Chapter 601: Cutting Off His Fingers

“Yes!” Zhao Licheng replied. “He was lying on his side and playing chess lazily. Every time a chess piece of his gets eaten, he would throw it at my face, disturbing my concentration.”

“When I was thinking, he would curse loudly or smash the chessboard to scare me.”

“After being tortured by him so many times, many of my ideas were cut off and I was unable to unleash my full power. In the end, my skills got reduced to around his level.”

“But at that very moment, he took out a knife.

Su Yang asked, “Did he hurt you?”

Zhao Licheng shook his head again. There was a strange glint in his eyes. “No. He… Cut off his fingers.”

“While telling me stories, he cut off his fingers… One finger at a time, just like that.”

Su Yang was confused.

‘What is this?

‘He’s cutting himself at the slightest disagreement?

‘Would I hit myself when I go mad?’

Zhao Licheng seemed to have noticed Su Yang’s doubt. “He used his unique sharp voice to tell a story. He said that he was living in a sinful little world. There was no sunlight in that world, only darkness. He was like a rat in the dark, living in the sewers of the city, lost.”

“There was no warmth in that world. There was only slaughter, blood and madness. He had always been obedient, but he was killed time and time again, brutally murdered.

“Until one day, when he couldn’t take it anymore, he knocked down a person who hit him and killed him. At that moment, he became more powerful.

“He realized that only violence could stop violence, so he changed. He put on half of the clown mask, dyed his hair green and wore a red suit. He was killing crazily in that world.

“He said that he was a normal person, but no one was his match because he knew everyone’s weakness, including mine.

“And then… He started telling my story.”

Su Yang frowned. “Your story?”

The expression on Zhao Licheng’s face changed and he was no longer as relaxed as before. “Yes. He told my story from when I was a child until I got into an accident. Although there were some discrepancies in between and he would occasionally watch my expression to change the story, everything he said was mostly true.”

“Coupled with the fact that he chopped off his fingers one by one, I lost my ways completely, so… I lost.”

Su Yang fell silent.

‘Is he that crazy?’

Su Yang still remembered the system’s evaluation of this Clown Sea Snake not long ago. It could see through people’s hearts and was proficient in all kinds of killing tactics.

Su Yang was suddenly interested in the Clown Sea Snake. ‘Although this person is dangerous, he seems to be very interesting.’

Just as Su Yang was thinking about this, his heart skipped a beat and he broke out in cold sweat.

‘No! If what Zhao Licheng said was true, then could the conversation between Zhao Licheng and myself be within his expectations?’

The moment this thought appeared in his mind, Su Yang started to make wild guesses. ‘If the Sea Snake is truly proficient in reading the human heart and has high intelligence, he would definitely guess the reason for the sudden change in the way they’ve competed today.

‘Then, it would be easy for him to guess that I have someone in mind and want that person to become a permanent actor.

‘So, if that person lost, I would definitely communicate with that person.

‘Therefore, it’s very likely that the Sea Snake would start searching for this person while playing chess.

‘Although Zhao Licheng did his job well, he might not be able to defend himself against this man’s shrewdness. His words, tone and actions could easily reveal that he was the person I liked.

‘Then, the Sea Snake started to test Zhao Licheng’s personality, find his weakness and tell him his story. It used a language technique to guide Zhao Licheng into telling the story to himself, thus creating the effect of two people speaking directly to each other.

‘Finally, he’s going to make me interested in him and release him…’

Su Yang broke out in cold sweat.

‘Terrifying, he’s too terrifying.

‘If not for the system notification, if Zhao Licheng had not told me everything, if I’m not exactly that stupid, I would’ve probably been influenced by him!

‘What a scary person.’

With that thought in mind, Su Yang did not care whether he was overthinking it or not. He decided that he could not release the Sea Snake for the time being. In fact, if necessary, Su Yang had to kill him. Furthermore, he could not give Zhao Licheng any chance to interact with him!

After making his decision, Su Yang told Zhao Licheng to return first. Then, he took the circus notebook and started studying it to see if there was any way to bypass the Sea Snake.

He studied it for a long time and realized that there were actors who could participate in the elimination round even in [Master Mode].

This made things much easier.

Su Yang first chose Zhao Licheng to start the elimination round. However, the circus indicated that there were too few people.

Su Yang added Wang Shan, as well as the other seven people who had just arrived.

Su Yang added a Little Monster Bean before the circus’s notification read, [All kinds of actors must exist.]

Su Yang tried to get Feng Yonghui to join them, hence the elimination round could now begin, but each reincarnation would consume 200 pounds of raw meat.

‘The circus really is huge meat-eaters.

‘I suspect that there are lions and tigers in the circus. Otherwise, why would they need so much meat?’

However, for the sake of Zhao Licheng’s successful resurrection, Su Yang agreed to this option.

