“I…” Qi Xia took a sudden step back, realizing this scene felt eerily familiar.
“Dang it!”
Qiao Jiajin was also startled. They had just arrived here less than a minute ago—where had this old man come from?
How had he silently appeared right behind Qi Xia?
“Young man, you really mustn’t provoke Tianlong!” The old man bared his one remaining tooth and reached out a withered hand toward Qi Xia. “Even gambling with your life… might not be enough…”
Just as Qiao Jiajin moved to intervene, Qi Xia pulled him back.
“Wait. I want to talk to him.”
He dragged Qiao Jiajin aside and grabbed the old man’s arm in return.
The two stood there, gripping each other’s arms like long-lost friends.
“Old man, do you know me?” Qi Xia asked.
The old man froze for a moment, his eyes welling up with tears.
His grip tightened painfully around Qi Xia’s hand.
“You… you’re finally willing to talk to me… This is wonderful… I can wait…” The old man trembled as he spoke. “Even if everything starts over, I’ll wait… You’ll soon destroy this damned place and free us all…”
The old man seemed deeply unhinged, so Qi Xia decided to play along.
“Free everyone?” Qi Xia asked. “What do you mean by ‘free’?”
“We’re trapped here!!” the old man wailed. “Someone lied… someone told a monstrous lie!! He fooled everyone!!”
“Old man, calm down first.” Qi Xia released the man’s hand and gripped his shoulders instead, trying to steady him. “Who fooled us? What was the lie?”
“It’s…”
Just as the old man was about to speak, a low rumble of thunder echoed from above.
It was the first time Qi Xia had heard thunder here. He looked up sharply—but the sky was completely cloudless.
No clouds… so where had the thunder come from?
“I can’t say…” The old man lowered his head in terror, his voice barely a whisper. “If I say it, I’ll die…”
Die?
“Fine, let’s ask something else.” Qi Xia pressed on. “You said we’re trapped here. What does that mean?”
The old man lifted his head again, his face etched with fear but his tone deadly serious.
“Young man… no one can leave. Not even in death. We live, we die, we live again…”
“Why can’t we leave?” Qi Xia asked. “Even if we collect enough ‘Tao,’ we still can’t escape?”
“‘Tao’?” The old man blinked in confusion, staring at Qi Xia. “What’s ‘Tao’?”
What’s… ‘Tao’?
Qi Xia had never expected that question.
This man had been urging him to “gamble with his life,” yet he didn’t even know what ‘Tao’ was?
“‘Tao’ is…” Qi Xia reached into his pocket but realized he didn’t have any on him—the four given by Renlong were all with Officer Li.
He could only describe it.
“It’s a small, yellowish-white sphere, about the size of a walnut, glowing faintly. It’s the ‘currency’ we use to participate in games. They say if you collect 3,600 of them, you can leave.”
“Three… thousand six hundred ‘Tao’?” The old man’s expression grew even more bewildered. “I see… Even after this place has rotted to this state, he still remembers his master’s words…”
“‘Master’?” Qi Xia stiffened. “Who’s the ‘master’?”
“I can’t say.” The old man’s tone was firm. “The questions you’re asking here will get me killed.”
Qi Xia sensed this old man was no ordinary person.
He definitely retained memories from before.
His memories might stretch further back than anyone else’s—he could be a crucial asset at a critical moment.
“Old man, why don’t you come with us?” Qi Xia offered. “We have food where we’re staying. Are you hungry?”
The old man was emaciated, his skin like cracked bark on a dead tree. He looked like he hadn’t eaten in ages.
“Eat…? Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t need to eat.” The old man’s face darkened, disappointment plain in his voice. “You’re inviting me to eat… What a joke…”
“You don’t need to eat?”
Qi Xia thought about it and realized the old man had a point. Since they couldn’t truly starve to death in the “Land of Finality,” eating was unnecessary.
Qiao Jiajin, who had been watching the old man in silence, let out a weary sigh.
“Scam Artist, he’s clearly insane. How can you keep talking to him?”
Before Qi Xia could respond, the old man turned to Qiao Jiajin.
He stepped toward him, forcing Qiao Jiajin to retreat.
“Hey, hey, hey…” Qiao Jiajin grew visibly nervous. “I don’t hit kids, old folks, or women—don’t make me break my rule…”
Ignoring him, the old man seized Qiao Jiajin’s wrist in an iron grip.
“You—” Qiao Jiajin tried to pull free but couldn’t budge. “Dang it… What kind of grip is this? Are you a martial artist or something?”
“Qiao Jiajin…” The old man murmured, still holding his wrist. “Why don’t you remember me? Qi Xia remembers, but you don’t recognize me?”
Qi Xia narrowed his eyes. So the old man knew them both.
“Huh?” Qiao Jiajin was baffled. He’d never dealt with a madman before and looked utterly flustered. “Why should I know you? Who the hell are you?”
The old man didn’t answer. After a long silence, he nodded thoughtfully.
“I see… Last time, you died before the ‘Echo’…”
“Echo what? You’re making my head spin!” Qiao Jiajin snapped. “Let go, or I swear I’ll hit you!”
The old man abruptly released him, and Qiao Jiajin stumbled back from the sudden lack of resistance.
“You must protect Qi Xia,” the old man said solemnly. “If we’re to free everyone, we’ll need your strength.”
With that, he fell silent, lowering his head as if lost in thought.
Qi Xia stepped forward. “Old man, are you sure you won’t come with us? There’s still so much I want to ask you.”
“No.” The old man shook his head. “You don’t need to seek me out. Just wait—I’ll find you when the time comes.”
“Then…” Qi Xia hesitated. This old man seemed to carry some terrible secret, one that weighed on him unbearably. “At least tell me your name.”
The old man took a few steps back before answering.
“I have no name. But here… they call me ‘White Tiger.'”
The moment the words left his mouth, the old man’s body abruptly lifted into the air—then vanished in an instant.
He didn’t fly away like in wuxia films or vanish in a flash of magic like in fantasy. He simply… disappeared.
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