absurd deduction game.

Yu Xing's body remained stiff, unable to turn around.

His face was expressionless as he stared at the empty wall in front of him. His voice was flat and emotionless: "Your strength has improved a lot, Carlos. I underestimated you."

“Of course.” Carlos readily admitted, secretly rubbing his stomach, then retaliated by pressing the gun forward again, making a loud thud against the back of Yu Xing’s head. “Unfortunately, you don’t seem to have improved much, or rather…”

He paused, and the warmth in his voice vanished completely.

"...From the moment you began to associate with this corrupt power, you lost the 'heart' you had when you joined the ideal state."

"Not that early." Yu Xing's eyes gradually turned dead. "I was only dragged into this during the art exhibition."

A tentacle, braving the power of the array, stealthily slid down from his feet to Carlos's front, attempting a sneak attack. However, upon touching the outermost green light, it trembled and died instantly. Its withered and shrunken body left Carlos speechless for another two seconds.

“…I don’t care.” Carlos’s voice came from behind him, very close and clear, “Look at these tentacles, look at how you are trapped here. You are far from being ‘human,’ Yu Xing.”

“But I haven’t,” Carlos continued, his voice carrying a strange, almost cold honesty. “So, I can’t bring myself to kill a ‘comrade’ who still seems conscious. Even if that companion is already on my opposite side.”

Yu Xing remained silent.

“So,” Carlos declared, making his decision, “your fate, whether you live or die, is up to you.”

"...What do you mean?" Yu Xing finally asked, a faint hint of doubt in her voice.

“What I mean is,” Carlos said, weighing the gun in his hand, “is not the mass-produced kind that the Ideal State gave us to deal with evil spirits. This bullet is one I obtained from a real exorcist master a long time ago during a mission, and there was only one of them.”

His tone became serious: "It poses no threat to humans. Even if you shoot it right in the temple, it'll only feel like being hit by a child's slingshot. But..."

He drawled out his words.

"It is deadly to the 'monster'."

“I’m going to shoot,” Carlos announced, the muzzle of the gun pressed against the back of Yu Xing’s head without trembling. “If deep down you still consider yourself a human being—a complete, conscious, and soulful human being—then the bullet will not harm you in the slightest. I will let you go, and you can pretend you never found me, let me leave this manor, and if we meet again, we will be enemies.”

"And what if..."

His voice turned cold.

"If you have already abandoned your human identity in your heart and identified more with the 'monster' side represented by those tentacles and those filthy forces... then, with this shot, your head will explode like a ripe watermelon."

“Choose, Yu Xing.” He gently pulled the trigger, applying slight pressure with his index finger. “Or rather…”

Let your 'essence' decide.

The moment the words left his mouth, the muzzle of the gun pressed against the back of his head jolted violently!
"boom!"

Gunshots rang out in the enclosed corridor, closer and deafening than ever before.

Almost at the same instant Carlos pulled the trigger, Yu Xing, who was imprisoned by the green light array, finally loosened the restraints.

In the nick of time, his body suddenly lurched downwards in an almost contorted posture, and Carlos's reaction was equally astonishing; he simultaneously pressed down on the muzzle of the gun pressed against the back of the other's head.

The bullet was only just fired.

The scorching air currents brushed against and even singed a few strands of hair, and then penetrated solidly into the upper part of Yu Xing's right scapula.

The silver bullet, engraved with intricate and sacred runes, seemed to come alive the moment it touched flesh, its silver radiance suddenly intensifying!

Immediately following was a dull thud, as if flesh and bones were being shattered from the inside.

Yu Xing's clothes and a large piece of flesh on the back of his right shoulder were suddenly ripped off, revealing pale bone fragments and blurred flesh and blood tissue underneath. Dark red blood mixed with some charred fragments burned by the silver light power splattered radially on the wall and in the air in front of him.

"Well……!"

Yu Xing let out a muffled groan, his body jolting violently. The immense impact caused his already unsteady body to stagger forward, falling heavily to one knee.

