The most unpredictable thing in this world is the human heart. Its complexity lies in its fickleness—like a wily rabbit with countless burrows, it can shift in utterly unforeseen ways at any moment. That’s why every one of Mirror October’s games carried inherent risks. To minimize them, he often designed brutal rules, making seemingly random outcomes inevitable.
This wasn’t about slaughtering the guilty to warn others. Mirror October knew that was mere murder for pleasure, not true enlightenment. Cruelty and bloodshed were necessary tools; without them, participants would never grasp their own sins. Only by truly recognizing their wrongs and repenting sincerely did one earn the right to live.
No rules—that was the ultimate rule.
Without constraints, would the evil within you repent? Or would you fake remorse, deceive others into forgiveness, and keep living your filthy life? I’ve heard that under the crushing pressure of life and death, human survival instinct can work miracle after miracle. Such is life’s resilience—fragile yet unbreakable, struggling fiercely for the simplest, most primal reason: to survive.
Mirror October had seen too many crumble under life-or-death trials.
He’d also witnessed those facing true death—their final sacrifices, their quiet endurance.
“What’s the game’s outcome? Sinners die, the virtuous live—is it really that simple?” Lu Xiu’s silver-blue eyes glinted with curiosity beneath a faintly arrogant gaze. This was her first encounter with the Jigsaw Sect’s work, and it seemed rather ordinary.
The Central Bureau had no shortage of agents handling such dirty work. Lu Xiu had crossed paths with them during her duties; their methods of cruelty and intimidation were no less effective than the Jigsaw Sect’s. What she didn’t know was that those very agents were the Sect’s earliest targets for infiltration and subversion. Beneath the vast Central Bureau lurked an entire network embracing the Jigsaw Sect’s creed of punishing evil and rewarding good.
They were called—the Jigsaw Shadow Society!
“Nothing would surprise me before the game ends.” Mirror October’s bloodless lips thinned into a line. The game had begun. He gazed down impassively at the three humans and one Phantom Wraith struggling in his world of illusion, his crimson eyes reflecting an unnerving, glacial indifference.
“You’ve never failed. How could you not know?”
Lu Xiu’s lips curled at his modest reply. An SS-Class criminal, the most dangerous of them all—he’d orchestrated traps for Superheroes without a single misstep. Not one hero had escaped his grasp, not even Lu Xiu herself, a former S-Class hero. Well… she *had* willingly let him capture her, smitten as she was. Still, it proved his extraordinary skill.
“Eager to know the result already, Xiu’er?” Mirror October narrowed his slit-like eyes. Behind his lids, crimson light flickered dangerously. He tolerated no interference in his games—not even from Lu Xiu.
“Naturally.”
Unflinching, Lu Xiu flashed a perilous smile and deliberately thrust her chest forward. Her generous curves bounced enticingly beneath her open trench coat. Pity the only spectators were Dragon Sparrow and Mirror October—both men of ironclad discipline.
Dragon Sparrow was utterly absorbed in watching the survival spectacle unfold, ignoring the Phantom Wraith—Lu Xiu—completely.
“Why can’t you wait even this long?” His words carried a double edge. The danger in Mirror October’s irises slowly faded.
“Because I’ve lost before. So I know how to cherish.” *I lost you once. Forever. That soul-rending pain—I’ll never taste it again. I won’t wait. I’ll strike like a hurricane, binding us together.*
Mirror October fell silent. Lu Xiu’s calm confidence shone brilliantly. She understood his nature: indifferent to all. So long as she held no selfish motives, he wouldn’t reject her. When the time was right, she was certain she could drag Mirror October into bed with her—
“Then I’ll tell you the result. It is…”
As Mirror October’s hypnotic whisper trailed off, a flicker of shock flashed in Lu Xiu’s dazzling silver-blue eyes. How… perfectly logical, yet utterly unexpected…!
…
Coal dust choked their nostrils, searing their lungs as if they’d been fed through a grinder. Every bone ached. Wu Jianguo hadn’t felt such agony since becoming a triad boss.
Beside him, a pampered official groaned, clutching his stomach. The third man—the ex-Superhero stripped of his powers by Dragon Sparrow—was no better off, howling like a wounded beast in the damp, sweltering mine tunnel.
Soon, all three fell silent.
A grim realization settled over them: the tunnel was sealed. Collapsed timber beams groaned under the weight of rock, dust sifting through the cracks. A few bottles of cheap mineral water lay scattered on the ground. Their ragged breaths echoed loudly in the cramped, suffocating dark. They couldn’t recall how they’d gotten here—but they knew this was a Jigsaw game. A merciless one.
Wu Jianguo’s face drained of color as he recognized the scene. *That monster!* It had to be the monster’s doing—forcing them to experience the same slow, starving death it had endured. “Follow your instincts”… those words were meant for the monster! They’d die here, trapped like the miners who couldn’t climb out…!
“No one’s coming to save us… We’re finished…”
Memories of his own actions during the disaster flooded back. Regret swallowed him whole. Wu Jianguo laughed and wept at once. *Karma.* No matter how much dirty money he’d made or how luxuriously he’d lived, death would claim him just like any common man.
This was… cruel fairness…!
