Mu Sicheng understood Bai Liu's intentions. Indeed, he, Bai Liu, and Du Sanying held a significant advantage and would likely be the first to clear the level. Once the explosions began, everyone would be too preoccupied to care whether Bai Liu's control skills were in play; as long as they survived that critical moment, no one would have the chance to ambush Bai Liu again.
After a moment's silence, Mu Sicheng asked, "Of the three remaining, who do you intend to send with the bomb?"
"Why?" Bai Liu's gaze shifted slightly. "Do you have a recommendation?"
Mu Sicheng hesitated. "Liu Huai. I suggest you choose him."
Bai Liu raised his brows in mild surprise. "Your reason?"
He sensed that Mu Sicheng was not one to act out of personal vendetta.
"It's not out of personal grievance," Mu Sicheng replied, his tone complex and hard to read, eyes dropping to avoid Bai Liu's gaze. "Liu Huai possesses a personal skill called 'Assassin's Blink'—the distance he can cover far exceeds the length of this carriage. You're down to a single point of health. If he seeks the mirror shard, and Zhang Gui dies, he could break free from the puppet strings and blink in to assassinate you. My stamina is depleted and recovering slowly; my skills are weakened… Against Liu Huai's ability, I may not be able to protect you."
Liu Huai's body slumped in defeat, a bitter smile twisting his lips. The moment Mu Sicheng spoke, he knew this would be said.
It was with this very skill that he had nearly killed Mu Sicheng with a sudden backstab. It was a dangerous ability, one that demanded vigilance. Liu Huai closed his eyes in despair, already foreseeing his fate—Bai Liu, with only a sliver of life left, could not possibly allow a player with such a skill to remain beyond his control.
"Oh, I see." Bai Liu toyed with the coin at his chest, and after a brief moment of contemplation, spoke abruptly, "You make a good point, but I have already made a deal."
When Bai Liu purchased the souls of Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu's parents, he promised to help them execute Li Gou. Though there was no time limit, if he let Li Gou go now, it would cost him far more effort to deal with him later.
Moreover, from what Bai Liu knew, Li Gou was close to collecting enough points to be released. If he cleared the game and earned those points, the two soul bills in Bai Liu's possession—Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu—might well fall victim to Li Gou's vengeful wrath once he was free.
Bai Liu would not make such a poor bargain.
He always chose the path of greatest profit and efficiency, never factoring risk into his calculations.
For without risk, there is no reward.
With unruffled composure, Bai Liu lifted his gaze. "So my choice is to send Li Gou with the bomb."
Everyone was stunned.
Liu Huai's eyes flew open in disbelief, unable to fathom his own escape from death.
Li Gou, on the other hand, erupted into a frenzy, struggling madly, his eyes bloodshot as he lunged at Bai Liu with a knife. But Bai Liu quickly had Zhang Gui restrain him with puppet strings.
Driven to madness, Li Gou's limbs bled where the strings bit into his flesh, yet he still thrashed in vain, his gaze wild and bloodthirsty as he screamed, "Bai Liu! Why the hell did you pick me?! Didn't you hear what Mu Sicheng said? Liu Huai is the one who can kill you! Why are you sending me to die with the bomb?!"
"I'm about to get out of here!" Li Gou howled hysterically, veins bulging on his neck and forehead, his eyes shot with blood. "You can't let me die here!"
Face flushed, neck thick with rage, Li Gou stared at Bai Liu's impassive eyes. Realizing threats were futile, he collapsed to his knees, dazed and limp as a heap of rotten flesh.
After nearly ten seconds, as if suddenly enlightened, Li Gou began kowtowing and wailing, snot and tears streaming down his face. "Bai Liu! I beg you! Don't send me! Bai-ge, I've done everything you asked, never cut corners, please send Liu Huai instead—he's the real threat! Don't pick me! Bai-ge, you're joking, right? Why pick me over Liu Huai?"
Mu Sicheng, too, looked at Bai Liu in disapproval. "Why choose Li Gou? He's far less dangerous than Liu Huai. If Liu Huai ambushes you, you could be in real danger!"
Before the small TV, Wang Shun frowned in confusion. "What's going on? Bai Liu isn't the type to show mercy at the last moment. Why would he make such a reckless choice with only one health left?"
Other viewers grew anxious:
"Liu Huai can even backstab someone as fast as Mu Sicheng! Even with Mu Sicheng, Bai Liu can't stop Liu Huai!"
"Damn, I don't get why Bai Liu picked Li Gou. It makes no sense!"
No one could comprehend Bai Liu's decision. They were bewildered, worried, and disappointed—except for a couple standing at the back of the crowd, hands over their mouths, struggling not to sob aloud. Their legs trembled with the effort, barely keeping each other upright.
Through their blurred tears, they saw Bai Liu's pale, tranquil profile on the small screen.
They understood why Bai Liu chose Li Gou, why this young man would make such a perilous choice for himself.
