novelbin Chapter 376 Voting and Testing
Chapter 376 Voting and Testing
As soon as he finished speaking, a murmur rippled through the hall, and everyone's face turned grave, sensing that something was amiss.
Xia Ning said indifferently, "Of the four windows, only one window has food that contains a deadly poison."
"Highly poisonous?!" someone couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice. "Then... how do we know which window is poisonous?"
Xia Ning ignored the man's exclamation and continued, "The poisonous windows rotate every meal, with no discernible pattern, making them unpredictable."
These words were like a bucket of ice water poured over my head.
The lack of a regular pattern means there's no way to avoid it, and every time you get a meal, it's like gambling with your life.
Before everyone could process this shocking news, Xia Ning's voice rang out again:
"To verify which window is contaminated, you need to vote on one dormitory room for each meal."
"In the selected dormitory, each of the four members must take a meal from a window and taste it for poison on the spot."
"Testing for poison?!" "We even have to vote on which dorm room to choose?!" "Won't we get poisoned to death?!"
A cacophony of screams erupted, plunging the crowd into complete chaos.
Xia Ning stared coldly at the chaotic crowd, her tone completely calm:
"Don't worry, you will die within two minutes of being poisoned, and there is no antidote."
The words "no cure" struck everyone like a heavy hammer, instantly shattering their last glimmer of hope.
The air inside Zhaixin Hall seemed to freeze completely, leaving only the heavy breathing, suppressed sobs, and nearly out-of-control roars of the crowd.
"Why?! Why should we be the ones to test the poison?!"
"How is this any different from indiscriminately killing innocent people?!"
"This is the cultivation the temple spoke of? This is nothing short of hell!"
Xia Ning coldly observed the chaos before her, raised her hand and gently clapped her hands. The crisp sound pierced the noise, instantly silencing all the roars and sobs.
"Silence. The rules have been set; no questioning is needed, just follow them!"
As she finished speaking, she raised her hand and waved it lightly, and a cold spiritual energy quietly flowed in mid-air, exuding a faint chill.
In the open space behind Zhaixin Hall, a faint light slowly rose, and a bronze pillar as tall as a person gradually emerged.
A dark crystal was embedded at the top of the pillar, its surface shimmering with faint light, giving it an eerie feel.
"This is a recording stone." Xia Ning said calmly, "Step forward in line, whisper the dormitory number you want to vote for into the crystal, and it will automatically record it without leaving a trace. No one will know who you voted for."
The bronze mirrors on all four sides of the Zhaixin Hall suddenly glowed faintly. The illusory reflections that had previously shone on the mirrors disappeared, replaced by rows of cold, lifeless characters.
It contains the numbers of all the dormitories, as well as the list of the chosen ones living in each dormitory.
There were a total of twenty-seven dorm rooms, each corresponding to a dense list of names below, totaling exactly one hundred and eight chosen ones.
Below each dormitory room's number, there is a blank space reserved, clearly for displaying the vote count later.
The air instantly turned as cold as if it had frozen, and a suffocating silence once again enveloped the entire Zhaixin Hall.
"You will now have three minutes to discuss this. Once the three minutes are up, line up and vote immediately."
Xia Ning paused, a chill creeping into her voice:
"The dormitories that refuse to vote will directly become the test dormitories for this round of poisoning."
These words caused an uproar in the entire room.
Not voting means certain death, which forces everyone to personally push others to their deaths.
The sound of hurried footsteps, hurried whispers, and pulling at companions instantly filled Zhaixin Hall.
Some people's eyes darted around, secretly observing the other dormitories, searching for the weakest-looking target with the least background;
Some people were trembling so badly they could barely stand, yet they had to force themselves to calm down.
This isn't a game; it's about choosing who dies.
Lin Feng, Wasim, Park Ji-won, and Dave quickly gathered together.
Dave's face turned green, and his voice trembled: "Boss Lin Feng, who do we choose?!"
Just as Lin Feng was about to speak, a deliberately lowered but still clear voice quietly drifted into his ears.
Not far away, Teruo Bald River from the Sakura Kingdom was huddled in a corner of the crowd, with one arm around each of the two chosen ones beside him, and in a voice only they could hear, he urged them:
"Listen to me, in that dormitory number 56, Lin Feng and Wasim are both veteran players. The national fortunes of their two countries have been rising steadily lately. If we don't stop them, they'll eventually dominate all the countries in the world!"
"We can use this opportunity of testing the waters to put the brakes on these two countries!"
"And there are people from the US among them. They run rampant and act recklessly all over the world; it's a good opportunity to eliminate them all!"
Lin Feng's brows furrowed instantly, and a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes.
Without making a sound, he subtly moved his fingertips, and a sticky, damp puddle of water slowly slid down and landed on the ground.
The water stains clung to the ground, silently meandering and crawling, heading straight towards Teruo Tsuruga.
It quickly crawled to Teruo Tsurugi's feet, and then suddenly burrowed into his loose trouser leg.
The next second, the sinister smile on Teruo Tsurugi's face froze instantly, followed by a piercing scream that was so shrill it was almost distorted, bursting from his throat:
"Ouch—! It hurts! It hurts so much! My leg!"
He was convulsing, his hands gripping his trouser legs tightly, and he fell uncontrollably to the ground, rolling around wildly.
"What is that! It's inside! Get out! Help—!"
All eyes were drawn to this side. Some people backed away in fright, some looked puzzled, and some even had a hint of schadenfreude in their eyes.
Xia Ning, standing at the door, and the two black-clad stewards behind her, standing straight and expressionless, simply watched all of this coldly.
They neither stopped it nor questioned it.
It seems they have no intention of interfering in the infighting and internal strife among the chosen ones.
In fact, this is exactly the situation they wanted to see.
Lin Feng withdrew his gaze and looked at Dave:
"That bald-headed Teruo from Japan was secretly encouraging others to vote for our Dormitory No. 56. I've already given him a little punishment."
Dave was taken aback at first, then flew into a rage, clenching his fists and hissing, "What?! That bastard actually dared to scheme against us?!"
"Hmm." Lin Feng said solemnly, "We can use their own methods against them."
"We can also encourage everyone to vote for his cell, number 44, saying he's secretly plotting against his companions, treacherous and cunning. Keeping someone like that in the group will only get everyone killed sooner or later!"
"You're from America, so your side should be more persuasive."
Dave's eyes lit up, and he instantly perked up, patting his chest and assuring everyone, "No problem, boss, leave it to me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his voice and shouted an appeal to the chaotic crowd:
"Listen up, everyone! Vote for dorm number 44! That's the dorm where that bald guy from Japan lives!"
As he shouted, he pointed at Teruo Tsurugi, who was still screaming in agony on the ground, his face full of contempt:
"That bald guy just tried to get others to vote for our number 56!"
"Japan is so treacherous and cunning; they only know how to pull dirty tricks behind people's backs!"
"If he can scheme against us today, he can scheme against you tomorrow!"
At this point, he deliberately raised his voice, with a touch of arrogance characteristic of the United States:
"Listen to me, everyone vote for number 44!"
"If they are elected, my country will owe everyone a huge favor, and we will definitely repay them in the future."
"If anyone dares to secretly vote for No. 56, our United States will remember them all and never let it go!"