Chapter 83: The Second Trial, the Snow-Avoiding Coffin

Princess Anping’s story had concluded, leaving the ten people in the tomb passage in prolonged silence.

Even Imperial Inspector Liu, known for his unrestrained tongue, furrowed his brows, looking deeply moved.

People crave what they lack the most.

And coincidentally, most of the outsiders here—modern people—lacked everything. In today’s society, so-called love, freedom, and reckless abandon were nothing more than words posted on social media. Deep down, all that truly weighed on them was the pressure of survival.

So, after hearing this story, everyone felt a hint of longing. They didn’t expect to be the protagonist, but even being someone like Old Dog Xu, who had only been to the capital once in his life, seemed preferable.

At the very least, that guy still had the leisure to chat and make bets with Li Mu.

After a long silence, No. 3 Xing Tao, was the first to speak:
“We should discuss this. Did anyone pick up on any clues from the story?”

“Discuss, my ass,” Imperial Inspector Liu scoffed. “Everyone here is scheming how to kill each other. What the hell is there to discuss?”

He had a point, so the group fell silent again. Only the horsekeeper couldn’t help but interject,
“Can’t you stop cursing every time you open your mouth? There are women here…”

“And who the hell are you? Did I give you permission to talk to me?” Imperial Inspector Liu shot back, his tone completely unapologetic.

“Damn idiot,” the horsekeeper muttered. By now, he had figured it out—this guy was undoubtedly a Chaos Faction player. His personality was extreme, and his foul mouth was just as bad.

But the horsekeeper also thought that assuming Imperial Inspector Liu was just a brainless fool would be underestimating him. He seemed to offend everyone, but that was actually a survival strategy—by not taking sides too early, he avoided becoming a target too soon.

Ren Ye glanced at Imperial Inspector Liu and said,
“He does have a point. We’re in different factions—anyone who actually deduced something from the story wouldn’t share it openly. Since time is almost up, we should focus on preparing for the next level.”

“I agree.”

“Yeah, let’s go rest up.”

“…”

Everyone found the reasoning sound, so they got up and went off to prepare.

Ren Ye sat at the entrance of the tomb passage, not engaging with the other players. Instead, he ran through Princess Anping’s story in his mind again.

The story was quite detailed, but with the right approach, the key information wasn’t too difficult to extract.

First, the Zhu Xun mentioned in the princess’s biography was most likely Emperor Wu of Great Qian—in other words, Ren Ye’s own imperial grandfather in this Star Gate.

He hadn’t expected that the old man, in his pursuit of the throne, had even colluded with foreign tribes in the late Jing Dynasty era.

Damn, those who achieve great things truly don’t sweat the small stuff.

Second, the biography mentioned the Human Emperor Seal—Ren Ye hadn’t expected it to actually exist. However… the princess’s account of it was minimal. It only stated that the Wang family had found it but hadn’t delivered it to the departed Emperor. Instead, they had smashed his skull in with it, killing him on the spot.

In the end, Princess Anping took the Human Emperor Seal into her tomb.

But Ren Ye found something puzzling. Legend had it that the Human Emperor Seal could gather the fate of the realm and grant longevity.

So why did Princess Anping still die? Why didn’t her imperial brother keep the seal for himself?

Did she refuse to give it to him, or was there another hidden reason?

Ren Ye had a strong suspicion that Emperor Jing of the current Great Qian Dynasty was keeping such a close watch on the princess’s tomb because of the Human Emperor Seal. His imperial grandfather’s secret order to Prince Huai to explore the tomb was likely related as well.

Beyond that, Ren Ye felt that he absolutely had to remember everything about Li Mu mentioned in the princess’s biography.

After all, back at the inn, the old woman had said that Princess Anping had built a nine-level tomb, and that each trial was somehow linked to Li Mu.

So memorizing his life story might come in handy…

As he mulled over these thoughts, Ren Ye took out some rations and a water flask to replenish his strength.

Not even 30 minutes later, a cold, mechanical voice rang in everyone’s ears.

[The hour of the Rooster (5-7 PM) is approaching. All players, please proceed from the second level of the princess’s tomb to the third level.]

