Chapter 18: Loss and Victory
At the main entrance of the amusement park, the fat clown held one hand behind his back, the dagger in his grip not daring to be revealed. He wasn't waiting for a chance to ambush; rather, he feared that if the blade were seen, the three fierce figures before him would roll him into a ball, stuff him into a rat hole, and pour sulfuric acid in after him.
The dagger in the fat clown's hand was named "Mockery." He had used it to slit the throats of many players, then pinned the dagger before the victims, the clown face on the pommel seeming to mock the dying as they breathed their last.
"Tell us, where do you know the scroll fragments are? No need to be nervous, none of us are bad people."
Wude stepped forward, followed by Su Xiao and Zuiyasi. Seeing this, the fat clown's heart nearly leaped into his throat.
If this were any other time, even facing death, he wouldn't be this panicked. But being used as a scapegoat and dying here like this—the fat clown was deeply unwilling, and that unwillingness was slowly turning into a fear of death.
"Not talking? So you were just messing with us earlier? Hmm?"
Zuiyasi's gaze turned hostile.
"Of... of course not. It's just that the hiding spots for those three scroll fragments are very special."
As he spoke, the fat clown waved his hands repeatedly, his movements somewhat exaggerated. This had always been his habit—exaggerated, flashy, fond of belittling himself to lull others into complacency. But this time, he had made a huge mistake.
The fat clown suddenly realized that his right hand was still gripping the dagger. His expression froze, and sweat quickly beaded on his forehead.
"Oh? So you were holding a weapon all along. Faced with our goodwill, you hide a weapon behind your back. Disappointing."
Wude's aura also turned cold. He wouldn't recklessly enter the amusement park without first tormenting the fat clown half to death.
"Truly terrifying."
Zuiyasi, who had been stern-faced moments ago, began to speak with sarcasm.
"..."
Su Xiao said nothing. He was judging whether the fat clown was lying. If the other party didn't know the clue to the [Scroll Fragment], he would kill him immediately for World Source, and with luck, a treasure chest might drop.
"No... no, this is a prop from the amusement park."
The fat clown was sweating profusely from tension. He knew that these three before him might be smiling one second and kill him the next, slitting his throat like a chicken.
"A prop? Oh, I see. You're from the circus."
Wude's words left the fat clown bewildered, but he quickly hummed in agreement.
"You must be planning to perform a sword-swallowing act for us. Look how enthusiastic you are, no need to be so polite..."
"Yes, yes, yes."
"But," Wude's tone shifted, continuing, "since this is your way of welcoming us, we can't very well refuse. Go ahead, start your performance."
Wude made a gesture of invitation. The fat clown, who had been nodding like a chicken pecking rice, froze in place. He looked at the dagger in his hand—this was his murder weapon. If he swallowed it, he'd at least be half dead.
"It seems you don't want to perform the sword-swallowing act? Or could it be that this isn't the prop you claimed, but a genuine weapon? A weapon means hostility, and hostility means you're about to die."
The flame in Wude's eyes condensed, causing the fat clown to take a big step back. His instinctive thought was: Is the guy in front of me a demon?
And indeed, Wude was of the Demon Clan.
Sweating profusely, the fat clown wrestled with his thoughts. Finally, he gritted his teeth, widened his eyes, and stretched his neck, preparing to perform the sword-swallowing act.
The fat clown tilted his head back, and the dagger was gradually pushed into his mouth. He was clever—he swallowed it upside down, with the handle pointing downward.
The fat clown rolled his eyes, trembling from the pain, before finally swallowing the dagger. He jumped a few times to let it settle into his stomach. Swallowing this wouldn't kill him, but strenuous activity was out of the question, and fighting would be suicide.
Wude had long since realized that the fat clown was a scapegoat. The current situation was the best option. The fat clown was an enemy, yes, but he had value. However, his combat ability had to be restricted.
Wude's method was clever. He didn't make the fat clown sign a contract or anything like that, which would have driven him to despair and backfired.
