Qi Xia turned around and looked out the car window ahead. He noticed that the “Pegasus Moment” seemed to be nearing its end, as the countless black threads in the streets had begun to stagnate.
“No matter what schemes you try to use against me, I will make sure you lose utterly and completely.” A hint of madness flickered across Qi Xia’s face as he grinned. “In this entire ‘Land of the End,’ there’s only one thing I can believe—that *I* am the strongest. The next cycle won’t produce someone stronger than me like Wen Qiaoyun. It will only produce a version of me that’s even stronger. How about that?!”
That one short statement left both Qinglong and Xu Liunian momentarily stunned.
Meanwhile, Qi Xia reached out, opened the car door, and stepped onto the empty street.
He raised his head to gaze at the sky, as if speaking to Qinglong—or perhaps to Tianlong.
“Even if human lives are just chess pieces, you can’t play this game recklessly.”
“This game can only be played by me—Qi Xia.”
The sky remained eerily silent, the sun hanging motionless in place.
“An, I will shatter everything here and save you,” Qi Xia added.
The dull yellow sun seemed to hear his words, then abruptly contracted for a brief moment.
Qinglong blinked lightly, and in the next instant, his body had already left the car, standing right in front of Qi Xia.
He studied Qi Xia’s frenzied expression and couldn’t help but feel a flicker of unease.
He was grateful he had activated “Silence” beforehand—otherwise, things might have spiraled out of control.
“Qi Xia… are you certain you can defeat ‘Tianlong’?” Qinglong’s tone returned to calm as he asked softly.
“I will give everything I have.”
Qinglong nodded slightly at this, then glanced back at Xu Liunian. After a few seconds of contemplation, his expression twisted into madness once more.
“Ha—” It was as if he had thought of something incredibly amusing, and he too began to laugh wildly behind his hands.
From inside the car, Xu Liunian watched as Qinglong and Qi Xia stood back-to-back, their auras radiating in completely different ways.
“Qi Xia, I want to play a game with you,” Qinglong murmured, his gaze fixed on Xu Liunian.
Hearing this, Qi Xia paused slightly. “Why does even ‘Qinglong’ have a game?”
“It’s not that formal,” Qinglong replied. “Just a game between you and me. Though it’s neither a ‘Zodiac’ game nor a ‘Moment,’ it’s far deadlier than any of them. Do you dare?”
“Deadly…?” Qi Xia narrowed his eyes slowly. “You should know that in your so-called ‘Peach Blossom Spring,’ ‘deadly’ isn’t enough to threaten me.”
“Of course,” Qinglong nodded. “That’s why the ‘deadly’ I speak of is the kind that can truly threaten you.”
“You—”
“Qi Xia, take a look at this map.” With a flick of his hand, Qinglong sent a sheet of paper flying toward Qi Xia, where it hovered steadily before his eyes.
It was an unusually detailed city map, with markings like “Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao” (the twelve Earthly Branches) written at many intersections and buildings—some of which were in red.
“A ‘Zodiac’ map?” Qi Xia frowned. “Are the red markings ‘Earth-level’?”
“No, all the characters denote ‘Earth-level,'” Qinglong corrected. “The red ones are the ‘targets.'”
“‘Targets’…?” Qi Xia sensed something was off.
“Four days. I want you to kill all eight ‘Earth-level’ Zodiacs I’ve marked.” Qinglong smiled. “These eight ‘Zodiacs’ are arranged in the order of the Earthly Branches, corresponding to the eight teammates from your interview room.”
“What…?”
“Starting from your left…” Qinglong continued meaningfully, “For every marked ‘Zodiac’ you spare, I will ‘eliminate’ one of your teammates in the corresponding Earthly Branch order.”
“‘Eliminate’…?” Qi Xia found the choice of word worth pondering.
“Qi Xia, do you dare to gamble with me?” Qinglong grinned. “If I strip them of their rationality before killing them… can you be absolutely certain you can save them? Even if you possess ‘Endless Life,’ would you dare take that bet?”
“You—” Qi Xia’s eyes narrowed further as he weighed the feasibility of this gamble.
Killing eight ‘Earth-level’ Zodiacs in four days—no one in the entire ‘Land of the End’ had ever done such a thing.
“But this ‘game’ offers me no benefit,” Qi Xia countered. “How is this any different from a threat? Unable to shake me, you resort to targeting my teammates—like a deranged thug throwing a tantrum.”
“Ha—” Qinglong let out a furious laugh. “So even if I ‘eliminate’ your teammates, you wouldn’t care?”
Qi Xia frowned, then slowly turned to stare at Qinglong’s back. “Do you really think I’d risk my life for strangers?”
“You will,” Qinglong said with certainty. “Qi Xia, you absolutely will.”
Watching the two converse so calmly, Xu Liunian felt her heart leap into her throat.
She couldn’t interject a single word, only listen in silence.
“You don’t know me…” Qi Xia muttered.
“I know you very well,” Qinglong turned to face him directly, locking eyes. “Qi Xia, let me rephrase this. Don’t see it as a threat—think of it as cooperation.”
“Cooperation…?”
“Exactly.” Qinglong flicked his sleeves, clasping his hands behind his back. “The eight ‘Zodiacs’ I’ve marked are all Tianlong’s most trusted subordinates. If you kill them all, Tianlong will be left with no support, increasing your chances of victory.”
“Bullshit.” Qi Xia cut him off. “Even if I kill *every* ‘Earth-level’ in the ‘Land of the End,’ Tianlong still has eleven ‘Heaven-level’ Zodiacs by his side. Why feed me such a pathetic lie?”
“If I want to turn you into a ‘chess piece,’ I need an excuse, don’t I?” Qinglong waved his hand again, summoning the map back in front of Qi Xia. “Why not go and meet them?”
Qi Xia carefully considered Qinglong’s words, sensing that his motives weren’t so straightforward.
“Silence” was still in effect—what exactly was he trying to conceal?
“Meet them…?” Qi Xia stroked his chin, deep in thought.
By now, the “Pegasus Moment” was nearly over. Most people in the ‘Land of the End’ had already perished. Even if he truly intended to kill eight ‘Earth-level’ Zodiacs in succession, doing so without help would be next to impossible.
Would Qiao Jiajin and Chen Junnan survive?
The moment the thought surfaced, Qi Xia forcibly cut it off. He closed his eyes, emptying his mind, then exhaled slowly. “They’re all stronger than me. They’ll be fine.”
“Ha… interesting…” Qinglong mused. “That’s a beautiful frequency. So, you accept?”
Qi Xia reached out, took the map, rolled it into a tube, and tucked it into his pocket.
“Qinglong, I’ll go meet them. But don’t get ahead of yourself.” His voice was firm. “You may not realize it, but the initiative isn’t in your hands.”
“Oh?” Qinglong smirked, and the very air around them trembled faintly. “Qi Xia, don’t tell me you think *you’re* the one holding the initiative now?”
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