Everyone was momentarily stunned before they got up one after another. However, there was still little interaction between them as they collectively walked toward the spiraling central tomb passage.

After about half a quarter-hour of walking, they arrived at a large bronze door.

Beside the door stood an upright stone tablet inscribed with several questions. With a quick glance, they saw that all the questions pertained to Princess Anping’s life.

This was likely a simple test from the Star Gate, mainly to remind players to gather detailed information in this trial—otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to proceed.

Among the group, No. 2 Princess, No. 6 Horsekeeper, and No. 3 Xing Tao stepped forward and wrote their answers on the stone tablet with their fingers.

“Creak… Clank!”

A bone-chilling sound echoed as the bronze door split open, allowing an icy, piercing wind to rush in.

The group exchanged glances before stepping inside.

Before this, Ren Ye had considered taking some weapons from the burial chamber for self-defense, but the Star Gate directly warned him that Princess Anping despised tomb robbers. Anyone who took burial items in this level would face severe punishment.

Damn it, we came all this way, and you won’t even let us loot the tomb? That’s just cruel! If I could smuggle out a few antiques from some fictional dynasty, I could sell them for millions—that would be amazing.

Despite his bold nature, Ren Ye didn’t dare to challenge the Star Gate’s rules and had to give up on the idea.

As everyone stepped into the third level, the bronze door closed behind them.

After a moment of blurred vision, their sight gradually cleared.

This level had no tomb passage, no eerie atmosphere—just a vast canyon covered in thick, white snow.

The group stood in the center of the canyon. Within a radius of nearly a thousand meters, the ground was completely flat—no buildings, no debris, no signs of life, only a mirror-like surface of snow.

The snow was about a palm deep, not enough to hinder movement.

In the sky, the setting sun was already half-veiled in twilight.

This was not a sealed chamber but an outdoor environment. However, they couldn’t tell if it was an illusion or if they had been transported to an actual location.

At the edges of the canyon, ten narrow and winding mountain paths led upwards. Towering mountains, hundreds of meters tall, surrounded them, making it impossible to walk around or climb over.

The ten paths seemed to correspond to the ten players, though their destinations remained unknown.

“Ten paths?!” No. 3 Martial Artist was the first to speak. “I have a feeling… the Star Gate wants us to split up for this challenge. Also… it’s freezing here.”

Just as he finished speaking, the Star Gate’s mission rules echoed in everyone’s ears.

[Trial Name: “Warmth in Extreme Cold”]

Ten players must take separate mountain paths to collect wooden materials scattered across the snowy valley. These materials are necessary to construct ‘Snow-Avoiding Coffins.’
There are ten sets of wooden materials in total. The “Heavenly Path” contains six pieces, while the other nine paths each contain only five pieces.
Every set of wooden materials is identical in shape and size, and when assembled, they form ten coffins—each large enough for only one person. However, the coffins must be built side by side; if not placed adjacent to each other, they will be incomplete and ineffective.

[Important Reminder: This land is a frozen hell. When the hour of the Pig (9–11 PM) arrives, the temperature will drop drastically. No matter how powerful you are, you will not survive the storm unless inside a fully enclosed, six-sided Snow-Avoiding Coffin. An incomplete coffin means certain death.]

[Reminder: There are only two hours left before the hour of the Pig. Time is running out—act quickly!]

As the voice faded, the group exchanged looks, their expressions growing strange.

“What the fuck!”

No. 1 Imperial Inspector Liu cursed loudly. “This damn Star Gate is so dumb! In the last trial, we were all trying to kill each other, and now they suddenly expect us to cooperate?! Are they trying to give us mental breakdowns?”

No one here was a fool. The moment the Star Gate finished explaining the rules, everyone understood that this trial required cooperation to survive.

As soon as the announcement ended, Ren Ye crouched down and started drawing in the snow with his finger.

He had already grasped the mechanics of building the Snow-Avoiding Coffins.

Simply put, the coffins were like six-sided matchboxes. However, only the Heavenly Path contained a complete set of six pieces—each of the other nine paths only had five pieces, meaning they were missing one crucial piece.

