Chapter 289 - 65: The Autumn Wind is the World’s Tombstone

"Young man, put down the gun. We can talk this out. I’ll give you anything you want."

The young man scoffed, shoved his left hand into his pants pocket, and pulled out a glittering gold coin.

On the back of the coin was an engraving of a strange Ferris wheel with a large, deep, mysterious eye staring out from its center.

The front of the coin faced Wu Yuanzheng. As he stared at the design, his pupils contracted. He instantly understood who the man was, and he could already see his own end.

"How did you find me?"

he asked softly.

"Your situation is clearly more dangerous. You’ve been hiding, running... Spare me, and I’ll help you fight the Clown."

"Heh, no chance, Priest."

The young man looked at him.

"We had no quarrel, and I had no extra energy to waste on you. Even though you targeted me several times in the Genius Playground, I never held a grudge."

"But you just had to do the one thing I can’t forgive... You touched my friends."

His voice grew heavy.

"Two friends at that. The two best friends in the entire world. How can you expect me to spare you?"

"I meant no harm."

Wu Yuanzheng closed his eyes.

"It was just a test, an experiment... From another perspective, you could say I helped you fulfill a wish you had two years ago. Shouldn’t you be thanking me?"

"If anyone betrayed you, it was the Puppet. How about I give you his information? His plan isn’t hard to figure out. You could start a ’Hide-and-Seek Game’ just like I did, take his coin, and gain the same power I have."

"You really like playing games, don’t you?"

The young man smiled.

"Alright then, Priest."

He pinched the gold coin in his left hand, balanced it on the tip of his index finger, and pressed his thumb against the pad of that finger, building up force.

"Heads, I spare you. Tails, I shoot."

Before Wu Yuanzheng could react, the young man flicked the coin into the air—

WHIR... WHIR...

The coin spun in the air before landing on the ground with a CLINK. It bounced twice, then lay still.

Wu Yuanzheng quickly narrowed his eyes and looked down at his feet...

Embossed on the coin was a man in a tailcoat and a top hat, holding a short wand in his right hand, with stars scattered behind him.

Below it, an English word was written:

MAGICIAN

"Hehehe."

Wu Yuanzheng let out a happy laugh.

"It seems my luck is always—" BANG!

A loud gunshot rang out.

A bullet hole appeared in the center of Wu Yuanzheng’s forehead as the back of his head exploded, splattering blood and brain matter everywhere. He fell backward in the morning sun, landing in a pool of his own blood.

Qin Feng bent down, picked up the Magician Coin from the ground, and put it back in his pocket.

He walked over and looked down at Wu Yuanzheng, who had died with his eyes open.

"Your luck... is terrible."

"Because..."

He crouched down.

"They were the best friends I’ve ever had in my life."

’Even though I don’t know them well, I know myself...’

’A text message of only 70 characters... to waste nearly half of it on the two of them, they must have been the most important friends in my life.’

Then, he pulled back Wu Yuanzheng’s coat, took out two gold coins from an inner pocket, and placed them side by side on the ground.

One was Wu Yuanzheng’s own identity marker, the Priest Coin.

The other was the coin Wu Yuanzheng had won by defeating the King in the Hide-and-Seek Game.

The King’s seat in the Genius Playground had been permanently eliminated, and his Identity Coin had subsequently transformed into this item that held Veto Power.

But the Priest’s seat could still be inherited, and whoever inherited it would also retain exclusive rights to use the King’s coin.

But...

Qin Feng stood up and put his phone to his ear.

"Lilith, help me destroy the Priest Coin."

"Huh?"

On the phone, a pleasant female voice revealed a hint of surprise.

"Are you certain, Mr. Magician? Lilith is obligated to remind you that the Priest’s seat can still be inherited via the coin, and the right to use the King’s coin will be passed along with it."

"According to the game’s rules, if you choose to destroy the Priest Coin, the King’s coin will be destroyed along with it."

"I’m certain."

Qin Feng had already memorized the rules.

"The members of the Playground are all exceptionally smart. They’ll realize at the next meeting that the Priest has been killed, or that someone else has taken his place."

"Right now, both the Puppet and the Witch have noticed something unusual about Jiang Ran. And Jiang Ran has already used the East Sea City Public Security Bureau to openly oppose Wu Yuanzheng."

"If the Priest’s seat still exists, their first suspect will definitely be Jiang Ran... Even if I personally admit to killing the Priest, it would be useless. In fact, it would only make them more suspicious of my relationship with Jiang Ran and put him in even more danger."

"Besides, the Priest’s one-man rule has gone on for too long, making everyone in the Playground cautious and extremely restrained. If no one ever shows a weakness, how am I supposed to win this game?"

"Understood."

Lilith’s reply was concise.

Almost instantly, the Priest Coin on the ground heated up, turned partially red, and burst into flames.

The Genius Playground’s Identity Coins only resembled gold coins. They weren’t actually made of gold, but from a type of plastic with a sheen that looked very much like it.

Inside the coin were complex electronic components. Lilith used a signal to activate the coin’s internal self-destruct mechanism, causing it to short-circuit and burn.

BEEP!

As the Priest Coin burned to a crisp, a push notification popped up on Qin Feng’s phone—

[No. 3-PRIEST is out!]

BEEP!

BEEP!

BEEP!

BEEP!

BEEP!

BEEP!