes remaining.
Nanmen Jue's gaze fell on this problem.
"How many people who should have died haven't died because of your existence?"
This is not a proper way of asking the question.
Normally, this question should express "how many people have you saved?" If asked in this way, the value orientation of the question is normal. But when the judge asks it like this, it becomes a negative question, making it unclear whether "saving others from death" is a good thing or a bad thing in his judgment.
Because the question was asked ambiguously, most people hesitated.
However, the judge reiterated, "If you are lying, I will know."
Nanmen Jue was already certain of this. Their answers would be dug out of the Judge's mind, just like digging out the souls of the people they had killed, digging out the image of the strongest. The Judge was a manipulator of the mind and soul. Human thoughts were like corpses that could be dissected at will in front of him, transparent jars. He knew exactly what was inside their internal organs.
Since he already knows everything, why would he need someone to answer it again?
He repeatedly emphasized "if you lie," indicating that whether or not someone lies is a very important criterion for him, but what exactly that criterion is is still unknown.
These thoughts raced through Nanmen Jue's mind. She looked at the others, who were all staring at the interface, deep in thought. Because there was a clear time limit this time, no one was in a hurry to fill it out, and there was a lot of discussion in the room.
"Your answer to this question must be quite astonishing," Zhang Jin said. "Just yesterday alone, how many people did you save? Did you count?"
"You're still here," Nanmen Jue said indifferently. "I thought that realizing you're annoying and leaving on your own was something a person with normal intelligence would do."
Zhang Jin smiled dismissively, waved his hand, and wrote his answer on the panel without hesitation.
"Writing so fast?" Mo Gui muttered from the side, "Looks like you can count the number of people you've saved on one hand, maybe zero?"
“Little friend, has no one ever told you that Jin Ming has excellent hearing?” Zhang Jin’s eyes flickered as he stared directly at Mo Gui.
Mo Gui was startled. He had just raised his head to pretend to be calm when Nanmen Jue blocked his way.
"You know what to write, don't you?" she said abruptly.
Zhang Jin looked at her, "What do you mean?"
Nanmen Jue didn't say anything more. She turned her gaze to her control panel, and her expression revealed nothing about what she was thinking.
Zhang Jin said, "Are you saying that I controlled the judge and made him ask these questions?"
Nanmen Jue remained silent.
Zhang Jin added, "Even speculation requires evidence, Nanmen Jue."
Nanmen Jue completely ignored him.
The scene looked a bit awkward, making it seem like Zhang Jin was desperately trying to win him over. Noticing the strange looks around him, Zhang Jin lost face and coldly turned to speak to Zhou Yiming.
Despite being a ruthless person who has risen to a position of power above millions in the online world, he always possesses a narrow-mindedness that doesn't match his reputation.
They are concerned with saving face, have a high opinion of themselves, and can't even pretend to be convincing.
hypocritical.
Nanmen Jue lowered his eyes and wrote two strokes on the panel.
Deng Erhuai asked her what she had written. She simply shook her head, her narrow phoenix eyes filled with icy coldness.
Before, when she smiled, you could tell what she was feeling. Now that she doesn't smile, you can't even sense her emotions anymore.
She now appeared calm, quiet, and aloof. Deng Erhuai, who was usually proactive and bold, no longer dared to say a word.
Ten minutes later, the screens in front of everyone disappeared.
This wasn't the first time anyone had gone through this process, and everyone knew what was going to happen next, so they all looked up in unison, nervously staring at the scales above them.
Nanmen Jue also raised his head, and a few seconds later, a huge pile of white weights fell to the right side of the balance scale.
The weights were so heavy that they lifted the judge high into the air, causing a stir of astonishment.
As expected, Nanmen Jue turned her head to look at Zhang Jin. Zhang Jin was not as surprised as he had been yesterday. The two looked at each other, and Zhang Jin smiled and whispered something.
"Although I already guessed it, I'm still very curious about how you did it."
In the silence, Zhang Jin's voice came out abruptly, startling the stunned people around him.
Everyone looked at them, with most eyes focused on Nanmen Jue's calm face.
What does this mean? Does Nanmen Jue really control the Judge? Is she able to manipulate the Judge's power?
