Chapter 61: The Cruel Choice

Hua Sheng's hands were bound behind the chair with a magical rope, and his neck was fitted with a noose enchanted with spells.

The nooses worn by him, Miezhi, and Jane were all connected together. As long as one person struggled, everyone would be choked until they could no longer breathe.

Hua Sheng now had to provide a name, because the man in the white robe said that both Miezhi and Jane had already given theirs.

He pondered the current situation, hoping that all three of them could survive.

Miezhi had sacrificed so much for him, even falling out with Lü Dongbin. Therefore, Hua Sheng would rather die himself than let any harm come to Miezhi.

However, what had Miezhi and Jane, who were outside this room, chosen respectively? Judging by what the man in white had said, Miezhi and Jane must have been separated in two different places; the man in white would never give them a chance to contact each other.

Thus, they could only guess as well—or rather, it was a psychological game.

No one among these three people would likely want to see another person die, but to ensure the survival of oneself and those one cared about by sacrificing an unfamiliar person was perhaps understandable.

Suppose there were two choices.

First, there was a seventy percent probability that everyone could live.

Second, sacrificing a companion in exchange for a greater than ninety percent probability of preserving the lives of oneself and the remaining companions.

What choice would anyone make?

Hua Sheng tried to guess Miezhi's thoughts. Miezhi was a kind-hearted girl. Among the eight sisters he had encountered, only Xiao Liu, who could control light, carried a hint of demonic charm. But even so, if Xiao Liu were given the choice, she would likely still hope that everyone could live.

Hua Sheng could be certain that all these sisters had kind hearts. His only concern was whether Xiao Wu, whose magical power was weaker, might choose self-preservation out of fear. That would affect her ultimate choice.

When he had encountered Lei Zhenzi in the rainforest of Chizhunushou in southern Saint Pening, he had saved Xiao Wu. Therefore, Xiao Wu would not choose Hua Sheng. Of course, to save her own life, she would not choose herself either.

After all, if she chose herself, there were only two possibilities: either she alone would die, or all three of them would die.

Therefore, if she had to give an answer, the soft-hearted Xiao Wu would definitely choose the unfamiliar Jane! Always separated from Jane by the other sisters and never having met her face-to-face, the gentle-natured Xiao Wu would sacrifice Jane to protect herself and Hua Sheng.

Having deduced the choices of Miezhi and Xiao Wu, Hua Sheng now had to guess how Jane would choose.

"Dragging it out is useless!"

The man in white was clearly losing his patience.

Hua Sheng wanted to buy himself a little more time, but the moment the other's words fell, the noose around his neck tightened rapidly.

The man squeezed two words through his teeth:

"Choose whom?!"

Hua Sheng stared fixedly at the fine-iron hoop chain floating in mid-air. Just now, when the man had leaned close to him, the hoop chain had shifted slightly to the side.

If he had the ability to break free, even for just a fraction of a second, he could summon the Ruyi Jingu Bang.

He suddenly chanted a spell silently: "Hurry like the statutes and decrees!"

Flames immediately ignited around his neck; he wanted to burn through the rope!

Yet at the same time, the screams of Jane and Miezhi came from next door!

"If you burn this rope, you are burning them both!" the man in white said viciously.

Hua Sheng had no choice but to extinguish the flames instantly, forced to press his neck against the tightening noose. But because this noose was connected to the necks of Miezhi and the others, all three of them were being choked ruthlessly at that moment.

Even if Hua Sheng could temporarily slow down the tightening of his own neck, he had no way to help Miezhi and the others escape their predicament.

The man roared, "Whom do you choose?!"

Faced with this question and the rapidly tightening noose, the names of Jane and Miezhi flashed through Hua Sheng's mind like an electric current.

Miezhi and Xiao Wu would definitely choose Jane, but who would Jane choose?

He did not know Jane well, but Jane was a French girl. When faced with such a situation, would a French girl sacrifice a man or a woman?

No, this shouldn't necessarily have anything to do with being Eastern or Western; everyone might be different!

Yet there was no time left! He had to give a name before they were choked to death.

Damn it! The rope was too tight. If he wanted to save all three of them, everyone had to make choices that aligned with one another!

Jane would certainly not choose herself; no one would willingly sacrifice themselves in vain under such circumstances.

If he were Jane, what would he think? As someone abducted by a stranger, she would definitely want to shift the risk away from herself!

Choosing herself carried too much risk; if everyone chose her, or if even one of the other two voted for her, she would undoubtedly die. Therefore, Jane's most likely choice was Hua Sheng!

Damn it, the rope was too tight! Hua Sheng's consciousness began to blur, less and less blood flowing to his brain, and the light before his eyes starting to dim.

"Ma..." He blurted out a syllable in a daze.

"Still have the energy to curse at a time like this." The voice of the man in white seemed to come from far away.

The rope loosened slightly, but Hua Sheng still could not breathe.

"A name. Just a name!"

Hua Sheng thought that when Jane and he each had one vote, if he chose Miezhi, it would result in a mutual selection among the three of them, allowing everyone to live!

He could not trust the person before him, but only by doing this could he reduce the man in white's justification for killing everyone.

Hua Sheng had to buy time to break free, even if it meant delaying just a little longer!

As long as the Jingu Bang returned to his hands, there was a chance to turn the tables.

He said, "One vote for Jane, one vote for me. Therefore, the person I choose is..."

The man in white said, "So the one you want to choose is the remaining girl!"

Hua Sheng gritted his teeth: "Now we each have one vote, and everyone has chosen a different person. Release Jane and Miezhi quickly!"

The man in white made no sound.

The noose around Hua Sheng's neck dropped to his chest, granting him a momentary breathing space as he broke out in a cold sweat and gasped for air.

"I've had enough of this game! Let us go right now!"

"So that girl's name is Miezhi. What a good name," the man in white said slowly in a hoarse voice.

"Cut the crap!"

The man in white showed no intention of releasing Hua Sheng, instead saying, "She sacrificed so much for you. Why did you still have the heart to choose her?"

Hua Sheng glared at the man before him. For a moment, he could not understand the meaning of the other's words. Miezhi had indeed sacrificed a lot for him, but that was back in Saint Pening before they came here.

Why would this man know about that? No, the sacrifice he spoke of did not refer to Miezhi following Hua Sheng to France, but something happening right now?

How could Miezhi have made a sacrifice?

"Congratulations on surviving..." the man in white said, "...two people!"

Hua Sheng drew in a sharp breath of cold air. How could it be two people? Who was the victim decided by the votes of three people?!

At this moment, the wooden walls of the room that had obstructed his vision began to crack, shattering piece by piece and drifting down like paper scraps.

The room grew spacious, with candlelight flickering and shifting everywhere.

Though not bright, Hua Sheng could still make out two other figures bound to chairs just like him. Standing in front of each of them was a man in white, exactly like the one before him.

The dividing walls crumbled away, and the three men in white walked toward one another, eventually merging into a single person.

Hua Sheng instantly recognized that the two figures bound to the chairs were Jane and Miezhi. But upon seeing Miezhi, Hua Sheng felt as though he had been plunged into icy water.

Xiao Wu was gone. Xiao Wu, with her pink hair, had not fainted earlier. So why was the one appearing before his eyes now actually Xiao Qi with her golden-brown hair?!

Hua Sheng screamed inwardly: Not good!

Because he immediately realized the truth—the choices of Xiao Qi and Xiao Wu would not be the same!