Open Kiln, Enter Kiln, Decide Life and Death!

"Deduction?"

Lin Baici was surprised.

Smile at Life, Hardship Retreats?

Is that why you came up with a smiling face? And you, a Big Bear Woman who was rated D in intelligence by the God of Gluttony, do you even have such a thing as intelligence?

"Yeah, I often watch Sherlock Holmes!"

Xia Hongyao made a V-sign and evaluated herself: "I should be about seventy percent as good as him!"

"..."

Lin Baici didn't know about Xia Hongyao's deduction skills, but her confidence level was off the charts.

"Okay, enough chatting, let's quickly sculpt the smiling face!"

Xia Hongyao urged.

"You'd better choose a crying face!"

Lin Baici reminded her kindly.

"Why?"

Xia Hongyao looked up at Lin Baici, confused.

"Because if you choose a smiling face, you'll die!"

Lin Baici thought to himself, then sighed and decided to make up a lie: "What is sculpting a clay figure? It's creating life. Didn't you hear what that Clay Figure Monster said earlier?"

"Smash Clay Blank 120 Times, Hold Above Head, is a sense of ritual, to give the clay blank vitality when it's fired!"

"This shows that clay figures are alive!"

"Alive?"

18D was startled.

"Don't interrupt!"

Ma Yuan grunted.

"Continue!"

Xia Hongyao listened intently.

The thirty-odd travelers nearby also gathered around.

"Clay figures are a traditional craft. Since it's traditional, it's inevitable that some old customs are followed. For example, in ancient times, men were valued over women. If a boy was born, the whole family rejoiced. If a girl was born, the wife couldn't hold her head up."

Lin Baici was making it up, but his tone was solemn, and he had a serious expression.

When he said this, his voice wasn't loud, and he kept staring at the Clay Figure Monster in the distance. If it made any unusual moves, he would immediately fall silent.

"That's right. I heard that in the old days, some poor families were even more ruthless. They would give away newborn female infants. If they couldn't give them away, they would drown them in the river!"

18D nodded vigorously, feeling that what Lin Baici said made a lot of sense.

"Your reasoning is more reasonable. Then I'll choose the crying face!"

Xia Hongyao gave a thumbs-up and continued carving.

"..."

Lin Baici was speechless.

You believe it just like that?

Don't you have any more questions?

Lin Baici was originally organizing his words to increase his persuasiveness, but now it was easier.

Speaking of which, girls with an intelligence of D aren't entirely useless!

At least they're easy to fool.

Ma Yuan was clearly not as easily fooled. He looked at Lin Baici with a confused expression: "Are you sure?"

Why do I feel like you just made up a reason on the spot?

"Do you have a better answer?"

Lin Baici retorted.

"No!"

Ma Yuan lowered his head and carved a smiling face.

"Then I'll carve a smiling face too!"

18D made up her mind.

"This explanation seems to make some sense!"

The nearby travelers also believed Lin Baici's words and made their decisions.

In everyone's opinion, there must be some logical relationship to choosing a face for this trial, and no one expected it to be a matter of luck.

"Wait! Wait!"

Song Li saw everyone start carving and became anxious, "This is a matter of life and death, won't you choose more carefully?"

"Didn't Little Lin deduce it?"

Xia Hongyao smiled with satisfaction, "The logical chain is perfect, no problem!"

"Then... what about the Yin Yang Face?"

Song Li was quite thoughtful, "Is it possible that half is a smiling face and half is a crying face?"

"..."

18D was stunned and stopped carving, then looked at Lin Baici, "You know what, that's possible!"

"Right!"

Song Li was excited to see someone support her, "Maybe the Clay Figure Monster said to choose a face to mislead us, and the real answer is to carve a clay figure with half a smile and half a cry, just like it!"

"You really are a clever little ghost!"

Ma Yuan chuckled, "This kind of choice concerns life. If you don't trust others, then do as you think!"

"That's right, you only have one life, and the decision is in your hands!"

Xia Hongyao was not old, only twenty years old, but as a God Hunter, she had already experienced several life-or-death crises and was very indifferent to such life-and-death decisions.

"Little Lin, you don't need to persuade her. Everyone's life is their last stake. It's best for them to make the decision themselves, so even if they lose, they can only blame themselves!"

Lin Baici originally intended to persuade Song Li, but Xia Hongyao's words made him change his mind.

Yes!

He was not qualified to make decisions for others. Anyway, he had already told them the correct answer. Whether they listened or not was their problem.

And what if the God of Gluttony was wrong?

Although the possibility was very small, it was not non-existent.

Lin Baici seized the time to carve a smiling face.

After hearing Xia Hongyao's words, 18D looked at the flustered Song Li and then at the calm Lin Baici. He lowered his head and carved a smiling face.

I believe Brother Lin!

"You guys..."

Song Li saw that everyone was ignoring her, and she was so angry she almost spat blood.

"We're running out of time!"

18D kindly reminded her.

"I know, you don't need to tell me!"

Song Li yelled back, looking down at the clay sculpture, hesitant.

To put it bluntly, She was a selfish person. At this critical moment of life-or-death decision, she wanted to make her own choice. Just as Xia Hongyao had said, even if she chose wrong, it would be her own choice, and she would have to accept her fate.

