Chapter Ninety-Three: Just Say It, and I’ll Go

Brian and Xie Luo no longer had a trace of their former arrogance in their eyes. In their present, broken state, they looked like prisoners waiting for death, as though they had already reached the end of their lives.

Fang Nian looked at them, crouched down, idly toying with a wooden stick, and asked in a low voice, “Do you two want to get out of here alive?”

At his question, a flicker of hope suddenly kindled in their dull, lifeless eyes. They could hardly believe what they had heard.

“What?”

Fang Nian glanced at the two men, now reduced to mere spectators, and smiled faintly.

“I’ll ask one last time. Do you want to live?”

This time they heard him clearly. As though grasping a lifeline, they nodded desperately.

“Yes, yes, yes...”

Fang Nian nodded, satisfied with their reaction, then looked at Brian and said, “I know it would be impossible for the two of you to build this giant cage by yourselves. But you’ve been active here for so many years, serving as puppet emperors all this time, so you should know this place inside and out.”

“Tell me. How do we get out? The entrance is surely sealed, and the exit may be guarded, but there must be some way out. For example, by breaking this window.”

Brian and Xie Luo fell silent, apparently weighing the costs and benefits.

Not far away, Xiao Xueluan touched the glass window and said with some disappointment, “I don’t think that idea will work. This glass window may be very hard to break.”

Jin Jinhui felt the window, which did not seem especially thick, and asked in confusion, “Is it really that sturdy? To me, it looks like nothing more than tempered glass. We should be able to smash it with some tools from the train, shouldn’t we?”

Xu Dong knocked on it with his hand, then slammed it hard twice. Though the glass did not shatter, it did tremble.

“Yeah, Xueluan, it doesn’t feel all that hard. Is a piece of glass really harder than a diamond?”

Xiao Xueluan nodded, then pointed at the glass and said, “There is nothing in this world you cannot find. You all think the hardest thing in the world is diamond, but that isn’t true. It’s glass—a special kind of glass with a somewhat unusual shape. It is the hardest thing in the world.”

“This glass has two ends. One end is the hardest in the world. How hard is it? To put it bluntly, if you shoot it with a bullet, the bullet will shatter. And this oddly shaped glass has a very beautiful name: Prince Rupert’s drop. Molten glass drips naturally into ice water under gravity, forming glass droplets shaped like tadpoles. That is how it got its name.”

Fang Nian silently gave Xiao Xueluan a thumbs-up. It had to be said: although this fellow did not seem especially outstanding at first glance, he possessed very broad knowledge and an excellent foundation.

“If he can be properly cultivated in the future, his prospects are limitless.”

Duan Rui touched the Prince Rupert’s drop, her eyes flickering with a different light. Only after hearing Xiao Xueluan’s explanation did she realize that when sunlight passed through the drop, it created a distinct halo within the glass. It truly was more beautiful than a diamond.

Jin Jinhui liked it very much too, and immediately seized Xiao Xueluan by the arm.

“Quick, tell me more about this Prince Rupert’s drop.”

Having his arm grabbed, Xiao Xueluan’s face turned red at once.

“Um... I already said it. It has two ends. One end is the hardest, but the other end is the softest. If you apply even a little force to the other end, the Prince Rupert’s drop will shatter completely.”

“Of course, the method of making it isn’t difficult. You just heat the glass until it melts, then let it fall freely into water, and a glass shape like a water droplet is formed. That’s all there is to it.”

After Xiao Xueluan finished speaking, many people were astonished by this glass’s material. It possessed the greatest hardness, yet could be destroyed by the other end.

But clearly, the side facing them was the hardest end. With their current abilities, they had no way of breaking it. For a moment, everyone fell silent.

Fang Nian looked back at Brian.

“Have you thought it through?”

Brian was silent for a moment before asking again, “Are you sure I can survive?”

Fang Nian’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Do you think you’re in any position to bargain with me?”

Brian froze, then quickly let it go. Indeed, if he trusted Fang Nian, he might still live. If he refused to trust him, he could be crushed into meat paste by the people before him in a matter of seconds.

“That brother is right. Breaking the Prince Rupert’s drop is the only way all of us can get out of here together. But the Prince Rupert’s drop cannot be broken from the inside. So someone has to break it from the outside before we can leave.”

“You’re talking nonsense, aren’t you? If we could get out, why would we need you? The reason we’re asking you is precisely because we can’t get out.”

“Exactly. You’re really something. At a time like this, you’re still talking nonsense. You may not know this, but that so-called freezing ring has already swallowed up every carriage except the first one. If we don’t hurry, the next people to be frozen into popsicles will be us.”

“Oh, so that’s why I felt cold just now. But didn’t they say earlier that the freezing ring and all that were lies made up by Brian and the others? Why is the freezing ring still here?”

“Brother, what have you been listening to all this time? Didn’t they say just now that the freezing ring and everything else were designed by them? It’s like we’re all inside a giant film studio, with a plot and props arranged by someone else everywhere we look. We’re just actors.”

“Oh, I get it. So we’re still in danger, still barely surviving under someone else’s control. The only way now is to get out of here.”

“Isn’t that exactly what we just said? If we can’t get out, then nothing else matters. Looks like we really won’t be able to leave.”

...

And then, at that very moment, Xie Luo, who had been silent all this while, suddenly looked at Fang Nian with a cold laugh.

“Kid, I do know a way out. If you really have the guts to take it, I’ll tell you.”

At Xie Luo’s words, Fang Nian’s expression remained as calm as still water, but the people around him all grew excited. Almost everyone’s gaze fell on Fang Nian at once.

“Really? There’s hope?”

“Don’t be too optimistic. This method definitely won’t be simple, or Xie Luo wouldn’t say it.”

“Exactly. Whoever goes will probably die. Fang Nian may be very strong; it looks like nobody here can beat him. But once you walk into a wolf’s den, how could you possibly get out unscathed?”

...

Yet at that moment, Fang Nian, who had not spoken, suddenly looked at Xie Luo and said flatly, “Go ahead. I’ll do it.”