If the ghost chose to throw scissors, he needed to throw rock to anticipate its anticipation.
Circling around like this just brought him right back to the starting point.
Following this logic, if the ghost was on the third layer, he had to be on the fourth; then the ghost might be on the fifth, and he would have to be on the sixth. Running this infinite loop stripped the gambit of its original meaning.
Thinking it over, Gao Tian ultimately decided that assuming the ghost would play rock and countering with paper was enough. Even if the ghost possessed intelligence and anticipated this, the worst-case scenario was a draw.
He made his choice.
Gao Tian: Rock.
Ghost: Rock.
First round: Draw.
Gao Tian wasn't quite sure if the ghost was also running through countless psychological layers, or if it was just a coincidence.
The second round was about to begin.The probability of a person changing their hand gesture was higher than keeping it the same. If the ghost assumed he would play rock again, the probability of it choosing paper to counter was the highest.
Therefore, his probability of winning by choosing scissors in the next round was higher.
Gao Tian: Scissors.
Ghost: Scissors.
Second round: Draw. Nullified again.
Deadlocked for two rounds, Gao Tian felt a flash of impatience. He prepared to change his strategy for the next round and try sticking with scissors. Perhaps the ghost would assume he would switch to rock to crush its scissors, prompting it to throw paper to counter.
But Gao Tian predicted incorrectly.
Gao Tian: Scissors.
Ghost: Rock.
Third round: Ghost wins. Score, one to zero.
If he let the ghost take another point, he would be stripped of even the right to die. Yet as the situation grew more desperate, Gao Tian completely forgot his fear, becoming even calmer than usual.
Normally, a winner's likelihood of throwing the same gesture to press their advantage increases. If the ghost chose scissors again next round, Gao Tian's countermeasure should be rock to tie the game.
As the man and the ghost raised and lowered their arms simultaneously, Gao Tian suddenly changed his mind, swapping his intended rock for scissors at the last split second.
If the ghost was also playing mind games, Gao Tian had to think one layer deeper. There was no need to aim too high; if the ghost was on the third layer, he only needed to be on the fourth.
Gao Tian: Scissors.
Ghost: Paper.
Fourth round: Gao Tian wins. The score was tied at one to one.
The final round would decide both their fates.
Just as Gao Tian was seriously considering what to stake his fate on for the deciding round, the red-eyed "Gao Tian" suddenly lashed out like lightning. It grabbed Gao Tian's right hand and, without a word, snapped two of his fingers.
Crack, crack.
"Gao Tian's" speed was so fast it left only an afterimage, impossible for the human eye to track. It wasn't until Gao Tian looked at his index and middle fingers lying limp as cotton that intense agony swept over his body like a tidal wave. It took him what felt like a century to slowly realize his two fingers had been snapped by the ghost.
The fingers are connected to the heart.
The fingers are connected to the heart.
Gao Tian was in so much agony he nearly lost the ability to think. He instantly curled into a ball, his back arched, tightly clutching his right hand as he rolled on the ground like a maggot. For some reason, with the pain at its absolute peak, he couldn't even let out a scream.
The red-eyed "Gao Tian" merely stood quietly in front of him, saying nothing. Not a single trace of emotion could be seen in its muddy eyes—neither contempt, mockery, nor pity.
The sea of pain receded just a fraction. Gao Tian slowly regained a sliver of consciousness. His whole body was already drenched in cold sweat, but the game was still ongoing. The ghost stood in place, quietly waiting for his next choice.
"It's cheating..."
"This ghost... is playing dirty."
Gao Tian looked at his deformed right hand and the two fingers that could no longer stand straight, blood continuously dripping from them. He knew he was crippled; this hand could never throw scissors again.
So this was the ghost's goal.
But no matter how Gao Tian groaned, the Urn placed between the man and the ghost remained entirely unmoving, turning a blind eye to "Gao Tian's" actions.
Right. The instruction manual only stated that the ghost's Killing Rule would temporarily become invalid; it never promised the ghost wouldn't harm humans.
"Gao Tian" was completely exploiting the game's rules within reasonable limits, and the Urn had no intention of punishing it.
The white powder dancing in mid-air spun faster and faster, as if growing increasingly dissatisfied with Gao Tian's delay in proceeding to the next round.
It seemed that if Gao Tian continued to lie on the ground and refused to play, the one punished wouldn't be the ghost who broke his fingers, but Gao Tian himself.
He understood the current situation perfectly. Clutching his still-bleeding right hand, he gritted his teeth, stood up, and continued to play the next round against the ghost.
At the same time, a new outline emerged in his mind:
Why did the ghost break his middle and index fingers in the final round? Because those two fingers were used to throw scissors. With them broken, Gao Tian couldn't properly throw scissors in the next round.
If the ghost didn't want him to throw scissors, there was no doubt that what this filthy thing truly wanted to throw next was paper. Thus, it needed to strike preemptively, crippling one of Gao Tian's hands to guarantee its absolute victory.
