Hearing Jack bring it up, Ling Yun's heart skipped a beat. Logically, after defeating Jack in the final bet, he should have been able to leave the fourth hall. There was no need for him to sit here idly chatting with Jack. As for Jack's claim that he had to commit suicide to pass the test, Ling Yun didn't believe it. Since he had already won, the outcome was predetermined. Why sacrifice Jack? Unless the person taking the shooting test was mentally unstable or there was some other hidden reason.
It is very likely that the hidden truth lies in the problem that Jack is about to reveal.
Sure enough, Jack slowly said, "It's very simple, Lingyun. The test of the fourth hall is not just these. You must be wondering why you haven't passed the hall after beating me. The problem is here. What I haven't told you is that you still need to make a choice. Only after you make this choice will this casino truly disappear. The price of making this choice is that you don't have to consider the time limit of the test."
"What choice?" Ling Yun asked slowly after a long silence. He suddenly had a bad feeling. He hadn't expected the fourth hall to be so complicated. After passing the test, he still had to make a choice. Judging from Jack's attitude and the fact that he was willing to remove the time limit, this choice was definitely not easy. Countless possibilities flashed through Ling Yun's mind in an instant, but he couldn't figure out what choice Jack was referring to.
Jack chuckled softly, beckoned a staff member to bring him a revolver, and gently placed it on the table. "It's simple, Mr. Lingyun. I lost the bet, and according to the rules, I should pay with my life. But I've dragged this out for so long just for this last choice. I hope you can use this gun to kill me." As he spoke, he raised his finger and made a shooting gesture on his forehead.
Ling Yun simply stared at him without showing any emotion, and after a long while, he coldly said, "Why did you choose to let me kill you instead of committing suicide? According to the casino's rules, you should have committed suicide."
Jack spread his hands, mimicking Ling Yun's elegant yet helpless manner, and said, "It's a secret! Just as you can't tell me the origin of your deception, I also can't tell you why you made this choice."
A strange, incomprehensible look suddenly appeared in his eyes: "If you don't kill me, you'll be trapped here forever and never see your girlfriend again. Killing me is just a piece of cake and perfectly reasonable. I'm going to die anyway; it's just a matter of who does it. You're not going to tell me you've never killed anyone and that you faint at the sight of blood, are you?"
"Is it really that simple?" Ling Yun stared intently at him, trying to discern a problem in his eyes, but Jack simply looked at him calmly, his deep gaze as undisturbed as a calm sea.
“Yes, please hurry. I’m not afraid of death, so I really hope you can pass the test as soon as possible and reach your final destination.” Jack said, smiling at Lingyun.
Ling Yun stared at him silently for a while, then stood up, walked over to him, picked up a revolver from the table, and pointed it at Jack's forehead. "Have you thought it through? Is there anything else you want to say?"
“No, shoot.” Jack calmly closed his eyes. “To die by your gun is a worthy death, peaceful and joyful.”
Ling Yun's eyes twitched, as if he had remembered something, and his finger lightly touched the trigger: "Jack, have you ever loved someone? Loved them enough to be willing to die for them?"
Jack opened his eyes, turned his head, and looked at him in surprise: "Why did you ask that question?"
"You only need to answer me, you don't need to ask why?" Ling Yun's eyes shone with a touching light, whether from tears or something else, his voice became very peculiar, seemingly hoarse and deep, as if he had made some kind of decision.
Jack was silent for a long time. "I have loved. I have loved someone deeply, and even now, I still love him. If it requires giving my life, I will not hesitate to die for him."
“Well, Jack, let me tell you, I also love someone deeply, so much so that I’d be willing to die for her.” Ling Yun said slowly, then suddenly pointed the gun at his temple. “So, I can’t agree to this choice no matter what. I can’t kill the person I love. If I have to be stuck here forever because of this, then I choose suicide.”
With a smile, he pulled the trigger. A bullet whistled from the muzzle, instantly turning his head into a cloud of blood mist. Ling Yun's body then slumped to the ground, lying face down on the soft carpet.
"No!"
A heart-wrenching cry suddenly escaped Jack's lips, but unlike Jack's gentle and refined voice, it came from the voice of a young girl.
Jack's figure and appearance suddenly began to change drastically. In the blink of an eye, he had transformed from a polite gentleman into a stunningly beautiful young woman.
It was Gu Xiaorou.
Chapter 359 Temple
Xiao Rou suddenly threw herself onto Ling Yun, her trembling hands gently stroking his lifeless, blood-soaked face. Although her hands and body were covered in Ling Yun's blood, she seemed oblivious, staring at him like a madwoman. Her lips instantly lost all color and trembled uncontrollably. She wanted to say something, but no words came out.
The girl's expression was unreadable, somewhat ethereal and unpredictable, her eyes filled with boundless resentment, which ultimately dissipated into a sigh in the wisp of smoke.
At some point, the casino fell silent, as if the television screen had been suddenly paused. All the movements and all the gambling froze in that moment, and then the colors slowly faded, becoming fainter and fainter, turning the entire frozen casino into a completely black and white world in the blink of an eye.
In the center of this black and white world, only crimson blood shone, and only Ling Yun and Xiao Rou were in color. A strange, soft light shone on them, giving them a hazy and sorrowful appearance. At this moment, the world only looked at Ling Yun and Xiao Rou.
The casino's background continued to darken, the boundary between black and white gradually disappearing, then transforming into an invisible gray. Everything vanished against the gray backdrop, and the entire space became blurred. Then, in a bizarre and chaotic interplay of colors, it transformed into another scene.
