After Unforgotten's shout, Lin Yu gently tugged the rope to confirm she was standing on stable ground before stepping onto the leftmost bridge. 

The other three players followed closely behind.

Although the rope bridge swayed slightly, it posed no real challenge for the group.

Soon, they safely reached the opposite side—still pitch black, but with slightly improved visibility.

This time, there were three candlesticks, each significantly larger than before.

Unforgotten stood helplessly on the other side, though she didn't seem particularly resentful.

"If this stage still requires someone to 'scout the path' in the end, don't pick me!" 

She pointed toward the gloomy darkness ahead.

Following the candlelight, everyone saw that bridges still extended into the darkness.

But this time...

There were five bridges!

Then, three crows flapped their wings and landed on the candlesticks.

Crow-Man's voice echoed through the darkness again.

"Caw caw, congratulations on passing the first 'reward-punishment question'... Since no one died, you have five questioning opportunities this round."

Lin Yu nodded slightly.

Crow-Man's "explanation" matched Lin Yu's expectations.

This was the difference between the first and second rooms!

In the first room, everyone acted as a "collective," requiring unanimous choices.

But in the second room, each person could choose their own path...

In other words, the "reward-punishment questions" here allowed divergence—different answers could be chosen.

Those who answered correctly would live; those who answered wrong would die.

But whenever someone answered wrong, it would bring both "rewards" and "punishments" to the survivors.

The fact that the number of allowed answers matched the number of players confirmed this.

"Indeed, we should try to minimize deaths as much as possible."

Lin Yu thought to himself, then continued listening to Crow-Man's speech.

"Caw caw, among these five bridges, only one will safely take you to the other side... The other four will collapse midway, sending you tumbling into the endless void."

"Caw caw, before you now stand three divine crow avatars—besides 'Truth' and 'Falsehood,' there's also a crow representing 'Change'—it may speak truth or lies."

After Crow-Man finished explaining the rules, everyone naturally turned to Lin Yu.

"Nine Waters, what should we do this time... We each have one question—how should we proceed?" 

Iron Uncle asked.

Number Eight also felt troubled: "There's actually one that might lie or tell the truth... This is way too difficult!"

April remained relatively calm: "But we have five questions."

Lin Yu silently contemplated.

"Five questions..."

"That might mean no one needs to risk their life scouting paths."

He already had the answer in mind.

Unforgotten looked at Lin Yu in surprise: "That fast?"

Lin Yu nodded.

"Of course, since we have five chances this time."

He then turned to Iron Uncle.

"You'll ask the middle crow first, Iron Uncle—here's the question:"

"'If I asked you whether the left crow represents Change, would you answer 'coo'?'"

Iron Uncle now trusted Lin Yu implicitly. He stepped forward and repeated the question to the middle crow.

"Hey, if I asked whether the left crow represents Change, would you answer 'coo'?"

The crow looked at Iron Uncle, then let out a "coo."

Lin Yu narrowed his eyes.

"Good, it seems 'coo' and 'caw' might be interchangeable."

From the first reward-punishment question, Lin Yu had confirmed one thing:

"coo" represented affirmation in crow language.

Though he wasn't sure if it was the same crow or if meanings had changed...

As long as they still used "coo," five questions would be more than enough.

Through this first question, Lin Yu confirmed that at least the far-right crow wasn't the one representing "Change."

So he gestured to April and Number Eight.

"Next question—April, ask the far-right crow: 'If I asked whether you represent Falsehood, would you answer 'coo'?'"

Hearing this, April instinctively tried to analyze the reasoning but couldn't immediately grasp it, so she simply followed Lin Yu's instructions.

She approached the far-right crow and repeated the question verbatim. The crow quickly responded:

"Caw."

Lin Yu nodded.

"Good, the rest should be simple."

"Number Eight, ask it: 'Among the three leftmost bridges, is there a safe one?'"

"Repeat this exactly—not a single word different."

Lin Yu spoke gravely. Number Eight scratched his head.

"Nine Waters, why am I the one getting special warnings?"

April immediately said: "Because you look the least reliable!"

Number Eight fell silent.

"Fine..."

He shuffled over to the far-right crow and repeated the question.

This time, the crow again answered "caw."

Lin Yu looked at Unforgotten.

Unforgotten waved her hand: "Enough, I already know what to do."

Without waiting for Lin Yu to speak,

she strode up to the far-right crow and pointed boldly at the far-right bridge.

"Crow, is this bridge safe?"

The crow looked at her and said: "Caw."

Unforgotten concluded:

"Done. This crow represents 'Truth,' and 'caw' means no... So the second bridge from the right must be safe."

"No need for your last question, Nine Waters."

She crossed her arms and looked back at Lin Yu.

Lin Yu studied Unforgotten up and down.

Indeed, this thief had followed his reasoning the entire way!

She'd also realized the far-right crow represented "Truth."

"You're quite clever. But what if the meanings of 'coo' and 'caw' reversed between the first and second questions?"

Lin Yu said coolly.

Unforgotten hesitated.

"I don't think that's likely, right?"

Lin Yu said coldly: "What if it did? This is a life-or-death game!"

Unforgotten shrank back.

"Hey, you still have one question left," she said carefully. "Just use it to confirm whether the meanings changed."

Lin Yu sighed: "And if they have?"

"Then I'll just test one of the two left paths myself!"

Unforgotten said impatiently.

Lin Yu smiled.

"Those are your words."

He turned to the far-right crow and asked:

"Crow, among the third and fourth bridges from the left, is there a safe one?"

The crow flapped its wings.

"Coo."

Unforgotten exhaled deeply.

"Damn, you scared me!"

"So the fourth bridge from the right is definitely safe!"

Lin Yu looked somewhat disappointed.

"Tch, what a pity."

"Pity what? Were you happy forcing me to choose?"

Unforgotten said indignantly.

Lin Yu sneered: "This time, it was your own doing—who told you to jump to conclusions?"

Their back-and-forth left Iron Uncle, April, and Number Eight completely baffled.

The three exchanged glances, all wearing expressions of "We don't get it, let's just go with it."