Some of the examinees gathered in front of the child in the Official Uniform, asking all sorts of questions. No one went inside.
Everyone scanned the other examinees in the plaza. Strange expressions appeared on their faces, followed by a wave of lingering fear.
More than half of the examinees were missing something.
"Look," Guanzhou said in a low voice. "That seems to be the second son of Duke Cheng’s family. He’s remarkably strong, but who would’ve thought he’d lose an eye."
"Look at that group of Demon Cultivators. Every single one of them is missing their ears. I wonder if they can even hear."
"Those are the people from Tianyang Martial Arts Hall. How horrible. Every one of them is missing a left foot. Luckily for them, they’re Martial Cultivators. If they were Literature Cultivators, it’d be pretty hard to dodge jump ropes and sandbags."
"Still, everyone here is pretty lucky. No one’s missing hands or arms. Otherwise, they wouldn’t even be able to play Shadow Battle—it’d be certain death."
"Yeah."
At first, Li Qingxian agreed. But then, a terrifying thought struck him, and a single term came to mind: survivorship bias.
’It’s not that no one lost their hands or arms. It’s that the ones who did couldn’t get through the Shadow Battle... and were already dead.’
Li Qingxian looked over at Songg Baige, Wang Buku, and the others. He found that their expressions were just as grim.
"I told you this game wouldn’t be simple," Songg Baige said. "Someone was bound to suffer a terrible fate."
Wang Buku sighed. "All we can say is, we were lucky."
"Yeah. Thank goodness Ye Han chose ’Pin the Nose.’ If he’d chosen something else, we might have vanished without a trace."
"What are you all talking about in riddles?" Guanzhou asked, confused.
"Yeah, what’s going on?" A few others hadn’t caught on either.
Wang Buku explained, "You all think it’s a good thing that no one here is missing hands or arms. But have you ever considered that maybe the examinees who *did* lose their hands or arms just couldn’t make it to the Inner City Gate alive?"
The color drained from everyone’s faces. Guanzhou instinctively reached up to touch his non-existent nose.
"Can you figure out roughly how many people we lost?" someone asked, looking at Li Qingxian.
"One moment." Li Qingxian’s consciousness entered his Life Mansion. He glanced at his Life Pool, and his heart began to pound.
’How did I get over a hundred more Qi Fortune Fish?’
He then used his Life Disc for an Inference. The result: over two thousand deaths.
His Life Mansion had received a massive amount of Qi Fortune. Just like last time, one-tenth of it had either transformed into Qi Fortune Fish or strengthened his Fate Grid. The remaining nine-tenths had vanished to some unknown place.
Li Qingxian withdrew from his Life Mansion and looked out at the curious faces of the crowd.
"Over two thousand," Li Qingxian said.
"That many..." The group was momentarily unable to process the number.
"So, should we enter the city now?"
"Let’s go up to the front and see what’s happening."
The group moved forward. The closer they got to the front, the more alarmed they became. Many of the examinees no longer had children by their side.
When they reached the child in the Official Uniform standing before the gate, they learned that the gate wouldn’t open until 1:00 PM. This time, there would be no trial; they could simply enter.
Li Qingxian glanced at the sky. 1:00 PM. It would be here soon.
Li Qingxian said in a low voice, "Should we try to exchange information with the other teams to prepare for what’s next?"
Wang Buku nodded. "I agree, but the other teams might not."
"At first, it was fine, but after facing real danger, all the teams are on guard against one another. More than two thousand people died in the Outer City. Who knows what the Inner City will be like? Still, I’m for it. After all, we all want everyone to make it out alive," Songg Baige said.
Guanzhou asked, "Are you willing to trade the title of Champion Scholar for a few more lives?"
"Of course I am! The Champion Scholar is just a title. The bit of Qi Fortune that comes with it is something I can earn on my own in the future. But when someone dies, they’re gone for good. A human life is definitely more important than the title of Champion Scholar," Songg Baige declared.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Li Qingxian scanned the group and said slowly, "Tell me, what choice should a loyal official make in a situation like this?"
