Thriller Night Talk

Chapter 173: I’ll give you a chance

Translator-Rhapsodite

Editor- Koneko, Proofreader- Spring Flower

When Bei Quan opened his eyes, he found himself in the city of ‘Tianyuan’.

However, the ‘Tianyuan’ city he saw now was completely different from the majestic city he had seen before.

It seemed like it had just experienced a level-nine earthquake. The marble spiral towers, fan-shaped platforms, and stair-like corridors had mostly collapsed. There were broken stones and shattered walls, and even the relatively intact buildings were damaged, looking like dangerous structures.

Bei Quan quickly got up from the ground and checked himself and his surroundings.

He was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and dark gray pants, which was his usual outfit of choice for this type of outing.

Within Bei Quan’s sight, he didn’t see Wei Fuyuan or Jiang Nan’an, nor did he find anyone else.

Bei Quan tried to summon his life-bound magic weapon, but unfortunately, Qingguang Vientiane Brush did not appear.

——This situation is quite interesting.

Bei Quan touched his chin.

He remembered clearly that before losing consciousness, he, Wei Fuyuan, and Jiang Nan’an had gone together to find Ran Qu, who was suspected to be the mastermind behind the scenes.

However, just as he was about to open the door, it felt like he was hit on the head, everything went black, and he couldn’t even see the situation inside the room before losing consciousness.

Bei Quan didn’t even know what knocked him down. With Bei Quan’s current cultivation, it was hard to imagine what could have made him lose his bearings like that.

While thinking hard, Bei Quan patted the dust off his clothes and climbed onto the broken base of a nearby tower.

For the past ten days, Bei Quan had been entering this city through Jiang Nan’an’s dreams every night to listen to the teachings of ‘Grandmaster Tianyuan’.

Every time, whether it was noon or evening, in reality when he entered ‘Tianyuan City’, it would be a sunny day with bright sunshine.

However, at this moment, most of the sun in ‘Tianyuan City’ was hidden below the horizon. Half of the sky was covered in darkness, while the other half was still bathed in the blood-red glow of the setting sun.

The sky was filled with red clouds, and the sun was slowly sinking, causing the surrounding light to become increasingly dim.

Bei Quan raised his hand and gently tapped on the cross-section of a broken pillar beside him.

The texture was hard and slightly rough, indeed resembling the material of marble, but there were no traces of any stone being pieced together.

.

Bei Quan immediately confirmed that he was still in the world created by ‘Grandmaster Tianyuan’, or rather, in Jiang Nan’an’s dream.

“…It seems that I underestimated him,” Bei Quan muttered quietly.

Initially, he thought that Ran Qu’s abilities could only be used within dreams, and once outside of the dream, he would just be an ordinary person.

As a mortal with limited abilities, it’s astonishing that Ran Qu, an ordinary person without systematic cultivation, could forcefully make him lose consciousness while he was fully awake, able to pull him back into ‘Tianyuan City’.

——It seems a bit too incredible, doesn’t it?

Bei Quan furrowed his brow.

——But something doesn’t seem right.

He suddenly thought of something.

——It is indeed possible.

——The premise is that someone is guiding him…

With this in mind, Bei Quan stepped on the broken section of the pillar, agilely leaping to grab onto the railing of a nearby spiral staircase while using his strength to flip himself over, landing on the slanted tower body nearby.

From a height of three floors above the ground, he surveyed the surroundings from a superior position.

He needed to figure out his current situation and find a way to escape before the sunset.

Taking advantage of his elevated vantage point, Bei Quan noticed that something seemed to be moving in the distance.

Since he was suddenly pulled into ‘Tianyuan City’ while fully awake, it was very likely that Wei Fuyuan and Jiang Nan’an were present too.

He needed to find them as soon as possible.

Bei Quan jumped down from the slanted tower and ran towards the place where he had just vaguely spotted some movement.

However, moving around in the ruins was not an easy task, even though Bei Quan was quite agile. Running off-road among various obstacles, big and small, was not an easy task.

Moreover, the other party was also on the move.

Bei Quan estimated that he had been walking for about ten minutes, the sun had already set, and the sky was completely dark.

And just as the afterglow of the setting sun completely disappeared from the horizon, a voice came from the sky.

[Rebels, how does it feel to enter ‘Tianyuan City’ once again?]

The voice was deep, solemn, and old, with a slightly hoarse tone. The words were spoken slowly and clearly, with a rhythmic cadence: it was the voice of the ‘Grandmaster Tianyuan’.

[I have guided you onto the path of immortality, yet you, as disciples, doubt me, slander me, and accuse me of being a fraud.]

[Little do you know, the truly ignorant ones are you ants!]

The voice of the ‘Grandmaster Tianyuan’ was even deeper than before, each word filled with bitterness and a clear sense of hatred.

Bei Quan thought to himself, “Just as I suspected.”