He instinctively covered the wound on his shoulder with his left hand, his fingertips immediately soaked in warm blood, and excruciating pain shot through his body along his nerves, causing cold sweat to instantly bead on his forehead and his lips to press tightly into a pale line.

Although it wasn't a headshot, the outcome of that shot was obvious.

Carlos stood there, a wisp of gunpowder still clinging to the muzzle of his gun. He looked at Yu Xing, who was kneeling on the ground, her shoulder a bloody mess, and the last trace of complex emotion in his eyes faded, leaving only an icy calm.

"You really have..."

Before he could finish speaking, hurried, chaotic footsteps approached from both ends of the corridor, interrupting him. The servants of the esoteric sect had finally been drawn by the commotion.

Carlos fell silent instantly.

He took one last look at Yu Xing, who was kneeling on the ground. The other person had his head down, covering his wound, and his loose black hair covered most of his face. Only his taut jawline and the blood dripping onto the carpet could be seen. The figure looked somewhat... disheveled.

Without saying another word, Carlos turned around, his footsteps quickly fading into the distance, disappearing behind the sound of rain and the building structures.

Almost at the same moment his figure disappeared, the playing cards that formed the nodes of the green magic circle on the corridor wall instantly lost all their supporting power, falling off the wall and floor and gently landing on the blood-stained carpet.

The magic circle collapsed silently, leaving behind only a mess and the lingering faint smell of gunpowder and blood in the air.

Yu Xing remained kneeling on one knee, motionless, with only the knuckles of her left hand, which were covering her wound, turning slightly white from the force.

About ten seconds later, a jumble of footsteps converged at both ends of the corridor.

Seven or eight esoteric servants, led by Martha, rushed over, carrying various weapons—from clubs to daggers, and some even holding old-fashioned muskets—and their faces were wary.

Everyone was stunned when they saw the signs of a battle in the corridor.

“Mr. Yu Xing.” Martha was the first to react. She quickly stepped forward, her gaze sweeping across the scene before finally settling on Yu Xing. Her tone was urgent but respectful, “Are you alright? What about our target?”

Yu Xing didn't look up. He seemed to have been drained of his strength, or as if he was immersed in some kind of huge blow. He just maintained that posture.

Only after Martha asked again did he speak very slowly and haltingly, his voice low and hoarse, carrying a weary indifference:

"...They ran away."

Martha frowned slightly: "Which direction?" Yu Xing said: "I don't know. But he'll probably go to the manor gate; he has a way to break through the High Priest's restrictions."

Martha didn't voice her doubts. She immediately turned to her servants and ordered, "You few, go to the east staircase and the backup passage; you, come with me to the main staircase and head straight for the gate to intercept them."

The servants responded with a roar, quickly splitting into two groups and running wildly down the corridor in different directions. The sound of their footsteps rose again in quick succession before fading into the distance.

Before leaving, Martha glanced at Yu Xing one last time, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just nodded slightly and turned around to quickly follow one of the groups away.

The corridor fell silent again, leaving only Yu Xing kneeling amidst the mess and bloodstains, seemingly lost in thought.

The rain continued to pour outside the window, and the damp, cold wind seeped in through the cracks in the window that was not completely closed. Blood was still gushing from the wound on his shoulder, flowing down his arm and spreading into a small, ever-expanding dark red patch on the dark carpet.

The only sound in the air was his suppressed, slightly heavy breathing.

suddenly--

A very faint rustling sound, almost blending into the sound of the rain, suddenly appeared in the deathly still air.

The sound was very soft and crisp, like a butterfly fluttering its wings in a narrow space.

The next second, a pair of bare feet appeared silently in front of Yu Xing's lowered vision.

Their skin was almost transparent, their ankles were slender and delicate, their arches were beautiful and fragile, and their ten toes were round and neat, painted with the same dark and deep emerald green nail polish as their nails.

The owner of the feet walked towards him very slowly, stepping on the cold, dusty, and blood-stained corridor floor.

Finally, those feet stopped less than half a meter away from Yu Xing.

A voice, tinged with amusement and languor yet carrying an invisible pressure, came from above: "I've really seen a good show, Mr. Yu Xing."