"I'm curious, are you still stirring things up now? Are you trying to unite everyone to kill me?" Nanmen Jue said coldly. "If you wanted to do that, you could have used yesterday's excellent opportunity to win people over. Why didn't you do it?"
Yesterday, the mirror image raged, causing heavy casualties in the Ghost Realm. Because of his status as the most senior reincarnator and the leader of the four major guilds, many people went to Zhang Jin for protection. But strangely, Zhang Jin ignored them all.
The crowd dared not speak out in anger, but in reality, they had cursed Zhang Jin, this hypocrite who only talked the talk but didn't walk the walk, countless times.
When the matter was brought to the forefront, Zhang Jin, who valued his reputation, simply smiled slightly and said, "Yes, why?"
Nanmen Jue looked away.
Someone asked in a trembling voice, "This time the question was about doing good deeds. We won against the judge, so... we shouldn't be punished anymore, right?"
Yesterday's punishment terrified many people, making them even more fearful of the judge's methods.
Everyone was waiting for the judge's verdict.
Under the watchful eyes of countless people, the judge uttered an inorganic voice from his yin and yang faces.
"The scales are out of balance; punitive measures are to be initiated."
A profound silence descended, and immense fear and despair enveloped the barrier. After a day of intense danger and pressure, various emotions began to erupt.
"What's going on? Why can't I kill more people than you, and I can't save more people than you!"
"It doesn't matter what questions he asks, right? He just wants us dead!"
"I've neither killed nor saved anyone. I just want to live quietly. Why should I be implicated?"
Amidst the commotion, Nanmen Jue looked at Zhang Jin again, "What did you just do?"
“I’ve said before that speculation needs to be supported by evidence,” Zhang Jin said.
Nanmen Jue was too lazy to argue with him. Just before the judge could speak, Zhang Jin touched his earring.
Is it a coincidence? Perhaps, but Nanmen Jue doesn't believe it.
The atmosphere inside the barrier had been stirred up. Some people were cursing loudly, some were crying uncontrollably, some were at a loss, and some were blank and stunned... Wei Chongru quietly moved closer to Nanmen Jue. He had previously hidden in a very far back position to avoid Zhang Jin.
Next, the judge would announce the punishment. Zhang Jin's lips moved slightly, but before he could speak, Nanmen Jue raised one arm high, like a primary school student actively answering a question in class.
"I have a question—"
Her voice was magnetic and high-pitched, and she even used a green prop to amplify her voice; Zhang Jin had used the same one before.
The sound immediately drew everyone's attention, but Nanmen Jue just stared intently at the judge.
Ying Yao felt a sudden unease and, unusually, interrupted Nanmen Jue, asking, "What are you doing?"
Nanmen Jue blinked, and before she could answer, the judge spoke up.
What do you want to ask?
Zhang Jin suddenly looked up, a strange look flashing in his eyes, as if he hadn't expected the judge to reply to someone's words separately.
Amidst the attention of everyone, Nanmen Jue calmly said, "I have a question. I'd like to know who accounts for the largest proportion this time?"
Before she could finish speaking, Ying Yao grabbed her arm tightly. She turned around and, before meeting his angry gaze, saw Zhang Jin's surprised look.
She smiled slowly.
This was the first time she had smiled since seeing Zhu Wenjun's body. Her smile was unusually bright, like a man-eating flower that had finally bloomed in its time of year, but her pupils were filled with coldness and sharpness.
“Since you’re going to bring this up anyway, I might as well lend you a hand.” Nanmen Jue ignored Ying Yao’s livid face and said to Zhang Jin with a smile.
Something has indeed changed.
Zhang Jin stared at Nanmen Jue's smile and thought to himself, "It seems my assessment of Nanmen Jue was correct. Zhu Wenjun's death has indeed affected her, but this step she took was something I hadn't anticipated."
It seems she was quite certain that she was the one who occupied the largest proportion.
Given this, what does she plan to do?
An unprecedented sense of challenge and danger enveloped him, and Zhang Jin felt a shiver run down his spine and into his brain. He felt curious and excited, and all his senses were simultaneously focused on the same question.
What does Nanmenjue want to do?