Making him swallow his own dagger limited his mobility and combat power without pushing him into hopelessness. Don't forget, that dagger was the fat clown's own weapon—something familiar to him. Swallowing it was psychologically very different from signing a contract or being poisoned with alchemical toxins.
To survive, the fat clown would be more compliant. He was restricted, but not in a hopeless situation.
Wude had played the white face. Su Xiao, for once, played the red face. He took a bottle of active potion from his storage space, mixed in some gelatinous substance, and tossed it to the fat clown. For Su Xiao, this wasn't anything precious.
The fat clown caught it, hesitated for a few seconds, then gritted his teeth and drank it. As soon as he did, he felt the sharp pain in his chest quickly subside, replaced by a gelatinous substance filling his stomach.
Sensing this, the fat clown said nothing more and began to lead the way.
According to the fat clown, his relationship with the Nightmare King wasn't close; they were more like collaborators.
The entire Nightmare World wasn't large. The areas for the games included the Birth Plaza, the Slaughterhouse, and the Amusement Park. The innermost area, Nightmare Town, was forbidden territory, where the Nightmare King and its minions lurked. By now, they had surely gathered, waiting for Su Xiao and the others to arrive so they could attack en masse.
This meant there was no need to rush to Nightmare Town. Before going there, securing the three [Scroll Fragments] in the Amusement Park was the priority. Whoever held the most [Scroll Fragments] would be the ultimate victor.
The Ferris wheel in the Amusement Park slowly turned, filled with people. Their clothes were pristine, but their bodies had turned into skeletons—a sight both eerie and horrifying. The carousel and pirate ship showed similar scenes.
Neon lights glittered, but aside from the mechanical sounds, the Amusement Park was deathly silent.
As they walked, Su Xiao noticed a large stone house on the lawn to the right. It had a thatched roof shaped like an inverted V, and the stone walls showed signs of melting, resembling half-melted candles. It felt as if it had been scorched by the sun.
"This stone house... is a bit strange."
Wude slowed his pace. Hearing this, the fat clown explained, "That appeared here suddenly about a month ago. Nothing strange about it."
"Isn't a building suddenly appearing worth being surprised about?"
"Not really. The Nightmare World we're in is a sub-painting world dependent on the main painting world. Given how messed up the main painting world is, it's not strange for something to suddenly appear in the Nightmare World that depends on it. Without this kind of 'shifting,' where would we find players?"
The fat clown shrugged, indicating it was normal. After examining the stone house for a moment, Wude didn't press further.
Su Xiao didn't look at the stone house much either, continuing forward. He had not only seen that stone house before but had even stayed inside it for a few days.
Ignoring the stone house for now, Su Xiao followed the fat clown through a skull-shaped door. Inside, a cacophony of noise reached his ears—this was a large arcade.
"Welcome, guests. Do you need coins...?"
A woman with a fake smile stood behind the counter. Hearing her words, the fat clown was nearly scared to death. The game rules were indeed like that, but Su Xiao and the other two weren't participants in the Amusement Park.
The fat clown shot the fake-smile woman a glare and walked toward the back of the arcade.
Su Xiao looked around. The arcade had a strange sense of time, with machines from various eras. There were also many "guests"—transparent spirits.
These ghosts interested Su Xiao. They reminded him of the female ghost, Xiao Hong. Back then, Xiao Hong had Eighth Rank combat power. During Su Xiao's life-or-death battle with Yuelang, he had released the weakened Xiao Hong, killed her, and used the passive trait of Qingying Wang to recover mana, ultimately winning. Thank you, Xiao Hong.
After observing, Su Xiao found that the ghosts in this arcade had little combat power. The game rules here were likely that players exchanged their lifespan for coins, gambled with coins, and upon winning enough coins, passed this small checkpoint.
This had nothing to do with Su Xiao. He wasn't here to play games. The truly powerful entity here was the entire Amusement Park itself. Without making a contract with the Amusement Park or triggering certain conditions, it couldn't do anything to Su Xiao.
