Only a riddle-master can defeat a riddle-master.

When the last sliver of twilight was swallowed by the encroaching night, Chen Shang lay in his unlit bedroom, staring blankly at the ceiling with lifeless eyes.

He had just spent six thousand points to watch the remaining three fragments of the Abyssal Goddess’s "memory fragments" in one go.

Right after viewing the final memory fragment, Chen Shang felt himself sinking into an inexplicable state of sorrow. Though he had no idea why he should feel sad, his heart was gripped tightly by something nameless.

In the second memory fragment, he saw the blue-haired girl being shoved by a group of men toward a cliff edge, beneath which surged churning ocean waves.

The girl was still clad in a long white dress, her neck adorned with a collar made of thorns and blood. Unlike before, this time a massive stone block was bound to her ankles.

Immediately after, the masked priest on the cliff raised his scepter and shouted, and several middle-aged men shoved the blue-haired girl off the cliff.

"Witch... Witch... Please tell me..."

Just as the girl was pushed into the sea by those people, Chen Shang heard that familiar melodic tune once more:

"Why does the sinking boulder drag you to the seabed... Just like the little mermaid who turned into foam..."

Enduring a splitting headache, Chen Shang purchased the third memory fragment, only to find himself appearing in a potter's field.

Countless people surrounded a pre-dug deep pit, seemingly awaiting a good show.

At the very rear of the crowd sat an elderly man draped in gold and silver, radiating an aura of supreme nobility upon a throne, surrounded by handmaidens fanning him and feeding him grapes, while guards bustled about ahead and behind.

Standing in the distance, Chen Shang vaguely heard someone address him as "King."

Before long, the familiar blue-haired girl appeared, pushed and shoved by several adult men. She was tightly bound with ropes, her white dress looking even more tattered than before, and her sapphire-blue hair matted messily against her skin.

A masked man wearing sacrificial robes walked up to the "King" and whispered a few instructions. Instantly, the "King" waved a grand hand, and the surrounding crowd erupted into commotion.

Amidst the incomprehensible uproar of the people, several men shoved the blue-haired girl, attempting to push her into the pit.

Compared to before, the girl no longer showed any panic over her impending death; her eyes were as lifeless and dull as a corpse's.

After shoving the girl into the pit, those men picked up iron shovels and swiftly filled the hole with sandy soil, as if attempting to bury the girl alive on the spot.

"Witch... Witch... Please tell me..." Before the memory ended, Chen Shang heard a new nursery rhyme:

"Juliet, buried alive in the earth... Is it love or soil that accompanies her in the end..."

After watching the third memory fragment, Chen Shang's train of thought was already teetering on chaos. Yet, harboring the binge-watcher's mentality of "the grand finale is right around the corner, I might as well push through," he purchased and unlocked the final memory fragment.

This time, Chen Shang saw the blue-haired girl with shackles bound to her ankles, being shoved into an amphitheater.

The spectators in the stands were bustling about. Their eyes burned with fanaticism as they seemingly discussed something.

Compared to the previous instances, this illusion was much clearer than the prior ones; Chen Shang could even hear what the spectators were saying:

"If she can survive the fifth punishment, she will be the witch of prophecy!"

"That's wonderful... We are finally saved!"

While the audience discussed heatedly, a chaotic commotion echoed from beneath the arena.

The iron cages at the edge of the beast arena were opened, and several robust hunting hounds sprinted out from the cages, baring their teeth as they glared at the blue-haired girl.

"Ah... Ah..." The blue-haired girl cowered in a corner, trembling so violently that she couldn't even finish half a word, her pupils completely devoid of highlights.

Accompanied by the shout of the priest on the stage, the hounds lunged toward the girl with low growls, their sharp teeth beginning to tear into her flesh.

"Another trope like this?" After witnessing four similar sequences, Chen Shang's heart remained utterly tranquil; he almost wanted to pop some calming hormones and sit nearby with a bucket of popcorn.

Yet at that very moment, the blue-haired girl suddenly shifted her gaze toward Chen Shang, causing a tremor in his chest.

Even though the two were separated by a vast distance, Chen Shang could clearly see the girl's expression.

Although her emaciated, petite body was being torn apart by hunting hounds, the girl still wore a serene smile. The moment she laid eyes on Chen Shang, a spark of starlight suddenly flickered within her ash-like, dimming pupils.

This was neither the despair nor the release typically shown upon realizing one's life was ending, but rather a gaze brimming with hope.

It was a look that seemed as though the girl had pinned all her hopes of survival onto him.

Chen Shang vaguely saw the girl part her lips, attempting to say something to him, though he failed to hear it clearly. He only suddenly felt that this girl was so pitiful it stirred a rare sigh even from someone like him.

However, before Chen Shang could take any action, a familiar nursery rhyme drifted past his ears.

"Witch... Witch... Please tell me..." Unlike the ambiguous-sounding female voices of the past, this time it was a girl with an ethereal voice humming the tune:

"Why do the frenzied beasts tear your flesh and blood to shreds... And plunge you into this land of final doom..."

Accompanied by the heavy nursery rhyme, the final memory fragment came to a close.

Chen Shang opened the system and found that the "Memory Fragments" in the Abyssal Store had been completely redeemed, and the item description had changed:

[Memory Fragments of the Abyssal Goddess [Redeemed]: What on earth is She trying to tell you? As for that, please ponder it carefully... Of course, if you truly cannot figure it out, going to ask Her in person is also an option.]

"Big brother! Dinner is ready!"

Just as Chen Shang was immersed in deep thought, Duo Duo knocked on his bedroom door.

Chen Shang snapped out of his trance, hurriedly gave an acknowledgment, wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead, and pushed the door open to step outside.

The question was—what on earth did she want to tell me?

Casually shoveling rice into his mouth, Chen Shang pondered the purpose behind the Abyssal Goddess transmitting these memory fragments to him.

Across these five memories, the blue-haired girl had successively endured the punishment of thorn piercing, burning at the stake, drowning, burial, and beasts. Yet to any normal person, each single punishment was an absolute death sentence.

Could that blue-haired girl also be an Undying?

Chen Shang decisively dismissed the notion; after all, the message the Abyssal Goddess had gone to such lengths to convey couldn't possibly be that simple.

He recalled that in the final memory, he had vaguely heard someone mention "the witch of prophecy." Coincidentally, the documents retrieved by Black Caris also contained records regarding "the witch who undergoes trial becoming the gatekeeper."

However, for now, the known information was still far too scarce. Unless Chen Shang personally ran off to find that Abyssal Goddess and demand a clear answer, all his deductions were merely a waste of time.

Yet given Chen Shang's current strength, how easy would it be to negotiate through the realm of chaotic demons known as the "Abyss"? All he could do was expose the existence of the "Abyss," attempting to shatter the stalemate with unpredictable variables and create a new opportunity.

"Couldn't she have given me a bit more intel, or just used divine power to teleport me right over?" Back in his room, Chen Shang let out a helpless stretch and grumbled in exasperation.

Much like how Ghost-types restrain Ghost-types in Pokémon, the only thing capable of defeating a riddle-maker is another riddle-maker.

*Ding-dong—*

The next morning, Chen Shang was jolted awake by the ringtone on his phone. Lighting up the screen, he saw a text message sent by Black Caris:

"Quick, quick, quick! Hurry up and check Twitter, the good show is about to begin!"