So Janet could only take the glass screen again and run out to buy meat…

While Janet was buying meat, Su Yang was guessing the rules of the elimination round.

‘I’m guessing that the circus is probably splitting these actors into different categories.

‘For example, human ‘guests’ like Wang Shan and Zhao Licheng only have one soul and no other clones in the parallel dimensions.

‘Then, there’s the Little Monster Bean, who has either died because of him or the system. They’d be categorized as a normal monster actor.

‘Lastly, there are people like Sea Snake and Feng Yonghui who have been killed by myself or died because of the system, categorized as normal actors.

‘Only when all kinds of actors exist and there are more than 10 people could the elimination match be held.’

After deducing the rules of the circus, Su Yang decided to test it out the next time he revived the old man.

Very soon, Janet returned with the meat. Su Yang was temporarily placed in the circus. The first day of the elimination round that was held once every two days had only passed, and the new elimination round would only start the day after tomorrow. Therefore, there was no hurry.

Su Yang took the opportunity to go to the office and chat with Tan Mei about the arrangements for Mei Yue. There was only one requirement, and that was to join Produce 101.

Since Su Yang took it so seriously, Tan Mei naturally took it seriously as well and hurried to make arrangements.

Right after that, Su Yang started to choose a project for Han Yi.

After that, he chose the whole morning. With the help of Little Hus’s nose, he did not find anything suitable for her.

However, Su Yang was not in a hurry. Han Yi had her own plans. She had always wanted to enter the big screen industry from a small screen, so she got in touch with her friend and made a guest appearance in her movie. She wanted to familiarize herself with the filming and learn from it.

Hence, Su Yang had plenty of time to arrange her work.

After returning Han Yi’s project to Tan Mei, Su Yang was about to leave. However, Tan Mei hesitated for a moment and stopped him. “Mr. Su, the movie that Xiaoyi starred in happened to be shooting in the Imperial Capital. It’s not far from our agency. Why don’t you… Pay her a visit?”

‘Pay her a visit?’

Su Yang wanted to reject her immediately. ‘I’m her boss and we’re not related, so why would I visit her?’

However, Tan Mei obviously had her own reasons. She said after some deliberation, “The thing is, Mr. Su, a while ago, someone on the internet revealed that you’re the president of Han Yi’s Shanghai Fan Club. You’ve acquired the agency and then got her back because you have… Um… An unspeakable secret.”

“Anyway, there are all kinds of rumors online. However, Xiao Yi has a serious personality. After she found out about it, she seemed to have been feeling uncomfortable. Recently, no matter which one of us mentions you, she will instantly become quiet.

“So I think… You should go see her. Explain the misunderstanding. Consider it to be a boss caring for his subordinates.”

Su Yang was speechless.

‘What the h*ck?

‘There was actually such a case?’

Su Yang thought about it and realized that it was true! Before he killed the Feng family and Sun Hao, Sun Hao had investigated and spread the news to defame him.

At that time, he only thought that it was spreading within a small area, but he did not expect that even Han Yi knew about it!

‘Huh… if that’s the case, Lin Jiali… knows about it too?

‘So she also knows that I’m the president of Han Yi’s fan club?

‘Then the promise I made Han Yi not to tell Lin Jiali at her house that day is now useless?

‘Oh sh*t. No wonder Lin Jiali was so jealous when she picked me up.

‘I still thought about how she could be jealous of Mei Yue back then… I didn’t really understand what’s happening back then.

‘Now that I look at it like this… It’s caused by several matters stacked up together!

‘Shuraba seems to be right in front of me…

‘Forget it, I should handle the matter bit by bit. I’ll settle Han Yi first. After all, I have nothing to do with her except for being her boss. That’s easy to explain.’

At that thought, Su Yang agreed to visit as Tan Mei suggested.

In the afternoon, under Tan Mei’s arrangement, Su Yang, her and an assistant bought some things and went to Han Yi’s production studio together.

Han Yi’s guest appearance this time was for a modern urban movie, so she was filming in an office building.

When Su Yang and the rest arrived at the set, Han Yi’s assistant came out to welcome them.

Su Yang followed the assistant up to the third floor and arrived at the set. Su Yang realized that the set was not filming, but the atmosphere was a little cold. It was like the weather in the Imperial Capital during winter.

Han Yi stood at the camera area, talking to an actress. Her face was filled with awkwardness like she had run into something.

Many of the crew members were whispering and pointing at him.

Ever since he had added a point onto the system, Su Yang’s hearing had become much more sensitive. Hence, when he focused his attention on his ears, he heard two stage assistants chatting softly.

“Is that Han Yi who has been very popular recently? She doesn’t seem that special. She’s only acted as a guest actor for a few minutes. How many NGs has she done already? Can she do this or not?”

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