I didn't pay attention to the masked man. Instead, I used the key to unlock the handcuffs on Lin Han and Da Huang.
"Now, we enter the third round~" the masked man said calmly.
Lin Han had just helped Da Huang up. Upon hearing the masked man's words, Da Huang cursed, "Are you f\*\*king crazy? Your people are all dead, who's going to play your games now?"
"Your wife is still in my hands."
The masked man's words reminded Da Huang, and his expression changed. At this moment, the screen cut back to Da Huang's wife. The person controlling Da Huang's wife had taken off his mask and had a lewd expression. He reached out to touch Da Huang's wife's face. She dodged in annoyance and fell to the ground. The pervert didn't chase her but unbuttoned his shirt. Da Huang's eyes turned red, and he remained silent like a wild beast.
Lin Han was anxious but helpless. Was she really going to watch her sister-in-law get violated like this?
"Hey, that's not how the game is played?"
I called out, and the screen switched back to the masked man. He smiled and said, "This man is a rapist and murderer, quite perverted. If you don't want to watch that woman suffer, find the Easter egg I left for you within two minutes, the fifth bullet!"
Lin Han frantically searched for bullets. Da Huang stared at the masked man on the screen, vowing, "I will definitely kill you."
The masked man switched the screen back to Da Huang's wife. The pervert, bare-chested, dragged the crawling Da Huang's wife back into view. Da Huang's wife struggled with all her might but couldn't escape.
Lin Han searched for a long time but couldn't find the bullet. She became anxious and shouted, "Where is the bullet?"
"The ivory base!"
The screen cut back to the masked man. He remained calm: "Tang Nan, you haven't disappointed me."
Lin Han was stunned, but she still took out the ivory base from her bag. It was an inlaid ivory base with a gap large enough to fit a bullet. Lin Han took out the bullet, loaded it into the magazine, and pushed the magazine in.
"As long as Tang Nan is killed, everything will stop."
"Sister, don't listen to him. I'll take this revenge. I will find this person and kill him in the rest of my life." Da Huang warned Lin Han, but Lin Han didn't listen. She picked up the gun and aimed it at me.
At this moment, my phone rang~
I looked at the nervous Lin Han and said gently, "Put it down, it's over!"
Lin Han was taken aback, but she didn't lower the gun. I answered the phone: "Sis, they've been caught~ Thanks. Even family needs to say thank you, this is a life-saving matter. I heard it's rape and murder, there should be a criminal record. I'm fine here, brother-in-law is coming over, okay~ I'll hang up now!"
...
"Brother Da Huang, sister-in-law is fine. My sister Yu Xiao Luo has already handled it."
After speaking, I gently took the gun away from Lin Han and smiled, "If it had gone off, it would have been a huge miscarriage of justice."
...
I looked at the masked man on the big screen: "The game is over, right?"
"Tang Nan, congratulations on completing the game. Remember to take the secret manual! Goodbye!"
"Don't rush, I know who you are."
"How could you possibly know?"
"This gun is a Type 77 pistol, a police-issued handgun from before 2005. Obtaining a gun in our country is extremely difficult, and your gun happened to have five bullets. In '89, at Caishikou in Beijing, Wang Zeyuan, Cao Shi, and Li Jiu joined forces to capture Old Qu. They were startled by two gunshots, and Old Qu escaped, only to be dismembered by an extremely thin steel wire. Li Jiu pursued the gunman but was unsuccessful. Since that year, the gun has never reappeared. The magazine of the Type 77 pistol can hold 7 bullets. Two were used that day, leaving five. Today, four were used. The police handgun that Old Qu secretly took away that year has been found."
The masked man, upon hearing my words, slowly took off his mask.
His hair was gray, slicked back like a gambler. Although over sixty, his eyes were sharp as knives.
"As expected of Cao Shi's disciple."
"I am not Cao Shi's disciple, I am Li Jiu's disciple. I am the inheritor of the fifty-sixth generation of Schemers, acknowledged by Wang Ren, Li Jiu, and Cao Shi. Zhu Guang, even if you are my second senior uncle, you must call me sect leader."
"How did you know I wasn't dead?"
"You revealed your identity in the game. You said fairness is the most important thing in a game, and you used this concept to brainwash Li Jiu. Also, Cao Shi told me a story about ants, humans, and demons. Back then, you, who were known for your philandering ways, were actually playing the fool to catch the tiger. Your realm was far higher than everyone else's, but I believe Teacher Wen De had a way to restrain you. You set up a scheme to die at Zhang Si's hands, waiting for Teacher Wen De to grow old. But you didn't expect that in that scheme, you discovered that Cao Shi, whom everyone had dismissed, had also reached your realm. Moreover, after that scheme ended, Cao Shi went to Hong Kong, befriended Gao Ji, and crushed you in terms of both intellect and wealth. You had no choice but to lie dormant like a parasite within Li Jiu and Zhang Si's substitutes. It wasn't until two years ago, when Cao Shi made his move against Zhang Si, that you emerged from behind the scenes, controlled the new mentor, and replaced him, establishing the current 'Forest of Demons'."
