Mu Sicheng understood what Bai Liu meant. He, Bai Liu, and Du Sanying were indeed the ones with the greatest advantage. They should be the first to clear the level. Once the explosion began, everyone would be overwhelmed. Whether Bai Liu's control skill worked or not wouldn't matter. As long as they survived the blast, no one would be able to sneak-attack Bai Liu anymore.
Mu Sicheng fell silent for a moment. "There are three people left. Who are you going to choose to send with the bomb?"
"Why?" Bai Liu shifted his gaze. "Do you have a recommendation?"
Mu Sicheng paused. "Liu Huai. I suggest you choose him."
Bai Liu raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Why?"
He didn't think Mu Sicheng was someone who acted out of personal resentment.
"I'm not saying this because of personal grudges," Mu Sicheng said. "It's because Liu Huai has a personal skill called Assassin Flash. The distance of that flash is enough to exceed the length of a carriage."
His tone was complicated, his emotions difficult to decipher. He avoided Bai Liu's gaze slightly and lowered his voice.
"You only have a sliver of health left. If Puppet Zhang dies while trying to retrieve the broken lenses, Liu Huai could break free of control and use his flash to assassinate you. My stamina is exhausted and is only slowly recovering. My personal skill is low-level against his. I might not be able to protect you."
Liu Huai's body went slack, and he smiled bitterly. The moment Mu Sicheng spoke, he knew this would happen.
At the beginning, he had nearly killed Mu Sicheng using this very skill. It was indeed a lethal ability—one people had to guard against.
Liu Huai closed his eyes in despair. He could already predict the outcome. Bai Liu only had a sliver of HP left. He would never allow someone with such a skill to remain outside his control.
"Oh, I see." Bai Liu idly rolled the coin against his chest, as if considering the matter for two seconds. Then he spoke. "Your reasoning makes sense. But I made a trade with someone earlier."
Bai Liu had bought the souls of Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu in exchange for promising to kill Li Gou for them. There might not be a time limit on that transaction, but if he let it go now, he would have to spend far more effort to kill Li Gou later.
From Bai Liu's understanding, Li Gou had likely accumulated enough points to be released from prison. If he passed the game and gained more points this time, he might return and kill Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu once he was free.
Bai Liu would never do something so low-yield. The plan he chose was always the one with the greatest profit and highest cost-effectiveness. He never avoided risks because without risk, there was no gain.
He lifted his eyes and announced calmly, "So my choice is Li Gou."
Everyone was stunned.
Liu Huai's eyes widened in disbelief. He couldn't believe he had escaped death once again.
Li Gou, however, began struggling like a madman. He grabbed the knife from the ground and charged at Bai Liu—only to be restrained again by Puppet Zhang's control.
He had truly gone insane. His limbs were torn and bleeding from the puppet threads, yet he continued to thrash violently. He glared at Bai Liu with murderous, tyrannical eyes.
"Bai Liu!" he roared. "Why the hell did you choose me? Didn't you hear what Mu Sicheng said? Liu Huai is the one who can kill you! Why are you sending me to die with the bomb?!"
"I'll be released from prison soon!" Li Gou screamed hysterically. His eyes were bloodshot, thick veins bulging along his neck and forehead. "You can't let me die here!"
The red-faced Li Gou and the calm Bai Liu stared at each other for a long moment.
Gradually, Li Gou seemed to realize that Bai Liu would not be threatened. He slowly collapsed to his knees. His eyes were hollow, his body slack like a lump of rotting flesh discarded on the ground.
After nearly ten seconds, something seemed to click in his mind.
Suddenly, Li Gou began bowing and kowtowing frantically to Bai Liu. Snot dripped from his nose as he wept.
"Bai Liu! Please! No! Don't send me! Brother Bai! I've been obedient from the beginning. I did everything you told me without cutting corners! Why not let Liu Huai go? He's the one who might harm you! Don't choose me! Brother Bai, why are you choosing me instead of Liu Huai, who's the biggest threat? Are you joking?!"
Mu Sicheng also looked at Bai Liu with disapproval.
"Why Li Gou? He's less of a threat than Liu Huai. If Liu Huai launches a sneak attack, you could really be in danger!"
In front of the small TV, Wang Shun frowned in confusion.
"What's going on? Bai Liu isn't someone who'd put the cart before the horse. Why choose Li Gou? Is he out of his mind? He only has 1 HP left!"
The other viewers were equally anxious.
"Even with Mu Sicheng's speed, Liu Huai could still backstab Bai Liu!"
"Damn it, I don't understand this at all. There's no reason for choosing Li Gou!"
None of the audience understood Bai Liu's decision. They were confused, worried—even disappointed.
Only the elderly couple standing at the back of the crowd covered their mouths, struggling to suppress their cries. Their bodies trembled as they leaned against each other, barely keeping themselves from collapsing to their knees.
Their blurred eyes were fixed on Bai Liu's pale, composed profile on the small screen.
They knew.
They knew why he chose Li Gou.
And they knew why this young man had made such a dangerous decision.
Xiang Chunhua lowered her head, choking on sobs. Clouded tears rolled over the fingers covering her mouth. Liu Fu wiped them away with his rough hands, but his own tears dampened the gray hair at her temples.
"Thank you… Thank you. Bai Liu… thank you."
They were so tired.
Every day, they lived like the walking dead, condemning and torturing themselves. Countless passersby had extended hands of sympathy—only to withdraw them just as quickly.
