Chapter 143 - 126. Watch out for Mu Qingtong

"Doctor He?" "Yes, although Yuanhe Orphanage has become the Calamity Realm and has become isolated from the outside world, orphans are still being sent here, and similarly, some unsuspecting people come here to apply for jobs. It’s only after they arrive that they realize this place is a living hell." "Doctor He came here ten years ago to take up a position." The old man showed a reminiscent look, "A few days after she arrived, she discovered a loophole in the rules of the Calamity Realm—if there were no orphans left, the Calamity Realm would collapse and dissipate." "Therefore, she secretly gathered everyone in the orphanage and arranged for them to claim each other as family—this was also a loophole in the rules of the Calamity Realm. As long as they acknowledged each other as father and child, and both parties were willing, they would no longer be orphans." "Doctor He was a good person." "But unfortunately, there was a traitor within the orphanage, someone who wanted to enter the Garden of the Gods to gain eternal life and happiness." "The plan had just begun when it fell apart, and Doctor He not only angered the gods but also the Sky God, and she was punished severely by them." The woman in the black dress frowned slightly: "Oh? So... did she die?" "Die... alas, I don’t know if her current state can be considered as being dead," the old lady said as she got up and pulled open the curtains, her cloudy eyes gazing into the dark, foggy world outside. "See that huge dark shadow in the sky? That is Doctor He." The two looked up, only to see a gigantic shadow, hundreds of stories tall, stretching across the dark sky. Its countless tentacles swayed in the sky like seaweed. Xia Feng’s pupils dilated, "Is that He Jianzhu?" He had already sensed a terrifying Evil Power roaming the sky, but he hadn’t paid much attention, assuming it was just some monster of the Calamity Realm. "Has it transformed into this?" Xia Feng frowned, "So she’s not really dead?" Mu Qingtong’s expression remained calm, her eyes slightly lowered, seemingly lost in thought. "That is the gods’ punishment for Doctor He. She wanted to be a good person, so they forced her to personally kill everyone she wanted to save." The old woman spoke in a hoarse, calm voice, her murky eyes complex as she watched the giant tentacled monster in the distance. After a moment of silence, she turned back and said: "It’s almost midnight. If you don’t worship the gods after midnight, Doctor He’s tentacles will come for you, and you will be forcibly pulled out of the house and taken to the Children’s Playground. That’s where all those who disrespect the gods are punished." Xia Feng looked up at the clock; it was half-past eleven, and time was running short. "Do you have any other questions?" "Um... I actually do have one," Xia Feng said earnestly, looking at the old woman. He paused, then suddenly asked, "Are you number 16?" "....!" The old woman’s calm expression changed slightly. "Good lord, it really is her," Xia Feng held his forehead, he had suspected it. Number 16, who had called herself a desperate housewife and asked for his help in the Life Roulette, hadn’t given him an address, but number 17’s notes mentioned Number 16’s location: in a house full of jasmine flowers at the Children’s Playground. The orphanage used to be the Children’s Playground, and he had also noticed several times that the house outside was indeed full of jasmine flowers, although they had withered as the night fell. And when he copied Uncle Yun’s Spiritual Artifact earlier, he didn’t sense the Life Roulette’s transfer mark. That left only the old woman and the little girl upstairs who hadn’t come down yet. He had originally thought he was overthinking it since such coincidences didn’t exist in this world. But now, it seemed he had indeed encountered just such a coincidence. But what was this old woman’s purpose? To lure number 17 in, then ambush him and turn him into a Gift Fruit? If that was really the case, then everything she had said earlier might be unreliable. Seeing the situation, Mu Qingtong wasn’t very suspicious; she knew Xia Feng was participating in a murderous game where players were identified by numbers. Seeing Xia Feng and Mu Qingtong’s expressions turn cold, with a hint of murderous intent, the old woman wasn’t too perturbed; instead, she shook her head, "Honored ones, do not misunderstand, I harbor no ill intentions." "Oh?" Xia Feng wasn’t in a hurry. "Then what is your purpose? Speak." "The matter of the Life Roulette was actually instructed by Doctor He," the old woman revealed astonishingly. Xia Feng: "?" Mu Qingtong’s beautiful eyes narrowed slightly: "Elaborate." The old woman, hunched over, turned back to look towards the dark shadow on the horizon, her wrinkled and thin face revealing seriousness, "Ten years ago, on the eve of being punished by the gods, Doctor He told me that if I ever entered a place called ’Life Roulette,’ to randomly pull a player into this place, this player would save us from our prison." "What in the world?" Xia Feng took a step back tactically, the old woman’s words were becoming more and more absurd, "Are you still playing with me? Are you saying that He Jianzhu prophesied the future?" Xia Feng sensed numerous holes in the old woman’s story, "If He Jianzhu had the ability to foresee the future, wouldn’t he have known about his own betrayal?" The old woman shook her head helplessly, "My lord, I have no need to deceive you." Xia Feng wanted to say more, but Mu Qingtong suddenly patted his shoulder, "What she is saying is true." Xia Feng blinked and turned his head towards the woman in the black dress, whispering uncertainly, "So your mother’s Spiritual Artifact can predict the future?" "No, it’s not a prophecy," Mu Qingtong shook her head softly and explained, "There are few artifacts like the Causality Artifact in this world, and most possess the ability to foresee causality, but He Jianzhu had the ability to manipulate causality." She looked up, her gaze deep as she stared at Xia Feng, "He Jianzhu wanted you to come here, and so you came." With that, she smirked, her eyes growing more peculiar as she stared at Xia Feng, "Interesting, what exactly does this woman want to do." seaʀᴄh thё NôvelFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "..." Oh my, stop looking at me like that! Xia Feng felt his scalp tingle; things were getting weird, Mu Qingtong was already frightening enough, but her mother seemed even more terrifying. What does it mean that she wanted me to come, so I came? "Wait a minute." Xia Feng turned to the old woman, "You just said, ’randomly pull a player into this place, and that player would save you from your prison’... if it’s just any random player, why was it certain to be me?" Mu Qingtong shook her head helplessly beside him, whispering, "Mr. Xia, don’t you understand yet? This is He Jianzhu’s causality power. Once number 16 acts, you would find yourself here and know some things; the process in between isn’t important. Of course, the ’action of number 16’ might not be the sole cause since, to be honest, you came here because I invited you." "..." Hearing Mu Qingtong’s explanation, Xia Feng found himself swirling in even more confusion, his mind growing foggier. But he soon realized, it wasn’t important how He Jianzhu did it, but what he intended to do? After all, to possess such a powerful Causality Artifact and be turned into a monster trapped here by the so-called divinities for so long? Something didn’t add up. Seeing that Xia Feng remained silent for a long time before finally lifting his head, the old woman’s gaze was calm, "My lord, it seems you believe me?" "Um, reluctantly," Xia Feng said doubtfully, "Did He Jianzhu say anything else?" "Before she left, she told me—through the causality of the candlelight that life is the cause of everything. And then she also asked me to tell you—" The old woman raised her head, her aged face indistinct under the dim light, her eyes hauntingly somber, "Be wary of Mu Qingtong." Xia Feng: "..." Mu Qingtong: "..." Xia Feng cast a sideways glance at the woman in black. The woman in black remained expressionless.