Chapter 554: Chu Mo Island (Twenty)
Chapter 554: Chu Mo Island (Twenty)
The Five Swift Shadows dashed uphill along the stone path. Within less than a minute, they had sprinted nearly three hundred meters to reach the summit.
Standing there, they gazed ahead and saw a vast expanse of grey barren wasteland. Rising from this desolate land stood a cluster of cone-shaped spires. Crowded closely together, these sharp peaks were arranged in a neat formation, resembling a bundle of bamboo shoots tied together.
“That’s the Shrine’s roof,” Feng Bu Jue explained, pointing forward. “Ninety percent of this structure is buried underground. We need to find an entrance quickly.” He glanced around. “If we can’t locate one, we’ll have to force our way in.”
“Right, no time to waste. Let’s go,” Hong Hu agreed.
“We’ll split up once we get there,” Fei Chai Shu added.
After a brief exchange, the group pressed forward. Descending the slope, they increased their speed. Within moments, they covered the few hundred meters to the spires. However, to their surprise, the entrance was unexpectedly easy to find. Each spire bore a movable door (a skylight), and their silhouettes became visible as they approached.
“Do we just pick one at random?” Ji Bu asked, glancing at his teammates.
“Not like we have time to inspect each one,” Feng Bu Jue shrugged. Already moving toward the nearest spire, he lifted the hatch. “I’ll go first. If there’s a trap, I can dodge it using my hovering ability.”
Of course, Feng Bu Jue wasn’t about to leap in blindly. As he spoke, he grabbed a stone and tossed it through the opening.
Patta—
The sound of the rock striking the ground returned quickly, indicating the space below wasn’t very deep.
“Oh? Doesn’t seem like a bottomless pit,” Feng Bu Jue muttered. He activated the Composite Anti-Gravity Launcher’s flashlight, directing its beam into the hatch. The four teammates gathered around to peer inside.
Bathed in the artificial light, the interior’s walls and floor became visible.
“What’s this? An attic?” Tian Ma Xing Kong asked.
“Who knows,” Hong Hu replied. “But it’s good news for us—at least we won’t have to worry about falling to our deaths.”
As they spoke, Feng Bu Jue stepped forward. With a single handhold, he vaulted into the opening.
Two seconds later, he landed safely inside the Shrine’s chamber. A system prompt echoed in his ears: [Current Task Completed].
His first reaction wasn’t to check the task bar but to sweep the area with his flashlight, scanning for traps or monsters.
After confirming the area was clear, he shouted upward, “Hurry down!”
At once, the four above leapt through the hatch one by one.
All five landed safely, each hearing the system prompt in turn.
Now, with forty seconds remaining until the task deadline…
“Phew… If we hadn’t taken this shortcut, we might’ve been wiped out on the first main quest,” Ji Bu sighed, glancing at the completed task in his game menu.
“Not necessarily,” Fei Chai Shu countered. “If we’d taken the long way, we might’ve avoided that Imprint Hand altogether.”
“Oh! Right…” Ji Bu’s expression shifted as he turned to Feng Bu Jue. “Teahouse Master Feng, care to explain your little showdown with the Imprint Hand?”
“Ah… Actually, it’s pretty simple,” Feng Bu Jue replied, continuing to scan the area with his flashlight. “But I’ll start from the beginning…”
As he spoke, he recounted his solo journey through the swamp, his battle with Fu Ling, the heroic rescue of the “beauty,” and the intelligence boost he gained—all with generous embellishments.
Finally, he reached the part about the rock-paper-scissors match with the Imprint Hand…
“After trading a few words with that stupid bastard, I saw through it,” Feng Bu Jue began, his tone dripping with smugness. “First off, choosing rock-paper-scissors itself was suspicious. This isn’t chess or Go, where skill dominates, or poker, where luck and strategy balance. This was rock-paper-scissors! The word ‘guess’ is right there! Luck accounts for at least seventy percent, right?” He paced a few steps. “And here this thing proposed a best-of-five match while facing four opponents alone… as if to say, ‘I’ve got a special technique!’”
“Yeah, I thought the same,” Hong Hu sighed. “But I assumed it would cheat through rules or tactics. Never expected it relied on some hidden ability.”
