Lucky E

Many passengers on the Earth Platform trembled, all color drained from their faces. They looked like prey caught between a beast's sharp teeth.

This...

Wasn't this way of dying far too cruel?

Song Li edged over to Lin Baici and clutched his arm tightly.

Drowned alive in a mud pond?

How terrifying!

Diabetic Aunt had stopped moving. She floated in the muddy pond like a dead fish.

The Clay Figure grabbed her by the hair and lifted her up for a look. After confirming she was dead, it tossed her aside.

Of the fifty or so passengers who hadn't finished slamming their Mud Embryos, everyone except those caught off guard rushed into the mud pond, trying to escape.

"Stop running! You can't get away! Take down that Clay Figure Monster!"

The Fat Man roared.

He was afraid, but he could still think.

The mud pond stretched as far as the eye could see, with no landmarks in sight. If they ran into it, they'd definitely get lost, and then they'd still die.

Kill those long-armed Clay Figures?

They were all monsters summoned by the Clay Figure Monster. No matter how many they killed, it could probably summon just as many again.

So the only way out was to take down the Clay Figure Monster.

That was easy to say, but not everyone had the courage for it.

Only three men looked toward the Fat Man after hearing him. "Let's charge it together!"

The Clay Figure Monster looked at the Fat Man. Its previously expressionless face suddenly broke into a grin.

It was full of mockery!

"Take him down!"

The Fat Man charged.

The passengers scattered to get out of his way.

Xia Hongyao clenched her fist and stepped forward, looking ready to help.

"Don't go. It's no use!"

Lin Baici grabbed Xia Hongyao.

[A bunch of rabble!]

The God of Gluttony judged: [They're dead!]

The Fat Man raced across the thirty-odd meters and reached the Clay Figure Monster. Only then did he realize how imposing the two-meter-tall Red Earth Clay Figure really was.

The Clay Figure Monster swung its arm.

Whoosh!

Its enormous right hand, as big as a Wheel Battle Axe, came down with a sharp rush of wind and smacked the Fat Man across the left side of his face.

Thud!

The Fat Man's head burst apart like a cherry crushed beneath a giant's palm.

Red blood, gray-white brain matter, bone fragments, and a whole lot of minced flesh sprayed out in a fan-shaped arc, splattering across the Earth Platform.

In the air,

a few strands of black hair drifted slowly down.

The other three male passengers who had meant to attack the Clay Figure Monster lost their nerve at the sight. They turned and ran.

The long-armed Clay Figures, whose arms could stretch, didn't chase them, but they couldn't run fast either.

There was no helping it!

The Red Clay Mud Pond was far too muddy. The shallowest spots reached their ankles, while the deeper parts went up to their knees, making it impossible to build up speed.

Squish! Squish!

After running a few steps, the three suddenly sank,

and couldn't pull their feet free!

"Help!"

"Give me another chance!"

"Fuck you! I won't let you off even as a ghost!"

The three passengers cursed and struggled. In less than a minute, they had sunk beneath the surface of the mud pond, as if they had never existed.

The Red Earth Platform fell utterly silent.

The corpses floating in the mud pond reminded them what awaited anyone who was eliminated!

"Since this is your first time making a clay figure, I'll lower the bar for this step. As long as your figure has arms and legs and looks vaguely human, it'll pass!"

The Clay Figure Monster announced.

The passengers all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

The Man with Glasses watched the Clay Figure Monster, his heart in his throat.

While the long-armed Clay Figures had been dealing with those who'd been eliminated, he'd secretly kept working on his figure for a little longer. He'd finally managed to make it look human.

He just didn't know if they'd accuse him of cheating!

"It's okay!"

"It'll be fine!"

The pregnant woman clung to his arm, constantly reassuring him and praying.

This time, the Goddess of Fortune seemed to have favored them. The Clay Figure Monster didn't pursue the matter. Instead, it returned to its stone slab and picked up the clay figure.

"Slamming the Mud Embryo may look simple, but it isn't. It doesn't matter if you use a little more or a little less force. What matters is that you raise it above your head, because that shows respect for the art of sculpting clay. It's a ritual. Only then will your slamming give the Red Clay vitality!"

The Clay Figure Monster explained.

"Isn't that just moving the goalposts?"

18D muttered under his breath.

"Vitality?"

Lin Baici furrowed his brow.

"Next comes the third step: sculpting the face!"

The Clay Figure Monster explained what to do. "Life is full of different moods: joy, anger, sorrow, and delight. As long as you're alive, you'll keep tasting all of life's sweetness and bitterness!"

"Sweet enough to remember for the rest of your life, bitter enough to drown your sorrows in wine!"

"For this third step, you must sculpt the figure's facial features, hair, and eyebrows, making it look as much like you as possible. You must also give it an expression."

On the clay face in its hands, the Clay Figure Monster sculpted a smile on the left and tears streaming down the right.

"Choose for yourselves: a smiling face or a crying face!"

The Clay Figure Monster surveyed everyone. "You have fifteen minutes. Begin!"

"Fifty-seven people are dead!"

Xia Hongyao bit her lip.

The unlucky people caught up in this Rule Pollution numbered 826 in total. They were all passengers on the G1955 Train, and now 769 remained.

"Is now really the time to worry about the death toll? If we fail this step, we'll die too!"

