Chapter 7: Knowing in Advance

Before long, Tian Yi could sense the “sin” of the eleven people on the beach again. He had no idea what had just happened, but everything now seemed to be back to normal.

About an hour later, Tian Yi returned to the shore. Everyone noticed him, but no one came over to speak to him or acknowledged his arrival.

Rude was sitting with Jerry and Yang Gang, talking. Becky, the college student, seemed to have joined Gavin, Dale and Lambert, and the four of them were discussing something too. Isaac, Carl and Fidelia had also gathered together. Everyone seemed to have chosen a group they thought they could rely on. Of course, the relationship between Yang Gang and Carl had yet to come to light, which gave them an added advantage.

Jiang Yun sat alone on the beach, hugging her knees. Perhaps she had heeded Tian Yi's warning and no longer trusted people so readily; perhaps the others thought she and Tian Yi were already in league and were deliberately ignoring her. Whatever the reason, here in this closed environment, in this little society of a dozen or so people, she looked isolated and helpless.

Everyone now regarded Tian Yi as dangerous, so he had the good sense not to try talking to any of the three little groups. Instead, he went straight to Jiang Yun.

He sat down on the sand beside her and asked outright, “Did anything unusual happen here just now?”

Jiang Yun turned to look at him, thought for a moment, then replied, “What do you mean?”

Tian Yi already had his answer. “Oh, nothing. Just asking.”

Tian Yi thought to himself, Did their “sin” really disappear and then reappear earlier, or was I hallucinating? Is this woman in front of me real? Is she just someone I've imagined?

Perhaps the black-robed figure was the one I imagined. That would also explain why he vanished in an instant. In that case, everything I felt and everything that happened after I saw him was false, while these people on the beach are all real.

Could there be some strange creature or device at the center of this island that can interfere with my brain and keep me hypnotized for a while?

...

That night, everyone divided up the badger meat left over from lunch equally, making do with what they had to fill their stomachs. Not long after sunset, there was little to do but sleep. After all, the island had no television or internet, and going to bed early would help keep their hunger at bay.

By midnight, almost no one was awake. Tian Yi was, of course. His body clock ran about half a day behind most people's, and by now it would probably be very hard to reset.

So Tian Yi knew that Yang Gang and Carl had slipped into the woods again, but he didn't follow them. He simply stayed leaning against the tree, pretending to doze. About twenty minutes later, the two returned a few minutes apart, just as they had the night before. Presumably they'd worked out some new strategy.

Not long afterward, Tian Yi fell asleep too. When he woke, the sun was already well up, but it probably wasn't yet his usual waking time, so he felt groggy and somewhat irritable.

“What are you all trying to do?” Tian Yi asked the eight people in front of him.

Tian Yi was now securely bound to the tree trunk with vines. Carl and Isaac stood before him, each holding a homemade wooden spear.

Gavin, Dale, Lambert, Fidelia and Becky stood behind the two men, while Jiang Yun stood noticeably apart from the others. She had probably been ostracized because of her association with Tian Yi.

Carl replied, “We should be asking you that. What are you trying to do?”

Tian Yi rested his head against the trunk and looked at them indifferently. “Heh... What could I do? You've tied me to a tree like this. You think I can break free, jump up and chop you into pig feed?”

Carl pointed his weapon at Tian Yi's throat. “Cut the crap. What have you done to Yang Gang and the others?”

Tian Yi understood the instant he heard this. He replied with a smile, “What's this? Yang Gang's missing?” He tilted his head and looked around again. “Rude and Jerry are missing too, are they?”

Isaac said, “Buddy, if you know anything, you'd better tell us the truth. You scared everyone half to death yesterday. First Noguchi, now Officer Yang and the others. Be honest. Are you one of the aliens' lackeys?” The fellow still firmly believed his alien theory. It seemed it would be very hard to set him straight.

Tian Yi replied, “Oh, you woke up this morning and found three more people missing, so you quietly tied me up before I woke. Ha! But why do you think I did it? Because of what I said yesterday? Or has someone been sharing more of his oh-so-clever deductions?” He deliberately turned his gaze on Gavin.

Gavin replied coolly, “There's no use trying to talk your way out of it. You're the prime suspect here. Yesterday afternoon, you went sneaking around inland on your own for over two hours. Who knows whether you were meeting someone? Maybe you and your accomplices are the ones who brought us to this island. I suggest you tell us the truth about what you know. What the hell is going on with this island? Where have the four missing people gone? Did you and your accomplices kill them?”

