The Genius Game - Chapter 43

Jian Tanxi said, “Enough nonsense. We currently have 60 points of Joy Value, which converts to 60 Life Points. I’ll allocate 30 points each to Shen Kexin and Wang Juanhua, they won’t die now.”

As for Du Jiaojiao, Jian Tanxi took a moment to heal her, restoring her Life Points to 100.

Current Life Points: Jian Tanxi 70, Qin Man 45, Du Jiaojiao 100, Meng Yuening 70, Shen Kexin 33, Wang Juanhua 35.

A mechanical voice announced, “Turning the tables against the odds, impressive, Jian Tanxi. I admit you haven’t lost yet, but I guarantee your chances of survival are slim.”

Jian Tanxi retorted, “Don’t worry about me!”

The three players who had fainted woke up. They had no idea what had happened and only saw Jian Tanxi chasing after the two young masters.

It was truly an unprecedented spectacle.

Meng Yuening and Qin Man quietly explained the recent events to the other three, who were all stunned.

At that moment, the third, fourth, and fifth young masters stepped in to stop Jian Tanxi. They managed to capture her together, but not before taking several hits themselves, grimacing in pain.

Though restrained, Jian Tanxi could still curse. She continued, “Third Young Master, all you do is race cars, useless and only know how to bully others! Fourth Young Master, I don’t even know what you do, but you’re no better! Fifth Young Master, you’re a student skipping online classes just to fawn over your sister. In my opinion, you’re all pathetic and laughable, with no sense of self, just a bunch of tools!”

This tirade boosted all players’ Joy Values by a total of 40 points.

Jian Tanxi distributed these 40 points as well, giving 15 each to Wang Juanhua and Shen Kexin, and the remaining 10 to Qin Man, since their Life Points were relatively low.

After distribution, the current Life Points were: Jian Tanxi 70, Qin Man 55, Du Jiaojiao 100, Meng Yuening 70, Shen Kexin 48, Wang Juanhua 50.

Meanwhile, someone reported the incident to the ailing Old Master Ou.

Old Master Ou emerged leaning on his cane, furious. “Nanny Jian! How dare you cause such chaos! You’re here to serve as a nanny, not to act like the mistress!”

He then turned to his five grandsons. “You good-for-nothings, getting beaten up by a young girl and ending up in this state! Your injuries don’t matter, but you’ve ruined Bao’er’s birthday banquet, how will you make it up to her?”

The eldest young master, coughing up blood, stammered, “Grandfather… don’t be angry… once we recover… we’ll throw Bao’er another birthday party…”

Old Master Ou looked at him disdainfully. “Stop talking and wipe the blood from your mouth first. Honestly…”

He then ordered the bodyguards, “Lock all these nannies in the storage room. They are not to approach Miss Bao’er or receive any food! Except for Nanny Jian, I have other plans for her.”

The bodyguards quickly escorted Qin Man and the others away, locking them in the storage room.

Old Master Ou cast a cold glance at Jian Tanxi and instructed the butler, “Lock Nanny Jian in the Wind Blade Room. I want her torn to pieces.”

The butler replied, “Yes, sir.”

Jian Tanxi didn’t know what the Wind Blade Room was, but she was sure it was nothing good.

Nevertheless, she steadied herself.

She believed there must be a way to clear the level, after all, heaven never seals off all exits.

Soon, Jian Tanxi was taken to a stone-built house.

This house was much taller than the previous stone room, with even more dried bloodstains covering its walls.

Surrounding it were several black trees, their color so dark and gloomy they seemed to have been nourished by blood.

Jian Tanxi was shoved inside, and the door immediately slammed shut behind her.

The butler’s voice came from outside: “Nanny Jian, you were quite brave earlier. So, I wish you a pleasant death.”

Jian Tanxi: “…”

The moment she stepped inside, Jian Tanxi understood why this room was called the Wind-Blade House.

Because the wind inside was incredibly strong, almost comparable to a typhoon.

She had no idea how such powerful winds were generated.

Jian Tanxi felt that being lifted by the wind would certainly lead to nothing good.

So, she activated her ability, “Immovable as a Mountain,” to anchor herself firmly in place, not moving an inch.

The howling wind was deafening, and amid the roaring gusts came the sharp, clear clashing of blades, sounding as if they were right overhead.

This room, too, had no lights or windows.

If she wanted to see clearly, she would have to rely on items.

Fortunately, she still had one useful tool, the Crescent Moon Eye, a gift from Meng Yuening earlier.

She took out the Crescent Moon Eye, pressed it against her own eye, and it emitted a faint glow.

This light could last for twenty minutes.

By its illumination, Jian Tanxi could finally make out the structure of the Wind-Blade House.

Dozens of sharp blades, at least a hundred, were suspended from the ceiling.

These blades hung mid-air, swaying in all directions under the erratic wind currents, producing an endless cacophony of clashing sounds.

If anyone were blown into the air, they would undoubtedly be sliced to pieces, and the process would surely be excruciating.

Thankfully, Jian Tanxi possessed the “Immovable as a Mountain” ability; otherwise, she would have died swiftly.

