TDU Chapter 321
Chapter 321 White Dress
After the answering time ended, Chen Junnan’s screen flickered.
"The verdict for this round—{True}."
As expected, the opposing individual’s thinking aligned with his own, and now the iron ball hovered above Chen Junnan’s head.
The seventeenth round passed without suspense; everyone united to choose {True}, and Terrestrial Snake continued to not answer the phone. At this point, there was no need for him to pick up anymore. His individual strength was too limited; the best strategy remained to conceal his location.
Most likely, Xu Qian had already received his call and probably informed the others.
Unfortunately, the others might not fully trust Xu Qian.
For the eighteenth question, the answer predictably leaned toward {True}.
The sound of chains clattered repeatedly as the massive iron ball fell above room {-2}.
What puzzled Chen Junnan slightly was that this time the sound was different from before.
The iron ball had fallen on {-2} once already, but this time the noise it made was far less intense—only a slight tremor on the ground could be felt, and almost no other unusual sounds.
How was that possible…?
Chen Junnan lowered his head and pondered. Since Terrestrial Snake’s strength had been reinforced, there was a high chance he was resisting the iron ball, preventing it from touching the ground and thus greatly reducing the noise.
And yet… something wasn’t quite right.
Where were the rumbling and the sound of debris?
Suddenly, it clicked in his mind, and he looked up toward the ceiling.
Yes… the problem lay with the purely wooden ceiling.
When the iron ball fell on {-2} the first time, it smashed through the ceiling, but this time it didn’t. All the previous loud noises whenever the iron ball fell were because the ceiling was broken—this time, since the iron ball fell on the same spot again, the sound was much less intense.
"The iron ball is right next to me, but the sound isn’t loud at all…" Chen Junnan stroked his chin thoughtfully. "So for those farther away, they probably can’t hear it at all…?"
A few seconds later, Chen Junnan’s face lit up with excitement.
"Ha! Wow!" He clapped his hands and shouted, "This young master is a f*cking genius! What a brilliant idea!"
Sure, the gamble came first and the plan came later—but at least there was a plan.
As expected, his motto of {We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it} is never wrong!
‘If you, old punk, can actually catch that iron ball, then I’ve got no choice but to play this card.’
Once the nineteenth round commenced, Chen Junnan took Yun Yao’s call as a mere formality and followed up by calling leftward.
He had braced himself for a ‘polite’ conversation with that old wretch Terrestrial Snake, only for the call to be picked up by Xu Qian instead.
"It’s you…?" Xu Qian was momentarily stunned.
"Yeah, it’s me. What, not happy to see me?"
"Sigh… did you hear what happened just now?"
"You mean the {Beheaded Snake’s Uprising}?" Chen Junnan nodded. "I guess you could say I did."
"Is he… dead?"
"Good question," Chen Junnan chuckled. "I’ll head out and help you check in a bit, no need to get antsy."
Hearing this, Xu Qian could only sigh. "He called me last round, and I already told the others his location. But I don’t know if they believe me…While we’ve finally managed to land a blow on Terrestrial Snake, I don’t even know if he’s dead. It’s so aggravating!"
"What’s the rush?" Chen Junnan laughed. "If that old creep Terrestrial Snake isn’t dead, he’ll be phoning you in a few rounds to report he’s alive and well."
Xu Qian pondered for a moment. "That’s true."
"Qian jie, from now on, let’s follow the verdict pattern of {True}, {False}, then {Smash} and turn Terrestrial Snake into snake meat patty."
The two ended the call and waited quietly. The answer to the sixteenth question appeared.
"The verdict for this round—{True}."
At the twentieth question, Terrestrial Snake continued to remain unreachable. Chen Junnan gave Xu Qian a few symbolic instructions, then continued to wait.
But when the verdict emerged, he realized he had miscalculated again.
The answer was yet another {True}.
The cannon barrel had turned, and the tide on the field was shifting. The iron ball didn’t return to hover over Terrestrial Snake’s head; instead, it moved away.
Chen Junnan reviewed the map he had made; the verdict’s persistence as {True} meant the iron ball now loomed over {Nervous Male}.
Who had he offended to garner this?
Moreover, just now, he, Yun Yao, and Xu Qian had all chosen {False}, so why was the final verdict {True}?
The loud clanking of chains rang out as the iron ball unmistakably distanced itself from Terrestrial Snake.
What caused this unexpected turn?
What was different about this round compared to the previous ones?
The only difference was that Xu Qian had informed the others of Terrestrial Snake’s location.
"Crap..." Chen Junnan stood up, as if piecing things together.
The supposed {mastermind} was skeptical of Terrestrial Snake’s real position... He intended for the iron ball to roll from {-2} all the way back to {3}, aiming to kill as many participants as possible while severely wounding Terrestrial Snake.
Just as Chen Junnan had suspected, with a loud crash, Nervous Male was eliminated by majority vote.
The entire process took no more than three minutes—clean, swift, and without a trace of hesitation.
Yet things felt even stranger. No matter what Chen Junnan chose, he seemed unable to control the iron ball’s trajectory.
In the following twenty-second and twenty-third rounds, the verdict remained {True}, and the situation was heading in a bizarre direction.
Chen Junnan hurriedly examined his map on the wall, running mental simulations of the upcoming rounds.
"You cheated everyone…are you planning a massacre...?"
He carved the word {dead} next to {Nervous Male} with his hand, then skipped over the man who refused to cooperate and carved another {dead} by the third man’s position. If his prediction held true, this man would die in the twenty-fourth round.
Then, he skipped over {White Dress Female} and carved the word {dead} at the man following her.
Judging by this pattern of killing every other person...
"Wait a moment..." Chen Junnan frowned. Between the two men flanking the {White Dress Female}, one was Zhong Zhen—both were about to die?
He had thought that one of the two men held control over the situation, but it now seemed they were both entirely at its mercy, unable to escape.
They had been deceived.
"I should have realized this earlier..." Chen Junnan let out a bitter laugh. "I originally thought the clever one was among the {even numbers}, leading the whole {even} group to slaughter the {odds}, but clearly, the questions {even numbers} received all came from the {odd numbers}..."
He raised a finger and fiercely circled the words {White Dress Female}.
"Turns out you’re quite the terror…" Chen Junnan raised a corner of his mouth. "Now I’m even more eager to introduce you to Ole Qi. If you two got together, it’d probably be quite a spectacle."
TL Note: Dun Dun Dun!!! Yesss, the mastermind is the girl!!!
And since it’s been a while, I think we would all appreciate an updated map of what’s going on. The Triangle is still the triangle, but the square is moved because it’s the iron ball’s position.
