APP: Chapter 157

“It’s just a guess,” Xie Chi emphasized again.

Tarot was already a mysterious thing and the Wheel of Fortune even more so. He just casually asked a question he wanted to ask. Maybe the pointer had stopped at Liang Wen’s position due to resistance.

Xie Chi told himself that if the arrow of the tarot card pointed at him first, he wouldn’t feel flustered. It was an ominous omen but he would urge people to search for clues and escape from danger faster. Indulging in the whirlpool of death was going against the meaning of metaphysics itself—seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages.

The purpose of metaphysics was always to make people live better. If not, there was no need for metaphysics. He didn’t believe that a red movie would wipe out anyone’s vitality. No one was born humble and should die first. It was just that weakness did bear the brunt of the reason.

“Should I tell Liang Wen?” Ye Xiaoxiao had always been soft hearted. She was willing to do this type of work that wouldn’t delay her.

“It is up to you.”

Ye Xiaoxiao was stunned. For a moment, she was a bit uncertain about Xie Chi’s attitude. Then she thought more closely, understood something and sighed.

Good fortune caused pride while bad fortune caused fear.

Ye Xiaoxiao thought about it. If she was clearly told at the start that she was the last to die then she would be very comfortable. However, if someone said she would be the first to die, she would be panicked and frightened. If she panicked to the point of making serious mistakes, it would promote her death and let her fulfill the fortune.

However, was this the sorrow of metaphysics or the sorrow of human beings?

This was why Xie Chi said it was up to her. She could tell or not tell because for different people, telling or not telling had different effects. It was just that she didn’t have time to understand if Liang Wen was a person who could calmly accept the news with a positive face or a person who would be in a constant panic. Sometimes telling her would be harming her.

This matter was also very embarrassing. They weren’t sure if the information was true or not. If they kindly told Liang Wen and she wasn’t the one who died, how could they compensate Liang Wen for her unnecessary worry? How could they face Liang Wen’s inevitable resentment?

Ye Xiaoxiao had a wide social circle and was quite worldly. Now that she had calmed down and thought about it, she felt that Xie Chi was clear-minded and could see into the human essence. She sighed but couldn’t hold back her conscience. She stood up and declared, “Forget it, I’ll go tell her.”

Xie Chi glanced at her and joked, “Do you like meddling?”

Ye Xiaoxiao glared at him. “I’m here now because I’m meddling.”

Xie Chi coughed. He remembered that she chose this movie because of him and sincerely smiled. “Yes yes, you go.”

Ye Xiaoxiao was halfway out the door when she was called back by Xie Chi. Xie Chi paused for a few seconds before saying, “You can remind her that it is best not to stay in her own room. You don’t have to tell her the exact reason why.”

Ye Xiaoxiao was startled for a moment. Then she realized that the danger they knew was a fire caused by the lightning of the Tower card. The traces of fire were actually in the room. Previously, the maid emphasized that once they selected a room, they could no longer change rooms.

Could it be… lightning recognized them based on the room?

***

Once Ye Xiaoxiao left, Xie Chi asked Ren Ze to check his own room. Everyone was free to choose a room but there was only one bed in each room. They had selected three rooms next to the three locked rooms.

Xie Chi found a place to sit down and was about to look at the tarot cards he bought for inspiration, when the phone on the table started to shake. Xie Chi raised his head and looked at it. Then he lowered his head and continued to examine the cards, ignoring it. The ‘phone’ was upset and moved from one end of the table to the other end like a fish swimming in order to attract his attention.

Xie Chi didn’t respond. He examined each card carefully for a while and found nothing. After looking down and thinking for a while, he had a new idea. He arranged all the major arcana cards in order and looked at them. His mind flew and he seemed to see a story. The ‘phone’ became angry and started to dance on the table, making ping-pong sounds.

Xie Chi raised his head helplessly. “Can you hold back? I can’t let you out now. Be good and obedient and stay there.”

He hadn’t expected the Blood Demon Sword to be so lively but he couldn’t let it out unless necessary. Who knew if Jiang Shuo would recognize its aura?

The ‘phone’ was dumbfounded and vented its grievances by falling heavily on the table. Then it acted motionless and pretended to be dead.

Xie Chi put down the card in his hand and grabbed the phone, not knowing whether to laugh or to cry. He spoke almost to himself, “I also want you to show off your power. The problem is that there is no chance at the moment. Just hold it in.”

The sword had been with Shen Yi for a long time and was particularly proud. It showed the posture of being the most powerful under the heavens. Sure enough, it had a child’s disposition. It had never stayed in the app backpack before.

