Xie Xinglan smiled. “Okay, wait for me.”
Before the floor change, Xie Chi left everything that would reveal information to Xie Xinglan. He only retained some energy.
If his energy was too much then others would take the risk to attack him. If it was too little, they would think he was weak and wouldn’t feel any fear. They would directly exploit him.
After a round of reincarnation, prisoners would subconsciously fear actors with more energy and despise actors with less energy. It was because energy represented strength.
No one knew that he and Xie Xinglan’s souls had separated. In the eyes of other actors, he was still the powerful Xie Chi. Xie Xinglan’s deterrent effect was there. As long as he didn’t do anything, he wouldn’t be exposed. One of the advantages of only three people being able to stay on one layer was the lag in the transfer of information. The audience might perceive something strange but the actors would never notice. Controlling the energy within a certain range meant the other inmates wouldn’t feel jealous and he avoided the risk of robbery.
The moment Ji Xingchen opened his eyes, what caught his attention was a bloody sky. He got up and found himself on a high cliff. The mountain was high and the color was yellow and black like an ink painting. In front of him was a huge black pine tree obscuring most of his sight. Ji Xingchen tentatively moved forward. Through the cracks in the branches, leaves and the thick blood fog, he saw the situation below and couldn’t help taking a deep breath.
The knife mountain hell.
It looked like there was a huge meteorite sinkhole below him. The sinkhole was filled with knives stuck in the ground. There were tens of thousands of them. The knives were thin, long and pointed. In fact, they were more like awls or sharp sticks. If a person fell down, their fate was obvious. The pit was filled with blood that was as high as the knives. The mountain was cold in the morning and water vapor mixed with blood drifted up as the temperature rose, forming a bloody fog with low visibility. The fog continued to float upward, forming mysterious blood clouds in the sky.
The surroundings stunk and it was an extremely red world.
Ji Xingchen had excellent eyesight. Once his eyes adapted to the environment, he could even see severed limbs and heads in the sinkhole. These white body parts slowly floated and sank in the blood, silently telling the horror that happened here. Blood slid down the sharp blades of the long knives little by little. Some long knives still had flesh and blood on them. This allowed Ji Xingchen to easily think about the origin of Count Dracula. It was said that the vampire count had a prototype. He was originally a murderous general who treated prisoners of war in an extremely cruel manner. He would let the soldiers put countless sharp sticks on the battlefield where the smoke of gunpowder had dissipated. Then he would string the prisoners of war on the sticks, penetrating them completely from the ass to the mouth.
The situation below was just as good as the horrible scene from that story.
Ji Xingchen turned his head and found that there was someone else around him. He concealed the sound of his footsteps and crouched down. Then his eyes flashed when he saw who it was.
It was Xie Chi. He had come in later than Ji Xingchen. He had just woken up and was getting up.
Ji Xingchen’s first reaction was to kill Xie Chi to grab energy. His hand had reached out halfway when he stopped. The energy in Xie Chi’s body was a lot less than himself. It wasn’t too small but it was similar to the other actors.
Ji Xingchen’s eyes were filled with mocking. After losing his items, Xie Chi was nothing. The borrowed strength wasn’t his after all. It was just a beautiful accident that he managed to kill a third-tier actor.
Then Ji Xingchen thought of Xie Xinglan. Su Qing had strong items and ability but he wasn’t good at solving puzzles. He wasn’t very interested in exploring plots and wasn’t very active. The biggest opponent right now was Xie Xinglan.
Xie Chi wasn’t a threat to Ji Xingchen but if he acted rashly, a commotion would occur. After all, the previous movies had shown that Xie Chi was very good at close combat. This wasn’t Ji Xingchen’s strong point and the surroundings were too narrow. Facing Xie Chi, it was impossible to guarantee that he wouldn’t fall into the knife mountain. This wasn’t the result he wanted.
He didn’t lack energy for the time being. Xie Chi was a clever person. They might be able to cooperate to deal with Xie Xinglan together.
Thoughts flashed in Ji Xingchen’s head and he immediately loosened his clenched fists. Then he reached out to Xie Chi. “I didn’t expect it to be you. It is good luck.”
There was the blood fog and Ji Xingchen was certain that Xie Chi hadn’t seen his previous actions.
Xie Chi was affected by Xie Xinglan devouring the evil spirit and had excellent eyesight. He calmly saw everything and smiled gently. Then grabbed Ji Xingchen’s hand, using it to stand up. “Thank you.”
Ji Xingchen pointed down. “This is the knife mountain hell. It is dangerous but the energy consumption is low. As long as we don’t fight, we are actually lucky to be reincarnated here. By the way, where were you before?”
He looked at Xie Chi.
Xie Chi saw the testing in his eyes and replied casually, “I had bad luck and landed in the fifth layer of the hot hells. No one pulled me up so I couldn’t go up. I killed two layers down to get energy and stayed on the sixth layer of the hot hells. After all, it wasn’t worth going down further.”
Xie Xinglan had recorded the flow of people when doing business and knew the floors everyone had gone to. The last time Xie Xinglan saw Ji Xingchen was on the third layer of the cold hells. He reported the fifth floor of the hot hells because Ji Xingchen definitely wouldn’t have time to go down there and it just matched the amount of energy in his body.
