45: Chapter 45 Lucky E_1 45: Chapter 45 Lucky E_1 On the platform, many passengers shivered uncontrollably, their faces drained of blood, like prey clenched in the fangs of a ferocious beast.
This…
This way of dying is just too cruel, isn’t it?
Song Li moved closer to Lin Baici, grabbing tightly onto his arm.
To be drowned alive in a mud pond?
How terrifying!
The diabetic lady stopped moving, like a dead fish floating in the mire.
The Clay Human grabbed her hair, lifted her up to have a look, and upon confirming her death, casually tossed her aside.
The fifty or so passengers who had not completed sculpting their mud figures, except for those caught off guard, all rushed into the mud pond, trying to escape.
“Don’t run!
You can’t escape!
Kill that mud monster!”
The man with a big belly roared.
He was scared, but he could still think.
This mud pond stretched as far as the eye could see, with no prominent landmarks, and running into it would surely lead to getting lost and eventually, death.
To kill these long-ard Clay Humans?
These were creatures summoned here, and likely, for every one killed, the mud monster could summon another in its place.
So, the only way out was to kill that mud monster.
Easy to say, but bravery isn’t sothing everyone possesses.
Only three n, upon hearing the big-bellied man’s words, looked at him and said, “Let’s charge together!”
The mud monster turned to look at the big-bellied man, its previously expressionless face suddenly stretching into a smirk.
Full of mockery!
“Kill it!”
The big-bellied man charged.
The other passengers frantically dodged out of the way.
Xia Hongyao’s fists tightened, and she took a step forward, seemingly intending to help.
“Don’t go, it’s no use!”
Lin Baici held back Xia Hongyao.
[A bunch of rabble!]
Eater God’s comnt: [They’re dood!]
Running the thirty-ter distance, the big-bellied man sprinted and appeared in front of the mud monster, only then realizing how imposing the two-ter-tall Red Clay Human really was.
The Clay Human swung its arm.
Whoosh!
Its wheel-like, massive right hand whistled through the air and slapped across the big-bellied man’s left cheek.
Thump!
The big-bellied man’s head, like a cherry crushed by a giant hand, exploded on impact.
Red blood, grayish-white brain matter, splinters of bone, and an abundance of flesh chunks sprayed out in a fan shape, saring the platform.
In the air,
so black strands of hair floated gently down.
The other three n who had intended to attack the Clay Human saw this and lost all nerve, their courage vanishing as they turned to run.
The long-ard Clay Humans did not chase after them, but they also couldn’t run fast.
Helpless!
The red clay mud pond was too oozy; even the shallowest parts sunk to the ankles, while the deeper parts reached the knees, preventing anyone from picking up speed.
Squish!
Squish!
The three n had taken only a few steps when suddenly their bodies sank down,
unable to pull their feet out!
“Help!”
“Give another chance!”
“Damn it, I won’t let you go even as a ghost,”
The three passengers cursed, struggling, and in under a minute, they sank completely into the mud pond as if they had never existed.
Atop the red clay platform, there was dead silence.
The bodies soaked in the mud pond reminded them of the fate awaiting those who were eliminated!
“Considering this is your first ti sculpting with clay, I will lower the requirents for this step.
As long as the clay figures you make have arms and legs and look human, they are considered passable!”
The mud monster announced.
Upon hearing this, the passengers all sighed in relief.
The man with glasses looked at the mud monster anxiously.
He managed to sculpt sothing resembling a human when the long-ard Clay Humans were dealing with the eliminated ones.
But he didn’t know if he would be accused of cheating!
“It’s fine!”
“It will be fine!”
The pregnant woman clung to his arm, continuously comforting him and praying.
This ti, it seed the goddess of fortune favored them, as the mud monster did not pursue the matter, but instead returned to its stone slab and picked up the clay figure.
“Sculpting and slamming seems simple but is quite the opposite.
Whether the force is a bit stronger or lighter doesn’t matter.
What is important is to lift it over your head, as this is a form of respect for ‘clay sculpting,’ a ritualistic action.
Only then will the red clay co to life in your slamming!”
The mud monster explained.
“Isn’t that after the fact?”
18D complained quietly.
“Co to life?”
Lin Baici’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Next, is the third step, face sculpting!”
The mud monster detailed the key points, “Life holds a variety of feelings, from joy to anger, sorrow to pleasure.
As long as one is alive, one must continually savor the bitterness and sweetness of life.”
“Sweet enough to rember for the rest of your life, bitter enough to soak into one’s sorrows with wine.”
“The third step is not only to carve the clay figure’s facial features, hair, and eyebrows to resemble yourselves as closely as possible, but also to include an expression.”
The mud monster on its own clay sculpture’s face, carved out a wide smile on the left and teary eyes on the right.
“One smile, one cry, you choose!”
The mud monster surveyed the crowd, “You have fifteen minutes, begin now!”
“57 people are dead!”
Xia Hongyao bit her lower lip.
The unfortunate souls caught in this rule-contaminated event numbered 826 in all, all passengers from the G1955 train.
Now 769 remain.
“Is now the ti to worry about the number of deaths?
If we fail this step, we’re dead too!”
Song Li felt the girl with the high ponytail was too carefree,
How could she not be afraid?
“This challenge seems simple!”
