Chapter 37 Question: The Chicken and Rabbit Problem

Chapter 37 Question: Chickens and Rabbits in the Same Cage

"Respected Jiang, I think..."

Henry tried to struggle. Even if he had to play this game, he did not want to be the one asking the questions.

Crack!

Jiang Ren said nothing, merely cracking his knuckles.

Henry cast a look of help toward Richard, but Richard guiltily looked away. If Henry wouldn't do it, he would have to, and he wasn't that stupid.

"Let's begin."

Under Jiang Ren’s tiger-like gaze, Henry gritted his teeth and was the first to place his finger on the planchette used for the séance.

Jiang Ren and Richard followed suit, and the ritual officially began.

The candlelight flickered.

Most of the three men’s bodies were hidden in the darkness, with only the spirit board and half of their arms illuminated by the light.

"Dead souls wandering the mortal realm, please listen to my call."

Henry closed his eyes, reciting tremblingly, "We are seekers of knowledge, praying for your arrival to untangle our doubts and sweep away our obstacles..."

Ten seconds passed, but nothing changed in the surroundings.

Henry opened his eyes and asked cautiously, "Are you here?"

Suddenly, the planchette moved.

It drifted slowly to a letter, paused for a moment, then moved to another, eventually piecing together a few words:

[I AM HERE!]

Richard and Henry’s heartbeats accelerated rapidly. They felt a sudden urge to get up and run out of the suite, but seeing Jiang Ren sitting motionless beside them, they barely suppressed the impulse.

Henry fought back his fear and said, "Respected spirit, may I ask you a question?"

The planchette moved again.

[YES!]

"There are many chickens and rabbits in the same cage. Counting from the top, there are thirty-five heads; counting from the bottom, there are ninety-four feet. How many chickens and rabbits are in the cage respectively?"

Henry braced himself and blurted out the question in one breath.

Bang!

The half-closed door of the guest room suddenly slammed shut, and a chilly wind blew through the room out of thin air.

The planchette under their fingers began to shake uncontrollably.

Jiang Ren remained calm. To avoid alarming the entity, he did not apply any force to his fingers, letting the planchette move as it pleased.

He could feel more and more of a strange aura manifesting in the house.

Soon.

The planchette stopped on the option "NO."

"This... you don't know this question? Then I'll change it."

Henry’s face soured, and he quickly added, "Nine hundred and ninety-nine Federal coins are used to buy one thousand pears and apples in total. Eleven Federal coins buy nine pears, and four Federal coins buy seven apples. How many pears and apples are there, and how much was paid for each?"

Buzz!

The planchette began to shake again.

If it had only trembled slightly before, it was now vibrating violently, nearly throwing Henry and Richard’s fingers off.

The wind that had previously vanished reappeared, biting and cold like a deep winter gale.

Henry and Richard shivered uncontrollably, their teeth chattering as white mist puffed from their mouths.

Finally, the cold wind dissipated.

The planchette stopped on "NO" once more.

"That’s all you’ve got?"

Jiang Ren had prepared quite a few math problems. If this "danger-class" entity could answer even one, Henry would have skipped the earlier questions and jumped straight to the world-class mathematical conjectures at the end.

In this world, for the decades since those problems were proposed, countless mathematicians globally had tried to solve them, but to no avail.

He had hoped to see if this danger-class entity could solve a world-class problem and contribute to basic science.

It seemed there was no hope for that.

Thump! Thump!

Seeing Henry too terrified to speak, Jiang Ren tapped his left hand on the table twice.

"You don't know? If you don't know, I'll change it again."

Henry shuddered and hurriedly said, "A unit of soldiers is training: in rows of three, one is left over; in rows of five, two are left; in rows of seven, four are left; in rows of thirteen, six are left. How many soldiers are in this unit?"

The planchette vibrated violently.

In an instant, it threw off the three fingers pressing upon it, then emitted a loud bang and exploded into a pile of dust.

Suddenly, a fierce wind whipped through the living room.

It made Henry and Richard’s scalps tingle, nearly knocking them to the ground.

"This 'ghost' is no good. Its mental fortitude is so poor."

Jiang Ren shook his head gently, showing a look of regret.

Many things can be accomplished with enough hard work, but math is either something you know or something you don't—even for a danger-class entity with at least Tier 3 strength.

However, this entity was truly mediocre.

It was the one who couldn't answer the questions, and here they were, neither mocking it nor criticizing it, yet it had become so embarrassed and angry that it wanted to manifest and kill them.

Such behavior was typical of a sore loser!

At this moment, Henry and Richard were clinging tightly to each other.

They deeply regretted their actions, wishing they had stayed at the police station. Even if they had been thrown into solitary confinement, at least they would have lived longer.

Even if they were to die, it would be over in an instant; there would be no need to face such a horrifying sight.

Under Jiang Ren’s gaze, an ugly monster, invisible to ordinary people, took shape in the living room.

The monster was a massive spherical shape, its surface covered in a dense mass of hideous, terrifying heads—many of which appeared to have been stitched together. On both sides of the sphere were two strange, elongated arms.

"AHHH!!!"

All the heads on the monster opened their mouths simultaneously, emitting a piercing shriek.

Invisible sound waves swept through the surroundings.

In an instant, glass cups, the television screen, and other objects were shattered and destroyed.

Even though Richard and Henry covered their ears quickly, they still rolled their eyes back and fainted, blood streaming from their facial features.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The monster’s two strange arms lunged instantly, grabbing fiercely at the motionless Jiang Ren.

Although Jiang Ren had kept a low profile since the game began, the monster had sensed his difference immediately and decided to take him out first.

Just as the strange hands were about to make contact with Jiang Ren, he suddenly vanished. The hands, having missed their target, punched a large hole through the thick wall and passed right through.

"..."

The dense cluster of heads on the monster displayed expressions of confusion, as if they couldn't comprehend how a person that size could just disappear.

"Are you looking for me?"

Jiang Ren's voice rang out from above.

The heads on the top of the monster looked up simultaneously, discovering that Jiang Ren was directly above them, his back pressed tightly against the ceiling by some unknown means.

"AHHH!!!"

The monster shrieked piercingly once more, attempting to use its strange arms again.

Stomp!

Jiang Ren pulled his upper body away from the ceiling and kicked off with both legs.

The ceiling cracked instantly, and Jiang Ren plummeted downward, his left hand striking the monster hard.

The tremendous impact instantly flattened the monster like a crushed balloon.

The floor could not withstand the force and instantly collapsed.

The monster and Jiang Ren fell together into the level below.