It seemed the game had reached a point where even the ghost was beginning to feel fear. It didn't want to be locked inside the Urn either.
But a ghost was still a ghost. Perhaps because it had been dead for so long, the brains beneath its skull had already rotted and turned foul; it simply had no ability to think critically—
What was the point of crushing one of Gao Tian's hands? He still had a perfectly good left hand, which could just as easily throw scissors!
The ghost's move, trying to be clever, actually exposed the fact that it wanted to throw paper.
So, for the next round, as long as he chose scissors, he could securely win the match and imprison this Fierce Ghost in hell.
Gao Tian's gaze met the bloodshot eyes of the "Gao Tian" opposite him. Even though the entity had a face exactly identical to his own, for some reason, its visage always carried a faint veneer of uncanny imitation. No matter how he looked at it, it didn't seem like a living person.
The fifth round of rock-paper-scissors was about to begin. The ghost had already raised its arm.
Gao Tian deliberately and slowly raised his crippled right hand, letting "Gao Tian" see he was still using his right hand to play.
Just at the moment both sides were about to throw, a strange thought suddenly popped into Gao Tian's mind.
The ghost had only crippled his right hand, not his left. Was it really because of its low intellect, unable to grasp such a simple layer of logic?
Or could it be that, from the very beginning, this was yet another gambit? He was on the second layer, but the ghost was actually standing on the third layer, one step higher than him.
After all, if Gao Tian was dead set on throwing scissors, there would always be a way. Simply crippling two fingers couldn't stop him. Even if he made a fist and relied on gravity to let the two broken fingers dangle down, it could still meet the standard for "scissors."
The ghost's goal wasn't to stop him from throwing scissors at all; its true goal was to make Gao Tian believe that "it didn't want him to throw scissors"!
If what the ghost feared was scissors, that meant it wanted to throw paper next round. By planting this thought into Gao Tian's brain like a virus, Gao Tian would logically use scissors to counter.
This was exploiting Gao Tian's reverse psychology. What the ghost truly intended to play was rock. Rock was the real deciding move of this game.
What a vicious monster. To win this game, its petty schemes were wrapped layer upon layer.
Gao Tian and the red-eyed ghost brought down their raised arms simultaneously.
According to his original plan, Gao Tian had intended to swap his right hand for his left at the exact moment of throwing, achieving the effect of throwing "scissors." But since the ghost had thought one layer deeper than him, he didn't need to use that method for a surprise attack anymore.
Even though his right hand hurt so much it had almost lost all sensation, Gao Tian slowly unclenched it, flattening his palm to form the "paper" gesture.
Upon seeing the ghost's gesture, Gao Tian felt as if his heartbeat had stopped for a second.
Gao Tian: Paper.
Ghost: Rock.
Fifth round: Gao Tian wins. Score, two to one.
From being down a round, to winning two in a row. Gao Tian finally reached match point and won the game, securing a perilous victory.
Seeing the scene before it, "Gao Tian's" expressionless dead face finally shifted. Within its bloodshot eye sockets, two dark red pupils began to spin frantically, glancing rapidly between Gao Tian's crippled right hand and his left shoulder.
It seemed unable to believe that Gao Tian had actually used his crippled right hand to decide the match. He hadn't switched hands at the very end.
Regardless, it was all over.
The effect of the Supernatural Item, the Urn, was absolute. Even for a ghost, as long as it participated in this game, it had to obey the rules.
"Gao Tian" suddenly turned around and sprinted wildly toward the door. It was fleeing; the ghost wanted to escape.
But it was already too late. Countless specks of white ash suddenly spewed from the Urn, swirling around "Gao Tian's" body. Immediately after, "Gao Tian" spontaneously combusted. Its terrifying expression underwent a drastic change for the first time; its facial features twisted together in agony, mouth open to its limits, letting out a silent roar toward the ceiling.
The clothes on its body quickly burned away, revealing ghastly white bones and the long-festering internal organs beneath the skin. The Urn didn't give it any chance at all. The heavenly fire quickly burned "Gao Tian" into a charred black skeleton, and immediately after, those broken chunks of flesh and shattered bones flew back into the Urn along with the ash.
With a heavy thud, after absorbing "Gao Tian's" ashes, the Urn slammed shut again, sealing it inside.
Watching the scene before him, Gao Tian knew very well in his heart. This Fierce Ghost still wasn't dead; it was only imprisoned within the Urn.
The Galan Society Chat Group had said that ghosts could not die; that instruction manual also warned that if the Urn was opened again, the imprisoned Fierce Ghost inside would escape once more.
Regardless, this curse released by the bizarre Chat Group was temporarily dealt with. This abominable filthy thing wouldn't be able to continue doing evil for a very long time.
Right at this moment, Gao Tian noticed that in the spot where "Gao Tian" originally stood, after it burned into a blackened pile, something seemed to remain in the ashes.