Zhu Guang listened and clapped gently: "As expected of someone acknowledged by my junior sister and junior brother. You speak of things you haven't seen as if you experienced them firsthand. You are correct, that's exactly how it happened."
"Under your control, the 'Forest of Demons' has completed its transformation. The organization, which once focused on fraud, has shifted to online gambling. The 'Logical Paradox' back then was not just a celebrity game; you've gathered these wealthy individuals again, drawing them into the most thrilling games of human darkness. You profit from it and satisfy your own desires. Your heart is even blacker than Zhang Si's. Zhang Si experimented with human nature; you use it for entertainment."
"You've guessed everything correctly, but what can you do? Can you catch me?"
"You don't need to ask me that. You've provoked me, and I will go to your 'Forest of Demons' to slay demons and eradicate evil!"
"I hope you still have such confidence after seeing the secret manual. Goodbye, my little junior nephew!"
With a snap, the screen went black, just like the end of a movie. The lights in the cinema came on. In the center of the futuristic round table, a section slowly rose, revealing a hidden compartment beneath. Inside was a black leather notebook, with the words: Death Script: The Roundtable Gunslinger!
...
January 5, 2007, evening, abandoned cinema in Xizhimen.
A man and a beautiful girl just came out of a KTV and were walking on the street. The girl seemed anxious, but the man was calculating, planning for the future.
In '89, an ivory base triggered a series of bizarre bloody incidents. The final culprit, the mysterious executioner at Caishikou, disappeared thereafter. Now, the ivory base has reappeared, and the man must consider all possibilities.
Three people, one missing handgun, five bullets.
A schemer first understands the situation.
With this prop, entering the eerie cinema, the predictable moves are limited...
Li Jiu had left the man a notebook, in which there was a record called the Gunslinger's Game Theory.
The theory of three gunmen has existed since ancient times.
The Three Kingdoms were divided. Cao Cao was the strongest, Sun Quan second, and Liu Bei the weakest... Liu Bei relied on Sun Quan to resist Cao Cao. Although Cao Cao was strong, his conflict with Sun Quan was a struggle between two tigers. If they fought with all their might, Liu Bei would reap the benefits. If Cao Cao destroyed Liu Bei, he would be weakened and inferior to Sun Quan.
Therefore, Sun Quan was bound to have a firm resolve to oppose Cao Cao, while Liu Bei would play them off against each other.
At this point, if Liu Bei wanted to maintain the tripartite balance, he would have to form an alliance with Sun Quan.
The man knew this principle and taught it to the girl, thus establishing the tripartite balance and preventing destruction.
...
Among the three, the man surnamed Huang was the first to enter the game. The man knew this and had made arrangements. He had connections with the police, and their involvement was inevitable.
At the end of the game, the man would certainly hold his trump card and proudly expose the identity of the game master.
That's right, I am Zhu Guang! A demon who surpasses the greatest schemer, I can understand all things in the world, predict the future, and am omniscient and omnipotent.
...
Humans are ugly, ignorant, and pathetic~ But humans deceive themselves with lies and spread good deeds throughout the world, which is pathetic and laughable. I use scripts as my game, leading the way, to expose the lies of humanity and reveal the true self of the world.
Henceforth, the world will know: If man does not act for me, heaven and earth will destroy him!
Game Master: Zhu Guang, Sincerely!
...
Lin Han's face turned pale after reading the script: "He knew we were acting from the beginning."
"Brother, are our opponents still human?" Da Huang wasn't relaxed either.
I was also surprised by Zhu Guang's abilities. He was definitely not a simple opponent. As for the claim of being a demon, I only believed Old Ghost. What Zhu Guang was doing now, claiming omniscience and omnipotence, was a joke. This was merely a contest between two individuals, and he had simply calculated one step further than me.
Even so, I felt a sense of unease.
From an experience standpoint, he was more seasoned and had a slight edge. But in terms of the overall situation, I was at a complete disadvantage. He used human depravity without restraint, while I had to adhere to morals and the law.
In such circumstances, how could I win? To be honest, I had no clue.
However, it's important to understand that weakness is not the issue; fear of death is.
Everything comes back to the root. Old Ghost once taught a technique: in a game of beasts, the weakest can defeat the strongest. No matter how illusory or peculiar the scheme, as long as you follow the principles I first learned, you don't need to fear Zhu Guang.
Beginner: Understand the Situation, Scheme, Break the Scheme!