Solving the Puzzle (2)

"What?"

The Book Immortal was clearly taken aback. He looked Li Wei up and down and said, "Are you sure you have a way to find that bag of fake gold beads with just one weighing?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" Li Wei said firmly.

"If it fails, I will take away all three souls and seven spirits of yours!" The Book Immortal licked his lips excitedly.

Without wasting words, Li Wei walked straight forward, first checking the gold beads in the twelve bags and the scale, and then started fiddling with it.

The Book Immortal watching from the side looked on with curiosity and muttered to himself, but he believed that the other party would definitely not be able to figure out this problem that even he himself did not know how to weigh.

While he was still lost in his imagination, he heard a voice say, "Alright, I weighed it once, and the result is that this bag contains fake gold beads."

Li Wei pointed to a bag.

After seeing the cloth bag that Li Wei was pointing to, the Book Immortal was stunned.

He stammered, pointing at Li Wei, "You... what did you just say?"

Seeing the amusing expression, Li Wei smiled and said, "I'm telling you, what's in this bag is fake."

"Weighed only once?" The Book Immortal didn't believe it.

"It was only weighed once!" Li Wei nodded, deliberately showing a puzzled smile, "Didn't you just see it?"

Indeed, the Book Immortal was definitely watching Li Wei, and there's no doubt he only used the scales once. But how exactly did he do that?

Although it seemed impossible, the person in front of me had indeed found the bag of counterfeit gold.

Was it a fluke? The Book Immortal, clinging to a sliver of hope, said in a deep voice, "Although you answered correctly, you must tell me your method, otherwise it still doesn't count."

Li Wei, with an expression that said, "I knew you'd react like this," walked up to the twelve cloth bags and said, "I'll make you truly convinced."

As he spoke, Li Wei pointed to the twelve bags and said, "First, number these twelve bags from 1 to 12. Then, take one gold bead from bag number 1, two from bag number 2, and so on. Naturally, you should take 12 from bag number 12."

Hearing Li Wei's explanation, the Book Immortal hadn't even reacted yet, but said coldly, "What's the point of this? Just tell me!"

Li Wei wasn't in a hurry, but instead asked, "Judging from your clothes and appearance, you should be a scholar. You should have no problem with basic arithmetic, right? Then let me ask you, according to what I just said, how many gold beads did you take out?"

The Book Immortal hadn't expected the other party to ask him, but out of curiosity, he quickly started counting on his fingers. After a moment, he looked up and said, "From the 12 bags, according to what you just said, a total of 78 gold beads were taken out."

"Good!" Li Wei laughed heartily, then asked, "You said that if it were real gold, each bead should weigh twelve zhu. Assuming all 78 are real... how much would they weigh?"

The Book Immortal already sensed something was wrong, but said, "It should be... 936 zhu..."

"But I just weighed it, and it's only 922 baht, which is 14 baht less than you said..." Li Wei's eyes showed a hint of a smile, but the Book Immortal's head buzzed.

"I understand now. The fake gold beads are 2 zhu less than the real ones. If we calculate it this way, then 7 of them are fake. And you just took out the corresponding gold beads according to the numbers, which means that the bag with the number 7 contains fake ones... So that's how it is!" The Book Immortal suddenly realized, and for a moment he was filled with respect for this seemingly unremarkable fellow. However, when he thought that the other party had answered this question, he felt a little annoyed.

"Alright, you've passed the ninth question. But there's one last one. If you answer it correctly, I will keep my promise and let you pass, and I will also return the souls of all those people to you. But if you can't answer it, I will take away your three souls and seven spirits!"

"Please pose a question!" Li Wei answered calmly, which made the Book Immortal opposite him jump again.

He paced back and forth a couple of times before looking up and saying, "He can ask you my tenth question..."

As he spoke, a wisp of ghost emerged from the book, and a moment later transformed into a human figure—a blue-faced, fanged demon. However, this demon was deep in thought, seemingly troubled by something.

Upon seeing the evil spirit, Li Wei was taken aback, and a thought suddenly popped into his mind. He had personally played the game "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" more than once. In this mission world based on the game, many plots and processes followed the game's flow, although they were not entirely identical.

Just like in this Demon-Locking Tower, there is indeed a character called 'The Book Immortal,' but he plays a completely different role from the Book Immortal in front of Li Wei. In the game, Li Xiaoyao and his friends encounter a ghost called 'The Contemplative Ghost,' who will ask a question, and the Book Immortal is the one who helps Li Xiaoyao and his friends answer this question.

However, in this mission world, the Book Immortal's abilities are more than a hundred times greater, and he is far more evil than in the game.

