The warm light illuminated the surroundings, making everyone feel joyful.
Everyone cheered, thinking they had found the correct answer!
Even the normal ones felt fortunate to have survived!
The big tree was very satisfied with this round's choice. If they had found the wrong answer, it wouldn't have been a problem, but if they found the correct one, it would undoubtedly increase its prestige.
But at that moment, someone suddenly said:
"No! Look, it's melting!"
The normal one who lit up the statue still wore a smile on its face, as if seeing a bright future:
"I'm… going to evolve! I'm going to evolve!"
In the post-apocalyptic era, it was a weak normal one, even more timid than humans to survive.
When some Red Houses wander, it really feared it wouldn't survive...
It had gotten through many times, and this time, under the warm glow, it saw a bright future, seeing its family members before becoming monsters…
But now, its body began to melt like ice cream, eventually, under the "warm" and healing light…
It completely died.
Turning into a puddle of strange liquid.
Not only it, but the four people closest to it also began to melt, gradually becoming a pool of pus-like liquid.
The statue that was lit, after killing a total of five people, gradually lost its luster and turned back to its original gray color.
Silence fell over the place.
The big tree said:
"It seems the correct answer isn't 1."
This was, of course, nonsense, but no one said anything.
At this moment, someone also asked:
"What's happening… why… why did so many people die?"
"It was just number one! It was just the statue numbered one!"
"Why did five people die?"
A rare kind floating in the air spoke:
"Could it be… that the person lighting it must die, but others have to keep their distance, if too close, they'll die too?"
This rare kind, with a torso like a mix between a lobster and a bat, covered with giant membranous wings, and a head that's an ellipsoidal lump full of short feelers.
It floated in the air, looking quite horrifying.
But everyone thought it made sense.
Because the people who died were the ones closest to the normal one.
At this moment, the survivors next to the deceased normals were all spooked.
They seemed to have only needed one more step forward to die.
The crowd instinctively stepped back several steps away from the puddles on the ground.
Zheng Zai, in stealth, said to Wen Xishu:
"Brother, what do you think?"
Wen Xishu said:
"It's harder than I imagined… and look there."
Wen Xishu pointed at the big tree.
To intimidate others, the big tree showed its points, one thousand three hundred and forty.
But now, it had become one thousand three hundred and ninety.
The big tree's points increased by fifty.
Zheng Zai also showed a serious expression:
"Goodness, it… it increased its score?"
Wen Xishu wasn't worried because his values were way over the top.
But if his values were similar to Old Zheng's, this situation would indeed be challenging; if opponents were left unchecked, they'd only grow stronger.
If one didn't have hundreds of thousands of points as a safety net, they had to solve the puzzle quickly to prevent any opponent from becoming too powerful.
Moreover, Wen Xishu didn't believe it was a "range" issue.
The additional four people who died weren't because they were too close to the person lighting the statue, but for other reasons.
But indeed, Wen Xishu also felt that—so-called random death was likely not entirely and absolutely random, but prioritized those closest.
"The most troublesome problem now is, everyone thinks one is wrong, but one… may not truly be wrong."
Wen Xishu suddenly said this, but Zheng Zai was puzzled:
"In this situation, number one has already been lit, but the person who lit it died… one must be wrong."
Wen Xishu said:
"I still need to verify… at least one round."
Luckily, both Wen Xishu and Zheng Zai were in stealth mode.
Old Zheng had already felt the game's perverse nature. Wen Xishu looked at the sky.
The four-colored butterflies in the sky occasionally land on certain statues… without any pattern.
He watched for a long time, seeing no pattern.
At the same time, in his mind, he found the oddest sentence from the host's words.
"The strong can make the weak light up statues, letting the weak become the steps you gaze upon, but you will not be higher or lower than these steps."
Among all the words, this was the most riddle-like… Wen Xishu also confirmed, this was the riddle.
He actually had his understanding of this sentence, but he still needed to verify some things.
Soon, the second round's participants were chosen.
This time, the big tree picked number 2.
The big tree's thought was correct, if 1 didn't work, then choose 2. Since the number and statue shape remain the same, prioritize finding the correct answer with the least deaths first.
Once they found one answer, they might deduce a pattern.
This time, the big tree controlled two normal ones.
The two normal ones were unwilling, but they had no choice, after all… everyone was greedy for those twenty points. If they were unwilling, others wouldn't hesitate to kill them before the big tree.
The second round began.
The second statue was a giant smiling face, made up of simple elements…
Two discs, like eyes, then a crescent moon, sketching out a smile.