Ji Xingchen didn’t doubt it. They sat down and Ji Xingchen wondered, “Do you know Xie Xinglan?”
“This is our first time meeting.”
Xie Chi was very cooperative. He answered all questions with an open expression, his eyes clear and peaceful. His speaking speed was moderate and stable, without any concealment. Ji Xingchen suddenly developed a good impression. This man had a good temper, was smart and had good vision. Perhaps they could cooperate.
“Then can I develop a relationship with you now?”
Xie Chi and Ji Xingchen were tacitly aware of the meaning of these words and Xie Chi stated, “What do you want to say? Just say it.”
Ji Xingchen laughed. “How refreshing.”
“Xie Xinglan is selling news up and down in hell. You must’ve met him?”
“Yes,” Xie Chi answered calmly. “However, I didn’t buy it. I doubt the credibility of his information and I think it might not be worth it.”
“You are quite cautious. In fact, even if the information he sells isn’t completely true, it is 90% true.”
“You bought it?” Xie Chi asked.
Ji Xingchen nodded. He could distinguish priorities. Xie Xinglan’s strength was unclear and it wasn’t wise for him to rush into action. In addition, information was indeed very important. He couldn’t miss out on important information just because of a moment’s temper.
“This isn’t the point. The point is that he has a lot of energy.” Ji Xingchen pointed out.
Xie Chi was taken aback before smiling. “I might understand what you mean.”
Ji Xingchen was happy about this negotiation and spoke honestly. “He has good credit now and can go up and down freely. I was inspired by him and tried to sell information but I was one step behind. He has almost completed the monopoly. It is very difficult for us to get a share of this matter. So the longer we stay like this…”
Ji Xingchen sighed.
Xie Chi continued his words. “The gap between the rich and the poor will widen and the classes will solidify. We will be gradually marginalized.”
“Smart.” Ji Xingchen praised him. “So you have seen through it. Energy is money and energy is everything. Food, clothing, people’s hearts, information… he is now the dominant one which isn’t good for us. After all, the accumulation of resources will gradually develop into the accumulation of strength. The stronger he is, the weaker we will become. He has been kind to you but in the final analysis, you and him are still opponents. He is our common enemy.”
Xie Chi joked, “You are also my opponent but… the enemy of an enemy is a friend.”
Ji Xingchen smiled.
“I have seen your previous movies and you should have a very urgent desire you want to achieve. Points are important to you so why don’t we cooperate? After we beat him, we’ll talk about how to divide his energy. I have contacted three actors who are willing to join me. We just have to wait for a suitable time…”
Xie Chi naturally knew the consequences of dominance and now everything was as he expected. He replied, “What you think is what I think.”
This was a direct answer.
“Xie Chi, you are really a friend worth making.” Ji Xingchen sincerely appreciated such a person. Smart, witty, courteous and unassuming. It saved him a lot of effort when talking.
“You are overpraising me.”
“Happy cooperation.” Ji Xingchen briefly shook hands with him. “To show my sincerity, I will share all the information I bought from Xie Xinglan.”
“Is it very expensive?”
“It is one-third of your energy. It can be earned back very quickly.”
“Then I’ll be disrespectful.” Xie Chi accepted it simply.
Ji Xingchen completely let go of his worries. If Xie Chi had refused to accept it, i.e. refusing to accept his favor, he would have to pay more attention.
Xie Chi calmly spread out the note that Xie Xinglan had copied and read it earnestly.
[Hahahahahaha you are inviting Xie Xinglan’s boyfriend to kill Xie Xinglan.]
[Information isn’t equal hahaha.]
[This is an Oscar for acting.]
[Isn’t this a horror movie? Why is it more like a commercial war?]
[Hahahaha the double Xie is related by marriage.]
[What expensive information ahahaha.]
[Once Xie Xinglan comes, Ji Xingchen might not be laughing.]
[Ji Xingchen: This is a good friend worth making.]
Meanwhile on the fourth layer of the hot hells, Su Qing and Xia Yao finished looking at each other’s marks.
Due to her poor personal ability, Xia Yao had to rely on her cellmate if she wanted to survive. Thus, she had no intention of doing anything to him. He happened to be very generous and gave her some energy when he saw she was lacking energy.
He gave her more energy than she originally had so Xia Yao wasn’t worried that this person would kill her.
They easily finished looking at each other’s marks.
Xie Chi and Ji Xingchen were talking when their phones suddenly rang.
[The spider silk ladder has opened.]
Ji Xingchen was startled and his expression changed slightly. Unknowingly, the spider silk ladder was opened. He didn’t even know the conditions for it to open.
Xie Chi raised his head and stared at the sky. In a corner of the distant sky, a silver spider’s silk was slowly hanging down. In its location, the blood fog disappeared. The world was stinky but a spider silk thread hung spotlessly clean. It pierced through the blood fog clouds. The bottom end led to the abyss while the top end led to the sky. It seemed infinitely long with infinite dreams wrapped around it.
It was called the spider silk ladder. The spider silk was real but the ladder was fake.
The spider silk ladder was a thin, long string of silk.
Proofreader: Purichan
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