Second Round of the Family Hierarch Evaluation, part 23 (after battle)

Looks like everyone's getting more desperate. They're all cornered, just like us.

Dammit, it's not like they're gonna win a ton of coins by coming after us!

Our best course of action now would be to take advantage of this situation. They're saving us the time by coming at us with their coins.

…!

As we were descending and fighting off groups of enemies after enemies...

A loud bang of a firearm echoed from not too far across the hallway.

<…!>

Lin Daiyu, who leaped in front of Hong Lu, falls to the ground.

Agh...!

Oh...

She was certainly not my intended target; forgive me. I am still acclimatizing to the use of this 'E.G.O'.

It's never easy to aim right.

Daiyu, are ya... are ya alright? That's a pretty big wound...

I'm... alright...

Daiyu... why?

Don't give me that look. It was just a force of habit.

Or have you already forgotten? I am from the Lin family, the family of bodyguards.

My wounds can be rewound, Daiyu.

Unlike yours... You knew this.

I can use Hongyuan's Life Insurance anyway if that's what you are concerned about.

It won't work on someone who's been dead for too long.

And I don't -

Hong Lu's eyes trembled briefly. My thoughts wandered to visions of Xiren's past, then to her present. Perhaps his did as well.

... Perhaps I thought I could make amends for even a small fraction of the years of resentment I harbored for you.

Besides, I don't want to see you in pain.

This is quite strange.

Would anyone in the know care to explain to me why this wound on a different candidate's clan is causing such a stir?

Allow me to impart a word of advice. Do not be so hasty in forging fellowships.

For you might come across a fellow whom you had trusted to be a comrade who would build a future together, only for them to flit away without a word.

You will not speak with such impudence, Gubo.

Our shared past is not to be a subject of your ridicule...!

Of course... our recent exchanges tell me that you have learned to speak without letting the dirt on the ground draw the majority of your attention.

But Yi Sang, I very much prefer your old self.

Now you are much too... let's see. Yes, much too slick. I can tell from your complete lack of hesitation in coming to your new fellow's defense.

So please, get out of my way. I do not wish to hit a wrong target again.

There is no need, Gubo.

Look at what hangs from my little brother's waist. There are barely any coins there. Now that's Baoyu, pride and joy of Daguanyuan, everyone.

So you won't need to waste a bullet on that thing.

It's simply embarrassing.

…….

You dishonor the Jia family with your pathetic performance. We Jia deserve to be the very best of the four houses.

You talk as though you have already met every candidate from the Jia family, brother.

Yes, you could say that. I made sure that Jia Xichun would be eliminated soon enough.

A foolish pair they were, both master and her bodyguard. Not to mention the rest of her clan that may as well not exist.

While others are giving the arms and legs of their followers to traps to scavenge as many coins as they can...

... she stubbornly chooses the straightforward, honest, and boring path... A privilege not availed to someone who's so low on coins.

I was about to break her skull to end her suffering once and for all, but... tsk, she managed to give me the slip.

Not too interested in improving our horrible first impression, is he?

Doesn't look like he's about to start a fight just yet, so let's administer some first aid for miss Daiyu here -

No. No need.

…….

... The Heishou are here. That means...

What a shame... the last remaining candidate of the Xue family is eliminated, but not before bringing such a dramatic defeat to the out-of-control Shi family candidate.

Unfortunately, she wasted too much time in that fight and couldn't make it past the rising walls. If there are any clan members who have been separated from your candidate, please remain still where you are.

You... will soon be collected according to the procedures.

So, miss Baochai has been eliminated.

... It seems that this is as far as I go.

Brief though this journey may have been, I am glad that we were able to resolve many misunderstandings.

Daiyu...

I will... wish you safe passage.

So please, do return this time.

The game is racing to its end!

Let's try something unique this time to really enhance the experience, shall we? More immersion, more drama, more danger~!

Something like... let's see. What if we corralled the top three candidates into the same room...?

The candidates' placements seem pretty concrete now, don't they? But can we shake that up somehow, in the greatest turnabout of history?!

Games with predictable endings~ can get pretty boring for our dearest spectators.

<Which means...?>

Let's review the current rankings, shall we? First, Jia Qiu of the Jia family! Second, Jia Huan of the Jia family! Third, Jia... Baoyu of the Jia family!

... They're going to put us in the same room as them?

Are we about to witness a turnabout? Is it even possible? Well, we'll find out soon enough!

Haah...

Now isn't this interesting.

If you've made it to third place with those paltry coins, then... the first place must've really been hoarding all the coins for himself.

Allow me to enter first, little brother. I'd loathe to display even the faintest semblance of amity with you.

Although, I wouldn't mind if you would make a correct assessment of your limitations and drop out of the game now.

... Turnabout?

What even is the point of this 'turnabout'...? Isn't it just another way to make the show more interesting for the viewers to enjoy?

If we come in third place... considering that they're also likely shooting for the Golden Bough, we are almost guaranteed to lose our objective to them.

Okay...

So how the hell are we going to beat that Jia Qiu guy...?

Especially with Jia Huan breathing down our necks?

But... we have no other choice, do we?

If there's no way out, then our only path is inward.

Oi, you sure about this?

Both of 'em waiting for you in there, they...

They...

Heathcliff trailed off.

Neither of them are even remotely fond of Hong Lu, so they are likely going to go all-out on trying to kill him. Heathcliff knew that.

Big brother Qiu must be waiting for me in there.

…….

Brother Qiu... followed his father's last name, but he was pretty much a part of the Kong family. He survived only because he happened to be away on the day of the Kong family's ruin.

He found out only after he returned. Both his mother from the Kong family and his father from the Jia family were killed in that bloodbath, and... he didn't even have a single, close relative left.

What welcomed him upon his return were the empty ruins of this building, the silence of the Daguanyuan people, and the tale of the Kong family's disgraceful greed, and how it destroyed them.

Some servants warned me that brother Qiu might come to take my life, as anyone could guess that I probably had something to do with that day.

But he never came to find me. He simply left Daguanyuan, then Hongyuan.

So... the fact that he has returned...

... must be proof of his indefatigable determination and will.

Of course, I wouldn't... know what that's like.