Chapter 84: Acting Separately, Racing Against Time

Princess’s Tomb, Second Trial—Land of Extreme Cold.

After three rounds of the hand game, everyone raised their heads and looked at the uncouth Imperial Inspector Liu.

In the end, he actually won. The heavens were truly childish…

“Heh heh.”

Imperial Inspector Liu let out a deranged laugh. “Lady Luck has once again laid her gentle hand upon my head. Everyone, once I secure a complete coffin, I don’t plan on coming back down. I’ll dig a hole on the mountain and stay there for the night.”

“I propose a revote.” Tang Feng raised his hand. “Anyone who trusts him must be out of their mind.”

“I agree.” No. 11 rarely sided with Tang Feng and cast a cold glance at Imperial Inspector Liu. “I don’t trust him either.”

He wasn’t speaking recklessly, nor was he trying to provoke an enemy. He simply wanted to seize the opportunity to send someone from his own faction to the Heavenly Path.

During the day, after gathering intel on the second floor of the tomb, he and the Scholar had already found new allies. If they revoted, the chance of someone from their faction going to the Heavenly Path was still quite high.

“I also support a revote.” No. 6 Horsekeeper, spoke up.

Imperial Inspector Liu never expected his popularity to be this low. “The hell, are you guys playing dirty?”

The group fell silent for a moment. Then, Ren Ye suddenly furrowed his brows and said, “I think that since we all agreed to use the hand game to decide earlier, we should abide by the rules. This stage requires cooperation, and cooperation means we can’t go back on our word.”

Hearing this, Imperial Inspector Liu shot Ren Ye an approving glance and gave him a thumbs-up. “No. 5, you’re a man of principle! Let me be clear—I may not be the most cultured guy, but I’m not an idiot. If I take the full set of wood to build my own coffin and camp alone on the mountain, then what? Sure, I’ll survive tonight, but what about tomorrow? Am I just setting myself up to be targeted in the next round? How dumb would I have to be?”

Li Yan subconsciously nodded. “That makes sense. Staying alone in the mountains does more harm than good.”

Xu Qingzhao nodded slowly, her eyes resting on Imperial Inspector Liu as she spoke with layered meaning. “Keep your word.”

“A reminder to everyone: just getting to the valley, collecting the wood, and returning—who knows how much time that’ll take?” Ren Ye frowned. “If we keep wasting time arguing, we might all be doomed.”

The group fell silent again. The scholar glanced at No. 11. “Then let him go. I have a feeling time is crucial in this trial—we really can’t afford to delay.”

“Let’s move out, let’s move out!” Imperial Inspector Liu rubbed his hands together and shouted, “Everyone, get going! Move fast, return fast!”

“How are we dividing the other paths?” No. 3 Xing Tao asked.

“What’s there to divide?” Imperial Inspector Liu hollered. “Just pick whichever one you fancy and go!”

No. 6 horsekeeper hesitated for a moment before heading southwest. Right after, No. 11 scholar and Xing Tao also took off in different directions nearby.

Ren Ye glanced at Xu Qingzhao, Li Yan, and Tang Feng, gave a slight nod, and then prepared to head north.

Guo Cai’er remained in place, thinking for a moment before following in Xing Tao’s direction.

As everyone dispersed, Imperial Inspector Liu stood still, scratching his nose and calling out to Ren Ye, “Heh, you’re Li Yan, aren’t you?”

Ren Ye, who had just been about to leave, abruptly stopped in his tracks and looked at him with a bewildered expression.

“You sly fox, I could smell your scheming from a mile away.” Imperial Inspector Liu cursed in a low voice. “You damn bastard, you tricked me again. Back at the Cottage, what did you tell me? Cooperation?! Damn it, I gave you a signal—why didn’t you respond?”

The Cottage… Li Yan… Was this No. 1 actually Imperial Inspector Liu? Ren Ye wasn’t sure.

“Still pretending?” Imperial Inspector Liu glanced around before lowering his voice. “In the first act, everyone was hiding their identities. Unless they knew each other in real life, no one dared to seek out teammates. But as soon as the second act began, you immediately threw a Sow Banquet, and then you No. 5 displayed strong vote-manipulating abilities at the inn. Are you really expecting anyone to believe you’re not Li Yan?!”

This deduction left Ren Ye momentarily stunned. He remained silent for a second before smirking. “You figured that out? Sigh, you truly are a sharp one. Nothing escapes those wise eyes of yours.”

“…Cut the flattery.” Imperial Inspector Liu clasped his hands behind his back and gave him a sidelong glance. “How many people does your Court Faction have now? Or have you recruited some of those Opportunists too?”

“Heh, why don’t you tell me who saved you first, and then I’ll tell you how many people are in my carriage?” Ren Ye quickly tried to probe for information, testing the other’s identity.

“Hmph.”

Imperial Inspector Liu snorted, his tone unwavering. “I never betray my comrades.”

“Be careful,” Ren Ye added offhandedly. “Three or four people pushed for a revote just now. Prince Huai… is already coming for you.”

