Chapter 123: “Is this game completely over?”
The blood moon gradually ascended, growing larger bit by bit, filled with a mesmerizing and immense sense of oppression, leaving one dizzy and enthralled.
An Wujiu and Shen Ti leaned against each other, their entire surroundings shrouded in a layer of scarlet moonlight, faint and thin, like a whole piece of red gauze, wrapping them together like a wedding dress would enclose lovers.
An Wujiu didn’t know what kind of punishment the altar would inflict upon him, but he didn’t care. It was only upon coming to this game that he truly realized the terrifying consequences these so-called faiths, which manipulate human nature, could bring.
From the moment he entered the altar, endless dangers had already become the least of his worries. The secondary trauma from regaining his memories and the collapse of his faith were much worse.
He had always believed that there was no such thing as a god in this world.
Even if they existed, they shouldn’t be like this.
Everything he had gone through had almost remolded him as a person. An Wujiu couldn’t imagine what kind of person he would become if he remembered everything from the beginning if he hadn’t met Shen Ti or any of the people he cherished.
The snow had stopped, but the wind was strong. An Wujiu draped the cloak left by Nan Shan over Shen Ti’s body. Unlike everyone else, even though Shen Ti had been sacrificed, he looked as if he were just asleep.
An Wujiu wasn’t afraid of the outcome of this game.
From the moment Shen Ti claimed to be a gargoyle, An Wujiu knew he was lying.
He wasn’t a gargoyle at all, and he had guessed his role as the gravekeeper from the very first day.
At that time, An Wujiu had some doubts about Shen Ti’s identity. He felt that Shen Ti could see at night, but Shen Ti’s speech on the first day dispelled An Wujiu’s doubts. It wasn’t because he didn’t seem like a gargoyle; it was because he acted too much like one.
Shen Ti kept passing information to the wolf team, indicating that he didn’t know the wolves, and also muddled the waters by assigning identities to others, especially giving An Wujiu the identity of a civilian. It was like a gargoyle telling his wolf teammates, “I checked An Wujiu, he’s a civilian.”
But on the last day, his words and behavior were inconsistent. He gave An Wujiu the civilian identity but reported that his first night’s investigation was of Matsubara Mori’s. This was probably a deliberate omission by Shen Ti to make him aware of his identity.
If he were really a gargoyle, he wouldn’t have come forward today.
From the first day, Shen Ti had already laid the groundwork for claiming to be a gargoyle. An Wujiu thought that if he weren’t a priest who couldn’t prove himself, someone who didn’t care about winning or losing or life and death, he wouldn’t have planned so thoroughly.
Today’s death was long in Shen Ti’s plan.
And he, being overly confident, was certain he had found a way to break the game and believed he could pardon the sacrifice, so he went along with Shen Ti’s trick and personally voted him out.
But he was indeed too arrogant.
An Wujiu wasn’t afraid of losing or winning this game because he was certain Shen Ti was on his side. Even if they lost, he wouldn’t regret it; he was ready to go with Shen Ti.
But he was more worried about winning.
At this moment, An Wujiu suddenly understood the phrase he often heard upon entering the altar — survival is temporary, death is eternal.
Temporary survival would only make An Wujiu constantly worry that Shen Ti might leave him one day, disappearing from this world. Shen Ti wasn’t human in the first place; what could An Wujiu use to keep him?
He once believed every problem in the world had a solution, except Shen Ti.
At some point, An Wujiu had even thought pessimistically that dying together might be better; he would no longer fear Shen Ti’s disappearance.
He gradually lost his vision. Shen Ti’s face, along with the red land, was invisible to An Wujiu.
He could hear the altar’s warning.
“You’ve already broken the rules, An Wujiu.”
An Wujiu ignored it, as if he couldn’t hear anything.
“Even if you’re here, if the wolves decide to kill you and enter your room, you will still die.”
An Wujiu chuckled lightly, “Is this your punishment?”
The altar’s voice was emotionless, “Tomorrow, until the game ends, you won’t be able to speak.”
An Wujiu didn’t react.
The situation would be clear tomorrow, and he didn’t care if he could speak or not.
“Now, please check the player who died in the dusk sacrifice.”
An Wujiu didn’t move, but in the darkness, he still saw the answer he had long been certain of.
[Player Shen Ti is a good person.]
On this cold, blood-moon night, An Wujiu embraced a body colder than snow, unable to sleep.
