"I'm about to enter a dead-end for the third ti soon, and I don’t think I’ll make it out this ti. I plan to take out those punks at school who owe money." — *Welfare King.*
"I've liked Xiaoke for a long ti. Tonight, I’m going to confess, and if it doesn’t work out, I’ll force it. Whatever happens, happens!" — *Ade the Tyrant.*
"Are you even a man? Doing sothing so disgusting to a girl who treats you so well—do you want to ruin her life forever?" — *Rainbow Candy.*
"Mind your own damn business! I might be dead soon, so I’ll do whatever I want. Who are you to judge?" — *Ade the Tyrant.*
"Co fight ." — *Rainbow Candy.*
"I'm a girl, and I look good. Beat , and you can have your way with ." — *Rainbow Candy.*
"Fine! Tell the place!" — *Ade the Tyrant.*
"At the carousel in Phantom Park. Tomorrow morning at five. I’ll wait fifteen minutes. If you don’t show, I’ll bring explosives to send you and your whole family to the sky!" — *Rainbow Candy.*
"No need for that, sister. Let’s keep things friendly." — *Sima Wen San.*
"Friendly? We could all be dead tomorrow! One more word, and I’ll blow you up too!" — *Rainbow Candy.*
"You’d better not ss with ! Tomorrow, even if I die, I’ll make sure I get you!" — *Ade the Tyrant.*
Li Chengyi took a deep breath. Were all the people in this group so aggressive?
He looked up and saw Sima Gui grinning wickedly.
"See? This is the Tower of Despair. Everyone here gets along great," Sima Gui said with a chuckle.
"Getting along? Really?" Li Chengyi replied incredulously.
"Oh, you an Rainbow Candy and Ade? That’s pretty standard here. Everyone in the group is under a lot of stress, knowing that dead-ends can claim them at any mont. People get edgy, afraid of slipping up and vanishing forever. So yeah, so go a little crazy," Sima Gui explained.
"Rainbow Candy has actually taken out several newcors who planned to go on revenge sprees. That girl’s strong, cos from a well-off family, and has good values."
Sima Gui started the car, easing them out of the villa. As he turned the steering wheel, he continued, speaking in a low tone.
"To join the Tower of Despair, you need to have survived a dead-end at least once. None of the mbers here are ordinary. Take you, for example. You made it through one, so you definitely have secrets of your own."
"Fair point," Li Chengyi nodded.
"So, to us, companies like the one run by Boss Zhang Sinda are just inco sources. His is reliable and trustworthy, but if you’re looking to make money, there are others in the group who could give you jobs. Earning isn’t limited to just Hongjin,” Sima Gui explained with a smile.
“Understood!” Li Chengyi continued to scroll through the group’s announcents and found several job postings from other mbers.
‘Fourth dead-end, second ti entering. Need two people with high-frequency flash abilities to explore the interior environnt and assess danger levels. — Compensation: Five million.’
‘Seventh dead-end, third entry. Family’s safety cannot be guaranteed after last ti’s feud. Need bodyguard for three days. — Compensation: One million per day.’
‘Urgent! Seawater dead-end, second entry. Need five people to flash in and explore the interior environnt for five days. — Compensation: Eighty thousand per person per day.’
Seeing these offers made Li Chengyi realize that Zhang Sinda’s company was just one of many ways to earn money. For those with real skills, earning in a group like this was far too easy.
"So, Sima, you’re not technically one of Zhang Sinda’s employees?” Li Chengyi asked, looking up from his phone.
“Exactly. I was here before Boss Zhang showed up, and he doesn’t plan to stay here permanently. Hongjin is just a temporary outpost for him. He’s following his son’s trail, trying to catch up,” Sima Gui confird.
Li Chengyi nodded in understanding.
It made sense. Zhang Sinda was, after all, an outsider. Many in the Tower of Despair group seed to be locals of Yiguo and had probably known each other for a long ti.
Thus, their view of Zhang Sinda was different from his own, since Li Chengyi’s first connection in this world was through Zhang Sinda.
"Boss Zhang is interested in dead-enders along his son’s path. He doesn’t have the ti or energy to recruit everyone. Anyway, we’re here," Sima Gui said, parking the car.
They got out and found a hotpot restaurant nearby.
The two followed the hostess to a private room, closed the door, and took their seats.
"Every so often, the Tower of Despair holds group events. Feel free to join if you’re interested, or ignore them if you’re not. Even if you stay silent in the group, it’s fine. My main reason for creating this group is so that we can share information about our experiences in dead-ends, increasing our odds of survival," Sima Gui said as he poured tea for them.
