Approaching the flame, one can even feel the wounds on the body healing.
Number eight. It turned out to be a correct answer.
Wen Xishu laughed and said:
"They are lucky, they can live a little longer, but that's it."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, they finally found the first correct answer!
But just one number eight couldn't help the big tree and the others infer any results. With just this one number, no patterns were discerned.
So, the big tree had to continue the cruel elimination and arrange for someone to light up number nine.
Due to the reduced number of people, the big tree couldn't recklessly arrange for nine people to light it up.
The atmosphere during the current round was one of despair. Facing ten correct answers, they had only found one.
The statue numbered nine was a guillotine, as famous as Louis XVI's prized possession.
Wen Xishu didn't even need to think to know the death method this thing would bring—certainly beheading.
Six red butterflies, three purple butterflies, six blue butterflies. Two white butterflies.
Relatively speaking, it attracted more butterflies.
Wen Xishu said:
"After this round ends, it'll just be us. As for other districts, Old Zheng, only you and I will be able to survive until the end."
The statue was lit. The light shone brightly, yet many lights dimmed at the same time.
As the guillotine's grey color faded, it reappeared not long after.
As the blade fell—a multitude of vine tendrils full of life force soon became lifeless.
Wen Xishu and Zheng Zai, who had been in stealth for a long time, finally ended their concealment.
When the two reappeared in battle, the vast battlefield held only them.
The big tree with nearly fifty thousand points was already dead.
No matter how close it came to victory, the points couldn't be carried into the next draw card time frame—it was all illusion.
Zheng Zai felt a bit emotional:
"Old pal… over five thousand people just died like that. But this is only the ninth round."
Wen Xishu said:
"Other districts might have noticed the butterfly variable, and the third numbered statue might not be flowers."
"So it's just our district being unlucky."
Wen Xishu at this moment didn't care much about the big tree's fifty thousand points, after all—
He was holding hundreds of thousands of points.
Wen Xishu silently crossed over countless monster corpses and came to the statue number one.
The lamp would be lit once more.
Zheng Zai exclaimed:
"Old pal, that's a wrong answer!"
Yes, numbers one to eight had all been lit before. The results seemed to show that numbers one to eight were all wrong answers.
But Wen Xishu said:
"Old Zheng, let's interpret this sentence now. A strong person can command the weak to light statues, making the weak a step for you to gaze down, but you will neither stand taller nor shorter than these steps."
"What does this indicate?"
Zheng Zai shook his head:
"I… I don't understand."
Wen Xishu said:
"It indicates you are of the same height as these steps. The strong are stronger than the weak. Assuming you are strong, you represent a larger number. A large number is greater than a small number but facing a tower formed by numbers weaker than you, you will neither exceed this number nor fall below it."
"This implies… you are equal to the sum of the two preceding numbers."
"So the answer is like this, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89."
"In fact, from the beginning, the big tree had the chance to guess correctly. This round is very simple."
"Among one to eight, there are five correct answers."
Zheng Zai finally caught on.
Indeed, 1+2 equals 3, 2+3 equals 5, 3+5 equals 8…
He realized that the host's sentence was the key to everything.
You will neither stand taller nor shorter than these stairs. This solely means you are the same as them.
However, the numbers of the hundred statues are not repeated.
Zheng Zai had an epiphany:
"So butterflies… are variables?"
Wen Xishu said:
"After rounds of verification, blue butterflies represent addition; a few blue butterflies mean adding those few. Purple butterflies represent subtraction; a few purple butterflies mean subtracting those few. Red butterflies represent multiplication, while white butterflies represent division. The pattern is all the same."
Wen Xishu said while he drove away the three red butterflies on the statue number one.
Then, taking advantage of other butterflies not flying over, he quickly lit up statue number one.
The light came on, yet at this moment, the melted light changed color, making Wen Xishu and Zheng Zai feel relaxed all over.
Zheng Zai comprehended, realizing that the butterflies must be driven away.
He understood why the host was saying there might be more deaths or fewer.
Because butterflies also represent subtraction and division.
Only the purple and white butterflies inherently have lower numbers than the blue and red ones.
So, statistically speaking, although the actual number of deaths is less than the statue number occasionally, this probability is very low.
Evidently, the first district people were unlucky.
Zheng Zai said:
"Old pal, if in the ninth round… thirty-two people will die, what would you do?"
The ninth round only saw thirty people die, a bit coincidental, but coincidence is no longer important.
Wen Xishu said:
"I would kill them all before they lit the lamp."
Thinking of that terrifying big tree, Zheng Zai felt a chill:
"You… could kill so many people?"
After asking this question, Zheng Zai felt a bit silly. How could I question the worth of fifty-three thousand?
Subsequently, Wen Xishu lit up the second statue, third statue, fifth statue, thirteenth statue…
When finally the eighty-ninth statue was lit—