When he opened his eyes, it was already morning. An Wujiu had dreamt intermittently of indescribable scenes throughout the night, possibly Shen Ti’s other form or his true form.
He also dreamt of his father planting trees in a corner of the courtyard’s glasshouse, using a rare type of soil. When he was young, he didn’t understand anything and just patted the soil his father used for planting, thinking that would make it firmer.
He had asked his father what flower it was, and his father told him it was a peony.
[What a strange name, is it a medicine?]
[It’s a very beautiful flower. It has another name, Jiangli. Long ago, when lovers had to part, they would pick a peony and give it to each other, using this subtle way to express their farewell.]
At that time, he couldn’t understand, he only knew it was a beautiful flower, but he had never seen it bloom.
After his father died, that peony also died, so when his mother moved them, she didn’t take it. This became An Wujiu’s greatest regret for a long time.
He really wanted to see a peony bloom, to know how beautiful the farewell flower his father described truly was.
So in many of the difficult nights that followed, he had the same dream, dreaming of his father’s glass greenhouse filled with flowers. He couldn’t clearly see what they looked like, so it was always a blur, with the only clear thing being his father’s gentle smile.
He said not to be afraid of separation.
At that time, An Wujiu didn’t understand how the peony flowers appeared on him, nor did he have the mind to guess because he had already become an experiment, a set of data without freedom. The flower tattoos on his body were no different from any other part of him, bringing him only pain.
Now he finally understood that the flowers imprinted on his skin were Shen Ti fulfilling a wish for him.
Even though Shen Ti at that time didn’t understand humanity or emotions, just like the young An Wujiu didn’t understand the sorrow of farewell.
But he still did it, as if by instinct.
An Wujiu woke up from the stone coffin, Shen Ti’s body was gone, and he was left alone in the cold coffin.
An Wujiu couldn’t feel anything. His limbs seemed completely frozen, and it took a long time before he could move and stand up from inside.
When his feet touched the snowy ground, even the stone coffin disappeared, just like all those who had been sacrificed before, vanishing without a trace.
The altar seemed to know An Wujiu’s inner fear best. It knew that An Wujiu was not afraid of death but only afraid of Shen Ti disappearing, so it did this on purpose.
Stumbling down the mountain in the faint morning light, An Wujiu moved without awareness, instinctively continuing his actions. As the altar’s voice said last night, he had indeed lost his voice and couldn’t utter a word. He returned to the temple before the morning sacrifice discussion began. The layers of stone steps were like a rugged ladder to heaven, still stained with the blood of the sacrificed, even the snow couldn’t cover it.
Standing before the statue behind the stone screen, An Wujiu quietly pondered. He knew the game was nearing its end, whether it was the first target or the second, but his intuition always made him feel like he had missed something.
The altar’s voice appeared, summoning them to the hall for discussion. The first to come out was Wu You, whose eyes lit up when he saw An Wujiu, quickly coming to his side.
“Wujiu-ge, are you alright?”
An Wujiu turned his face. Seeing the worry on Wu You’s face, he nodded, initially wanting to hide his injured arm but then thinking there was no part of him that was unharmed, so there was no point in hiding it.
An Wujiu pointed to his lips, then tried to speak, but couldn’t make a sound.
Wu You immediately understood, “Were you punished?”
An Wujiu nodded.
“I was punished too; I couldn’t speak for two hours.” Wu You looked down at An Wujiu’s arm, seeing it in a terrible state, wanting to exchange something to bandage it, but An Wujiu stopped him.
He thought it was unnecessary; it would soon be over, and this bit of health was enough to last him to the end.
Wu You understood his meaning. Seeing An Wujiu always looking at the statue, he thought for a moment and asked, “Do you also think this statue is strange?”
An Wujiu turned his head to look at him, nodding.
He had always thought so.
“Me too.” Wu You told him, “So that day when I went to the townspeople’s house, I asked if they knew about the statue in the temple. It happened that the person was involved in building the temple, and he told me this statue was carved by the high priest. The reason it looks like this is because they believe their god encompasses everything; everything in this world was created by the god, so he is everything itself.”
An Wujiu nodded slightly and then pointed to the stone screen.
“Oh right, I specifically asked why they put up a stone wall to block the statue.” Wu You repeated what the person said, “This was the high priest’s decision.”
An Wujiu frowned slightly.