Song Li thought the girl with the high ponytail was far too carefree.

How could she not be afraid?

"This round seems easy!"

18D looked at Lin Baici. "Are you going to make a smiling face or a crying one?"

Both expressions seemed simple enough. A smile meant turning the corners of the mouth upward and narrowing the eyes into crescents. A crying face meant opening the mouth wide in a howl, with tears running down.

"I think a smile would be easier to sculpt!"

Song Li suggested. "Why don't we choose that?"

After falling into a trap in the previous step with the Mud Embryo, Ma Yuan was much more cautious this time. He waited for Lin Baici to decide.

"I choose a crying face!"

The Nine Provinces Divine Shield Security Agency was the official department responsible for handling God's Taboo Objects. As a Dragon Guard, Xia Hongyao felt powerless seeing so many passengers die right in front of her.

In that state of mind, sculpting a smile felt too ironic.

Xia Hongyao picked up the clay figure and carving knife, ready to begin.

"Wait!"

Lin Baici stopped her. "What if we choose the wrong expression and die?"

"Huh?"

Song Li was startled. "That can't be right, can it?"

Lin Baici thought back to what the Clay Figure Monster had said and recalled how it had sculpted the face. He tried to spot some clues in the details. Which expression were they supposed to choose?

Among the passengers, someone was sharp-minded.

The programmer with dark circles under his eyes called out, "Will we die if we choose the wrong expression?"

Whoosh!

Many people looked up in shock at the programmer, then turned to stare at the Clay Figure Monster.

The passengers who had already begun sculpting expressions

hurriedly stopped.

One second!

Two seconds!

Three seconds!

Ten seconds later, the Clay Figure Monster grinned again,

and smiled!

"You're pretty clever. That's right. If you give your clay figure the wrong expression, you'll die!"

An uproar broke out at the Clay Figure Monster's words.

Many people hadn't realized there was another trap!

They'd almost fallen into it.

"..."

Song Li shuddered. This Rule Pollution was far too terrifying.

There was no way to guard against it!

She glanced at Lin Baici and saw that his expression hadn't changed. He was calm to an astonishing degree.

Judging by Lin Baici's earlier performance, he wasn't in shock. He simply had a strong heart and could withstand this kind of pressure.

His ability to handle pressure was incredible!

Song Li's gaze turned admiring.

"Stop looking at me. I'm not telling you the answer. It's one of two choices, so you have a fifty percent chance of survival!"

The Clay Figure Monster had practically said it outright.

The difficult part of sculpting the face wasn't the features. It was choosing the expression.

Choose wrong,

and you died!

The atmosphere on the Earth Platform once again turned deathly silent and oppressive.

They had thought this step would be easy, only to discover a huge trap waiting for them!

No one dared to begin.

Everyone hesitated!

Lin Baici thought it over, searching for the key to solving it.

[Stop thinking. This step comes down to luck. There's no pattern to follow!]

The God of Gluttony suddenly spoke.

"Luck?"

Lin Baici frowned.

[First comes fate, then luck, then feng shui; fourth, accumulate virtue, fifth, study. Some people are simply luckier. They find money on the street or meet someone who gives their career a boost...]

[Ordinary people can only envy them!]

"Then I'll choose a smiling face!"

Lin Baici just didn't like crying. He felt that expression carried a bad meaning: either too cowardly or too sad!

[Heh heh. Men choose smiles, women choose tears. Congratulations, your luck's holding. You pass!]

The God of Gluttony congratulated him.

"You mean men should choose smiling faces and women should choose crying faces? It's different for each?"

Lin Baici was stunned.

This God's Taboo Game was fucking with them.

Lin Baici couldn't believe his luck.

Most groups would choose the same expression, which meant someone in the group was bound to die.

The God of Gluttony didn't answer.

"What should we choose?"

18D hesitated. "Brother Lin, say something!"

"I suggest we choose smiling faces!"

Xia Hongyao was decisive.

"Don't rush. Think it over some more!"

Ma Yuan rubbed his chin with his right hand, racking his brains as he tried to reason out the right answer.

"Dough figurines only take fifteen minutes, and five minutes have already passed!"

Xia Hongyao reminded them, "We still need to leave time to carve the expressions. At least seven or eight minutes, right?"

Everyone felt even more nervous after Xia Hongyao said that.

Indeed,

They still had to leave time for carving.

"Listen to me. Pick a smiling face. Smile at life, and let hardship scatter!"

Xia Hongyao picked up the Iron Carving Knife and a Clay Figure, ready to get to work. She wasn't going to worry about anyone else; she was making a smiling face no matter what.

"Sounds good!"

Ma Yuan couldn't find the right answer, and felt Xia Hongyao's reasoning made sense too.

Then they'd pick a smiling face.

"Brother Lin, what do you think?"

18D still decided to listen to Lin Baici.

Song Li irritably tugged at her hair.

Lin Baici looked at Xia Hongyao.

You've got Strength Speed Double A, Intelligence D, and Luck E, don't you?

"What is it?"

Xia Hongyao blinked her big eyes.

Her eyes were lively, bright, and innocent. At a glance, she looked like the kind of girl who'd never been battered by society's Iron Fist—carefree, optimistic, and cheerful.

"If we choose wrong, we'll die!"

Lin Baici warned her.

"No, I trust my reasoning!"

Xia Hongyao was very confident.