CHAPTER 536: CHAPTER 502: FANG TIANYU’S CHOICE

"Just come if you feel like it."

Jiang Xiao was indifferent about this; his current goal was to figure out how to beat the game.

With this in mind, he didn’t mind finding a way to make Little Qi live out the rest of her life happily.

Priorities must not be confused.

Jiang Xiao wasn’t the type of person who would forgo his own interests for the sake of others.

On the contrary, he was quite capable of doing things that were detrimental to others but not beneficial to himself.

As the train hummed along, the carriage plunged into darkness once again.

The shadows of the tunnel, like the gaping maw of a gigantic beast, swallowed the train speeding along the brink of despair.

During this silent interlude, Jiang Xiao’s heartbeat nearly became the only sound he could hear.

Little Qi clutched Jiang Xiao’s hand tightly, her palms cold, but there was an indescribable sense of reassurance in her gaze.

She whispered softly, "Brother, look, the shadows of Mom and Dad have appeared again!"

Jiang Xiao stared at those two flickering shadows, which stood quietly in one corner of the carriage, as if waiting for something.

With Little Qi’s reminder, Jiang Xiao located Fang Tianyu’s shadow—a rather frail but steadfast figure.

Without hesitation, he pulled out the clown mask from his pocket and gently placed it on his face.

The hollow eyes of the mask seemed to come to life, twinkling with a strange light.

Hm?

What an amazing sensation!

The moment he put it on, Jiang Xiao suddenly felt as if he had stepped out of the Three Realms and was not within the Five Elements, a bizarre illusion.

It was...

Arrogance!

A surge of impulse bubbled from within, an urge to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted!

No wonder Pennywise was so crazed...

Even I, with my profound spirituality, am struggling to control my own mindset, to say nothing of others.

Now, Jiang Xiao felt there was nothing in the world that could stop him!

He himself was the king!

Jiang Xiao took a deep breath, then focused his consciousness and forcibly suppressed the frenzied thoughts in his heart, murmuring to Fang Tianyu’s shadow.

"Fang Tianyu, I need your help right now."

Right at that moment, the train seemed to have passed through the end of the tunnel, returning to the light once more.

But for Jiang Xiao, his vision became even blurrier.

As the power of the clown mask was activated, his spirit was pulled into a surreal realm.

In this spiritual coliseum constructed from thoughts, Jiang Xiao saw Fang Tianyu’s shadow becoming clearer, manifesting into the form of a middle-aged man.

He was dressed in plain clothes, his eyes reflecting profound sorrow and wisdom.

"Who are you?" Fang Tianyu’s shadow asked, a hint of confusion in his voice.

"I’m Jiang Xiao, and I need your help," Jiang Xiao responded straightforwardly.

Fang Tianyu’s shadow fell silent for a moment, as if realizing something, then slowly nodded.

"I see, you want to leave this train, right?"

"Yes, and I believe Little Qi should leave with me as well."

Fang Tianyu’s shadow closed his eyes, seemingly in contemplation.

After a while, he opened them.

"No, as the train’s conductor, I have a responsibility and obligation, I cannot abandon the passengers of this train."

Fuck!

This guy is seriously twisted!

Even his own wife was by those passengers...

He actually still cared about the life and death of those animals?

Forget it, being a man himself, Jiang Xiao didn’t want to bring up the matter about Yu Fen.

"But Xiaoqi is innocent, isn’t she?"

"Xiaoqi..."

Fang Tianyu sighed. He understood that his young daughter was carrying far too much.

"Fang Tianyu, you might have forgotten something, that is Xiaoqi is still young. According to fishing theory, although her fishing line is quite long, it’s too thin and can easily get lost in the deep sea."

Pausing briefly, Jiang Xiao continued.

"That is to say, Xiaoqi’s ’Ego’ is quite developed, suitable for being a ’Mysterious Power Receiver.’ But her ’Id’ is not firm enough, how long can she withstand the continuous assault of mysterious forces?"

Fang Tianyu let out a quiet sound of surprise.

Hadn’t expected this man to know so much?

Fishing theory?

Ego?

Id?

To others, it might be utterly confusing, but Fang Tianyu understood very clearly what Jiang Xiao was trying to convey.

He always had a vague suspicion in his own mind, but he didn’t know how to summarize it systematically.

And yet, this man had clarified it all with such a simple and easy-to-understand metaphor...

Seeing the admiration in the eyes of this "intellectual" before him, the corners of Jiang Xiao’s mouth couldn’t help but begin to curl up.

"Fang Tianyu, it’s not a matter of whether to accommodate passengers or not, it’s about your daughter, Xiaoqi. She can no longer suppress the power within her."

Fang Tianyu fell silent, feeling that there had been some oversight in the plan from the start.

Upon reflection, aside from needing human lives to stabilize the "Bridge" between him and Yu Fen,

As a "Receiver," Xiaoqi also couldn’t withstand the ravages of mysterious powers year after year.

"Now, Xiaoqi wants me to cripple her and nail her inside the carriage so that she can both fulfill her duties as a ’Receiver’ and not lose control of the power inside her to kill innocents indiscriminately. Fang Tianyu, what do you think I should do?"

When Fang Tianyu heard that Xiaoqi had asked Jiang Xiao to cripple her, his body involuntarily shook.

The usually rational man’s complexion turned pale instantly.

"Xiaoqi... Xiaoqi she..."

"Stop that, I’m giving you two choices. First, I go and cripple Xiaoqi, so that a train full of animals can continue to cling to a miserable existence."

Seeing Jiang Xiao hesitate to mention the second option, Fang Tianyu couldn’t help but ask promptly.

"And the second?"

"The second? Why would I have a second option? Fang Tianyu, I’m telling you, my aim is to get off this train, and if I can’t leave, I’ll kill everyone on the train!"

Jiang Xiao had long been fed up with this retarded Kaidan delaying him for so long!

Now he had thrown the problem back to Fang Tianyu.

Meaning that he, young master, was no longer serving, and now it was Fang Tianyu’s mess to clean up—if not, Jiang Xiao would take out the so-called "passengers" and his daughter whom he believed needed protection.

Fang Tianyu had no choice...

"I have a way for you to leave the train."

"Speak."

"Have Xiaoqi kill everyone, and then you can leave."

Jiang Xiao: "?"

What kind of trade-off is this?

"Well, the Kaidan wanted to kill everyone anyway, but it was stopped by some methods I used. Now that Xiaoqi already carries the aura of the Kaidan within her, she essentially represents it. If she’s the one to take everyone out, then the Kaidan will naturally dissipate as well."

Jiang Xiao was stunned. In that case, he didn’t actually have to do anything; just wait for Xiaoqi’s "outbreak" and after she killed everyone, right?

"But you need to be careful. The power inside Xiaoqi will grow stronger with her increasing malice, and behind her..."

Fang Tianyu turned his head to look back.

"Behind Xiaoqi, there’s a whole Kaidan world continuously fueling her with power. You mustn’t let her become a puppet to that power, otherwise..."