“After carving the statue, the high priest ordered them to build a stone screen, saying this would ensure the god accepted everyone’s offerings without being disturbed.” Wu You said, frowning as well, “I think this explanation is quite far-fetched, not like something the altar would set up in the plot.”
“This is probably a deliberate flaw.”
An Wujiu looked toward the voice; it was Nan Shan.
“Are you alright?” He came over, asking An Wujiu.
An Wujiu nodded but pointed to his throat and shook his head.
Nan Shan understood, having been present when Wu You was punished.
Others gradually arrived at the hall. Just as the morning sacrifice was about to begin, the altar’s voice informed them in advance that An Wujiu had lost his right to speak due to breaking the rules.
Megan’s face showed a slight hint of joy upon hearing this, as An Wujiu’s strength alone could potentially turn the tide just through his words.
“Now, before we start the morning sacrifice discussion, let me announce the deaths from last night,” the sacred voice declared.
An Wujiu noticed Megan’s expression. It seemed the knife from last night hadn’t landed on him.
The sacred voice announced, “The player who died last night is: Player Eleven, Yang Ce.”
Shen Ti’s ruse had indeed worked, not only deceiving the good players but also fooling the last revealed wolf, causing her to personally end her teammate’s life.
Yesterday, Yang Ce was very dissatisfied when Shen Ti jumped up to claim to be the gargoyle, and he suppressed this dissatisfaction. But after a night, he seemed to have compromised and accepted this reality.
He looked at An Wujiu with eyes full of regret, emotions swirling within them.
An Wujiu looked back at him until the sacred voice announced the end of his life.
“The deceased has no last words. Let the high priest decide the speaking order.”
Yang Ce was dead, but he hadn’t activated any abilities, which meant the hunter identity Shen Ti gave him the previous night was false; he wasn’t a hunter.
An Wujiu naturally chose to start the speaking order from the right of the deceased, which was Megan, player five.
At this moment, Megan took a deep breath. Her pale face, made even more so by her blue hair, showed her anxiety. Yang Ce was dead, but the game wasn’t over yet. Perhaps there really was a hidden gravekeeper.
Knowing she was cornered, Megan decided to argue, still holding on to her last card.
“I am not the last wolf. Shen Ti was the gargoyle. He got up in that place and made such a suicidal statement clearly to drag me down with him.
I don’t know why the seer gave me a check on the first day. I am truly a good person. Maybe Andrew saw a good person and didn’t want to reveal it, so he pretended to test my identity? Otherwise, why would he give the wand to player one when he died? He only heard An Wujiu speak twice and trusted that he was definitely good. If he gave it to the wrong person, wouldn’t that be a bigger loss for the good side?”
An Wujiu’s face showed no reaction, but he was a bit surprised. Megan’s speech this round was quite persuasive, but it was too late. If she had emphasized this point from the moment he got the wand, she might have been able to present herself as someone faking her role, especially since she had the witch’s silver water, even though the witch who gave her the silver water was also a wolf.
If she had done that, she wouldn’t be a revealed wolf now.
“I don’t know if you can still believe me at this point,” Megan continued, “If I were a wolf, I wouldn’t have followed Shen Ti’s instructions so directly last night; it would be too obvious.
Now I suspect player nine. I think it’s unusual for someone as young as Noah to come to the altar and pass so many trials. She can’t possibly be coasting through this game, being invisible from start to finish. That’s abnormal, so I suspect she’s the last wolf.”
“The seer is dead, the witch is dead, the gravekeeper may be dead, and the game didn’t end after Yang Ce’s death, which means there are still roles left. It might be three roles and one civilian. Noah hasn’t shown any signs of having a role in previous rounds. This round, I’ll vote for her,” Megan said, looking at An Wujiu, the high priest. “I hope the high priest can consider what I said.”
“I’m a good person. This round, I’ll vote for Noah. I’m done.”
Next was Nan Shan, who, as usual, smiled warmly, though his smile, unlike Zhou Yijue’s, was not cunning but rather unreliable.
“Player five is really dedicated.”
Nan Shan cupped his hands together, “If I were Miss Megan, I might have given up and admitted defeat by now, but she’s still playing so seriously. I’m really impressed.”
Although it was praise, Megan’s face didn’t look good at all.
“But timing is crucial.”
Nan Shan originally wanted to share a Daoist saying but felt it would be ironic to talk about that in a religious-themed game, so he refrained.
