This was an open scheme.
An utterly blatant open scheme.
Monk Huikong lowered his eyelids. The prayer beads in his hand moved faster, clicking in a rapid, faint rhythm. He continued murmuring prayers, but a tremor of unease had crept into the sound. Compassion for all? Deliverance for all beings? Faced with the threat to his own life, those beliefs were undergoing the harshest test.
From the corner of his eye, he glanced discreetly at Murong Xue beside him.
She was the weakest.
The effects of the Heart-Protecting Pill were about to wear off. Cold poison ravaged her, leaving her with almost no strength to fight. If the rules were real... she would undoubtedly be the first person to be "eliminated."
The thought startled him. Amitabha. A sin, a sin. Huikong silently recited the words, but the quickening movement of his prayer beads betrayed the storm raging inside him.
Murong Xue leaned against the tree trunk and began coughing violently. Each cough sounded as if it would tear her lungs and heart from her chest. A sickly flush spread across her already pale cheeks, and her gaze grew unfocused. She had heard those words, but the pain in her body had slowed her thoughts.
When she finally understood what they meant, a despair colder than the poison seized her.
She looked at Han Wuji, then at Monk Huikong, and finally at Lin Feng, whose hand was already on his sword hilt. She saw the conflict in their eyes, hidden or plain, along with calculation and... murderous intent.
She was the one easiest to sacrifice.
"Heh heh heh..."
The aged laughter rang out again, tinged with amusement and appreciation, as if the voice were enjoying the splendid expressions of beasts trapped in a cage.
"Don't try anything clever. In the Bewitching