The phone jumped twice more in protest. Xie Chi almost couldn’t hold onto it and had to tell it quietly, “No matter how awesome your father, he is cold now. I am the one alive.”

“The sword is under the same roof and I have to bow my head, do you hear me? If you make trouble again then let the ghost get revenge for your father.”

Hearing the last insidious threat, the Blood Demon Sword finally stopped. Xie Chi sighed deeply. He couldn’t help having a headache. What was this? He still had to help Shen Yi look after a child.

He returned to the topic. He walked back to the tarot deck and stared at the tarot cards in a daze.

At present, only the major arcana cards had appeared in this instance. There were no signs of the minor arcana cards at all. The first night was almost over and it seemed unlikely that there would be any minor arcana cards. If the range could be narrowed down to the major arcana then a lot of information could be learned.

The 22 major arcana cards in order were: the Fool, the Magician, the High Priestess, the Empress, the Emperor, the Hierophant, the Lovers, the Chariot, Strength, the Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Justice, the Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, the Devil, the Tower, the Star, the Moon, the Sun, Judgement and the World.

They represented the spiritual cause of a problem or different stages in a person’s life so Xie Chi could easily compose a simple story.

(Fool) meant a child was born as a blank piece of paper. They were optimistic and full of curiosity. (Magician) represented an external force that people couldn’t control but could rely on. The (High Priestess) was equivalent to intuition and perception. Children grew up with these two forces. The (Empress) was the mother, the (Emperor) the father and the (Hierophant) the teacher.

The child grew up, got a (Lover) and found the willpower represented by the (Chariot) card and strength represented by the (Strength) card. They started to reflect on their past like a (Hermit) and then realized they knew very little due to the (Wheel of Fortune). Thus, they started to concentrate on learning, understanding (Justice), learning to abandon unnecessary things (the Hanged Man), abandoned everything in the past (Death), learned (Temperance), faced their animal self (Devil) and encountered the inevitable disaster represented by the (Tower). Then they chose to live in the present (Stars), started to reflect in the (Moon), faced their subconscious fear and overcame their fear in the (Sun), becoming optimistic and positive like the sun.

In their old age, they were extremely mature and understood that they were the product of past behaviors and beliefs. Those in the past would naturally determine their future. They judged (Judgement) themselves and then the (World) would greet this elderly person.

The World represented completeness, lasting success, a sense of inner peace and accomplishment and unbreakable tranquility.

Everything that happened in the instance couldn’t be completely related to this story but… he could faintly match some of it.

Xie Chi remembered very well the maid saying that the game result wouldn’t come out until the seventh night. Why did they have to wait until the seventh night?

Xie Chi had been to 1552 Haunted House and the number seven had a completely different meaning to him. God used seven days to create the world. Seven meant perfection while six meant incompleteness. Seven meant perfection and the meaning of the World card was also… perfection. Did that mean what they were going through now wouldn’t come to fruition until the seventh night?

They wandered in the Wheel of Fortune and would eventually go to the World to obtain an extremely accurate result. The reason why old people were often called old was because they had lost almost all possibilities and wouldn’t last long. In the last few years, it seemed they could see the situation at a glance.

If they were currently going through an event represented by the major arcana cards, would there be the ‘Judgement’ card? In a court of law, only ‘Judgement’ could give the final result of how to handle prisoners. ‘Judgement’ was the premise of the result represented by the ‘World.’

The tarot game had winners and losers. In the verdict represented by ‘Judgement’, there were winners and losers, life and death. The tarot game was… a game of winning or losing.

Xie Chi was startled and finally realized that something was wrong. Ren Ze came back after checking his room and saw a tight-faced Xie Chi. After realizing that something was wrong, he closed the door and remained silent, giving Xie Chi time to think.

Xie Chi rubbed his temples and said helplessly, “We might be ignoring a very important point.”

Ren Ze was slightly surprised. “What?”

He looked back carefully and didn’t feel there were any omissions.

Xie Chi seemed to sigh. “What is the name of this horror movie?”

“Tarot Game.”

“What is it?”

Ren Ze thought this question was really strange. “According to the name, it should be a game.”

He felt stupid after saying so. This was a game. It was clearly stated in the name. Xie Chi was silent and watched him quietly. The confused Ren Ze started to understand what Xie Chi asked just now. His face became blank and gradually changed to depression.

“This is a game! A game with winners or losers! There must be fu*king opponents! So who is playing the game with us? How can we win this game? Aren’t the rules of the game unfair? How do we win?”

His heart was pounding and he felt like he was blind. The clue was so obvious. It was directly written in the name of the movie. It was a game! The maid also talked about the rules of the game, repeatedly stressing that they were here to participate in the game!