"What does this mean?" Mo Gui felt like he understood, yet he didn't. He stared at Nanmen Jue's smile, completely mesmerized, not even knowing what he was saying. "Brother Jue... have you saved many people?"
"Nanmen Jue!" Ying Yao couldn't help but shout out in a low voice.
"Shh, don't nag me," Nanmen Jue said. "Even the judge might not agree."
"you……"
“Yes,” the judge said.
Ying Yao was speechless. Everyone looked up and watched as all the weights flew up... and the name Nanmen Jue appeared on them.
When people are shocked to the extreme, they lose the ability to speak.
Actually, it wasn't all the weights; it's just that the portion occupied by Nanmen Jue was so enormous that once that portion was lifted, the remaining weights were pitifully small.
They have no presence whatsoever.
In the silence, someone murmured, "It's bad now."
"Is something wrong?"
"This shouldn't be Nanmen Jue controlling the judge, right...? This isn't good for him either, is it?"
"Fools, have you forgotten who he is? He might have been planning to kill us anyway! Now he's finally stopped pretending!"
"But he saved me last night..."
"He saved many people last night. If he wanted to kill us, why would he bother?"
"Who can understand the mind of a psychopathic killer!"
A cacophony of voices filled the air, but in the small circle closest to Nanmen Jue, everyone remained silent, including Zhang Jin and Zhou Yiming.
They stared intently at the separate pile of weights, their expressions a mixture of shock, astonishment, and disbelief... No adjective could describe their emotions.
After a long pause, Zhang Jin looked at Nanmen Jue with a somewhat complicated expression in his eyes. Nanmen Jue was unsure whether he saw a trace of pity in his eyes.
“Look, this is the person you want to save.” He said to Nanmen Jue with what seemed like gentleness. “No one will understand you, and no one will be grateful to you.”
After a brief moment of surprise, he naturally understood what Nanmen Jue meant.
Whatever she intends to do or how she plans to do it, her ultimate goal is to save the lives of those who are still alive.
Upon seeing his sweet expression, Mo Gui's anger soared. Who said no one would be grateful to Nanmen Jue? Are they not human?
He was about to speak when Nanmen Jue beat him to it.
She laughed, a genuine laugh this time, as if she had heard a really funny joke. She laughed exaggeratedly because the prop's timer hadn't expired yet. Her laughter echoed throughout the entire barrier, and everyone fell silent, staring blankly at her laughing like a madwoman.
After laughing to herself, Nanmen Jue's expression suddenly turned cold and arrogant. She raised her chin and looked down at him with disdain.
"If I were after someone's understanding or a word of thanks, I wouldn't have gotten to where I am today."
Silence reigned.
Ying Yao released his grip on her arm. His face, without the mask, was even paler, but a flush spread across his cheeks. He stared intently at Nanmen Jue's arrogant face, which seemed unbound by anything, and an unparalleled fervor spread deep within his eyes.
This is who she is—this is how she is supposed to be!
“Let’s streamline the process, be more sincere, and less manipulative.” Nanmen Jue’s sharp gaze fell on Zhang Jin. “What are you planning to do next?”
“Let me guess,” Nanmen Ju said to himself before Zhang Jin could speak, “From yesterday to today, both questions have been too directional. You should have just learned something yesterday. All the questions the judge asks will lead to one result, which is to make me stand out.”
She smiled and said, "You failed yesterday, so today you've switched to one that's sure to succeed. You know what will happen after you solve this problem."
This time, Zhang Jin didn't spout nonsense like "guesses need evidence." Instead, he looked at Nanmen Jue with encouragement and asked, "And then? What do I plan to do?"
“Then you’re going to kill me,” Nanmen Jue said. “As long as you kill me before the judge announces the punishment, the weight will disappear, right?”
Everyone stared wide-eyed.
If Nanmen Jue is killed... the weight will disappear?
That's right! Nanmen Jue holds such a large weight; once she dies, the balance will definitely not be broken by the judge!
Pairs of eyes began to turn blood red. Nanmen Jue, the fearsome red name, had lost its deterrent power at this moment. Everyone stared at her, wishing they could tear a piece of flesh off her.
Snap, snap, snap.
Zhang Jin clapped three times for Nanmen Jue, his eyes filled with admiration. "Nanmen Jue, if I didn't have to kill you, I would really like you. Unfortunately... I have to kill you."