18D looked at Lin Baici, “Are you going to carve a smiling face or a crying face?”
Both expressions were fairly straightforward: a smile curving the mouth upwards and squinting eyes into crescents, while a crying face involved a wide-open mouth, loud sobs, and tears sliding down.
“I think a smiling face is easier to carve!”
Song Li suggested, “Shall we choose this one?”
Ma Yuan, having been cautious since the previous step’s pitfall, was waiting for Lin Baici to make a decision.
“I choose a crying face!”
The Jiuzhou God Shield Security Bureau is the official departnt specially responsible for handling taboo things, and Xia Hongyao, as a Dragon Guard, felt incompetent seeing so many travelers die before her eyes.
With this mindset, she felt that carving a smiling face would be too ironic.
Xia Hongyao picked up the clay human and the carving knife, ready to begin.
“Hold on a second!”
Lin Baici stopped her, “What if we choose the wrong expression and die?”
“Ah?”
Song Li was startled, “No way?”
Lin Baici thought about the words of the clay figurine monster and recalled the process it used to model the faces on the clay humans, trying to find so clues from the details.
Which expression should she choose?
Among the travelers, there were those with ticulous thoughts.
The programr with heavy dark circles loudly asked, “If we choose the wrong expression, will we die?”
Swish!
Many people looked up in astonishnt at the programr, then turned their heads to stare at the clay figurine monster.
The travelers who had already begun carving expressions,
Hurriedly stopped.
One second!
Two seconds!
Three seconds!
…
After ten seconds, the clay figurine monster once again grinned,
And laughed!
“You’re quite smart, aren’t you?
Yes, if you carve the wrong expression on the clay humans, you’ll die!”
Whoosh!
The words of the clay figurine monster imdiately caused an uproar.
Many people didn’t expect there to be such a trap!
They were almost fooled.
“…”
Song Li was horrified; these rules were too terrifying, weren’t they?
There was no way to guard against them!
She subconsciously glanced at Lin Baici and noticed that his expression hadn’t changed; he was unbelievably calm.
Given Lin Baici’s previous performance, he wasn’t scared silly; it was purely because his heart was strong enough to withstand this kind of pressure.
Such resilience!
Song Li’s gaze turned to admiration.
“Don’t look at ; I won’t tell you the answer.
It’s a choice between two, a fifty percent chance of survival!”
The clay figurine monster essentially spelled it out.
In the step of face sculpting, carving the facial features wasn’t difficult; the real challenge lay in choosing the expression.
If wrong,
You die!
The atmosphere on the earthen stage beca deathly oppressive once again.
What was thought to be an easy step to pass turned out to hide such a huge pitfall!
No one dared to start carving.
They were all hesitating!
Lin Baici pondered, searching for the key to breaking the deadlock.
“Stop thinking about it; this step is all about personal luck; there’s no pattern to follow!”
The Eater God suddenly spoke.
“It’s all luck?”
Lin Baici frowned.
“Life is based on fate; then cos luck, followed by Feng Shui, then good deeds, and lastly education.
So people are just naturally lucky, finding money on the road, encountering influential people in their careers…
”
“Such luck cannot be envied by the average person!”
“Then I choose a smiling face!”
Lin Baici simply disliked crying, thinking that such expressions weren’t a good on – it was either too cowardly or too sorrowful!
“Hehe, for n to smile and won to cry, congratulations, your luck isn’t bad, you’ve passed the test!”
The Eater God congratulated him.
“You an n have to choose a smiling face, won a crying face?
They’re not the sa?”
Lin Baici was astonished.
This taboo ga was downright treacherous.
Lin Baici really felt like he was screwed.
Most of the ti, a small group would choose the sa expression,which ant that soone in that group was definitely dood.
The Eater God did not answer.
“How should we choose?”
18D was anxious, “Brother Lin, say sothing, will you?”
“I suggest we go with a smiling face!”
Xia Hongyao was very decisive.
“Don’t rush; let’s think it over!”
Ma Yuan stroked his chin with his right hand, desperately thinking, trying to reason out the correct answer.
“We have only fifteen minutes for face sculpting, and five minutes have already passed!”
Xiao Hongyao reminded, “We still need to reserve ti for carving the expressions, at least seven or eight minutes, right?”
Everyone felt even more anxious after Xia Hongyao’s words.
Indeed,
They had to allow ti for carving.
“Listen to , choose a smiling face; smile at life, and the hardships will dissipate!”
Xia Hongyao picked up the iron carving knife and the clay human, ready to get started; she didn’t care about the others, she was going to carve a smiling face for sure.
“That works!”
Ma Yuan couldn’t find the right answer and felt that Xia Hongyao’s reasoning was also good.
So they chose a smiling face.
“Brother Lin, what do you think?”
18D decided to wait for Lin Baici’s opinion.
Song Li was anxiously pulling at her hair.
Lin Baici looked at Xia Hongyao.
You are Force Speed Double A, intelligence D, plus luck E, right?
“What’s up?”
Xia Hongyao blinked her big eyes.
Her eyes were lively, expressive, innocent; she looked like soone who hadn’t been beaten down by life, carefree and optimistic.
“If you choose wrong, you will die!”
Lin Baici reminded her.
“I won’t; I believe in my reasoning!”
Xia Hongyao was confident.
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