Tian Yi scoffed. “I'm the prime suspect? If I had accomplices waiting for me inland, I'd have gone off to enjoy good food and drink with them long ago. Why would I stay here waiting for you to tie me up?”

Gavin snorted. “You just thought staying here would help conceal who you really are.”

“Hahahaha... Hahahahahaha!” Tian Yi burst into wild laughter. Both his laughter and his expression were those of a madman. It took him a long while to catch his breath. “Ah... I thought you were mediocre, but surely not this bad. Sadly, you've really left me speechless. You argue with me so confidently without a shred of evidence, yet your reasoning has no foundation and makes no logical sense. Still, you seem to have fooled yourself into believing it through sheer stupidity. Haha...” Every mocking word grated on Gavin's ears, leaving him grinding his teeth in hatred.

“I'm not going to get into this pointless argument with you...” Gavin tried to retort.

But Tian Yi cut him off. “No, I'm the one who doesn't want a pointless argument with you. What I just said was an insult, not an argument. Judging by your increasingly stupid words and actions, arguing with an idiot like you would be a waste of time.” As Tian Yi spoke, the sturdy vines wrapped several times around him suddenly snapped of their own accord. He didn't seem to exert much force. At any rate, he freed himself just that easily and stood up.

Carl and Isaac still had their spears pointed at him. Carl said, “I'm warning you, don't try anything, or I won't go easy on you...”

Tian Yi spoke as if to himself. “Hmph... Once those three disappeared, I more or less understood what this game was trying to tell me.” He looked at Carl and Isaac. “You two, and her.” He glanced at Fidelia, then continued, “The three of you will be next.”

“What do you mean?” Carl asked.

Gavin interjected from behind them, “Is that a death sentence? Are you finally admitting that you and your accomplices killed them all?”

Tian Yi smiled. “You, Dale, Lambert and Becky will follow right after those three.”

“You lunatic, it really was you!”

“What the hell are you trying to do, you bastard?”

“Listen, you'd better not get too full of yourself...”

At last, everyone lost their composure, talking over one another as they shouted at Tian Yi. Their voices grew louder and their words more vicious.

Tian Yi paid them no mind. He put out both hands and gave Carl and Isaac a casual shove. Caught off guard, they staggered backward in different directions. Strangely enough, although Tian Yi had only pushed them lightly, they fell at bizarre angles and with unusual force, and both their spears snapped. Fortunately, neither was hurt.

At the sight, Gavin immediately retreated several steps, apparently terrified that Tian Yi would come over and punch him.

Tian Yi sighed. He couldn't be bothered with people like this. There were simply too many of them in the world.

“You.” Tian Yi walked toward Jiang Yun. “You have to live.” He took her by the wrist and pulled her away. “Come with me.”

Jiang Yun looked hesitant, but she didn't pull free of his grip. She too was weighing whether it was safer to stay here or go with this man. She couldn't shake the feeling that, dangerous as Tian Yi seemed, he wouldn't hurt her, while the others might not deserve her trust.

People's attitudes changed with their circumstances. The only constant was their principle of putting their own interests first.

Tian Yi, however, had never changed. His attitude was unlike a normal person's. His way of doing things couldn't simply be described as aloof or detached. There was a more complicated reason behind it.

“Hey! Wait! You think you can just leave like that?! Stop right there!”

Carl, Isaac and Lambert ran over to stop Tian Yi and Jiang Yun from leaving. Whether or not Tian Yi was the one who had brought them to the island, he at least knew more than anyone else. At the very least, they had to make him explain what he'd just said.

“You've worked out my sequence so quickly. There's little point in my continuing now.” A man in black robes, his face concealed, suddenly appeared on the beach, standing directly in front of Tian Yi.

The seven people behind them froze on the spot. At the sound of the black-robed figure's voice, Isaac even stammered, “A J... J... Jedi!”

Tian Yi sneered. “I've figured out what you wanted to show me ahead of time, so you think you won't get to see my genuine reactions over the next few days. Is that it?”

The black-robed figure replied, “You could say it was unexpected for you to work all this out ahead of time, but in theory it's the best possible outcome.”