Xiang Chunhua bowed her head, choking out her gratitude, tears streaming through her fingers. Liu Fu wiped them away with his rough hands, though his own tears soaked his graying hair.
"Thank you, thank you, Bai Liu, thank you."
They were exhausted, living each day like the walking dead, tormented by guilt and self-reproach. Countless strangers had offered sympathy, only to withdraw it just as quickly, telling them to grieve, to let go, to move on, as if such words could ease their pain.
Such comfort was fleeting, while their hope was dashed again and again, their suffering etched deep into their faces.
Xiang Chunhua was no longer the gentle Aunt Xiang, nor Liu Fu the honest Uncle Liu. They had become the people everyone avoided.
They did not wish to be so, but if not them, who would remember poor Guoguo?
They had asked themselves a thousand times—why Guoguo? They had, in numb bitterness, wondered why the other girls in the alley, just as lovely as Guoguo, had not suffered at Li Gou's hands, why their parents could offer hollow comfort, saying, "It's better she died; after what happened, her life would have been ruined anyway. Maybe in the next life, she'll be born clean."
There were so many bright, innocent girls in the world. Before tragedy struck, they loved them all as they loved their own daughter. But after, they could only ask—why not them? Why Guoguo?
Why did that beast Li Gou choose their Guoguo?
Li Gou crawled toward Bai Liu on his knees, only to be kicked aside by Mu Sicheng, blood trickling from his mouth.
Terrified, Li Gou shrank back, lips trembling as he looked up at Bai Liu's emotionless face, tears streaming uncontrollably. "Bai-ge, why must it be me? Even if you won't pick Liu Huai, you could choose Fang Ke! Why me? Why must I be the one to die?"
Bai Liu regarded him calmly. "If you must know, to put it plainly, I chose you to die simply because you were unlucky."
Unlucky enough to have followed Zhang Gui into this game, to have crossed paths with Bai Liu, to have become Zhang Gui's puppet, and for Zhang Gui to have fallen completely under Bai Liu's control.
"But if you must know the reason for your death, I can oblige you." Bai Liu's expression was serene, his gaze distant. He crouched down, looking at the weeping, bewildered Li Gou.
In a gentle voice, Bai Liu asked, "Do you remember Liu Guoguo?"
At the mention of her name, Li Gou shuddered as if struck by lightning. He looked up, stunned and horrified.
Bai Liu's eyes and tone were calm as never before. "If you need a reason that makes sense, then let it be this: because you once chose Liu Guoguo, so now I choose you. It's as simple as that."
"How could it be…" Li Gou collapsed, sitting heavily on the ground, hands braced behind him, his eyes unfocused as he muttered, "How could it be because of Liu Guoguo? She's already dead…"
Though it was for Liu Guoguo's sake that Li Gou was imprisoned, he had long forgotten the little girl who brought him a night's pleasure. To him, she was nothing but a mangled heap of flesh, a memory blurred and dehumanized.
But from Bai Liu's lips, her name was spoken with a clarity that forced Li Gou's mind back to that night—the night that cost him his freedom. Suddenly, the bloody fragments in his memory reassembled into a real girl, with feelings and tears, crying out in despair.
He remembered pinning Liu Guoguo beneath him, slapping her until she cried, grinning as he told her to stop screaming. She had begged for mercy, screamed for help.
She had looked up at him with hollow eyes, tears drying into dirty streaks on her cheeks, her voice hoarse as she asked, "Why me?"
The very question Li Gou now posed to Bai Liu.
He had only sneered, pinning her wrists with one hand, undoing his pants with the other, licking his lips and saying, "Just your bad luck, pretty girl. I watched some porn and got excited."
The train's broadcast sounded: "Next stop—Reservoir. Passengers, please remain seated and hold on. Those boarding, please queue outside the doors—let passengers off before boarding—"
Bai Liu's gaze sharpened as he swept over the group. "We're arriving. Li Gou, carry the bomb. Zhang Gui, fetch the mirror. Mu Sicheng, guard me. The rest, clear the shards."
"The train has arrived at Reservoir. Please prepare to board and alight—"
Bai Liu's voice was low and steady. "Begin."
As the passengers surged into the train, Li Gou, his limbs no longer his own, was forced to run from the carriage, a massive black bomb strapped to his back. Tears streamed down his face in terror, his hands and feet trembling. Burning scraps of paper swirled through the station, sometimes brushing his face and splitting his skin, but under control, he could not resist—he was compelled to run toward the flames.
Dodging the charred corpses on the platform, Li Gou could not always avoid the flames. The fire scorched his face, filling him with agony, yet he could not struggle, only move forward. He wept bitterly, shrieking, "Bai Liu! I know I was wrong! I'm sorry, Liu Guoguo! Please let me go!"
He sobbed, his face a blur of tears and snot. "I shouldn't have done that to her! I know I was wrong! Bai Liu, please let me go back! I don't want to die! Please, I beg you!"
"If I had another chance, I swear I would never hurt her! If I did, may I be cut to pieces!"