The reason Li Wei thought of all this was because of the newly appeared ghost. Its pensive and confused appearance reminded Li Wei of the 'Contemplative Ghost' in the original story.

What exactly is the Book Immortal planning to bring out this guy, who might be Contemplative Ghost, to ask questions?

At this moment, the Book Immortal continued, "The last question will be posed by this Contemplative Ghost on my behalf. If you can answer it, you win!"

At this point, what could Li Wei say? He could only bite the bullet and go for it, but in his heart he was thinking, "This ghost really is Contemplative Ghost. I wonder if the question it asked is the one from the game. If it is, then this is awesome."

Of course, these were just Li Wei's wild guesses; he didn't believe such a thing would happen.

Then, when the Contemplative Ghost raised the question, Li Wei was completely stunned.

The Contemplative Ghost asked, "I've been struggling with a problem for a long time and still don't know what to do. If you could help me, I'd really appreciate it... I just want to know, when walking, should I step with my left foot or my right foot first...?"

Oh my god... it really is that problem!

Li Wei's hair stood on end. He wanted to burst into laughter, but he had to forcefully hold it in so that the Book Immortal wouldn't notice his weakness. But perhaps he was holding it in too hard, because his neck and face turned bright red.

His appearance was misinterpreted by the Book Immortal as an inability to answer the question. This excited the Book Immortal greatly, who thought to himself, "I knew it! Even I can't answer this question, how could this kid possibly answer it? Because no matter whether you answer left foot or right foot, the Contemplative Ghost will say your answer is wrong. So, this is an unsolvable riddle, which is why it's placed last, so that no one can solve it."

The Book Immortal was smug, but little did he know that Li Wei already had the answer, and in a way, the Book Immortal himself had told Li Wei that answer.

"How about it? Can you answer it?" The Book Immortal couldn't wait to celebrate his victory.

Li Wei chuckled, said nothing, but took out the Beast Soul Sword and walked towards the Contemplative Ghost.

"What are you trying to do?" The Immortal in the Book Immortal frowned, but did not stop him. He was not afraid of anyone attacking him. According to the rules, if he could not answer the question, even the Jade Emperor could not touch a hair on his head.

"Of course I'm going to answer the question!" Li Wei smiled mysteriously, then stopped in front of the Contemplative Ghost and asked, "Aren't you worried about which foot to step with? Actually, no matter which foot you step with first, you won't be satisfied, so how about this..."

Before he finished speaking, Li Wei, holding his sword with both hands, slashed fiercely at the Contemplative Ghost.

A flash of sword light appeared, and the Contemplative Ghost's legs were severed.

"You... you are..." The Book Immortal stared in disbelief, not understanding what Li Wei meant. The Contemplative Ghost, being a demon, naturally felt no pain, but stared blankly at its body without legs.

Li Wei said directly, "Now, I've cut off your legs. You're a ghost now, so you can only float around from now on. You'll never have to worry about which foot to step on again. How about that? Does that answer your question?"

The Contemplative Ghost pondered for a moment after hearing this, then let out a ghostly laugh, "Brilliant, brilliant! Young man, you've finally resolved my doubts. From now on, I truly won't have to worry about which foot to step with anymore, haha!"

Having said that, the Contemplative Ghost transformed into a wisp of smoke and disappeared into the book.

Meanwhile, the Book Immortal stood to the side, his face ashen, his lips trembling uncontrollably, but he was unable to utter a single word.

Without a doubt, he lost in the end.

Li Wei looked at him quietly without saying a word, but his heart was pounding. What if this guy went back on his word? He wouldn't be able to handle him if he resorted to violence.

After a moment, the Book Immortal regained his composure. His figure suddenly dimmed, seemingly about to dissipate, and he spoke, "You've won. I will keep my promise and open the passage to the next level, and these people... I will return their souls..."

As he spoke, the Book Immortal grew dimmer and dimmer. By the time he finished speaking, his figure had completely vanished. Then, countless streams of light emerged from his body and entered the bodies of the reincarnators around him.

"Those must be the souls that were stolen?" Li Wei guessed. After seeing the souls return, An Hei, Nina, Xue Yan, and the others seemed to have returned to normal, so Li Wei quickly went over.

The group hadn't seen each other for a long time, and having nearly perished in the Demon-Locking Tower, their reunion was naturally filled with emotion. Nina, in particular, hugged Li Wei, tears streaming down her face like raindrops. After finally calming her down, Li Wei felt even more exhausted than after fighting White-Brow.

Hearing what happened next from Li Wei, An Hei breathed a sigh of relief. If they hadn't met Li Wei, and if Li Wei hadn't been quick-witted, they might have all been doomed.