TDU Chapter 307
Chapter 307 Young Master’s Way
Yun Yao paused, then let out a bitter laugh, saying, "Those words resemble something Qi Xia might say... though, not quite the same."
"Regardless, I don't think you're going to die," Chen Junnan said with a light chuckle. "So don’t worry, superstar. I haven’t even seen your concert yet."
"In that case... I’ll take your word for it."
Just as Yun Yao was about to hang up, Chen Junnan called out to her. "Hold on."
"Mm?"
"Superstar, who’s in the room to your right?"
"My right?" Yun Yao paused, then said, "A young woman, a rather impatient one."
"Impatient?" Chen Junnan thought for a moment before replying, "Next time you pick up the phone, ask her who’s on her right."
Yun Yao fell into a brief silence, then asked, "Do you think she’s suspicious?"
"I can sense someone ahead of you harbors ill intent," Chen Junnan said thoughtfully, "but I can’t say for certain who it is. If we get the chance, we should try to figure out the order of the participants—maybe then we’ll be able to identify the one stirring up trouble."
Yun Yao’s voice came through steady and resolute. "Alright… If I survive this round, the first thing I’ll do is gather intel on who’s ahead of me."
"Good," Chen Junnan replied, stretching lazily. "Leave the rest to me." He let out a small sigh. "This damn game is more dangerous than it seems. Looks like I’ll have to take it seriously now."
He pressed the dial key, the phone ringing endlessly in his ear before finally connecting.
"Hello?" came the cautious voice of a young woman.
Before Chen Junnan could speak, a thought suddenly came to mind.
"Miss, what was the question you had received…. in the round when someone died?"
"Huh?"
"You were the second person to receive the question, right…? The corpse between us was the {first recipient}. What exactly did he relay to you?"
The young woman’s voice over the phone carried a cautious edge. "What do you intend to do?"
"I want to survive," Chen Junnan replied. "Our rooms are quite close, and to some extent, we can watch out for each other. So, how about we cooperate?"
There was a long pause before the young woman finally answered, "But as my {predecessor}, I can’t help but feel you’re the one most likely to lead me to my demise. After all, most of my questions come from you."
Chen Junnan sighed, shaking his head. "Fine, I’ll put it another way: if you don’t cooperate with this young master, this young master will just hang up f*cking right after you pick up the phone. You can f*cking figure out the questions on your own."
"You…!" The young woman snapped, but after a moment’s hesitation, she realized she had no choice.
After a long silence, she finally spoke. "Alright, fine... The question I heard at the time was {Want it to fall down here?}."
"Eh...?" Chen Junnan was taken aback; he hadn't expected the question to be so straightforward.
Want it to fall down here?
This phrase, passed through more than a dozen people, had gradually morphed into {Want it to fall down?}, and then into {Wanna sit down?}.
Suddenly, a sharp realization struck Chen Junnan’s mind.
Could it be that the first person to receive the question was the one most at risk of being crushed by the falling giant ball? That the {True} or {False} responses from the others weren’t just answers, but a grim judgment passed on the fate of that first recipient?
The idea felt disturbingly logical. With every two questions triggering a {Want it to fall down here?}, a game of forty-eight questions meant the giant ball would fall sixteen times.
Yet there were only twelve participants, meaning each person would inevitably face the looming threat more than once. At that point, life was no longer in their own hands, it was entirely up to the choices of others.
‘Though... something still feels off…’ Chen Junnan sensed a flaw in his reasoning. ‘If everyone has a chance to be struck, and the ball is supposed to fall sixteen times for twelve people, will there even be anyone left alive in the end?’
‘Just how difficult is this game?’
He glanced toward the wall on his right. If the first recipient faced the possibility of death, why was Yun Yao so nervous?
It wasn’t her turn yet, so why was she already feeling the shadow of death?
After thinking for a moment, he asked into the phone, "Miss, who’s in the room adjacent to yours?"
"Room adjacent?" The young woman hesitated before answering. "I don’t know him personally. All I know is he’s a man, and he seems nervous."
"Got it."
"So what is this round’s {question}?" The young woman asked.
"It’s {Do you want to die}?"
"Ah?"
"That’s it, I'm hanging up."
Chen Junnan ended the call and took a moment to stretch his index finger. He rubbed his nail thoughtfully before pressing it against the wall, using it to etch the current situation into the plaster.
First, he carved the character {Yun}. To its left, he carefully inscribed {Jun}, and to the right, he marked {Anxious Female}.
Three identities confirmed.
He flicked the dust off his nail and continued, carving {Dead} to the left of {Jun}. Before {Dead}, he etched {Cautious Female}, and further left still, {Nervous Male}.
The identities of six were now confirmed.
Chen Junnan then carved {White Dress Female} directly opposite {Jun}.
Of the twelve participants, seven were accounted for. Among the remaining five were the {cold-blooded man} Zhong Zhen, mentioned earlier by Yun Yao, along with three other men and one woman still unconfirmed.
"Dammit... How am I supposed to figure this out?" Chen Junnan muttered, rubbing his temples in frustration. "This young master is actually trying to think, and still hitting a wall!"
Just then, the screen in the room flickered sharply, a signal that the answer to the current round was ready.
"The verdict for this round—{False}."
Upon seeing this, Chen Junnan chuckled softly, "I don't know if that bull fancy schmancy theory worked, but this young master’s definitely did."
The heavy clang of chains echoed from above once more. If his guess was correct, the massive iron ball hanging overhead was shifting position.
Where was it now?
After a few moments of thought, Chen Junnan slumped back into his chair and let out a slow, deliberate yawn.
Incredible. Though the game hadn’t lasted long, the gnawing dread that had gripped him was beginning to fade.
That numb sensation, where survival no longer mattered, crept over him, dragging his consciousness toward sleep. He’d died countless times because of it.
"Ole Qi’s methods truly don’t suit me," Chen Junnan muttered as he slowly stood, stretching with a lazy ease. "Ole Qiao’s won’t work here either. Looks like I’ll have to rely on my own way."
He had no idea who had received the question this time, his own screen was completely black. Yet, on impulse, he walked over, grabbed the phone, and decisively dialed next door.
The other side clearly wasn’t expecting a call. The line rang nearly twenty times before someone finally answered.
"You—"
"That's right, tiz young master, I."
"Wh–What is wrong with you?" the young woman immediately snapped. "What if calling before receiving the question is against the rules? What if we’re only allowed one call per round?"
"What’s there to be afraid of?" Chen Junnan chuckled. "This young master’s bored out of his mind and might just fall asleep if there’s no one to talk to."
"Then call someone else! Why me?!"
"Uh... don’t you think there’s a possibility that this young master’s calls can only be made to you?"
TL Note: Lolol, I love Chen Junnan, he’s my favorite character in this story.
I also decided to make a picture of the diagram Chen Junnan is drawing on his wall, just to make it easier to visualize. Oh, and the reason he's using {Jun} instead of {Chen} is probably because {Jun} sounds like 'handsome' in Chinese—you know how vain our young master is (ᴗ_ ᴗ。)