The fat clown led them to the innermost room of the arcade. He pushed open a worn wooden door, revealing a room made entirely of bones.
The room was about fifty square meters. The walls were stacked with leg bones, the ceiling made of arm bones. Looking up, one saw countless skeletal hands. The floor was neatly paved with skulls, all facing upward.
A gambling table sat in the center of the room. The dealer behind it was a skeleton. Despite being bones, it shuffled, dealt, and arranged cards with practiced skill.
"This is the place."
The fat clown said no more, indicating that the skeleton held three [Scroll Fragments].
Wude and Zuiyasi didn't act. Both sensed that the skeleton across from them was not to be trifled with.
"You three, your scroll war has nothing to do with me. But... if you're interested in a few small bets with me, I won't refuse."
The skeleton spoke, pulling out a small drawer from the gambling table. It took out three [Scroll Fragments] and tossed them onto the table.
Without a doubt, this skeleton was not someone to be fought head-on. It knew the Nightmare World had been certified and that a scroll war was underway.
"If you're not interested in a little game, then leave. Recently, a 'little one' came here, and I'm quite interested in it."
The "little one" the skeleton mentioned—Su Xiao could guess what it was. It was the little thing inside the stone house.
"You two, what's your stance?"
Wude sat down at the gambling table. As a member of the Demon Clan, he wouldn't miss such an interesting opportunity.
"A few rounds, then."
Zuiyasi also took a seat. Having lived in the Ancient God's lair of Doom Star, he was used to dealing with beings beyond his power, so he handled the situation calmly.
"Not interested."
Su Xiao stated. After sensing the skeleton's strength, he judged that there was no way to cheat this time and decisively opted out.
"What a pity. Another Law Destroyer who refuses me. The last one to decline a few rounds with me was... Green Gillian. Yes, that female bandit. She stole my wager, and I drove her away."
The skeleton seemed to laugh. Beings like it were fundamentally different from the Nightmare King; their power levels weren't even in the same dimension.
"My game is life for life. People never cherish their time or waste their lives. You two, how about we bet one year as a stake? Don't worry, I have plenty of 'life souls.'"
A card spun and floated up. Its back showed a skeleton, and the front was blank. When the card stopped in midair, numbers appeared on the front, representing the skeleton's "life souls"—all won through gambling. Its stock: 1,695,234 years.
"Life for life? That's terrifying. I'll bet this instead."
Wude placed the Abyssal Jar on the table, his tone carrying a hint of mockery. Life for life? No way.
Wude's move was quite bold. The skeleton was no small fry. If Wude could use this gamble to get rid of the Abyssal Jar, he'd be a hero of the Demon Clan, which had suffered terribly from it.
Ironically, both the Law Destroyers and the Spellcasters had obtained Black Maple Tree seeds by opening Abyss passages before they collapsed.
When the Demon Clan opened an Abyss passage, they brought back a "father." Worse, it was a stepfather who beat them for no reason.
Seeing Wude bring out the Abyssal Jar, the skeleton behind the table stiffened. Then, to Wude's astonishment, the skeleton pulled a black, semicircular lid from the drawer. In color, pattern, and texture, it was identical to the Abyssal Jar.
The skeleton's hand trembled slightly—with excitement. Even a being like it had been tormented by this lid. Today, the chance to get rid of it had come.
Even the old schemer Wude was stunned, his mind buzzing. In that moment, he realized that the "father" the Demon Clan had brought back centuries ago was incomplete—only half a father. Now, there was a chance to complete it. Surprised? Delighted?
If the Abyssal Jar became whole, wouldn't it torment them even more? Wude was certain that once complete, it wouldn't improve but would only get worse.
The skeleton across from him sat down, locking eyes with Wude. The atmosphere nearly froze. Zuiyasi immediately stood up and stepped back, not wanting any connection to the Abyssal Jar.