She didn’t know how long she would be imprisoned here, but after beating up the five young masters of the Ou family so badly, Old Master Ou certainly wouldn’t let her out.

Fortunately, this game only lasted ten days, and it was already the fifth day.

As long as she held out until the tenth day, and if all players were still alive, they should be able to leave.

The biggest problem now was food.

In this instance, their bodies had reverted to their previous state, requiring three meals a day; otherwise, they would grow hungry.

But since Jian Tanxi was locked up here, surely no one would bring her food.

The other players were also imprisoned, and it was uncertain whether they would receive any meals.

Now, they could only rely on everyone’s ability to endure hunger to pull through.

Jian Tanxi soon noticed another issue: the sound of the clashing blades was unbearably loud.

Moreover, the room seemed specially treated to amplify noise.

If she had to listen to this continuously, she would surely break down.

She could close her mouth, but she couldn’t close her ears.

If the noise made her dizzy and she passed out, her ability would no longer be sustainable.

Because the “Immovable as a Mountain” ability could only be activated while conscious.

Enduring hunger for five days, she might manage that.

But staying in an extremely noisy room for five days without fainting was nearly impossible.

If she lost consciousness, she would be swept up by the wind and shredded to pieces by the blades.

After a moment of anxiety, Jian Tanxi decided to calm her mind and think of a countermeasure.

She simply lay down on the floor, watching the blades above sway incessantly.

Suddenly, she noticed something: the ropes binding these blades seemed incredibly tough, they couldn’t be cut or sliced through.

Because the blades were tossed wildly by the wind, they frequently struck the ropes above. Yet, not only did the ropes remain unbroken, they didn’t even show a single nick.

Jian Tanxi thought that if these ropes couldn’t be severed by blades, perhaps the interstellar triangular prism could cut them, as it could pierce through most of Earth’s hardest materials.

However, if she cut all the ropes, the blades would fly around even more chaotically, and Jian Tanxi would be at greater risk of injury.

Currently, the blades were hung high enough that as long as Jian Tanxi wasn’t swept into the air, she couldn’t reach them.

Once the blades fell, they wouldn’t just be blown upward by the wind but also downward. In that case, Jian Tanxi estimated she wouldn’t last long.

Staring at the stone wall, Jian Tanxi suddenly had an idea.

The walls of this room were built of stacked stones, with gaps between them.

If she could wedge the blades into these gaps, securing them firmly so the wind couldn’t move them, they wouldn’t make clashing sounds anymore.

It would be ideal if all the blades could be immobilized this way, but Jian Tanxi didn’t have that much time.

The Crescent Moon Eye could only provide light for 20 minutes, and nearly half of that time had already passed.

She could only secure a portion of the blades in the stone gaps.

Still, by choosing the right blades, she could significantly reduce the clattering noise.

Jian Tanxi decided to cut the ropes of the longer blades.

Longer blades, when swirling in the air, were more likely to collide with others.

But there was another problem: she couldn’t reach them.

The room was tall, and the blades hung about a meter above her.

She remembered she had a Height-Increasing Pill, a gift from Qin Man. After taking it, her body would grow one meter taller for 20 minutes.

Without hesitation, she swallowed the pill immediately.

Her body instantly grew taller, and she could now reach the ropes of the blades with ease.

However, this also made things more dangerous.

She didn’t dare venture to the center, staying in the corner while observing the blades closest to her.

She selected the longest sword among them, used the triangular prism to cut its rope, and wedged the sword into a nearby stone gap.

Unexpectedly, it slid in smoothly all the way to the bottom.

These blades, likely sharpened finely for ease of cutting flesh, were incredibly sharp, able to slice through iron like mud, so inserting them into the stone gaps required no effort at all.

Without delay, Jian Tanxi moved forward, selecting longer blades at intervals, cutting their ropes, and embedding them into the stone gaps.

Soon, the Crescent Moon Eye’s light faded. Jian Tanxi sat down on the spot to avoid being injured by the remaining blades.

After a few more minutes, the Height-Increasing Pill wore off. She returned to her normal height, no longer at risk of injury, and could stand and move around freely.

She calculated that she had managed to wedge about twenty blades into the stone gaps.

Now, when she listened for the sound of clashing blades, it was much quieter.

Though still somewhat noisy, it was far better than before.

All she could do now was endure.

Endure hunger, thirst, and the sound of clashing blades.

As long as she lasted five days, she would be free.

Without water, a person’s survival limit is roughly three to seven days. In a stationary state, she might last a bit longer.

So, Jian Tanxi lay down.

At that moment, it suddenly occurred to her that if she fell asleep, she wouldn’t be able to use her steadfast-as-a-mountain ability and would be swept into the air by the raging wind, torn to pieces.

She groped along the wall and found a sword wedged in a crevice between rocks. Attached to the hilt was a long length of rope, fluttering in the wind.

Jian Tanxi used this rope to tie herself up, wrapping it around her waist and securing it with several tight knots.

This way, even if she fell asleep, the rope would still be holding her.

If the wind lifted her up, it would likely startle her awake, allowing her to continue using her steadfast-as-a-mountain ability.

She still had the triangular awl, if she truly couldn’t hold on any longer, she could jab herself with it.