If the Heavenly Path’s materials served as the starting point for the entire row of Snow-Avoiding Coffins, then Paths Two, Three, and beyond—each containing only five pieces—could be completed by sharing a partition piece with adjacent coffins.

In the end, everyone would be able to lie inside their coffins and survive the freezing night.

However!

The most insidious part of this setup… was human nature.

After sketching a grid on the ground, Ren Ye looked up and glanced southward. He noticed that one of the mountain paths leading into the snowy valley was marked with the word Heavenly, along with a conspicuous entry arrow.

Whoever went to the Heavenly Path to collect the wood was the key.

If someone with malicious intent went there, they could simply assemble their own coffin in the valley, lie inside, and ensure at least one player outside would die.

Since a full row of coffins required all the materials, with one piece missing, the coffins could only accommodate eight people at most, leaving one unfortunate soul to perish.

“Heh.” No. 3, Xing Tao, also grasped the key issue. “We just fought each other in the last round, and now we suddenly have to… cooperate? So who the hell is going to the Heavenly Path to fetch the materials?”

“I’ll go. I’m diligent.” Imperial Inspector Liu immediately raised his hand. Smart as ever, he quickly added, “I’ve stayed neutral this whole time. You can trust me.”

“I trust that your mouth stinks, that’s for sure,” Tang Feng rolled his eyes and muttered, “Why not let me go? Ask any of the men here—who hasn’t grabbed my ass? I have a wide circle of friends, which makes me trustworthy.”

“You slut!” Imperial Inspector Liu cursed, “I’ve never touched you, so why should I trust you?!”

“I’ll tear your damn mouth off…!” Tang Feng lunged at him, ready for a fight.

“Enough!”

Li Yan raised his voice, “This bickering is pointless. Since we all know the Heavenly Path is crucial and everyone will want to go, why don’t we… vote?”

“Hmph.” No. 11, who had been silent all this time, let out a cold snort. “Vote? You really think anyone can outvote No. 5? What, you want to end up like No. 4? Or… are you and No. 5 teammates?”

Li Yan remained unfazed. “I’m just making a suggestion. No need to start pointing fingers, right? Unless you’ve got a better idea?”

“No need for any ideas. I’m going to the Heavenly Path. Who agrees? Who objects?” No. 11’s icy gaze swept over Ren Ye.

Ren Ye met his stare, hands behind his back, his expression unreadable. “Your neck wound isn’t even healed yet, and you’re already acting tough again?”

At those words, the Scholar and No. 11 both took a step forward, pressing toward Ren Ye.

“Enough, enough. Stop arguing. The Star Gate said we don’t have much time,” No. 6 Horsekeeper, quickly tried to mediate. “Only two hours left. If we keep infighting, we’re all doomed.”

“No. 6 is right. If we want to survive the night, we need to stop fighting.”

No. 3 Xing Tao immediately chimed in. “I have a suggestion. Not sure if everyone will agree.”

“Let’s hear it.” Li Yan nodded.

“No. 5, No. 11, and No. 9 all have conflicts and might seek revenge. So I suggest we eliminate them from the selection. That way, things will be safer. Then, among the rest of us… we decide by palm hand back hand.”

Xing Tao glanced at Guo Cai’er and then continued, his thought process surprisingly clear.

“Palm hand back hand? What the hell, might as well play rock-paper-scissors! Are you kidding me?!” Imperial Inspector Liu frowned and yelled, “This is life or death! You think that’s a responsible way to decide?!”

“I disagree too.” Ren Ye shook his head. “It doesn’t matter which of us three goes—we wouldn’t have the option to build a solo coffin for ourselves, let alone take revenge. Our teammates will return here. Your reasoning won’t convince anyone.”

“Then we settle it with palm hand back hand,” the Horsekeeper said bluntly. “It’s fair.”

“Like hell I’m playing some palm hand back hand!” Imperial Inspector Liu scoffed. “People’s lives are on the line, and you want to treat it like a children’s game?!”

About three minutes later, after everyone fully grasped the rules, they all gathered into a circle and chanted in unison:

“Palm hand~ Back hand~”

After three intense rounds of elimination, all eyes turned to a single person.

He stood there, a faint smirk on his lips, “You guys are seriously… so damn childish.”