The two shifted into the same posture they had used in the casino, ascending the long, white marble staircase. Behind them lay a vast, dark palace. Looking down from either side of the staircase, one could see the sea of lava still slowly and steadily rising. The first three palaces had vanished, clearly indicating that the last palace lay behind them. Being here meant that the two had escaped the control of the fourth palace.
Xiao Rou bent down and picked up Ling Yun's body. Her face was blank and her eyes were empty. She seemed to be thinking about nothing. She walked slowly towards the edge of the stairs as if she were frozen. It was only a few dozen meters away from the bottom of the abyss, and below was a sea of lava that could devour everything.
Since her beloved was dead, what was the point of living alone? The girl never considered her own life much; her life could only flourish with Ling Yun by being with him. Without Ling Yun, it would gradually wither away. Death itself wasn't frightening; what was frightening was the sorrow and emptiness of gaining something and then suddenly losing it. Or rather, in the world of supernatural beings, Ling Yun and Xiao Rou had already foreseen this countless times, each time with no solution.
In the blink of an eye, Xiaorou had reached the edge of an abyss. If she took another step, the two of them would fall.
"Wife, I'm not dead yet, and you want to jump into lava with me in your arms? Are you trying to murder your husband?" Ling Yun suddenly rolled over in her arms and said lazily.
Xiao Rou's body jolted suddenly, and her previously lifeless eyes were suddenly filled with unbelievable joy. Her hand trembled slightly, and she almost threw Ling Yun, whom she was holding, into the sea of lava. Startled, Ling Yun quickly buried his head in his girlfriend's arms, tightly wrapping his arms around Xiao Rou's supple waist.
Xiao Rou quickly stepped back a few paces, away from the edge of the white marble steps, and looked at Ling Yun's face. She didn't know when, but the blood on the boy's face had disappeared as if it had been washed away, and there was no gunshot wound on his forehead. It seemed that what Xiao Rou saw was just an illusion, as if Ling Yun had never been shot.
Although he was laughing and joking, that familiar face was gazing at Xiaorou with deep affection, his eyes sparkling as if he were telling her something.
Xiao Rou burst into tears instantly, hugging Ling Yun tightly and burying her head deeply in his chest: "You bastard...you just know how to scare me, you just know how to scare me. You didn't die, but I did..."
She didn't cry when she saw Ling Yun die, and even when she held his body, she didn't cry, because there is no greater sorrow than a broken heart. Xiao Rou was already in despair at that time, so she couldn't cry. But when Ling Yun suddenly appeared in front of her, full of life, the sudden contrast and the surge of emotions made Xiao Rou burst into tears.
Ling Yun straightened his back slightly, his toes already touching the ground. He then turned around and hugged Xiao Rou, saying softly, "I'm sorry, wife. It was my fault. I didn't mean to. I just wanted to joke with you. Who knew you would be so easily frightened?" As he spoke, he gently kissed Xiao Rou's forehead.
Xiao Rou gripped his shirt tightly. Although she had stopped crying, tears were still flowing silently, now transformed into tears of joy. Despite sensing that everything before her was real, she was still afraid—afraid that the man would suddenly fly away, afraid that it was all a dream, afraid that everything would disappear when she opened her eyes.
Ling Yun hugged Xiao Rou somewhat awkwardly, gently stroking her soft back. He hadn't expected his girlfriend to react so strongly. If he had known this would happen, he would have just told her the truth after leaving the fourth hall.
After a long while, Xiaorou finally struggled out of Lingyun's arms. Her eyes, slightly red from crying, resembled duckweed after being watered by rain, exuding a captivatingly haggard beauty that evoked pity in everyone. Lingyun took out a floral handkerchief from the yellow book's protective barrier and carefully wiped away the tears from Xiaorou's face. The girl obediently let him wipe her, her heart gradually filling with warmth and joy. If there was anything that could touch a girl's heart at this moment, it would undoubtedly be her boyfriend's most tender and affectionate gesture.
"How did you know I was Jack? After I entered the gate of light on the right, I was imprisoned by a powerful force. Except for my consciousness, all my words and actions were controlled. Especially when I heard Jack tell you to kill me, I thought, husband, it would be my happiness to die by your hand. If you can break through the fourth hall because of this, then I won't have been completely useless," Xiao Rou said calmly.
"Don't talk nonsense, wife." Ling Yun took Xiao Rou's hand. "Husband won't let you die. If we have to die, we'll die together. In short, we must not let those who want us dead succeed in their conspiracy."
"I also guessed that you were Jack. In fact, Jack had already let it slip before. Besides, to ask me to make a choice between being an executioner with such a big condition as removing the time limit would be to underestimate my intelligence." Ling Yun smiled faintly.
"If he knew he would lose to me, he would never have said that you would regret killing me. This guy is actually very cunning. He wanted to arrange a duel between my husband and me, a fight to the death. No matter who wins, it will be a tragedy that we cannot bear. How could I let him have his way?"
"But what was your last action?" Xiaorou asked curiously, her face still pale. Clearly, the scene had greatly traumatized the girl, and she was still shaken when she recalled it.
"You're an esper, don't you know what's going on?" Ling Yun gently flicked her nose. "A simple illusion can achieve this effect, yet you can't see it. Have you been imprisoned to the point of being stupid? Sigh, I married a stupid wife, that won't do."
"Get lost!" Xiaorou slapped him in annoyance. "You said the Fourth Hall forbids you from using supernatural abilities, so how could you use illusion magic?"
"I did say that, but there were conditions. The Fourth Hall only forbids me from using my abilities when I'm gambling to advance, but the ban will be lifted after I defeat Jack. That's the key the Fourth Hall left us. If you don't realize this, it's either you or me who dies. How could I bear to let my beautiful wife die? So I had to die." Ling Yun continued with a grin.