Imperial Inspector Liu shivered, instinctively recalling No. 11’s cold gaze toward him earlier.
“Prince Huai, huh? Hehe, his old man messes around so much he’s practically a regular at urology clinics.”

Ren Ye ground his teeth in irritation, now completely certain of the other’s identity. “Hmph…!”

“Li Yan, you’d better use your head. I have teammates. If you play your cards right, you might end up with two more people in your camp.” This was the real reason Imperial Inspector Liu had initiated the conversation—to dangle a carrot in front of Li Yan. His timing was deliberate, too, since this No. 5 had just spoken in his favor.

Ren Ye raised his right fist and bumped it against Liu’s. ¹“Steel Seventh Company—never abandon, never give up!”

“You dumbass, I watch The Godfather when I’m outside. What the hell is this Steel crap?” Imperial Inspector Liu scoffed, then turned and sprinted toward Tianzi Road.

At the same time, in the southwest direction, No. 11 spoke in a low voice to his two teammates.
“I have clues about this stage. I’m planning to play it a little differently.”

…

A short while later.

On a mountain path to the north, Ren Ye was running at a steady pace.

Despite the bone-chilling temperature—at least minus fifteen or sixteen degrees Celsius—he didn’t feel cold at all due to the intense exertion. In fact, he was even breaking a sweat.

Before setting off, he had taken note of his surroundings. To his left was the Princess; to his right, Tang Feng. Both were his allies.

At this point, he didn’t even need to exchange secret signals with the Princess to identify her.

Of the three remaining women, one hadn’t spoken a single word—practically a mute. Another was Tang Feng. That left only one: the ordinary-looking village woman. She had to be the Princess.

Still, to be completely sure, he planned to verify with a code word before going to sleep that night. Once confirmed, the camp’s structure would become much clearer.

As he ran, he calculated the time in his mind…

Before long, a suspension bridge slowly came into view, causing him to slow down, eyes narrowing in surprise.

This mountain path was flanked by towering peaks, with a width of less than five meters—narrow, cramped, and covered in nothing but snow.

Seven or eight steps ahead, the bridge became clearer.

A bottomless chasm stretched across his path, shrouded in thick fog with no footholds in sight.

The road continued forward, leading to a suspension bridge about eleven or twelve meters long, dangling over the abyss. A wooden sign hung on the right side of the bridge, inscribed in red.

“Reaching this point, the journey is halfway complete.”

Ren Ye felt an instinctive aversion toward the bridge.

However, his doubts quickly dissipated. After doing some mental calculations, he estimated that it had taken him around forty-five minutes to reach this spot. The sign indicated that this was the halfway point.

That meant everyone should be arriving here at roughly the same time. And since both paths were occupied by his own allies, as long as they moved quickly, there shouldn’t be a problem.

The appearance of the suspension bridge was unexpected, but with his decision made, he wasn’t about to waste time. He furrowed his brows and dashed across the bridge, continuing forward.

The sign’s estimate was accurate—after another forty-five minutes of running, he finally reached the end of the valley.

This valley was surrounded by mountains on three sides, spanning only about twenty square meters—narrow and confined, with the only exit being the path he had entered from.

Ren Ye kicked at the snow-covered ground with his boots, searching briefly before spotting a wooden plank painted red.

Damn, it’s actually coffin-colored… How ominous.

With his fur robe tied around his waist, he bent down to lift the wooden plank. Its length matched his own height, and its width was just enough for a person to lie inside.

Never in his life had he imagined he’d get to experience lying in a coffin while still alive.

Stooping low, he continued his search, quickly finding four more planks—three long and two short. Combined, they formed a coffin missing one side.

After gathering all five planks, he stacked them together, preparing to push them across the snow-covered ground. This method would be both faster and require less effort.

But just as he was about to leave, something caught his eye—a faint glimmer beneath the ice where he had kicked away the snow.

“Hm?”

He crouched closer, peering into the ice.

Above, the silver moon hung high, its light reflecting off the ice with a crystalline glow. His pupils contracted as he focused—beneath the ice, staring straight at him, was a face. A purplish-blue face and a pair of bloodshot eyes, watching him.

“Shit!”

Ren Ye let out a startled curse, stumbling two steps backward.

Within the ice, a figure sat curled up like a newborn baby, staring blankly at the sky.

…

Xiangjiang City – A Local Theater.

A scruffy young man, reeking of sweat and grime, was cleaning the empty main hall of a rundown theater.

Tap. Tap.

Footsteps echoed through the hall. The young man turned to see a man sashaying toward him, flicking his fingers delicately as he sang in an exaggerated operatic voice: “Ah~ Ah~ My beloved wife, Wang Baochuan—!”

The young man, mop in hand, hesitated for only a moment before lowering his head and continuing his work.

The opera singer, Mr. He, pouted in disappointment at the lack of reaction.
“…Sigh, I really didn’t want to come looking for you. Do me a favor, will you?”

“What kind of favor?” The young man didn’t look up, his tone indifferent. “You need me to fetch you a spiked club to scratch that itch of yours?”