In the previous sentence, the ‘Grandmaster Tianyuan’, used the plural form of pronouns.

It was evident that besides Bei Quan himself, there were other ‘disciples’ who had been brought into this collapsed city.

Bei Quan didn’t understand why Ran Qu would turn the once prosperous ‘Tianyuan City’ into the ruins it had become. Whether it was to express his anger, despair, or for some other reason, one thing was certain: bringing them here was not for a reunion between master and disciples.

Sure enough, the ‘Grandmaster Tianyuan’ continued speaking.

[Since you doubt my abilities, then let me show you the consequences of betraying the sect!]

An old and majestic male voice burst into laughter.

[You all want to become immortal, don’t you?]

[Well, I’ll give you this opportunity. Come to the Immortal Tower and find me.]

[I will bestow upon you the power to become immortal and then set you free from here. However, only the first person to see me will receive this blessing.]

He paused, and his laughter suddenly turned into a malicious sneer.

[If you want to come before me, you must become stronger.]

[Those who are not strong enough will only become fodder for others!]

It seemed like Ran Qu was no longer pretending to be the majestic ‘Grandmaster Tianyuan’. He spoke faster, almost non-stop.

[Yes, let’s play a battle royale game!]

The Grandmaster Tianyuan said.

[Every fifteen minutes, the outer ring of ‘Tianyuan City’ will collapse. If you don’t want to die, you must move towards the central Immortal Tower.]

[Here, you possess much stronger power than you think, but you must also fight against many terrifying monsters!]

[The closer you get to the Immortal Tower, the stronger your opponents will become!]

He chuckled coldly and continued.

[If you don’t want to die, you have to kill.]

[Only by killing your opponents can you gain their power and become stronger.]

[Only one of you will be able to see me alive!]

[Besides finding me, there is no way for you to escape Tianyuan City!]

At this point, ‘Grandmaster Tianyuan’ finally revealed his most malicious plan.

[Remember, those who die here are truly dead!]

[Your physical bodies in the real world will become soulless vegetables! No resurrection, no awakening, truly dead!]

After saying that, ‘Grandmaster Tianyuan’ laughed wildly once again.

[Hahaha! Let’s fight! Let’s compete!]

[Let’s kill each other! Let me see your emotional crying and screaming faces!]

—————————

——It’s hopeless. He’s a young man with serious illnesses.

This was Bei Quan’s impression after hearing Ran Qu’s explanation, unsure whether to call it game rules or a declaration of crime.

It was not good to have a mindset where if you’re not doing well, others shouldn’t do well either.

If possible, Bei Quan didn’t want to play any battle royale game with Ran Qu, who was clearly a lunatic.

However, unfortunately, given the current circumstances, he had no way to deal with Ran Qu. He was trapped here.

Anyway, Bei Quan must first escape from the dream to solve the case. And, it wasn’t just the three of them who were involved in the dream, Bei Quan also had to find a way to help those ordinary people get out of this predicament as soon as possible.

After all, the ’battle royale’ was a cruel game that goes against humanity and was not something that ordinary people could endure.

When a person’s hands get stained with the same kind of blood, their mental and physical state undergoes a drastic change in that moment.

Even if they return to the real world afterwards, as long as they remember the scene of them killing someone, it will be like a branding iron deeply imprinted in their heart, likely becoming a lifelong psychological shadow or burden.

The sins committed by the wicked ghost should not involve so many innocent people. Bei Quan wanted to do everything possible to stop this damn ’battle royale’.

[Beep beep beep]

Suddenly, a sharp buzzing sound echoed in the sky, resembling an air raid alarm.

After three long and piercing sirens, a sweet-toned but mechanically articulated electronic loli voice spoke.

[Attention, everyone! Attention!]

The electronic loli voice said.

[The first batch of monsters will re-spawn in sixty seconds. Please prepare for battle.]

[Current number of survivors: thirty-nine.]

The electronic loli voice paused and continued:

[Thirty-second countdown.]

[Twenty-nine, twenty-eight… ten, nine… three, two, one, zero!]

Bei Quan stood still for a while.

It was quiet all around.

He didn’t encounter the so-called first batch of re-spawned monsters.

Bei Quan bent down and picked up a palm-sized piece of broken stone. He cut his finger and drew a talisman on the stone. In the next second, the marble-like broken stone lit up, emitting a faint cold light, like a blue night light. This way, he at least had a temporary source of light.

Bei Quan couldn’t summon the Qingguang Vientiane Brush now. The props, materials, and pre-prepared talismans were all in his suitcase, which he couldn’t bring into the dream. He had to make do with what was available, to write and use them on the spot.

Just then, Bei Quan heard a scream in the distance, breaking the silence.

The voice was sharp and high-pitched, clearly belonging to a young girl.

After the scream, there followed the girl’s frightened cries for help.

Bei Quan instantly determined the direction of the sound, leaped over two and a half pieces of broken stone, and rush straight towards the direction of distress.