"Don't like me." Nanmen Jue smiled slightly. "You're not worthy."
A surge of heat suddenly exploded in Zhang Jin's chest. This heat rose up and was about to show on his face, but he forcibly suppressed it.
His eyes turned sinister. "No one has ever dared to... Nanmen Jue, you're very good."
He looked around; everyone had gathered around. "So what do you plan to do now? You think you're safe just because you have the support of those few people around you? Nanmen Jue, Jin Ming, and Cheng Ming may be powerful, but they're still human after all. Can you defeat one, two, three, or even hundreds or thousands of people who want to kill you?!"
“I don’t need to kill them,” Nanmen Jue said.
Zhang Jin was silent for a moment, then asked, "What did you say?"
He seemed to realize something, his face darkened, and his eyes flickered with an uncertain light.
“No matter how strong the Judge is, he is still just a monster. And no matter how strong a monster is, it can still be killed.” Nanmen Jue took out a wooden box. “He doesn’t have any ghost servants. As long as this ghost realm is broken, guess what will happen?”
Zhang Jin's expression finally changed.
He guessed what it was.
Nanmen Jue said, "Anchor points should be protected more carefully, don't you think?"
Anchor point...anchor point?
It's an anchor point that can be used to get out once it's destroyed!
The crowd erupted in uproar.
Even Nanmenjue's friends almost lost their ability to think.
When was the anchor point found at Nanmenjue?
They certainly knew that anchor points were a good way to break the deadlock, but how did they find them?
How could one find it in this mysterious realm, whose area is unknown and which is as vast as another world?
Incredulous eyes turned toward Nanmen Jue.
Nanmen Jue acted alone for a long time yesterday and saved many people. How could she have had time to find the anchor point?
They didn't know, but Zhang Jin did.
His gloomy, sharp gaze fell upon the person who had been standing silently behind him, one of the Four Great Golden Names, yet unusually quiet in this strange realm, seemingly deliberately hiding himself.
The others followed his gaze and looked at... Zhou Yiming behind him.
The day is bright? !
What happened now?
Zhou Yiming still wore that indifferent and weary expression, but because he was handsome, even with a face that looked like his father had died, it was impossible not to dislike him. Facing all sorts of strange gazes, he calmly lifted his leg—leaving Zhang Jin's side and walking to Nanmen Jue's side.
"I didn't know he killed that little girl."
The clear, cool voice, like the tinkling of a spring, made people dazed and confused. It took them a while to realize that it seemed to be Zhou Yiming explaining to Nanmen Jue.
He explained that he was unaware of Zhu Wenjun's death and therefore could not save her.
“I know,” Nanmen Jue said gently. “Who can predict who a mad dog will suddenly bite?”
Judging from this conversation and these expressions, who couldn't see that Zhou Yiming had secretly sided with Nanmen Jue?
Oh, now they're openly taking sides.
Terra couldn't hold back any longer. "South Gate, what exactly is going on?"
What happened? Actually, this was also beyond Nanmen Jue's expectations.
It wasn't that she didn't want to find the anchor point, but when she realized that the appearance of the judge was related to Zhang Jin, she guessed that the anchor point was very likely under Zhang Jin's control.
Although Zhang Jin is arrogant and always treats others like fools, he is as stingy as a miser when it comes to the resources that belong to him.
The judge is his resource, and even if it's not for the purpose of guarding against enemies, he will not allow something that controls the life and death of the judge to fall into the hands of others.
To Nanmen Jue's surprise, Zhou Yiming took the initiative to find her.
Last night, she and Zhou Yiming parted on bad terms because Zhou Yiming found it hard to accept the things he said to her.
As someone who also values face, Nanmen Jue understood Zhou Yiming very well. So she originally planned to take things slowly and gradually turn Zhou Yiming around. However, not long after she acted alone, Zhou Yiming found her again.
“I know where the anchor point is.” He got straight to the point, his face cold as if someone owed him eight million, without even looking at Nanmen Jue. “Once the anchor point leaves the origin, the energy of the Ghost Domain will become unstable, so he didn’t carry it with him, but instead had me watch over it.”
