Deceitful Game

Chapter 217 Is it all worth it?

Chapter 217 Was it all worth it?

"Hahaha----"

Shi Yue ran through the passageway with all her might, taking one slow and deliberate step after another, panting heavily.

A bright yellow glow burned in the depths of her pupils, and a warm white light spread outwards.

The faint light emanating from her barely illuminated the path beneath her feet, at least preventing her from completely losing her sense of direction in the darkness.

Shi Yao ultimately chose the third path: to go around to the other side, try to reach the end, and enter the adjacent passage through the glass door.

The good news is that she at least won this gamble.

Spider Spirit did not choose this path, but instead rushed back to the path she had come from without hesitation.

Because on the verge of life and death, her mind suddenly became incredibly clear.

In that instant, Shi Yue realized something—

Running towards the entrance is actually a seemingly sweet but deadly trap.

Although the gate is open, a faint light illuminates the way to the entrance, and movement is slightly faster.

But putting aside the possibility that there are still untriggered traps along the way, the spider moves at least twice as fast as her.

So when the spider reaches the end and turns back, she definitely hasn't reached the entrance yet!

The fact that the entrance has a faint light that can illuminate the path also means that the spider can see her running towards the entrance!

It's like she's just been able to see a spider!

This straight, unobstructed passage offered absolutely no place to hide. If the spider spotted her, it would likely abandon its search for another route and turn back immediately!

Even though she made the right choices in all the games, Shi Yue discovered in despair that her body was already nearing its limit.

When she first entered the house with her father, she was injured and bled while trying to avoid traps. After running quickly to rest near the glass door, she was shot in the dark.

After rushing into the Du Gate, Shi Yao has been running wildly to escape potential pursuers and hasn't stopped yet.

—That was a full twenty minutes of running at full speed.

For an ordinary person without professional training, this would have already exhausted their physical strength.

Shi Yue felt a burning sensation in her lungs, as if chili peppers had been stuck in her trachea, and her throat was constantly secreting a phlegm-like mucus with many bubbles.

The pain in her right arm, where she had been shot, was no longer radiating, but rather somewhat numb. However, the bullet was still lodged in her shoulder, causing excruciating pain with every step she took.

Her pace was no longer considered swift. Although she was running, it wasn't much faster than brisk walking.

She wanted to slow down and take a few steps—but she found that whenever she wanted to rest, her legs would ache.

But there's nothing I can do—

From the very beginning, Shi Yao had no intention of participating in this game.

She was nothing more than a pseudo-golden woman of the sun, and a woman of virtue who severely lacked the ability to survive on her own.

However, her junior, who is also her predecessor as a con artist, "Snow White," is kidnapped by the Red Queen.

It was only then that Shi Yue finally realized what a mess she had inherited.

Hansel, the former leader of the Brotherhood of Grimm, was a Silver-rank Deceitful Person of the Domain of Virtue.

Since both of them are known as "fairy tale writers" and are hosted by the same person, he and the Red Queen actually have some connection.

Yes, they are still charlatans who "come from the same school"!

But during a competitive game, he suddenly had a moment of compassion—betraying the Red Queen, his "comrade," and deviating from the initial team strategy, attempting to save everyone on his own. This might be due to his aversion to the Realm of Slaughter, or perhaps his discomfort with the Red Queen's cruelty.

However, his kindness did not bring good results. The enemy, who had already been driven to the brink by the Red Queen, took advantage of his kindness and betrayed him again, causing him to die in the game.

The betrayer will eventually be betrayed. That in itself isn't so bad.

However, the Red Queen, all alone, ultimately won again.

That would be a different story.

He himself was completely dead, but the Red Queen wasn't the type to "avoid harming her family." Rather, she wanted to target her "family" to establish her reputation, so that those "good people" in the realm of virtue would fear her revenge and dare not betray her again.

She launched a fierce retaliation, leading her team in a direct assault, achieving victory despite paying a heavy price.

The Red Queen cruelly executed one-third of Hansel's companions.

But the Red Queen did not ultimately exterminate them; instead, she merely demolished the palace that Hansel had built for them.

This was not out of great compassion—but rather because she believed that cruelty was easily forgotten, while authority was what inspired fear.

Therefore, she demanded that all members of the Brotherhood of Grimm sign a pact, requiring them to pay tribute to her until a new leader was appointed. This new leader had to be a Silver Moon rank and a Virtue Realm One, just like her predecessor, Hansel.

Before the contract expires, all surviving members must contribute one-tenth of their remaining chips each month. Furthermore, their remaining chips cannot be traded to anyone else. They are not required to submit chips directly to the Red Queen, but rather to be paid directly by the host, so desperate gambles or setting traps are impossible.

Because the compensation paid is for remaining chips, not acquired chips—while this may seem benevolent and won't drive someone to suicide, it also makes the execution process extremely lengthy. This is because if you earn less and hold less, you'll lose less.

This ironically made them all lazy. And because of this draining effect, they found it difficult to accumulate enough resources and become stronger.

They only maintain the bare minimum of the game, earning ticket money to prevent the Red Queen from extracting more chips from them.

Until everyone no longer wanted to participate in the game of deception and became useless.

The organization that once rivaled the Red Queen has completely declined. And these veteran charlatans are hard to kill, so they become "living dead".

The Red Queen was able to carve out her own territory in Shanghai, and even the Divine Comedy couldn't do anything about her, because the power she established in this conflict made wild opportunists afraid to resist her.

Shi Yue was unlucky enough to be drafted into the army.

Because of the Red Queen's intimidation, even seasoned con artists in Shanghai with a modicum of experience dared not join the "Brotherhood of Grimm." Not to mention, those in the trustworthy realm of virtue could easily form their own cliques. In fact, after only a few games, a new organization composed of newcomers and casual gamblers would form around them—

But coincidentally, all of Shiyao's initial teammates died. She then encountered Snow White by chance and was conscripted into the army.

Their team's future leader!

However, after learning of this, the Red Queen did not follow the rules of martial virtue and wait for her to be promoted slowly.

Instead, they kidnapped Snow White, who had recruited Shi Yao, and "invited" Shi Yao away as well.

The Red Queen, in her own palace, placed her bets and summoned her own host—

She made a contract with Shi Yao.

The Red Queen dispatched her own "Black Flame Contractor," who was also a pseudo-gold of the sun, to participate in this battle game of Zhou Zhiqing Lead level with her.

As long as Time Key survives—and doesn't even need to win—the Red Queen will let them both go. She also promises not to bother them again until Time Key develops into Lunar Silver.

If Shi Yue refuses the bet, she can simply leave. Whether she returns to the Brotherhood of Grimm, becomes a freelancer, rebuilds her own organization—anything is possible, even joining the Red Queen's organization and swearing allegiance is an option.

But Snow White would be publicly executed.

This bet was made under the witness of the host and is itself a kind of "game," so its binding force is trustworthy.

In fact, Snow White did not inform them of their predicament beforehand.

From both a moral and logical standpoint, this matter has nothing to do with her.

But Shi Yue still chose to risk his own life to help his friend who had his own selfish motives.

But things have come to this point.

She couldn't help but feel lost and desperate.

He killed his own father in an attempt to save his friend.

Was it all really worth it?

Was her path wrong from the very beginning?

Thinking about this...

The bright yellow light dancing in Shi Yue's pupils had dimmed somewhat.

—Just like the color of the realm of slaughter.

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