Game of Deception Chapter 25: Red Balloons and Yellow Balloons

Passing through the door, Ming Po stepped into a deep red corridor.

It resembled a ventilation shaft, paneled on all four sides with sheet tal.

His footsteps returned a hollow echo, stirring a deep sense of dread. It felt as though a single heavy stomp would collapse the entire structure.

anwhile, cycles of red light swept across the space, inducing a severe sense of anxiety.

Suddenly, Ming Po stepped into empty space—

The nails securing the sheet tal popped out, and Ming Po plumted straight down!

As he fell, the highly elastic tal panel snapped up like a tongue, scraping across half his body. The sharp edges sliced him open, leaving him drenched in blood. With half his face mangled, he looked like a malevolent specter.

The mont he hit the ground, Ming Po rolled to break his fall. The ventilation shaft was not particularly high, asuring roughly two and a half ters. A light child might have jumped down completely unscathed.

But for a heavy adult, the drop was more than enough to break bones.

Ming Po looked up and realized he was in a room sealed on all four sides.

In front of him lood two heavy, black iron doors, while the other three walls offered no exits. The space left for him to move was roughly two square ters—enough to trigger severe claustrophobia.

His only source of light was the faint red glow filtering down from the ventilation shaft.

The eerie light fell upon the doors, revealing words scratched into the surface.

Yet, this unsettling atmosphere had absolutely no effect on Ming Po.

Ming Po squinted and leaned closer, making out the strange phrases.

"I don't love you anymore."

"Let's get a divorce."

"I've found soone else."

"From now on, she's your mother."

...

The rest of the writing was too blurry to make out.

The handwriting was exceptionally ssy. Even with maximum effort, it was nearly impossible to tell what was written.

Ming Po had to admit that while the earlier sections of this instance had failed to stump him, the sheer ugliness of the handwriting was truly baffling.

Right at that mont, the two iron doors let out a heavy rumble, releasing plus of white smoke as they ground upward!

A brilliant glare instantly illuminated the space, so dazzling that Ming Po had to narrow his eyes.

When he opened them again, he discovered two relatively long lanes behind the massive black doors—resembling a bowling alley.

As the doors fully opened, a waist-high counter blocked his path.

It resembled a bank teller's counter—a heavy black marble desk sealed with transparent glass, leaving only a tiny window to see inside. Slipping through that gap was completely impossible.

Resting on the black marble counter was a bow and arrow.

A compound bow and a quiver of arrows.

This was... a shooting range.

Down each of the two lanes sat a chair. A woman was tied to each one.

Cloths were bound tightly over their mouths, gagging them completely. Their hands were secured behind their backs, preventing them from making any gestures.

But the mont they saw Ming Po, a spark of light flared in their desperate, hollow eyes.

They violently began to struggle, desperate to speak yet unable to utter a single word.

"Gu Tao, you should recognize them, right?"

The tone of the voice remained unchanged, but its volu increased slightly, becoming clearer.

Assuming the audio hadn't just been turned up, Ming Po guessed the speaker had sat up straight.

Which ant that from this point forward... this was what the person truly wanted to see.

"Cai Jingyi, thirty-eight years old. Your childhood playmate, your first love, your ex-wife, and your business partner. She bore you a daughter and was married to you for ten years."

As the voice spoke, a white spotlight bead down into the left lane of the shooting range.

Imdiately after, the spotlight switched, illuminating the woman on the right.

"Zhang Hui, fifty years old. Your current wife, your superior, and your savior. She cleared the debts from your failed business venture and bore you a son."

"So?"

Ming Po asked, "Do you want to kill them?"

"You really are a beast, Gu Tao!"

The voice cursed loudly, then erupted into a delighted, frenzied laugh. "You can absolutely kill them—after you clear this final ga!"

Overhead lights flickered on, fully illuminating both lanes.

Directly beneath the won, the ground was covered in a layer of black residue.

It could be coal dust, charcoal ash, or sothing else entirely. In short, it was so kind of black, crumbly matter.

Suspended above each of their heads was a transparent box.

Inside the box over Cai Jingyi's head on the left were many red balloons and a few yellow ones. Inside the box over Zhang Hui's head on the right were many yellow balloons and a few red ones.

"Gu Tao, I want to play a ga with you."

The voice spoke sinisterly. "I heard that when you were young, you competed in shooting matches for the city team. You only withdrew from the competitions because you injured your hand. That was when you beca a physical education teacher and a swimming coach.

"Well, now it's ti to reclaim the skills you forgot long ago!"

The voice grew ecstatic, theatrical and exaggerated. "Today, you will beco their hero—

"Beneath both of them lies a massive amount of combustible material.

"Inside these balloons... the yellow ones contain an oil-like accelerant. The red ones will burst into sparks when popped, and when the ga ends, all remaining balloons will explode simultaneously.

"If the yellow and red balloons burst together, there is a chance it will trigger a massive blaze. Of course, it's also possible the temperature won't ignite the material below, causing the fire to fizzle out or rely smolder. Exactly which balloon will trigger the fire, I don't know either...

"However, once the fire starts, it will be absolutely impossible to extinguish anyti soon.

"—But you don't need to worry about yourself or the other person dying because of it! The mont a fire ignites in either lane and is confird uncontainable, that specific lane will be completely sealed off. Not a single whiff of smoke will leak out!"

Malice saturated the voice. "Above Cai Jingyi's head are 12 red balloons and 6 yellow balloons. Above Zhang Hui's head are 12 yellow balloons and 6 red balloons. And inside the quiver in front of you are exactly twelve arrows.

"The balloons will slowly drop, land on their heads, and bounce away. Because the ground is highly flammable, the safest thod is to shoot your arrows and pop the balloons right as they land on their heads!

"That way, neither the fire nor the oil will affect the combustible material on the ground.

"—Speaking of which, have you ever played Taiko no Tatsujin or Rhythm Heaven?"

Right at that mont, the malicious voice abruptly brought up the nas of two video gas.