Stuck in a Chinese novel

'There are a total of hundred of them.' Wei Jun commented inwardly as he saw the small circular holes at the bottom of the pool. They were constructed in a way that there were three circular orbs, slightly bigger than the hundred holes, in the middle, and around them were the hundred cavities that were circular as well.

The blood that fell into the pool didn't dirty the pristine blue water but accumulated in the three orbs in the middle. The orbs that were transparent began to change color to the color of crimson blood until they were full of blood and the three idiots stopped pouring their blood in the water.

The pool began to tremble but no change occurred in it. Instead, the water on the surface began to circulate, creating a whirlpool eventually.

[You can jump in now]

Wei Jun nodded and before the three idiots could jump in, Wei Jun jumped in and entered the pool first and foremost. As soon as he did, his gaze went to the golden keys in the middle.

Yuna shortly followed, the fastest of the three but once again, she was a second too late before Wei Jun took all the keys for himself. Once again, he stored them in his inventory without reading their description.

"Hey!" Yuna yelled again, this time in anger rather than complaint.

Wei Jun ignored her and simply waited for the rest. She created a ruckus but stopped once the crown prince and the others entered. As they did, it didn't take them long to understand what was going on.

"You're better off returning them to us." The crown prince said with a frown on his face. Wei Jun smirked and replied, "It's nice to see a troubled expression on your face instead of your usual arrogance."

But Wei Jun wasn't looking for trouble, at least not at the moment, and said, "Don't worry too much. I simply can't trust you is all. I hope you understand."

"But even if you don't..." Wei Jun looked at the crown prince, his killing intent on full display, "I don't really care."

The crown prince's frown further deepened but he didn't have enough courage to stand up to Wei Jun. Wei Jun was strong, that fact had been established well by everyone in the party. Except for the two military generals who were the strongest, the third person they needed to worry about, or perhaps worry about the most, was Wei Jun.

Wei Jun's expression turned back to a smiley one as he said, "But you don't need to worry as long as you play nice. Trust me, you won't be happy with the consequences if you were not to."

A clear threat with no intention of being subtle.

The crown prince and his two companions now fully understood Wei Jun's nature. Or at the very least, they could glean one part of his nature.

He was ruthless.

Wei Jun finally looked around the place they were. The word catacombs perfectly described the place they were in. There was nothing but darkness beyond the clearing they were in. Around them, there were four paths that led to nothing but darkness.

'Weird. I can still see.' Wei Jun inwardly thought. If he wanted to see in darkness, he would have to apply Qi to his eyes in the past but that didn't seem to be the case anymore.

[Well, of course]

[When I told you to do that, you were merely beginning your cultivation journey]

[Your body, now, however, has developed beyond the realm of a human]

[The effect would of course be like that]

Wei Jun thanked the system for the information and turned to the crown prince, "So? Where to now?"

[You're not gonna like the answer to that]

'Why?'

[Four paths]

[Only one leads to the destination]

[The other three lead to an array of illusions that would forever trap you in a world of torture]

[Even with your mind, host]

[You wouldn't be able to resist the effects]

[Usually, there are only two paths]

[One right and one wrong]

[Three paths were made so the prison was intentionally fashioned in such a way]

[Three paths that lead to the world of nightmares and only one that leads to the true destination]

[You can only choose one once]

[There are no do-overs]

[If someone without knowing that manages to enter]

[They're doomed to die]

[However, there is one way to know for sure]

[Do you know what that is, host?]

'A sacrifice.'

Wei Jun realized that midway through the system's explanation. This was the point where a sacrifice was needed. Those three keys and those fruits. They were offerings.

[Three sacrifices, in this case, host]

Wei Jun had a headache coming as he listened to the system's explanation. He had no qualms with killing three people, the only problem was the aftermath. If he were the one to do so, then he would lose all trust General Shao and Ming had in him, making him lose a substantial standing in the army. He would never be listened to again and that wouldn't have mattered usually but for the remainder of that mission, it did as he needed his opinion to matter.

On the other hand, if he were to let the crown prince's party be the bad guy, then he would lose General Shao's support in stopping General Ming from killing them and he knew he wasn't strong enough to stop them. If they killed the three idiots, Wei Jun had no idea how he would move for the rest of the mission.

By the time he had his conversation with the system and that minor headache, the crown prince had also relayed the progress method to the rest of the group.

"No way!" General Ming was instantly furious and Wei Jun could tell nothing was changing her mind. The same could be said for General Shao. Even if he knew the importance of doing such a thing, he would never go against General Ming. Being rational didn't matter to him in the least.

'Come on. Give me a solution.' Wei Jun racked his brain as much as he could but with no support from the system...

"Haa..." He could only sigh.

Suddenly an idea stuck in his mind. A question, really.

Who were they sacrificing to?

If the prison was built to keep a bad guy in by a good guy, would the good guy be ruthless enough to pose such a requirement that required the death of a person? There was no way a good person would overlook the fact of killing innocents for the greater good.

Those were ideals of the fiction. No such person existed who would take a life for the greater good. Wei Jun knew that well. His brother, who was the kindest and most ruthless person in the world, never did such a thing.

What would have my brother done?

One thing was for sure, he wouldn't kill for the greater good.

What was the second option?

Figuring out who the sacrifice was for. That was the key point to this. Thinking up to this point, Wei Jun's mind suddenly clicked.

"Who built this prison?" Wei Jun asked. The target of this question was the three idiots. Why the sacrifices? That question bugged him since the beginning. Why three paths when the usual requirement was only one? What was the additional condition?

The answer was very simple.

The prison structure wasn't decided by the good guy.

[...]

[Everything has a price]

[Good and evil come to a standstill in the middle]

[Not one had power over the other]

[Everything must be in equilibrium]

'If someone is imprisoned, then the required key is the sacrifice.'

Wei Jun finally figured it out. The key to waking up the woman in the tomb. It wasn't the number of keys. That was just an additional requirement so no one could possibly enter this prison in one timeline. After all, it would be a hell of a lot of a coincidence for three twins to be born with such requirements.

That wasn't a requirement at all. That was a failsafe. So no one could possibly attempt this prison escape. The key to the escape, however, was the sacrifice mentioned in the requirements.

"..." The crown prince stared at him without uttering a word. Wei Jun looked back, and that competition of stare only ended when the crown prince suddenly made his move. Not just him, the rest of the two made a move as well.

On him.

Wei Jun raised his hands to guard himself against the sudden attacks but he knew the attacks were coming so he was adequately prepared.

As he blocked the attack, he felt someone, one of the three, go for a specific thing on his person. It wasn't his life.

But, that was the opening they had given Wei Jun and Wei Jun wasn't the type to give up such an opportunity. He prepared himself, his elbow empowered by the weight of his body, and moved forward.

And...

"Kugh!"