The others were stunned for a moment, mulling over his words.
Songg Baige took a deep breath. "Ye Han, I support you! Isn’t the purpose of being an official to serve the people, the Human Race, and the world? Every single examinee here is part of the Human Race, part of the world. Allowing more people to live is more important than our final ranking."
Wang Buku nodded. "Whether from a moral standpoint or from the ’loyal official’ path we set for ourselves at the beginning, if this benefits more examinees, we should do it. Besides, I have a theory."
"What theory?"
"Next, we’ll likely be forced into a much larger game with more examinees. When that happens, a just cause will find many supporters, while an unjust one will find few. If we help the other examinees now, even if they don’t help us in return, they at least won’t actively try to harm us," said Wang Buku.
"Buku sees things clearly. That’s another benefit," said Songg Baige.
Li Qingxian said, "Let’s do this: we find friends we can trust and exchange information about the games we went through. I still believe that while there’s nothing wrong with competing for a higher rank, cooperation and unity are always useful."
"I think it’s better not to stir up trouble. In a situation like this, we’ll probably just get the cold shoulder," Guanzhou said.
The group began voicing their opinions. Some agreed, some disagreed, and some remained silent.
Li Qingxian thought for a moment, then said, "Let’s have a simple vote by a show of hands. If the majority disagrees, I’ll drop the idea. If more than half agree, then I, as the team leader, will make the final decision. How does that sound?"
The group nodded.
"Alright. Those who disagree with communicating with other teams, raise your hand." Li Qingxian scanned the group.
Guanzhou’s hand shot up first. A few other examinees hesitated, some watching the others, some slowly raising their hands.
In the end, fewer than six people raised their hands.
Li Qingxian said, "Clearly, the dissenters are in the minority. In that case, I’ll make the decision for everyone: we’ll find people we can trust and exchange information about the games. I don’t know many Seventh Grade practitioners, so I’ll stay here. The rest of you, split up and contact any friends you know. Ask members of other teams if they’re willing to share what kind of Guii Youxi they encountered. Of course, be sure to tell them our team has a Fate Master and that we’ve already safely cleared one Guii Youxi."
"Alright!"
The group dispersed, each person going to find people they knew.
Most returned empty-handed, and then went to try their luck with other teams.
Soon, Songg Baige returned, leading a team of Literature Cultivators. There were more than thirty of them, the majority being students from the Imperial College, with a few Martial Cultivators and Daoist Cultivators mixed in.
The two sides exchanged information about their respective games and then went their separate ways.
After that, more teams came, one after another, all exchanging information about the games.
Li Qingxian recorded the details of each one.
Before long, all the children began to chant in unison.
"What’s the time, Mr. Wolf?"
"It’s 1:00 PM."
RUMBLE...
The great gate boomed open, and the child in the Official Uniform announced in a loud voice that they could now enter the Inner City.
But everyone just looked at each other. No one dared to enter.
Twenty to thirty thousand people stood in the grand plaza, scattered in various groups. Aside from a few lone individuals, most had formed teams.
A short while later, Jin Yuan arrived, leading a vast procession of over two hundred people.
It was none other than the team of Marquis Nanxiang, Meng Huaichuan. Shen Xiaoyi, Lin Zhenyuan, and Hao Yunsheng were all present.
Their numbers had doubled since the start.
Meng Huaichuan smiled and cupped his fist toward Li Qingxian. "Brother Ye, you truly are an extraordinary man. This idea of exchanging information about the games is excellent. However, I believe we should exchange information with even more people. Why don’t we join forces and announce more details about the games to everyone? What do you say?"
’It’s not that he hadn’t considered it,’ Li Qingxian thought. ’But I wasn’t sure I had enough influence to pull it off on my own.’
Li Qingxian thought for a moment, then whispered to Fangfang, "Will something bad happen if I reveal the rules of the game?"