However, Song Li also wanted to drag a few people down with her.

If they were all wrong, they would be wrong together, and that would be some comfort.

But these people weren't listening to Song Li, which annoyed her.

"Damn it!"

Song Li cursed and chose the smiling face.

Lin Baici held his carving tool and carefully carved the facial features, hair, even the Adam's apple, ear auricle, and even fingerprints of the clay figure...

In short, he tried his best to carve everything that a person's body should have.

The patrolling Clay Figure Monster suddenly stopped and announced loudly.

"Time's up, stop carving!"

Most of the travelers put down their carving knives. Only about twenty people were still rushing to finish. They had all wasted too much time agonizing over which face to choose.

The Clay Figure Monster didn't repeat itself. It raised its hand and clapped three times.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

As soon as the Clay Figure Monster's clapping sound fell, the clay figures in the hands of those twenty-odd people suddenly came to life. Like giant fleas, they sprang onto their faces with a snap.

Bang!

These twenty-odd unlucky souls were hit in the head by the clay figures, their heads snapping back. But what was even more terrifying was that the clay figures melted the moment they hit their faces, forming a Red Clay Mask that stuck tightly to their faces.

Their eyes were covered, so they could still see, but their mouths and noses were blocked, making it impossible to breathe.

They desperately clawed at their faces, trying to rip off the red clay. They wanted to call for help, but their mouths were blocked, and they couldn't make any sound.

The surrounding travelers watched this terrifying scene, Trembling.

These punished people, their suffocation worsening, fell to the ground one by one, twisting and struggling. Some even clenched their fists and pounded their cheeks, but it was all to no avail.

Gradually, they all stopped moving.

Only after these people were completely dead did the Clay Figure Monster speak again.

"Open Kiln!"

As the Clay Figure Monster chanted in a drawn-out voice, one of the semicircular kiln furnaces, about a meter tall and half a meter in diameter, bulging like a yurt on the earthen platform, opened a gap.

"Enter Kiln!"

The Clay Figure Monster raised its hands and scattered a handful of Clay Powder.

The Clay Powder drifted in the wind, swirling like snowflakes across the earthen platform, landing on the clay figures on the stone slabs in front of the travelers.

"Look!"

18D exclaimed.

These clay figures, just molded, had their limbs twitching, making rustling sounds. In just five or six seconds, some of them started moving.

They took their short little legs and walked towards the kiln furnaces.

"My... my clay figure moved!"

Song Li was very flustered, unsure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

Song Li quickly turned her head to observe her surroundings.

"Why didn't ours move? Do we have to wait a bit?"

18D was very flustered.

His, Lin Baici's, Xia Hongyao's, and Ma Yuan's clay figures hadn't moved.

"Honey, why didn't your clay figure move?"

The Pregnant Woman, seeing the Man with Glasses' clay figure standing still, was terrified. Tears instantly streamed down her face, flooding her cheeks.

This meant that one of them was definitely not up to standard.

"It's okay! It's okay! It's good that you can survive!"

The Man with Glasses forced a smile, comforting his wife. "The Clay Figure Monster said 'Enter Kiln', so the clay figures that don't move must have a problem!"

"Honey!"

The Pregnant Woman cried uncontrollably.

"It's okay! It's okay! You have to live well!"

The Man with Glasses hugged his wife with one arm, stroking her belly with the other, his expression gentle yet pained. "Wife, abort it!"

"Ah?"

The Pregnant Woman was stunned, not understanding what her husband was saying.

"If you have a child, it'll be hard for you to remarry!"

The Man with Glasses also wanted his wife to give birth to their son and continue the family line, but with a child as a burden, how could his wife remarry?

"Don't... don't say that!"

The Pregnant Woman held onto the Man with Glasses tightly.

"We should have qualified!"

The Programmer with Dark Circles pushed his glasses up with his index finger, reassuring those around him.

Just as the Man with Glasses had said, the Clay Figure Monster mentioned entering the kiln. Therefore, whoever's clay figure entered the kiln now meant they had qualified.

Because, by common sense, after shaping the clay figure, it should be fired and set, right?

"I passed this step smoothly!"

The Programmer breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Lin Baici.

This tall Male Student had left a deep impression on him.

What a shame!

His clay figure hadn't moved, which meant he was going to die.

Alas!

If he survived, he could definitely become a highly skilled doctor in the future!

Noise erupted.

The Programmer's explanation quickly spread across the earthen platform. The players whose clay figures had moved were ecstatic, their faces showing the relief of surviving a disaster. The travelers whose clay figures hadn't moved were all ashen, as if they had lost their parents.

"Brother Lin, what do we do?"

18D's voice trembled. "We can't just sit here and wait for death, can we?"

"Let's go for it, punch it!"

Xia Hongyao stared at the Clay Figure Monster, preparing for battle.

Making one last gamble.

As for failing the test because she listened to Lin Baici's deductions, she didn't care at all and had no complaints.

"Can't be happy! Can't be happy!"

Song Li warned herself not to laugh, as it would be too provocative to Lin Baici and the others, but her heart couldn't help but feel elated.

I was right, but you didn't listen to me, now you're in a pickle, aren't you?

"Lin Baici, if you had listened to me, you could have survived this time!"

Song Li sighed, mourning for Lin Baici and the others.