"After all, you are not a Goat," Qi Xia said to Human Pig.
"The first time we encountered the Goat-Head Man, we suffered quite a bit. You thought adding a lying mechanism to your game would increase your win rate, but little did you know this choice would end up killing you."
Hearing this, Human Pig stayed silent for a moment, then reached up and took off the mask on his head. Beneath this dirty and foul-smelling mask was a man with regular features. He looked to be around forty years old, and his eyes were filled with wisdom.
"It is just a pity that I was so close," Human Pig said.
"Just a little bit more, and I would have been able to walk out of here fairly and squarely."
Qi Xia's eyes flickered slightly upon hearing this, and he immediately asked, "Human Pig, what exactly do you mean by walking out fairly and squarely?" Human Pig froze for a moment and sized up the young man in front of him again, realizing that he looked very much like his younger self.
"Qi Xia, have you ever made a mistake?"
"A mistake?"
Qi Xia thought about it seriously. The word mistake was actually quite hard to define. In some ways, his profession itself was a mistake, but in other ways, he had no choice and could only do so.
"It has nothing to do with the law," Human Pig added.
"It is the kind of mistake that is enough to change the entire trajectory of your life, the kind that fills you with endless remorse and extreme regret, the kind of mistake that makes you spend the rest of your life paying off a debt."
Qi Xia frowned deeply upon hearing this, and something deep within his brain started throbbing wildly.
"What do you mean?"
Qi Xia asked coldly.
"We are all sinners..."
Human Pig said with a bitter smile.
"As expected, sinners cannot attain the Dao. I will ultimately die here anyway..."
Sinners cannot attain the Dao? Qi Xia felt like he had heard this phrase before.
"Qi Xia, do you know? The business world is like a casino."
Human Pig slowly stood up and walked over to a nearby drawer, rummaging for something.
"I once took all the liquid funds of my corporation to gamble on a hope. Looking back now, that was no different from a life-gambling game itself."
Human Pig searched for a long time before pulling an old revolver out of the drawer. He blew the dust off the gun, opened the cylinder to check the single remaining bullet, and continued, "At that time, my chances of winning were less than fifty percent, and the other shareholders on the board of directors were all against it.
But I knew that I was only gambling the liquid funds. It would not bankrupt the corporation, but instead bring a glimmer of hope for future development. However, no one could have predicted... a global infectious disease suddenly broke out, severely damaging the corporation's profits.
Later, due to insufficient liquid funds, it was difficult to maintain cash flow, leading to continuous losses." Human Pig raised his despairing eyes to look at Qi Xia.
"I originally thought I was gambling for a ticket to heaven, but I never expected to arrive in hell instead."
After speaking, he continued to carefully wipe the barrel of the gun. Qi Xia felt that Human Pig's words had slightly unraveled some of the doubts in his heart.
"So you think this place is hell?"
"Who knows?"
Human Pig shook his head.
"It was clearly a corporation I built from scratch with my own hands, yet in the end, I was fired by the board of directors. As the chairman, I lost my power. To pay off my debts, I sold my shares at a low price.
My wife built our life from nothing with me, but in the end, we couldn't even afford the money for her medical treatment. My daughter, who was studying abroad, had no money to continue her education and eventually became a notorious prostitute at her school. Compared to the real world, this place is simply my heaven.
I do not need to think about anything every day. I only need to figure out how to make you all die."
Human Pig's tone gradually lost control.
"I often wonder, if I had not taken that fifty-percent gamble that time, what would the result have been?"
Qi Xia remained silent for a long time before finally spitting out a few words, "Accept your loss willingly."
"Ha, haha..."
Human Pig suddenly seemed to lose his mind, letting out a few bitter laughs, and said, "Yes, accept your loss willingly."
"But there is still one thing I do not understand..."
Qi Xia spoke up again. Human Pig raised his deep eyes, looked at Qi Xia, and then said slowly, "I have answered too many of your questions. This is very unfair to the other participants."
"What?"
Qi Xia was somewhat puzzled.
"Are you not allowed to tell us this information?"
Hearing this, Human Pig opened the cylinder of the revolver, spun it rapidly, and then snapped it back into place with a flick of his wrist. He then slowly raised the gun and pressed it against his own temple.
"Let us leave everything to luck," Human Pig said.
"Every time you ask me a question, I will pull the trigger once. As long as the gun does not fire, I will answer you."
Seeing this, Qi Xia sighed helplessly and said, "You were once the chairman of a corporation. Do you not want to leave with a bit more dignity?"
"Dignity..."
Human Pig laughed helplessly.
"I have been wearing this foul-smelling, dirty-haired pig head for a very long time now. What dignity is there left to speak of?"
"Since that is the case..."
Qi Xia nodded.
"Then excuse my offense. Uncle, why did you volunteer to become the Human Pig?"
Click!!
Human Pig pulled the trigger without hesitation, not even blinking an eye. The gun did not fire.
"Because I need to atone for my sins," Human Pig replied.
"Someone told me that as long as I put on the mask and use games to send the participants to their deaths, there will eventually come a day when I can atone for my sins."
"What do you mean by atoning for your sins?"
Click!
The gun did not fire. Human Pig sighed.
"So-called atonement means being able to alter your own past and make up for the mistakes you committed before. After all, all the Zodiac are sinners."
Qi Xia connected the fragmented clues in his mind and felt a bit of disbelief. He organized his words and asked again, "So you once had the chance to leave, but you did not, and instead chose to stay here to atone for your sins?"
Click!
Human Pig frowned. Just as he said, Qi Xia had extremely strong luck. Three consecutive shots had not fired.
"I am not sure if I could have left, but I stayed," Human Pig continued.
"I hope none of you have ever made a mistake. Otherwise, you will eventually end up like me, choosing to stay here voluntarily. After all, staying here offers a tiny, unseen sliver of hope."
Qi Xia slowly leaned forward and asked very seriously, "So, what is the fastest way to get out of here?"
Click!!
Human Pig closed his eyes, his entire body trembling, but the gun still did not fire.
"I am not sure," Human Pig said.
"Three thousand six hundred Dao is obviously the slowest method. Even though I have put on the mask, there are still many things I do not know. After all, I am still a Human. If you want to seek the truth of this place, then you need to figure out a way to defeat Heaven and Earth."
After saying this, he paused and added, "No... do not delude yourself into thinking you can defeat Heaven. Just defeating Earth will be enough. The Three Talents of Heaven, Earth, and Human Zodiac are ranked from top to bottom, and they are all led by the Dragon.
If you want to survive in this place, first, do not provoke Heaven, and second, do not face off against the Dragon." Human Pig's four answers indeed made Qi Xia's line of thought much clearer. It seemed that escaping from this place was not as difficult as he had imagined.
He had no more questions to ask Human Pig, but the other man still held the gun up, the expression in his eyes very complex. Qi Xia knew that the chance of dying on the fifth shot was fifty percent, and on the sixth shot, it was one hundred percent.
The scene before him felt familiar, as if they had returned to that moment of gambling with his life on a fifty-percent chance from earlier. Qi Xia stood up and turned to walk towards the exit. Lin Qin and Old Lu, not knowing what he meant to do, slowly followed behind him.
Just as he was about to head out the door, Qi Xia turned his head and asked his fifth question, "Uncle, do you regret it?" After asking this, Qi Xia did not wait for Human Pig to answer. He turned and walked away, taking Lin Qin and Old Lu with him.
The enormous chess club seemed completely empty at this moment, with only Human Pig sitting alone in the center. He thought for a long time, then slowly uttered, "Thank you." A loud gunshot echoed, and Human Pig fell down.