The Choice

Carlos is in a bit of a predicament.

Because Yu Xing only glanced at Yan Ming before continuing to ask him, "I sent Zhao Yijiu to find you first, where is he?"

It was already dark, and shadows were everywhere. At Zhao Yijiu's speed, she should have arrived long ago. Then she used Carlos's paper doll to confirm the location with him.

However, even after Yu Xing left the guilty and remorseful Central Cuihua behind and walked out of the base alone, she still couldn't get any contact from the other party, and there was no news from Carlos either.

It feels like sending your eldest son to catch your second son who's out partying at a nightclub, only for the eldest son to disappear as well – it's hard not to get angry.

After disappearing for a year, it seemed that her teammates no longer followed her instructions and kept doing things beyond the plan. Yu Xing didn't feel annoyed, just a little puzzled.

"Hmm... Zhao Yijiu seems to have been around the restaurant, but he didn't come in." Carlos thought for a moment and glanced at Yan Ming.

With this person around, if he tells the truth, his pseudonym probably won't be able to be kept secret anymore.

However, judging from Yu Xing's attitude, he won't be able to keep his identity hidden for long after this Yugi ends.

"Actually... Zhao Yijiu was stopped halfway through." Carlos closed his eyes, made up his mind, and grinned, shaking off his guilty look. "Then he went with that person."

The paper figure, under Yu Xing's control, stood motionless facing him, its tone eerily calm. "Who?"

"Who else could have made Zhao Yijiu decide to go along on the spur of the moment, to the point of disobeying you?" Carlos's blue-eyed eyes deepened. "Of course it's—"

Before he could finish speaking, the little paper figure collapsed with a thud, returning to its limp state.

Yu Xing withdrew control and disconnected.

Carlos remained silent for two seconds, then crushed the paper figure and tore it to pieces.

"Lingren?" Yan Ming calmly continued as he tore the paper. "So you sensed it too."

Three hours, forty-two minutes, and fifty-six seconds after he was captured, Zhao Yijiu entered his perception range.

Eleven seconds later, the scent of Lingren wafted from near the restaurant.

The two met at a certain point, lingered for a minute, and then went in another direction—the direction Yan Ming had sensed for the tickets.

Yan Ming didn't say this to Carlos. In his opinion, since Carlos had kidnapped him, he should teach Carlos a lesson, such as knowing that Carlos's teammates had run into the Lingren but not warning him.

He hadn't expected that Carlos would know all of this so clearly, and remain completely calm and composed at the poker table.

This means two things.

First, the fact that Carlos's perception range has become uncontrollable indicates that Carlos's true strength far exceeds all current intelligence.

Secondly, Carlos's attitude towards the Broken Mirror Squad is also debatable, and even Carlos's stance needs to be reconsidered.

Yan Ming pressed his temples, ignoring Carlos's sour expression, and chuckled.

"What are you laughing at! Laugh again and I'll make your mouth disappear!" Carlos tossed away the crumbs, sending pieces of paper fluttering through the air. "The Lingren definitely didn't hurt Zhao Yijiu, otherwise Yu Xing would know, which proves I was right."

"I didn't intend to do anything to Zhao Yijiu. After all, he's our 'Brother Jiu,' and he's done a lot along the way..." He also saved him from pretending to be weak in other deductions.

"It was precisely because I understood the Lingren's temperament that I allowed Zhao Yijiu to go with him."

"It's 'going with him,' not 'being captured by him'?" Yan Ming knew his methods and readily suppressed his smile. "How can you be so sure about that?"

"Of course." Carlos tapped his fingers nimbly on the table, then said nothing more.

Yan Ming is just an ordinary passerby; it would be impolite to say more.

As Magician, the audience's every word, action, and even a glance are his means of understanding their psychology. The Lingren's abilities are unfathomable, and he is also skilled in "time," traveling back and forth. No one knows what the Lingren's mental journey is at any given moment.

Therefore, the first thing Carlos needed to determine was the state of the Lingren; he had to be in close contact with Lingren.

So at the base, he revealed a flaw to the Lingren.

He spied on him, leaving clues that amused the Lingren, who then took the initiative to tease him.

In the mocking gaze of the Lingren, wasn't there also a deliberate illusion of panic created by the Magician?

The subsequent paper doll's substitution for death and escape were also logical. Whether the Lingren harbored murderous intent towards him or let him go was also a basis for the Magician's speculation.

