NOVEL NEXT Chapter 186: When Cheating, Don’t Get Caught!
Feng Fan looked at Zhang Jing's body with scorn. 'Aren't evil cultivators supposed to be cunning? Why did this fool charge straight into the lion's den without a second thought?'
Zhang Jing had come into the village's center like a puppet on strings. After he came back to himself, without even waiting to hear the other party, he attacked and got himself killed.
If that wasn't foolish, what was?
The other cultivators stared at the hunchbacked old man with fear. A powerful Nascent Soul realm cultivator like Zhang Jing had been killed so easily.
They couldn't even tell what had killed him!
Normally, to even catch a glimpse of Dao laws, a cultivator would need to be at least in the Dao Seeking realm. Those here were only between Foundation Establishment and Nascent Soul, making it impossible for them to understand what had happened.
The hunchbacked old man grinned, enjoying the fear on their faces.
"This is what happens when someone breaks the rules here. Now, let me continue where I left off," he said.
"The first rule: You cannot attack. The moment you strike at anyone here, your life force and cultivation will be drained until nothing remains."
"The second rule: If someone asks you a question, you must answer within a minute. If you don't, part of your life force and cultivation will be taken and given to the one who asked."
"The third rule: You may lie or tell the truth. However, if the questioner calls out your answer as a lie or the truth—and is correct—you will lose a small portion of your life force and cultivation to them."
"The fourth rule: If you accuse someone of lying or telling the truth and you're wrong, a portion of your life force and cultivation will be transferred to them."
"The fifth rule: You can't ask questions to the same person in a row."
"This stolen energy will stay with you as long as you remain in the village. But once you leave, it will vanish. To escape, you must pay a price—five thousand years of life. Simply walk toward the village's edge and think of paying, and the village will take its due... and let you go."
"Of course," the hunchbacked man added with a twisted grin, "you could choose to stay here with us… and live forever."
His words sent a chill through the crowd.
The weight of his statement settled in—leaving meant sacrificing five thousand years of life, an unbearable price for most. A Nascent Soul cultivator barely lived for three thousand years.
The only way to escape this place was by playing the cursed game and stealing someone else's life force.
Worse yet, they needed to steal a total of five thousand years' worth, because no one here was willing to sacrifice their own lifespan to leave. To a cultivator, losing years of life wasn't just about aging, it was stealing their very chance of breaking through to the next realm.
As for staying here with this bunch of grotesque people? Only mad people would choose to do so.
Feng Fan took a step closer, his expression unreadable. "Hey, old man… why tell us the rules at all?"
The man's grin widened, revealing yellowed, uneven teeth. "If I don't tell you, I can't take your energy, of course… You must know the rules to play the game. If you don't, the rules become distorted, and any stolen energy and cultivation will go to the village instead of us."
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Feng Fan smirked. "You're telling the truth."
The hunchbacked man's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before his smile returned, followed by a hoarse, eerie chuckle. "Not bad, young man. You have a promising future here."
A small part of the hunchbacked man's life force and cultivation left him and entered Feng Fan. Feng Fan felt this force was too dirty. Instead of letting it enter his body, he made the Suppression Reli absorb it entirely.
Without anyone noticing, Little Brick, resting inside Feng Fan's space ring, quietly absorbed the tainted energy through their connection.
'They're not telling the whole truth. Those twisted bodies… they must be the result of absorbing this tainted life force and corrupted spiritual qi,' he thought.
Although Feng Fan could purify the energy before absorbing it, the process would take too long, making it not worth the effort.
Feng Fan was about to ask the old man another question, but he felt a strong force stopping him from voicing the question to the old man. This was the same force that was trying to drain his cultivation constantly.
He knew he could still ignore the force and ask the question because of his suppression qi, but he chose not to. If he did so, it would be obvious he was cheating.
When one decides to cheat the game, the most important thing is to not be caught!
Instead of asking the old man, he looked toward the stitched-face woman.
"Is there another way to leave here? I don't believe paying five thousand years is the only way."
His words caused the hunchbacked man's smile to falter slightly, though no one seemed to notice.
The woman responded, her expression remaining eerily calm and unreadable. "No."
But within her mind, a different thought played out: 'There is, but you fools will never know of it.'
Feng Fan smirked. This game was practically made for him to exploit. He could effortlessly discern lies from truth, and he could lie without anyone siphoning his energy.
A devious plan began to take shape in his mind. 'Even if this energy is tainted, I can have Little Brick absorb everything and use it to fuel its transformation.'
Suddenly, the grotesque figures before him no longer seemed unholy or terrifying. Instead, they appeared like the sweetest delicacies, wrapped and ready to be devoured in a single bite.
'With this energy, I won't even need to waste my qi stones…'
"You're lying," Feng Fan said.
His words sent a ripple of shock through the crowd. If the woman was indeed lying, then there had to be a way to escape this cursed village without paying the steep price of their life force.
Most of the cultivators trapped here wanted nothing more than to leave, but the risk of playing this twisted game was too great. Now, for the first time, a glimmer of hope sparked in their eyes.
The stitched-face woman's expression twisted as a portion of her life force and cultivation was forcefully stripped away. Her face paled slightly.
Unlike the hunchbacked man, her reserves weren't as vast. Feng Fan absorbed the stolen energy before channeling it directly into the Suppression Relic.
The crowd took notice immediately. Their eyes widened as they realized the truth—there was a way to leave this accursed village without paying the impossible price.
The hunchbacked man's grin disappeared entirely. His gaze darkened as he glared at Feng Fan, his expression a mix of anger and irritation. But after a brief pause, he regained his composure, forcing a smile back onto his wrinkled face.
"I'm sure you're all exhausted," he said, his voice smooth but laced with something sinister. "Why don't you rest for now? We can play the game later… at a slower pace."