“There’s nothing more to say. I will definitely vote for Miss Megan. I’m done.”
Wu You had even less to say, coldly stating “Done” with few words.
The speaking turn came to Noah. Her young face lit up with a smile, as if she had heard a very funny joke.
“Megan, why are you only now looking for a scapegoat?”
Noah’s laughter was clear and ethereal in the empty temple.
“I’m not the priest.” She looked at Megan with eyes as clear as glass beads, “You must be very scared now, because you believed Shen Ti yesterday and thought Yang Ce was the hunter, so you killed him. But after he died, he couldn’t activate any abilities, and the game didn’t end. Seeing this result, Megan, you must be devastated.”
“So I really admire you for having the courage and determination to persist. But unfortunately, Shen Ti is not the real gargoyle.”
Noah cruelly revealed the truth, “The real gargoyle, I think, was probably Yang Ce, who died by your knife last night.”
Megan’s pupils trembled, her eyebrows furrowed, and her eyes filled with disbelief.
“You’ve been deceived,” Noah informed her leisurely, “Shen Ti pretended to be the gargoyle from the first day, earning your trust. Once he identified the real gargoyle through speeches, he orchestrated the killing using another’s hand.”
“Your wolf team has indeed worked hard and performed impressively.” Noah recalled the events, “Daring to choose suicide on the first night in such a perilous game, even though you only had three teammates in total. Knowing the witch might hesitate to save the gargoyle, you still chose to gamble with the witch, successfully obtained an antidote, and had the suicide wolf claim to be the seer the next morning. This tricked the witch into revealing herself and siding with the wolf-seer.
This opening was already quite admirable. Unfortunately, the real seer successfully identified a wolf and passed the scepter to the right person. Ah, by the way.”
Noah placed her palm near her lips, as if sharing a secret, “Megan, let me tell you a ghost story…”
Megan’s hands began to tremble. She stared at Noah’s innocent and cute face, but found her to be incredibly cruel.
Noah whispered, “I don’t think the gravekeeper is Zhou Yijue ge.” Her eyes rolled playfully, “Who it is… I won’t tell you.”
“He claimed to be the gravekeeper, and the actual gravekeeper accepted it, knowing he was taking the hit for the gravekeeper. With this hint, you should understand the skill level of the gravekeeper player. The wolf team killed two gods and the gargoyle, gaining a huge advantage, but a fake gravekeeper tricked them once, and a fake gargoyle tricked them again.”
Noah smiled, gently cursing on Megan’s behalf.
“Those damn liars, worse than villains.”
Megan hung her head low, like a lifeless plant.
An Wujiu felt there was no need to further provoke Megan with these words, and time was indeed running out. Noah smiled and placed her hands behind her back, “Since the high priest can’t speak, I’ll speak for Brother Wujiu. Today’s game should end here, right?”
She finished her speech, and it was An Wujiu’s turn.
An Wujiu didn’t speak or plan to. He raised his hand and pointed to number five.
Unsurprisingly, everyone voted for Megan.
Tears of defiance welled up in Megan’s eyes. An Wujiu walked over and hugged her before she left.
Megan ultimately collapsed into An Wujiu’s embrace.
“Game over, the good side wins.”
The holy voice announced the result. Out of twelve players, more than half had died, leaving only four. The empty hall felt particularly cold.
No one spoke. Noah, with her hands behind her back, stared at Nan Shan, “Nan Shan ge, you wouldn’t happen to be the hunter, would you?”
Nan Shan was a bit surprised and smiled, “How are you so smart?”
Even Wu You found it hard to believe, “You’re the hunter? I thought Noah was.”
Noah shrugged, “I only guessed Nan Shan was the hunter after Shen Ti claimed he was a civilian.”
Nan Shan smiled and patted her head, “You call me ge, so you should call him ge too.”
Noah pouted.
“So, is this game truly over?” Wu You asked, “Wujiu-ge already stopped the sacrificial ritual yesterday and canceled their sacrificial tradition.”
Unexpectedly, the sacred voice said, “The second objective of the game is not yet completed. Players, please continue your efforts. Since all werewolves among the twelve priests have been killed, you have only fifteen minutes to complete the wrap-up.”
Their brief moment of relief vanished with the sacred voice’s words.
“If the second objective is not fully achieved within fifteen minutes, it will be considered a failure, and all members of the good side will become NPCs. The wolf side will be considered dead.”
gotta deal with the high priest