They said the dead were gone. They said to let go. Life would continue. If they kept grieving, Guoguo would be sad to see it.
Then those people would leave, as if the couple would truly go on to live a better life.
Their support was fleeting.
But the couple, again and again, clung to hope, shouting hysterically that someone had to pay the price. Their suffering carved ugly marks into their bodies and souls.
Xiang Chunhua was no longer the gentle Aunt Xiang. Liu Fu was no longer the honest Uncle Liu.
They had become people others grew tired of. They didn't want to be this way.
But if they stopped, who would remember Guoguo?
They had asked that question countless times. Why Guoguo?
In their numb despair, they had even asked themselves cruel questions—why weren't the other girls in the alley, those lovelier than Guoguo, the ones chosen by Li Gou's murderous hands?
How could the mothers of those girls comfort them by saying that if Guoguo had survived the assault, her life would've been ruined anyway? That if she died, perhaps she would live innocently in her next life?
There were so many girls in this world, pure, bright, naive.
Before Guoguo's tragedy, they loved them all as they loved their daughter.
But afterward, they could only ask—
Why not them? Why must it be Guoguo?
Why did Li Gou, this beast, choose their Guoguo?
Li Gou knelt on the ground and shuffled toward Bai Liu on his knees, only to be kicked away by Mu Sicheng. The force sent him sprawling, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
He shrank back in fear. His lips trembled as he looked up at Bai Liu, whose face remained utterly devoid of emotion. Tears streamed down Li Gou's face.
"Brother Bai… why do you have to choose me? Even if you don't want to choose Liu Huai, you could choose Fang Ke! Why me? Why choose me to die?"
Bai Liu looked at him calmly. "You want to know why?" His tone was indifferent. "To put it simply, I chose you to die because you're unlucky."
Unlucky enough to have followed Puppet Zhang into a game where Bai Liu was present. Unlucky enough to be Puppet Zhang's puppet. Unluckily enough, Puppet Zhang was completely controlled by Bai Liu.
"Still," Bai Liu continued evenly, "if you insist on knowing the cause of your death, I can satisfy your curiosity."
He crouched down, expression thoughtful as he studied Li Gou's utterly bewildered face.
Then he leaned closer and whispered, "Do you remember Liu Guoguo?"
At the name "Liu Guoguo," Li Gou shuddered as if struck by electricity. He stared at Bai Liu in stunned disbelief.
Bai Liu's eyes were steady, his voice calm. "If you need a logical explanation, then think of it this way—you chose Liu Guoguo. So now, I choose you. It's that simple."
"How can…" Li Gou went completely limp. He collapsed onto the ground, hands and backside hitting the floor, his gaze unfocused.
"How can it be because of Liu Guoguo? She's dead…"
He might have been imprisoned because of her, but he had long since forgotten the little girl who had given him pleasure for one night. In his memory, she was nothing more than flesh and blood—an object. Li Gou had never regarded Liu Guoguo as a person. Not as a girl. Not even as a human being.
Yet the name spoken by Bai Liu dragged him back to that night—the night that eventually led to his imprisonment.
The scattered, bloody fragments in his memory began to reassemble.
He remembered the real little girl—her tears, her trembling, the desperate way she screamed when he caught her.
He remembered pinning Liu Guoguo beneath him. He had slapped the crying high school girl, grinning as he told her not to scream. She had begged him to spare her, her voice breaking as she cried for help.
He remembered her staring up at him with hollow eyes, dirty tears streaking her cheeks as she asked in a trembling whisper:
"Why me?"
It was the same question Li Gou was now desperately asking Bai Liu.
Back then, he had only sneered. One hand pinned her wrists while the other unbuttoned his pants. He had licked his lips and said:
"You're just unlucky, little beauty. I watched some movies and got a bit worked up."
The female voice of the train broadcast interrupted the silence.
"We are about to arrive at the next stop—Reservoir. Passengers on the train, please be seated. Passengers boarding, please line up outside the doors. Allow passengers to board first before disembarking—"
Bai Liu's gaze swept across everyone present.
"We're about to arrive. Li Gou will carry the bomb. Puppet Zhang, take the mirror. Mu Sicheng, protect me. The rest of you, find the broken lenses."
"The train has arrived at Reservoir Station. All passengers, please prepare to board and disembark—"
Bai Liu lowered his voice.
"Start."
The moment the doors opened, and passengers flooded into the train, Li Gou was forced out of the carriage against his will.
A massive black bomb was strapped to his back.
Tears streamed down his face. His entire body trembled violently with fear. Burning scraps of paper filled the subway station, drifting through the air like falling ash. They brushed across Li Gou's face, searing his skin.
He couldn't resist.
Under control, he staggered forward—toward the fiercest flames.
Avoiding the burning corpses on the platform when he could, he stumbled onward. When he couldn't avoid them, fire licked mercilessly at his cheeks, scorching flesh.
He was in agony. But he could not struggle.
Through blurred vision and choking sobs, he screamed, "Bai Liu! I was wrong! I won't dare do it again! I'm sorry about Liu Guoguo! Let me go!"
His voice cracked as he cried.
"I shouldn't have done that to her! I know I was wrong! Bai Liu, I'm begging you—let me go back! I don't want to die! Let me go! Please!"
"If I get another chance, I'll never touch her again! I swear! If I do, I'll die by a thousand cuts!"