“At first, I considered that too. But I asked the Imprint Hand a question,” Feng Bu Jue continued. “I asked, ‘Did they challenge you one by one?’” He grinned. “And it proudly confirmed it. That’s when I knew—the Imprint Hand must’ve been using some ability to cheat.”
“Huh? That jump from question to conclusion’s huge!” Ji Bu interjected.
“Actually, I follow his logic,” Fei Chai Shu cut in. “Feng Bu Jue’s reasoning probably went like this: Since we faced it one by one, the order mattered. Logically, the analytical Hong Hu would’ve been last. After watching three matches, Hong Hu should’ve seen through the Imprint Hand’s trick—unless…”
Hong Hu picked up the thread, “Unless it wasn’t relying on rules or tactics at all.”
Ji Bu caught on. “So the conclusion is… the Imprint Hand had an ability guaranteeing victory in rock-paper-scissors?”
“Haha! Exactly!” Feng Bu Jue clapped. “Three apprentices make a Zhuge Liang!”
“You’re shamelessly flattering yourself,” Hong Hu shot back.
“True, I can’t compare to Chancellor Zhuge’s virtues,” Feng Bu Jue nodded solemnly.
“Meaning you think you’ve matched his wisdom?” Ji Bu twitched.
Ignoring the jab, Feng Bu Jue steered back. “In short, once I confirmed the Imprint Hand used an ability, things became easy. Because I have an ability too—one that predicts an opponent’s move instantly.”
This, of course, referred to his “Zero-Time Calculation.”
“But the real issue wasn’t the game itself,” Feng Bu Jue continued. “It’s the ‘Rock-Paper-Scissors Domain.’ You noticed how it suppressed our combat abilities, reducing us to normal humans?”
“Right,” Tian Ma Xing Kong agreed. “Otherwise, I’d have smashed that giant hand with Meteor Strike Fist.”
“Exactly,” Feng Bu Jue said. “Chu Mo Island’s full of elites. As guards, they must have means to suppress prisoners. Clearly, the Imprint Hand’s own power isn’t enough. My guess? All four guards—including it—wield not their own strength, but some ‘granted’ special ability.” His eyes sharpened. “The test confirmed it.”
“What test? What are you talking about?” Ji Bu asked.
Feng Bu Jue replied matter-of-factly, “The final match between me and the Imprint Hand, of course.”
At this, Hong Hu, standing nearby, let out a sharp gasp.
Only those who followed Feng Bu Jue’s logic step by step could truly grasp how terrifying he was…
Ten minutes earlier, when everyone assumed Feng Bu Jue’s ruthless extermination was just another bout of middle-school syndrome acting up, he himself knew clearly—this had all been a wild show. Behind the spectacle remained cold calculation and rational decision-making.
“In the end, the ‘absolute rules’ of the Rock-Paper-Scissors Domain proved insurmountable even for the Imprint Hand,” Feng Bu Jue continued. “This proves the domain’s power isn’t something it can control.”
“Oh… No wonder the Imprint Hand’s final actions seemed so strange,” Ji Bu chimed in. “It actually knew it’d lost but couldn’t stop the game from ending, so it acted that way.”
“Exactly,” Feng Bu Jue nodded. “From my observations, the Rock-Paper-Scissors Domain has four absolute rules.” He raised his right hand, extending four fingers. “First, no one can leave the domain until a winner is decided. Second, the domain will only dissolve if the previous round’s victor agrees to end the match. Third, the challenger—in this case, us—determines when each round begins. Fourth, the rewards and penalties for winning or losing can be negotiated beforehand, but the default penalty is being stamped onto the ground and turned into a silhouette.”
He lowered his hand. “These four rules are relatively fair and binding even for the Imprint Hand. Of course, as the domain’s initiator, the Imprint Hand does have some advantageous special rules. For instance, once the domain activates, the challenger’s combat capabilities get restricted, forcing them to participate in the rock-paper-scissors game.”
“I still don’t get it,” Tian Ma Xing Kong suddenly interrupted. “After all that talk, how exactly did you beat it?” He stared, wide-eyed. “It could predict what you’d throw, and you could predict its moves too. Doesn’t that put you on equal footing?”