As if responding to Yu Xing's earlier minor offense, Fennell laughed, using almost the same sentence structure:

"You were able to lead the actors and Qu Xianqing to destroy the 'City of Terror'. I thought you were the strongest among this group of investigators. For this, I rewarded Defit and Evan well."

She sighed softly, a sigh that contained little genuine regret, but rather a condescending scrutiny and a sense of pleasure:
"I never expected you to be so... pathetic in front of that magician."

Yu Xing remained silent, his black hair obscuring his face and all his expressions, except for the slight tightening of his fingers covering his wound.

Fennell waited a few seconds but received no response.

She didn't seem to care.

She took a small step forward, her bare feet almost touching Yu Xing's knees as he knelt. Then, she gracefully half-squatted down, extended her right hand, and gently hooked Yu Xing's chin with her index finger, lifting his face with an irresistible force, forcing him to meet her gaze.

Yu Xing's face was expressionless, only pale from blood loss and her brows furrowed slightly from the pain.

Fernail scrutinized him closely, her beautiful eyes sparkling with a strange light, as if she had discovered some interesting toy.

"Or perhaps..." She leaned closer, her breath almost brushing against Yu Xing's face, carrying a sweet fragrance, "Carlos's accusations made you waver, causing you to be unable to do it?"

Her voice was lowered, like a devil's whisper:

"How interesting, what's wrong with monsters?"

"When the divine kingdom descends, this will be a world that belongs to 'us,' a world that belongs to monsters."

Her fingertips gently caressed Yu Xing's chin, her tone carrying a hint of incomprehensible confusion, and even more so, a cold mockery:

"Yet you're still suffering because of those morals and consciences that should have been abandoned long ago, and you're unwilling to accept them?"

She looked into Yu Xing's eyes, which were so close to hers, and her red lips curved into a beautiful but cold smile:
"What a pity, what a pity. He didn't hesitate for a second when he shot you. In his eyes, you've always been that kind of person."

Yu Xing's eyelashes trembled slightly.

He looked directly into Fernail's eyes, and after a long while, he finally spoke: "So you've been watching all along."

"Why didn't you stop him just now?"

Fennell laughed, released her hand from Yu Xing's chin, leaned back, straightened up, and looked down at him.

“If I don’t see to the end,” she said slowly, tapping her bare foot lightly on the carpet beside the bloodstains, “how can I be sure Carlos will really shoot you, and not that the two of you are putting on a show for me?”

She shrugged, and her cloak slipped down to reveal her smooth shoulders, which were now completely unmarked.

“Of course,” she said, her tone shifting to a deliberately gentle and trusting tone, “now, I’m sure.”

She bent down, extended a hand to Yu Xing with her palm facing up, making a gesture of inviting him to help her up.

“You’ve proven your ‘loyalty,’ and I won’t doubt you anymore,” she said with a smile. “Go and treat your wound first; don’t let this little injury affect tomorrow’s battle.”

Yu Xing looked at the beautiful but inhuman hand extended in front of her, remained silent for a moment, and then reached out her uninjured left hand to grasp it.

Fennell's hand was cold but strong; with a gentle pull, she lifted Yu Xing from the ground.

“What are you going to do with Carlos?” he asked in a low voice, his gaze fixed on the direction Carlos had disappeared at the end of the corridor. “He might escape and confess everything that happened here to the church and my other colleagues. Also, he killed Anthony and heard more secrets from him; he’ll sabotage your plans.”

Upon hearing this, Fernal's red lips curved into a composed smile.

She raised her hand and adjusted the collar of her cloak.

“It’s alright. Since he’s so good at escaping like an eel,” she chuckled, her voice revealing little annoyance but rather a confident sense of control. “Let him run.”

She turned her head to look at Yu Xing, her eyes filled with a hint of reminiscence and amusement:

"Although the 'Carlos' I enjoyed with was a fake... the one I drank tea and chatted with must be real."

Her fingertips lightly brushed against the corner of her lips.

"I also put something in that pot of tea... Don't worry, even if he escapes, it won't cause any problems. If he goes to the Harvest Church, Tian knows what to do." (End of Chapter)