Chapter 111: Ten People

“Acting…?” Chu Tianqiu struggled to force out a faint smile. “You think I’m acting?”

“I don’t care if you’re the leader of ‘Paradise’ or some god ruling this place—why are you provoking me?” Qi Xia said coldly.

“I…” Chu Tianqiu’s expression visibly faltered. No matter how hard he tried, he never expected Qi Xia to have such a temperament. “How have I provoked you…?”

“Last time I came to you, you wasted half an hour of my time with your cryptic nonsense. Do you have any idea how precious those thirty minutes were to me then? Why couldn’t you just speak plainly?” Qi Xia turned his head, picking up a brick-sized stone from the ground. “This time, I trusted you and brought everyone here, only for you to tie up my teammate without a word. Chu Tianqiu, why are you provoking me?”

Qi Xia weighed the stone in his hand—it felt heavy enough to crack someone’s skull open.

“W-Wait a second…” Chu Tianqiu was genuinely frightened now, hurriedly waving his hands. “Listen to me, there’s a reason for everything I’ve done!”

“Too bad you didn’t tell me that reason earlier.” Qi Xia’s face remained expressionless. “The thing I hate most in life is the unexpected. You probably think this air of mystery makes you seem powerful, but to me, it’s just childish. No matter how shocking the ‘truth’ you’re about to reveal is, I’m still going to smash your head in.”

“Qi-Qi Xia, wait!” Yun Yao rushed over and grabbed Qi Xia’s arm. “What are you doing? You can’t kill Chu Tianqiu here!”

“Oh? So where *can* I kill him?” Qi Xia asked. “Should I drag him to the hallway first?”

“You…” Yun Yao’s face darkened with panic. “Qi Xia, I’ll apologize on Chu Tianqiu’s behalf… but if you kill him now, we’ll have no hope of escaping…”

“Doesn’t matter. We’ll just come back to life anyway.” Qi Xia let out a cold laugh. “This time, I’ll smash your head open as a lesson—so in your next life, you’ll know better than to provoke me.”

“No, wait—” Chu Tianqiu’s eyes widened in terror. “I can’t die yet…”

Qi Xia’s gaze was icy, leaving no doubt that this was no bluff.

Under the horrified stares of Chu Tianqiu and Yun Yao, Qi Xia raised the stone high and brought it down with brutal force.

A loud *thud* echoed as dust exploded from the ground.

Yun Yao quickly shut her eyes and turned away.

But the expected splatter of brains never came—the stone had landed beside Chu Tianqiu’s head.

Staring at Chu Tianqiu’s panicked expression, Qi Xia asked slowly, “Did you understand what I just said?”

“Y-Yes…” Chu Tianqiu stammered.

“What did you understand?”

“D-Don’t provoke you…”

“Good.” Qi Xia dusted off his hands and stood up, then took a seat in a nearby chair. “Now, why did you kidnap Qiao Jiajin?”

A shaken Yun Yao hurried to help Chu Tianqiu up.

Chuckling awkwardly, Chu Tianqiu picked up his knocked-off glasses from the ground and put them back on.

“You really are something else…” he said with a strained smile. “I thought I’d give you a ‘warning’ today, but instead, I nearly got trampled by your horse.”

“Chu Tianqiu, if you want me as a reliable ally, drop the ‘games’ and deal with me honestly.” Qi Xia’s voice was cold. “I’m not like other people. If you keep playing mind games, you’ll only piss me off.”

“Understood. I’ve learned my lesson.” Chu Tianqiu spat out a mouthful of blood and took a seat, looking far more subdued. “The way you looked at me just now… I really thought you’d kill me.”

“But I’m a liar.” Qi Xia said. “Only believe half of what I say.”

The three of them sat in silence, the atmosphere heavy.

“You still haven’t answered me,” Qi Xia pressed. “Why kidnap Qiao Jiajin? Where are the others?”

“Qi Xia, you’re in danger.” Chu Tianqiu steadied himself and looked up. “There’s a serious problem in your team.”

“A serious problem?” Qi Xia frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The numbers don’t add up.” Chu Tianqiu cut straight to the point. “The gender ratio of the people who left your room is off.”

“Oh?” Qi Xia eyed the seemingly refined man. “The gender ratio is off?”

“That’s right.” Chu Tianqiu nodded gravely. “To be blunt, the people who should’ve left your room were ‘six men and three women.’ But right now, it’s ‘five men and four women.’”

“Hm.” Qi Xia nodded. “I see. And?”

“And…?” Chu Tianqiu was taken aback. “Qi Xia, do you not understand? There’s a high chance a ‘Zealot’ has infiltrated your team. I wasn’t sure how many intruders there were, so I detained everyone.”

“I said I understand.” Qi Xia’s tone was firm. “Any other reasons?”

“I…” Chu Tianqiu hadn’t expected this reaction at all, his eyes widening in shock. “I see now… You’re terrifying. Did you already know about this?”

Qi Xia gave a silent nod. “Chu Tianqiu, I’m starting to doubt something.”

“Doubt what?”

“Are you *really* as smart as you think?” Qi Xia slowly rose to his feet, his inscrutable eyes filled with skepticism. “If you suspected a ‘Zealot’ in our group, shouldn’t you have quietly removed them? Instead, you made a scene and alerted the snake. That doesn’t seem like the move of an intelligent person.”

“You…” Chu Tianqiu gave Qi Xia a meaningful look. “I miscalculated. I didn’t expect you to already know.”

“I’ve known for a while that a ‘Zealot’ was likely in my team, but this person is… strange.” Qi Xia explained. “I’ve teamed up with most of them, and I’ve let my guard down around many. Yet no one’s harmed me or tried to steal ‘Tao.’ So I’ve been debating whether to spend a few days dealing with this issue.”

Qi Xia was well aware that the only woman in the group he hadn’t teamed up with was Xiao Ran.

But was *she* the Zealot?

Judging by her behavior, she might as well have had “suspicious” tattooed on her forehead.

Would the Zealots really plant someone *that* obvious as a mole?

“If no one’s acted against you, how did you know there was a ‘Zealot’?” Yun Yao interjected.

“It’s simple—and eerie.” Qi Xia scratched his head. “If I’m not mistaken, your initial interview rooms had exactly ‘nine people,’ right?”

“Yes.” Yun Yao nodded. “Wasn’t yours the same?”

“No. Our room had *ten* people.”

Qi Xia’s words left the other two stunned.

“TEN?!”