The sage was determined to die.

The tutorial for Battle Royale is still ongoing.

Ji Bai glanced at the others. The fairly spacious Shuai Xing Hall was packed with people. It was clear that all the newly appointed Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) had come to listen to the lectures. However, most of them would not even be qualified to enter the Shu Shan (Book Mountain), and even if they did, they would mostly end up as cannon fodder.

But once one gains literary inspiration amidst the mountains of books, and manages to bring it out alive—

The scholars below the stage all looked enviously at the high-ranking Chancellor, who was the best advertisement. Xu Tangyi was also a poor scholar in his early years. After obtaining the third-rank literary talent in the mountain of books, his once declining family became popular again, and he himself rose to prominence in the State of Qi.

Ji Bai thought to himself, "It's like buying lottery tickets. As long as there's the lure of the jackpot, it will attract countless people. After all, isn't there always a chance of something going wrong?"

What if, what if I'm the one who wins the lottery?

The only difference is that buying lottery tickets is about spending money, not risking your life.

"These are the choices we make in life," Ji Bai thought to himself.

.

"Among a mountain of books, making choices is the most important thing."

After drinking his fill of tea, Xu Tangyi was taking bites of a cake and recounting his experience as a man who had been through it all: "Back in my day, I encountered a difficult problem while immersed in books. I'll tell you about it today, and you can all speak freely."

The audience below the stage listened intently, their eyes gleaming.

Xu Tangyi cleared his throat and said, "If a carriage is speeding out of control and a madman has kidnapped five innocent people on its way, as an outsider you have one chance to change the carriage's course, but if you do, you will run over and kill an innocent passerby."

"If we don't change course, five people will die; if we do, one person will die."

Xu Tangyi looked at these young faces and said, "The choice is in your hands. I also want to know what you will choose."

A murmur immediately rippled through the audience.

"Naturally, we need to choose five people."

Yan Ming quickly raised his hand to signal, answering confidently while glancing at the silent Ji Bai, and said loudly, "Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. The lives of five people are naturally more important than one. Of course, if it is within our power, we should also make proper arrangements for the deceased's funeral."

This viewpoint is widely accepted.

Many of the successful candidates echoed, "Yes, it's better for one person to die than five."

"As expected of Brother Yan, what you say makes perfect sense."

Xu Tangyi glanced at Yan Ming, neither confirming nor denying. The latter's heartbeat slowed for two seconds under the pressure of that gaze. He kept recalling his father's instructions before leaving home. His father had told him to make a good impression in front of the Chief Minister.

Others also expressed their opinions to varying degrees. Of course, most people chose to save five people, while a few chose to save only one.

Seeing his approval rating rising, Yan Ming rolled his eyes and looked at Ji Bai, who had remained silent throughout.

Recalling the humiliation of being rendered speechless by Ji Bai in the restaurant yesterday, a surge of resentment flashed through his heart. He immediately said, "Brother Ji, why are you silent? You must be pondering some brilliant idea, right?"

Ji Bai: "..."

Sometimes he couldn't help but suspect that Yan Ming might be an NPC in a trash game, because even if he just sat there without moving, he could trigger the other party's passive program.

He had not originally intended to participate in the discussion of the trolley problem, a classic moral dilemma that still has no definitive answer.

Unfortunately, he was destined to be unable to keep a low profile.

"I'll probably think about how to avoid attracting the attention of a madman first."

Ji Bai shrugged and continued, "Didn't this madman tie up five people? I'm just a weak scholar, I don't want to be the sixth one to be tied up."

Keep pretending.

Which scholar, who is so weak that he can't even kill a chicken, could break his brother's leg with a single kick?

Yan Ming looked at Ji Bai with disdain, exposing his wordplay: "Brother Ji, don't you mean to just watch those five people get trampled to death? You can't judge a book by its cover, Brother Ji, you're really ruthless."

Just when Yan Ming thought the other party would try to argue, Ji Bai simply nodded and said, "That's exactly what I chose."

Then, Ji Bai abruptly changed the subject, saying, "Are five lives necessarily more valuable than one? Is this seemingly fair justice, Brother Yan, truly justice?"

Yan Ming glanced quickly at the Chief Priest, and seeing that the Chief Priest was still eating a pancake, he then focused his attention and said loudly, "When lives are at stake, it is natural to win with more people."

Ji Bai shook his head, his expression calm: "That's not the right way to think. It's easier to choose between one person and five people, but if one side has ten thousand people and the other side has ten thousand and four people, the difference is still four. Would Brother Yan still make such a decisive choice?"

"You, I—" Yan Ming was instantly choked back.

A dark glint flashed in Xu Tangyi's eyes. He silently stopped eating the pancake and his gaze fell on Ji Bai.

Or perhaps—

Ji Bai watched Yan Ming's face slowly turn red with anger, and continued, "If your parents are tied up on one side, and a thousand strangers are on the other, would Brother Yan really give up his parents' lives for the lives of a thousand strangers?"

"You...you're using sophistry," Yan Ming stammered. "That's not how the question was phrased."

"Of course I'm being sophistical, because this problem has no solution."

Ji Bai looked at the Grand Master, his gaze lingering for a couple of seconds on the beard covered in crumbs, before he bowed his head respectfully and said, "Grand Master, you taught us not to care about our lives in the Mountain of Books, and you also taught us how to scheme to kill people from other countries within the Mountain of Books. Surely there's a deeper meaning behind this test?"

The chief priest gave Ji Bai a meaningful look.

Then he silently reached out and brushed the crumbs off his beard.

"Mediocre." The chief priest looked at Yan Ming and the others and commented, "If any of you enter the Mountain of Books, don't leave the group for even a moment, or you'll be betrayed and won't even know how you died."

The group of people who were just feeling smug instantly turned red in the face, so embarrassed they wanted to disappear into the ground.

Yan Ming felt somewhat comforted, thinking that the Grand Master was actually quite cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and actually praised him for his talent.

"You're quite the clever one."

Xu Tangyi pointed his pointer at Ji Bai's head, making the latter regret choosing to sit in that spot, as he was too close to the teacher.

"Escaping may be useful, but when you really have to make a choice, you have to choose even if you don't want to."

Xu Tangyi was quite disappointed. Looking at the densely packed fish fry below the stage, he wondered how many would survive if they were all thrown into the large pond of Shushan.

"I've said so much to you all, yet not one of you has grasped the deeper meaning of my words."

Xu Tangyi frowned and lectured, "The most important thing in the mountain of books is to find ways to reduce your competitors. This exam question was a trap deliberately set by the State of Chen back then, and in the end, the Qi scholar who went to rescue him was killed."

"If you ever encounter such a rescue scene in the mountain of books, kill all of them, whether it's those five or that one person."

"What if someone from my Qi state is trapped?" someone asked timidly.

Xu Tangyi slapped his palm twice hard with the pointer, the force was not light, but his face was cold: "A fool who can be kidnapped by an enemy country should of course be treated as a traitor. Not killing him is already being lenient, and you actually want to rescue him?"

The audience was deeply shocked.