“Right!” Ji Bu added. “That’s the core question!”
“Huh?” Feng Bu Jue replied listlessly. “That’s the simplest part.” He tilted his head. “From my test, the Imprint Hand’s ability is merely to perceive your thoughts in the split second before you throw your hand. But theoretically, there are at least three ways to beat it. I used two of them in our match.”
“You’re joking, right?” Fei Chai Shu removed his sunglasses, his face twisted in shock.
“Let’s start with the least reliable method,” Feng Bu Jue said leisurely. “That is… keeping your mind completely blank when throwing, instinctively making a random gesture.”
“Hmph. I thought you’d say something profound. That’s it?” Ji Bu retorted.
“In reality, this is extremely difficult,” Feng Bu Jue countered. “Try it yourself if you don’t believe me. Most people will instinctively throw something resembling chicken-claw shape—interpreted as paper.”
“Indeed, this method can nullify the Imprint Hand’s power,” Hong Hu added. “But instinctively making a gesture almost guarantees you won’t throw scissors. It’s a clear weakness.”
“Exactly. Within two rounds, the opponent would exploit this loophole, repeatedly throwing paper to counter it,” Feng Bu Jue said. “Besides, the first two rounds are pure luck. That’s why I didn’t use this method.”
He paused for a few seconds, licked his lips, then continued, “The second method is straightforward—it’s using my own ability to counter theirs.” He scratched his head. “I won’t go into details about my power. Just know that my capabilities are infinitely superior to the Imprint Hand’s.”
This was true. The Imprint Hand could only glimpse its opponent’s fleeting thoughts before a throw, while zero-time calculation could compute everything.
“Sigh… I have to say, its ability is too slow—its reactions, its movements, everything is agonizingly sluggish,” Feng Bu Jue sighed. “So during the first few rounds, I relied on my ability to win and analyze what its power truly was.”
“Alright, stop gloating,” Hong Hu said. “What about the third method? That one’s unrelated to your ability, right?”
“Of course. This isn’t a solo scenario. Why would the system design a guardian that only I could defeat?” Feng Bu Jue grinned. “There is indeed a third method, unrelated to any special ability. Anyone can use it to defeat the Imprint Hand. That is…”
The four listeners leaned in, curiosity blazing in their eyes.
“Cognitive distortion,” Feng Bu Jue declared, uttering an odd phrase.
“What in the world is that?” Tian Ma Xing Kong’s face screamed, I don’t get it, but I’m impressed.
“Exactly like this…” Feng Bu Jue raised his fist. “Stone!” He thrust his hand forward—but his gesture was scissors.
“Uh…” Ji Bu stared for a few seconds. “This actually works? Isn’t this just self-deception?”
“Self-deception won’t work,” Feng Bu Jue explained. “Because your mind is still thinking ‘scissors.’ Cognitive distortion is different. My mind thinks ‘stone,’ yet my hand makes scissors. This requires overturning deeply ingrained mental habits in an instant. It’s less ‘deception’ and more ‘belief.’ It’s complicated to explain, but once mastered…” He raised his hand again. “Stone, scissors, paper, stone, scissors, paper…” He chanted rapidly, his hands moving in sync with his words but producing contradictory gestures. When he said “stone,” his hand made scissors; when he said “scissors,” his hand made paper; when he said “paper,” his hand made stone…
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Ji Bu groaned. “You call that something anyone can use? Sounds like only you can pull it off!”
“No, you can too—it just takes practice,” Feng Bu Jue spread his hands. “Actually, the system has already given us that time. Don’t forget, the challenger controls the interval between rounds.” He paused. “Even if you never master it, there’s good news. The Imprint Hand’s basic behavior pattern remains unchanged. As long as you think during your throw, it will always counter with the corresponding gesture. So… as long as you control your timing well and avoid mistakes, you’ll win.”
At this point, Feng Bu Jue had finished explaining.
As if intentionally waiting for them to finish their conversation, the system prompt finally sounded: 【Main Quest updated】
The new mission appeared in the task bar: 【Reach the altar at the base of the Faith Shrine within three hours. Players who fail to arrive on time will be erased】
(End of Chapter)
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