"Are dead-ends permanent?" Li Chengyi asked, narrowing his eyes.
"So exist for a set ti, and very few are permanent. Dead-ends generally change and distort over ti, eventually disappearing entirely. Where they go, nobody knows," Sima Gui replied.
"What happens to the group if you, as the founder, die?" Li Chengyi posed a sensitive question.
"Then soone else takes over. You don’t think I’m the only one who brought people into this group, right?" Sima Gui laughed. “There used to be several founders. Now only three of us remain. The group hasn’t been around that long, and there are plenty of other similar groups out there. If this one dissolves, so be it. As long as I’m around, I’ll help where I can. The rest? Not my problem."
He embodied an attitude of "I am the only one."
During their al, Li Chengyi asked many questions, especially about the possibility of escaping dead-ends for good.
At this, Sima Gui laughed heartily.
"That legend does exist," he said as the server brought in the hotpot and side dishes.
After the server left, he continued, "Long ago, dead-ends weren’t as serious. They were just small gaps, cracks that people might notice occasionally.
"Like the dark corner of a wardrobe at night, or the blind spots at the edges of your vision, or perhaps hidden areas in secluded places. They were fleeting, unnoticed by most. But things got worse after Baixing declared independence, splitting into two countries. That’s when dead-ends started becoming a real problem."
“Of course, dead-ends have been around since ancient tis. There’s even a legend about the ‘First Dead-End’—the origin of it all. It’s said that if soone can find the exit to that place and make it out, they’ll escape dead-ends forever, free from their influence.”
He went on, sharing stories of people he’d helped who had died tragically, tales of a girlfriend who cheated him out of money and ran off, how he got his revenge, and how he was saving money for his younger sister in college.
With the hotpot bubbling and drinks flowing, the two n grew closer.
By the end of the al, Li Chengyi had learned a lot and committed the idea of breaking free from dead-ends to mory.
If he could free himself from dead-ends, perhaps he could forge an unimaginable path with the Flower of Evil.
But for now, he had no choice but to keep adapting, chasing leads in the relentless pursuit of survival.
After a satisfying al, they returned to the villa.
Two days later, Zhang Sinda and Song Ran were discharged and returned to the villa.
"Ti is running short. We need to resu our investigation of Fog Street. Zhong Ying has only half a month before her third entry, so we must act quickly," Zhang Sinda announced with a serious expression in the first-floor living room.
"What about those attackers?" Zhong Ying raised her hand to ask.
"Three were killed, the rest scattered. The authorities are handling it," Zhang Sinda replied. "As for Fog Street, we’ve gathered a complete map of the area. To find a way out, we need to focus on several things."
"First, our analysts suggested the slot machine is the key. We looked into its model, appearance, and ga chanics, but found no matches. For now, that’s on hold."
"Second, the shop with the slot machine. It appears to be an old convenience store primarily selling toys, snacks, and school supplies. Comparing it with local records, the best match is an establishnt on Xuezhong Road near Candy Bar, a shop nad Wu Ji that existed 172 years ago."
"172 years ago!?" The group was stunned.
"That’s a long ti ago," Song Ran said, shaking his head. “Dead-ends usually don’t go that far back.”
"Not much has changed in over a hundred years," Zhang Sinda said. "Aside from small nations altering, the world has always been dominated by Earth and Moon and the two superpowers, Yiguo and Baixing."
"Back then, Baixing wasn’t as powerful. Yiguo had the upper hand," Song Ran added.
"Exactly. Using
the replication thod, we’ll split up to locate Xuezhong Road as it was 172 years ago and find out more about the Wu Ji convenience store. Analysts believe that spinning the slot machine is crucial to safety. The slot machine’s rules seem to be the core restraint on dead-enders," Zhang Sinda said, gravely. "If we can find the last person who safely left after using that machine, replicating their actions might be the key to escape."
After finalizing their plans, the group quickly boarded vehicles and headed toward Xuezhong Road.
Throughout the drive, Li Chengyi found his mind drifting back to that mysterious flower.
The little white flower that had blood so quietly on Fog Street.
He wondered if its flower language was real. If he absorbed it, could he really cultivate that mysterious-sounding technique?
As for the Fog Street investigation, his initial eagerness to make money had faded. Well, not disappeared—just dimd a bit.
"Oh, Boss," Li Chengyi suddenly rembered sothing and looked at Zhang Sinda in the front passenger seat.
"What is it?" Zhang Sinda, holding a bright yellow notebook with a picture of a chubby duck on the cover, glanced back.
"It’s about my sister. You must know about my family situation. She’s been having so issues recently. Since you have strong resources in gathering information, could you help find out what’s going on with her?"
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