Zhang Jin wasn't always with Zhou Yiming, so they easily took the anchor point directly.
“I don’t know where he went either. He doesn’t trust me.” Zhou Yiming curled his lips in a mocking smile. “He doesn’t trust anyone.”
"No need for any nonsense, I don't want to hear it." He said coldly, "Do you think that good-for-nothing Jin Jian managed to get you this information?"
Nanmen Jue was shocked. "You're in cahoots with Jin Jian!"
"..." Zhou Yiming finally couldn't bear it any longer and looked directly at Nanmen Jue, "Can you speak?"
"I'm sorry." Nanmen Jue lowered his head decisively.
She wanted to ask more, but Zhou Yiming didn't want to listen anymore. After getting the anchor point, Zhou Yiming chased Nanmen Jue away.
Nanmen Jue looked at him intently, "Do you know what Zhang Jin will do once he discovers the anchor point is missing? In your current situation, you can't beat him."
Then Nanmen Jue realized that she had said the wrong thing again.
A faint blush rose on Zhou Yiming's delicate face—from anger.
"Don't worry about me. Even if I get injured, I'm not a piece of trash." He said coldly. "Let me remind you, even if I give you this, we'll still be enemies. One day, I'll still kill you."
Now that things have come to this point, how could Zhang Jin not know about Zhou Yiming's betrayal?
He looked at Zhou Yiming and softly uttered two words: "bitch".
Zhou Yiming's eyebrows twitched, but he didn't speak.
"I underestimated you. When did you hook up with Nanmen Jue?" Zhang Jin said contemptuously. "So you've been putting on an act all along, using everyone as a pawn in your game, huh? How was it? Did you enjoy being with Nanmen Jue? If you had told me you were into this, I would have found someone to satisfy you."
A faint blush rose to Zhou Yiming's face again. Due to the side effects of the golden prop, he had always looked sickly, with a pale complexion and thin skin. When he got angry, it looked like his blood vessels were about to burst.
One of the four high-ranking leaders, having been publicly humiliated like this, and being arrogant, now stared at Zhang Jin with venomous eyes, like a colorful, flicking venomous snake.
Suddenly, his vision went dark. Nanmen Jue stepped in front of him, blocking the view from the surrounding crowd.
He was stunned, almost unable to come to his senses.
"You're the one who should be careful now, Zhang Jin," Nanmen Jue said. "Four against one, you have the advantage?"
The situation has now completely reversed.
With the anchor point in hand, Nanmen Jue can destroy this eerie realm at any time. Once the eerie realm is destroyed, what can the judge do to punish him?
Of the five Golden Names, four are now on Nanmen Jue's side. Could it be that the strongest Reincarnator is really that strong, unafraid of being attacked by everyone else together?
Even though victory seemed assured, Nanmen Jue did not relax in the slightest.
She was indeed wary of Zhang Jin, and even now, she still couldn't put her mind at ease.
She ran her fingers over the wooden box, which was provided by Zhou Yiming. It had a warm, smooth texture, but it felt icy cold to the touch.
Zhang Jin looked at her and suddenly smiled strangely.
"You think you've already won, Nanmen Jue?" he said softly. "If that's the case, why don't you just destroy what you have in your hand?"
Nanmen Jue's eyes darkened further.
"Xiao Jue," Ying Yao called her softly.
“Brother Jue, he might be bluffing you,” Mo Gui said. “You smart people always think things through; maybe he’s figured that out.”
“Well said, kid.” Zhang Jin clapped approvingly. “Maybe I’m just bluffing you. Hurry up and destroy the anchor point and let all of you out.”
Nanmen Jue stared at the strange smile on Zhang Jin's lips, hesitating to make a move.
"Destroy the anchor point immediately!"
"Get out of this godforsaken place right now! What are you thinking about?!"
The surrounding noise resumed.
Zhang Jin said, "You want to save people, right? Then go ahead and do it."
Nanmen Jue's fingers twitched as she rubbed them together. She slowly increased the force, and if she wanted, the box would turn to dust in the next second.
Just then, a hoarse, heart-wrenching voice rang out from the air.
"Don't destroy it—the South Gate! You'll regret it!"
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Author's note: I hate my period!
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