Wude took out a translucent mechanical eye projection. With its appearance, [Insight Eye] was forcibly summoned by Wude. Like the Void Tree, the Arcane Eternal Star had usage rights to [Insight Eye], but it was an item belonging to the Void Tree. Wude had a way to forcibly summon it for half an hour.
As [Insight Eye] activated, the scene in the bone room was transmitted to the arena's big screen.
In the arena's circular stands, the audience, who had been laughing heartily at the cat-and-dog fight, now felt disappointed. They had been enjoying the spectacle of Molei getting her face bitten by Beini, who was clutching her hair.
"Damn, why did the scene change?"
"It's Zuiyasi, Wude, and Bai Ye. They're still in the Nightmare World. And that skeleton... that thing is no joke."
"It's a gamble. The stakes are a black clay pot and a lid. Nothing special at first glance... Wait! That's the Demon Clan's Abyssal Jar!!"
The audience buzzed with discussion. In the Demon Clan's section, seeing Wude appear, they grew lively. But soon, that section fell dead silent.
Whoosh!
The Demon Clan spectators stood up from their seats, their eyes fixed on the big screen above the central arena. They all saw the semicircular black clay lid on the gambling table.
Nightmare World, Bone Room.
Wude stared at the skeleton across from him. He knew the chance to get rid of the Abyssal Jar had come. According to the rules of this game, the winner takes all. That meant this time, he had to lose. Only by losing could he rid his clan of this scourge that had plagued them for centuries.
"How long has it been since I felt nervous? I'm even tasting a bit of excitement and anticipation."
The skeleton placed a deck of cards on the table, pushing the black clay lid forward with its other bony hand.
Seeing this, Wude also pushed the Abyssal Jar forward. He carefully sensed himself—no signs of distortion. This meant the Abyssal Jar hadn't rejected the gamble.
The rules of this round were simple: Wude and the skeleton each drew a card. The higher card wins.
Wude and the skeleton drew simultaneously, pressing their cards face-down on the table with their fingers. They revealed them at the same time, without any hesitation—brief, thrilling, and... deadly.
The two cards: the skeleton had a 9 of Diamonds, Wude had a 5 of Hearts. The skeleton won.
With a click, the Abyssal Jar's lid snapped shut. The now-complete jar slid automatically toward the skeleton.
"I... lost, but I also won."
Wude smiled—a genuine, unrestrained smile of pure joy.
"Is that so? Did you win? Who says a card has only one face?"
The skeleton pressed its finger against the 9 of Diamonds on the table and flipped it over. It was also a 4 of Clubs. This was a double-sided card—one side normal, the other hidden. How many such cards were in the deck, even the skeleton didn't know. It was powerful, yes, but it was a gambler. That's why it had ended up like this. As a pure gambler, its games were fair, though some rules were special—to heighten the tension.
Seeing this, Wude was stunned. But after a few seconds, the flame in his eyes condensed, and he said:
"You are powerful and ancient. But... using your existing wisdom to push everything to the limit—that is the creed of my Demon Clan. Ancient being, I repeat: You... have won, but you have also lost."
Wude flipped his own card back over. His 5 of Hearts became a 3 of Spades—the smallest possible.
"Esteemed powerful being, please accept the gift of my Demon Clan: the Abyssal Jar."
The flame in Wude's eyes turned an eerie green. He was smiling.
Void Realm, Mau Arena.
Wude had lost. The Abyssal Jar had changed hands. The Demon Clan spectators, glued to the big screen, slumped into their seats, some laughing out loud, others covering their faces with trembling shoulders. The Abyssal Jar had finally been sent away.
Bone Room, Nightmare World.
Su Xiao had watched the entire gamble. Participating might have given him a chance to win the three [Scroll Fragments], but he didn't know if the gamble could be cheated. Given the skeleton's seriousness about the game, it was likely pure luck.
In Su Xiao's view: relying on luck = unreliable = his bad luck = misfortune = certain loss = not participating = winning. So, by not participating, he had already won. Why take the risk?