CH 74

Gu Yi opened his eyes and looked at his shoes, feeling frustrated as he said,

"How could such an unlucky thing happen? If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have worn shoes with laces."

He gazed at the door in front of him, feeling immensely excited.

--The Dark Moon Circus had provided him with so many clues!

First:

The eyepatch in Gu Yi's hand served as the circus ticket, which was purchased by his sister. By passing the circus's trials and obtaining the "Dark Moon Prize Tickets," he could infer what reward his sister had received from the circus.

Second:

Speculation about the rules.

The only two places in the entire dungeon that have clear rules, without requiring adventurers to deduce them, are the Dark Moon Circus and the old house. There must be some inherent connection between these two places.

"Backtrack!"

(Backtracking Begins!)

(You and the dwarf stand at the starting line.)

(You squat down, take off your shoes and socks.)

(After thinking for a moment, you decide to take off your clothes as well, leaving only your underwear.)

(Dark Moon: What are you doing?)

(You: Reducing drag.)

(Dark Moon: Hahaha, it seems Mr. Gu is very serious about the race. Let's start the race officially. On your marks, get set, go!)

(You run out, leaving the dwarf unable to keep up with your pace.)

(You jump onto the balance beam, crossing it as if walking on thin ice.)

(The second obstacle is a platform jump, which requires swinging across from overhead ropes.)

(You grab onto the rope and swing across.)

(Halfway through, the rope breaks, and you frantically try to stabilize yourself in mid-air, narrowly avoiding falling into the lava.)

(You grab onto the platform and manage to climb up, barely.)

(Your physical fitness is not excellent, and you take a break to catch your breath.)

(At this point, the dwarf has successfully crossed the balance beam and reached the platform jump, effortlessly swinging across on the rope.)

(The third obstacle is a climbing wall, but the dwarf's short limbs make his movements slow.)

(You have rested enough and turn around to climb.)

(You quickly reach the top.)

(Your hands are sweaty, and you fail to grip the handrail, resulting in falling down.)

(You land on the ground, feeling dizzy.)

(You hear the whistle blowing.)

(The dwarf climbs over the climbing wall before you.)

(You lose the race.)

(Dark Moon: I'm sorry, Mr. Gu, but you lost the race and will have to face our punishment!)

(Your whole body is in intense pain.)

(A clown mask starts growing on your face.)

(You gradually lose yourself.)

(You die.)

(Backtracking ends!)

"Huh?" Gu Yi opened his eyes, "Could it be that these guys have tampered with my track?"

Gu Yi shook his head and re-deduced.

(Backtracking begins!)

(You and the dwarf stand at the starting line.)

(You take off your shoes and clothes.)

(Dark Moon: Huh? What are you doing?)

(You: What? Is running without clothes against the rules?)

(Dark Moon: Hahaha... Well then, let's get started. On your marks...)

(You: Wait, I request a change of track.)

(Dark Moon: What?)

(You: I want to switch tracks with him. I don't want to take this route.)

(Dark Moon: Alright.)

(You and the dwarf exchange tracks.)

(The race begins.)

(You reach the balance beam first.)

(Suddenly, lava erupts and splashes onto the balance beam.)

(The balance beam is instantly ignited, but you use both hands and feet to crawl to the other side.)

(You jump up and grab onto the rope.)

(Your palms are too sweaty, and you almost slip. You quickly swing back and wrap the rope around your wrist twice.)

(You finally swing to the other side.)

(You turn your head and see the dwarf already halfway up the climbing wall.)

(You quickly run over.)

(The climbing wall collapses with a loud crash, hitting you on the head.)

(Your vision goes black.)

(You die.)

"Why is it like this?"

Gu Yi touched his chin, pondering carefully.

If the first failure was due to an accident and the second failure was due to tampering, then why did the third failure happen?

It doesn't make any sense.

"So... I must have been punished by the rules. Which rule did I do wrong?"

Gu Yi recalled the audience rules of the Dark Moon Circus, but he couldn't find anything inappropriate. The rules were basically common etiquette for every audience member.

Gu Yi closed his eyes and carefully recalled every detail of his attempts to pass the challenges.

"No, it's not during the challenges, but right when I entered the circus."

Gu Yi touched his nose.

When he first entered the circus, the clown gave him a balloon crown and even praised Dark Moon him when he saw it.

The fourth rule in the audience guidelines stated:

"4. The circus doesn't offer a free lunch, so don't pick up random things on the street to eat. It could harm you."

Here, "lunch" doesn't just refer to food.

The balloon crown given by the clown, isn't that a free lunch?

Last time, the balloon sword made by the clown could kill the snake monster directly. Can the balloon crown given by the clown this time has some mysterious power? Without a second thought, Gu Yi accepted someone else's kindness, not realizing that he had fallen into someone else's trap.

That balloon crown is very likely to be a cursed item that brings bad luck!

"I understand now."

After silently deducing it once, the problem indeed lay with that balloon crown. Gu Yi twisted his neck and calmly walked into the enormous portal.

The cheerful music of the circus reached Gu Yi's ears.

Just as he had deduced before, the familiar clown hopped and skipped over to Gu Yi and was about to put a balloon crown on him.

"Ah! No need for that," Gu Yi instinctively moved his head back. "Take me to meet your leader."

The clown was momentarily surprised but didn't say anything. He pulled Gu Yi along and headed towards the largest tent in the circus.

Gu Yi finally saw Dark Moon. He couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

The Dark Moon he had deduced was wearing a black-purple suit, but in reality, Dark Moon was wearing a pure black suit.

--The Dark Moon Circus comes from a higher dimension, and there were some deviations between my deductions and reality!

"Oh, welcome to the Dark Moon Circus," Dark Moon said with a smile. "If you want to spend a joyful day in the circus, please abide by the following rules."

As Dark Moon spoke, he handed a note with the rules to Gu Yi.

Gu Yi unfolded it and took a look.

The note had black text on a white background, but fortunately, the content was the same as his deductions, with only minor differences in certain details.

"Thank you."

"Now, sir, may I ask if you have your ticket with you?"

"Of course."

Gu Yi took out the eyepatch from his pocket.

Dark Moon took the eyepatch and made a mark on it with his fingernail. Then he pointed towards the seating area, saying, "The Dark Moon Circus welcomes your presence. Please find a seat quickly, as the spectacular circus performance is about to begin."

Gu Yi nodded and made his way to the seating area.

At this moment, he felt a chilling sensation throughout his body, as if he had fallen into an icy abyss.

The entire scene of the circus underwent a drastic transformation in his eyes.