Originally, the moment Carlos realized that the ticket came from this instance, he was prepared to go and snatch it from the Lingren himself, even if it exposed a problem in the eyes of the Absurdity System.

But Yu Xing appearance was a delightful surprise, and the ownership of the tickets quietly shifted in Carlos's mind.

Yan Ming wanted to extract more information, but to avoid losing his mouth, he maintained a cold expression and said, "You want to use Zhao Yijiu as bait to force Yu Xing into the ticket competition, even if he didn't originally intend to get the tickets."

"Yes, it's just one layer of insurance. This ticket must be Yu Xing—" Carlos rested his chin on his hand, gazing at the night sky outside the window. His emerald green eyes seemed even deeper, like an unfathomable undercurrent. "It has to be him. No one else will do."

It has to be Yu Xing; no one else will do.

Yan Ming pondered the matter and found Carlos's words to be quite profound.

He began to anticipate what kind of turmoil Yu Xing would bring upon his return after completely disappearing from Dead Silent Island.

"But I'll get scolded when I get back." Carlos suddenly covered his face, breaking the "reclusive master" atmosphere, and said painfully, "I might even get beaten up, my ancestors for eighteen generations will be dragged out by Zhao Mou, I'll have to endure Qu Xuanqing's sudden cold attitude, and I might be assassinated by Zhao Yijiu's other consciousness--"

"Yu Xing a traitor!!"

Seeing the Magician like this, Yan Ming's lips moved, but he managed to refrain from saying "Serves him right."

From the moment night falls, the darkness is destined to be long.

Zhao Yijiu followed behind the Lingren, her gloomy gaze occasionally sweeping over the Lingren's unsuspecting nape.

Because the Lingren was not tall, the back of his neck was a more convenient spot for him; he only needed to raise his Stop Killing to wipe it away.

But he knew that even if the Lingren exposed his back to him, his blade wouldn't be able to pierce him— the Lingren wouldn't be unprepared.

Perhaps the Lingren was waiting for him to lose his temper, so that once he made a move, the other party would have a reason to kill him on a whim.

Instead of what they are doing now, they are walking in a long, endless corridor, not knowing what lies ahead, and with no way back. The two are at peace, only silence remains.

The walls of the corridor are covered with murals, but they are not clearly visible; a mysterious force seems to be preventing the human brain from understanding their meaning.

Countless golden wind chimes hung from the ceiling, with yellow talismans dangling from beneath them, their vermilion patterns meandering and undulating.

Zhao Yijiu tried to touch the wind chimes, but her hand passed right through them, as if the wind chimes were just phantoms projected from another world.

The Lingren walked past him, his hair tied in a high ponytail, wearing a blood-stained combat uniform. From the moment he entered the corridor, he hadn't said a word to Zhao Yijiu, and Zhao Yijiu wouldn't take the initiative to acknowledge him either, so the atmosphere was silent.

It all started when he was stopped by Lingren in an alley. The Lingren said that there was a hidden item in this Yugi, and the thing it pointed to could kill Yu Xing.

Truly, Yu Xing was killed. There was no chance of resurrection or escape. He was utterly destroyed, both mentally and physically.

The Lingren asked Zhao Yijiu if he wanted to try to stop him from getting the item and go with him.

A decision must be made immediately; there is only one chance.

Zhao Yijiu countered, "Since such a thing exists, why go through all this trouble and create variables for yourself? Just get it directly, and you'll have the upper hand over Yu Xing from then on."

He was testing the waters; of course, he wouldn't believe a word Lingren said, let alone an invitation offered to him.

The Lingren's reply was a slight smile, both resolute and wistful. "Only if I truly succeeded would I lose all initiative in Yu Xing. I won't take that gamble."

"But I'm unwilling to give up if I can't have it."

"Zhao Yijiu, actually I have a flaw: I hate making choices. In your terms, it's probably called... choice phobia?"

"Then it's up to you, no, not you."

"Let Yu Xing, whom you've dragged into this, make this choice for me."

Zhao Yijiu -- Zhao Yijiu had no choice but to believe him.

My sixth sense kicked in when I looked into the Lingren's light-colored eyes.

A thought suddenly surged in his mind, and his own voice told him that he would regret it if he didn't go, and that it would cause irreparable mistakes and regrets.

We must go; we must let Yu Xing make the choice, instead of giving even the opportunity to choose to the Lingren.