From the perspective of a game, it was clear what they had to do. As long as they figured out all the rules of the game and found a way to win, they could get through this instance smoothly instead of waiting here for possible death.

The game might be unfair but it definitely wouldn’t give them no chance of winning, otherwise how could it be a game? He didn’t believe that a red movie would engage in this type of horrific killing of all members. Even if this was the case, they should make it clear when recruiting actors that it was a movie with no solution. It didn’t say it so this definitely wasn’t the case.

Xie Chi seemed to see something and slowly said, “If the Tower card can be understood as the opponent’s power then we should have something. For example, the Wheel of Fortune or…”

Ren Ze instantly gained strength. Actors were definitely at a disadvantage in the game but this didn’t mean they had no chance of winning. At the window, a crow flew away with flapping wings.

[I think this idea is clear!]

[Fu*k Xie Chi is awesome.]

[He is really faster than Jiang Shuo! Once is an accident. Two or three times… He thinks so deeply. It is terrifying.]

***

It was almost time for the second night when Ye Xiaoxiao came back and spoke to Xie Chi with a bitter face, “I’m really brain-damaged.”

“What happened?“ Xie Chi seemed to know what was going on and asked in a disappointed manner.

Ye Xiaoxiao sighed. “What else? Liang Wen grabbed me and asked me to protect her. What can I do? I’m really weak. Then she started crying at me for a long time…”

Xie Chi tilted his head to look at her. “Where is she now?”

“I refused to help her so she went to find someone else. She was rejected and now seems to be with Xie Qiuying.”

Xie Chi nodded lightly, indicating that he knew. Then he didn’t ask any longer.

***

The desolate bells of the castle rang three times. Everyone knew this indicated the next night.

The actors left their rooms one by one and headed downstairs. By the time Xie Chi arrived, Jiang Shuo was already there and was speaking coldly. “I will explain in advance. You pushed me to do it. No matter if it is the stars or the moon, you have to accept it. It has nothing to do with me. Otherwise, change to someone else.”

The other actors nodded. They actually recommended Jiang Shuo to do this to prevent accusations. The strong Jiang Shuo was the only one who wouldn’t be blamed by other actors if it landed on the moon. This was a matter of everyone’s lives. None of them dared to make the decision. After all, then they would have to take responsibility.

Jiang Shuo seemed to have no psychological burden at all and turned the Wheel of Fortune.

The group looked nervous while inwardly praying. Obviously, their prayer wasn’t fulfilled. The pointer stopped on the side of the snake. The weaker actors turned pale but they felt it should be like this. How could they land on the stars seven times? There should always be good and bad.

They could only pray that the next night would be the stars.

People’s thoughts were flying when the sky changed suddenly. They looked out the small but high window. The bright stars had disappeared and the sky was covered with dark clouds. The original night sky was black but now it had become a deep and depressing blue like the deep sea. A strong night swept over the castle and made it even gloomier and colder.

The moon appeared one step late and occupied the entire night sky in a domineering manner. It was so bright but it visibly darkened the castle. The wind was violent and the candles in the hall were blown out one by one. It felt like a mountain storm was coming.

“It’s done. Let’s do our own thing,” Jiang Shuo told them.

***

In the room, Liang Wen held Qiuying’s hand in a tearful and excited manner. She had rushed to ask for help. Once the other actors heard the inside story, they treated her like the plague. They drove her away like she was going to bring death.

“I don’t want to hurt them. It is me who will die, not them. I just wanted to ask them to help me. Why do they have to drive me away?”

Xie Qiuying patted her hand and comforted her. “Okay, stop talking about it. Isn’t there still me? I am with you. It also might be false information. You asked her for the reason and she didn’t say it.”

Liang Wen nodded hard. She felt resentful but she didn’t stay in her room in accordance with Ye Xiaoxiao’s instructions. Only Xie Qiuying was willing to take her in so she could only stay here.

She would be fine if she stayed in Xie Qiuying’s room, right? Moreover, the two of them were so close to each other. If something really came to kill her then it might take Xie Qiuying away and she would be fine…

Liang Wen was thinking this when Xie Qiuying asked quietly, “Liang Wen, are you… do you want to harm me?”

Liang Wen was caught off guard and her eyes widened. “How… how could that be?”

How could she know?

Xie Qiuying smiled. “I’m just speaking casually. I don’t want my kindness to be taken advantage of.”

“How can that be?” Liang Wen denied it.

The sky started to flash and thunder occurred.

***

Xie Chi prepared earplugs in advance and stood by the window. He saw lightning flash in the sky and strike an unexpected room, causing his eyes to widen with surprise.

The one living there was… Xie Qiuying.

How come?

---

Proofreader: Purichan