Chapter 809: We Have a Villain Among Us!

Witnessing the "falling out" between Hearts and Spades firsthand, Sun Bumian felt a surge of panic. He instinctively took half a step back, as Jian Changsheng's evaluation of Chen Ling unconsciously surfaced in his mind:

"Treacherous, cunning, heartless, cruel, insane, a liar, someone who enjoys toying with others' emotions, building his happiness on their suffering..."

A vein throbbed on Sun Bumian's temple.

Chen Ling stopped in front of him, his eyes fixed on the face wearing small round sunglasses, his brow slightly furrowed.

"Have I seen you somewhere before?"

This was Chen Ling's first close look at Sun Bumian, but the moment he saw that face, a sense of familiarity washed over him.

Sun Bumian had considered many possibilities: Chen Ling might draw his blade without a word, or perhaps throw him underground like Jian Changsheng did. After all, thanks to Jian Changsheng's vivid descriptions, "Demon Chen" had been completely demonized, and it wouldn't be surprising for such a lunatic to commit any heinous act.

But he hadn't expected Chen Ling's first words to him to be so normal... or rather, relatively normal.

"...No." Sun Bumian shook his head. "I don't recall us ever having met."

"...I remember now."

After a moment's thought, Chen Ling recalled where the sense of familiarity came from. He had seen a photo of Xiao Chunping in the Era Archives, a picture of him with a lion dance boy. Although the boy's attire was completely different from Sun Bumian's current clothing, the sunglasses and facial features were almost identical!

He scrutinized Sun Bumian, a look of surprise appearing in his eyes. That photo, after all, was taken over three hundred years ago. How could he encounter someone exactly identical to the person in the picture in this era?

Unless...

"Do you also have Era Archives?" Chen Ling proposed the most likely hypothesis.

"Era Archives? What's that?"

"A USB drive like this."

Seeing the USB drive Chen Ling produced, Sun Bumian immediately shook his head. "I've never seen anything like it..."

Chen Ling realized his mistake. All Era Archives started at the same point: the moment the Red Star streaked across Earth's sky. However, the photo of Xiao Chunping and the lion dance boy was from 2020. Even if he used the Era Archives to travel back, he couldn't go back that far.

"Then can you time travel?" Chen Ling's frown deepened.

"Or... do you know Xiao Chunping?"

Underground within the Dark Palace.

Behind a certain dark doorway.

A beggar, head bowed, hurried behind a group of cautiously advancing participants. His bright eyes, like lustrous glass, covertly observed his surroundings.

He was a diviner from the common folk, a practitioner of the Prophecy Divine Path, and the first to find the entrance to the Dark Palace...

But beyond that, he possessed an extremely secret identity.

He silently changed direction, moving to another figure lingering at the back of the group. After glancing around to ensure no one was watching, he quietly tugged at the person's sleeve.

The person frowned and stopped.

"Hearts 7, what are you doing?" The person waited for the group to move away, then spoke in a hushed voice in the darkness. "Didn't we agree to pretend we don't know each other this time?"

"...No, Clubs, I have a bad feeling about this!"

The beggar hesitated for a moment before speaking. "When we were choosing doors just now, I cast a divination, and it seems all six of these doors are death traps!"

Clubs 7 frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Every single door leads to almost certain death. If the Tower of Babel designed this Dark Palace, it shouldn't be this dangerous, right?"

"Isn't that normal?" Clubs 7 dismissed it. "This Dark Palace was designed to speed up the competition. If it's not dangerous, how will they quickly reduce the number of participants?"

"But the divination also showed... there are treacherous people among us!"

"Treacherous people?"

"It said there's a risk of being stabbed in the back."

The beggar scratched his head. "I figured we wouldn't stab each other in the back... So besides us, who else could do it? We don't really know anyone else here, do we?"

Clubs 7 lowered his head, falling into thought.

"Could it be that other Yellow... other people from our side are mixed in with this group? And we haven't recognized each other, leading to accidental harm?"

"We've been in the society for a while now, and we've recognized most of the other members. There are only a few old enough to participate in this competition, and they're not among this group!"

"Could it be the younger generation?"

"The '6' generation... We certainly haven't had much interaction with them." The beggar pondered for a moment. "But I once heard Old Chu mention that those few are quite young. Even if they're exceptionally talented, they shouldn't be able to threaten us, right?"

"True... By the way, if you knew all six doors were death traps, why did you come in?"

"They might be death traps for ordinary people, but I can divine fortune and misfortune, so it's not entirely without a way out... Besides, I had to come and warn you, didn't I?" The beggar patted his shoulder. "The favor I owed you last time is now repaid!"

Clubs 7 snorted coldly and said nothing more.

Just as the two were speaking, a sudden scream echoed from ahead!

The previously flat path had given way to a massive chasm. Amidst the frantic whirring of machinery, scorching blue blades, stacked on top of each other like a meat grinder, instantly cut the two leading participants into four pieces!

This sudden turn of events startled everyone. They instinctively tried to turn back and run, but discovered the path they had come from had vanished.

In its place were three deep pits, sunken just enough to avoid the slicing blades.

Above these three pits, three signs were displayed, stating: "This pit can accommodate a maximum of 3 people," "This pit can accommodate a maximum of 2 people," and "This pit can accommodate a maximum of 1 person."

Ahead lay a death trap of blades forged by the Tower of Babel; behind was a safe zone that could only hold six people. Yet, fourteen individuals had chosen this corridor!

At this moment, all participants understood the "referee's" intention behind this stage. Without hesitation, they unleashed their divine paths in the confined space, revealing their killing moves against the closest participants!

Similar scenes were playing out in the other five corridors. Although each corridor presented a different predicament, the deadly struggles erupted simultaneously in all of them!

Roaring sounds accompanied the falling bodies, slowly commencing the "Dark Palace" competition...

Meanwhile, the mastermind behind all of this had yet to intervene.

Inside the circular hall.

Hearing these two questions, a strange glimmer flashed deep within Sun Bumian's eyes.

He calmly pushed up the small round sunglasses on his nose, letting the lenses obscure his eyes, then spread his hands:

"I don't know what you're talking about... Hearts 6 Chen Ling, isn't it? Have you mistaken me for someone else?"