Chapter 601: Suspicion

“Just for fun…?”

Xu Liunian and the Earth Tiger both fell silent.

In the “Land of the End,” some people exhaust all their efforts just to find a way to survive, while others treat lives as worthless, casually snuffing them out for mere amusement.

“But Qi Xia…” The Earth Tiger still seemed puzzled. “You mentioned ‘enemies’ earlier…”

“These are targets ‘Qinglong’ ordered me to eliminate,” Qi Xia replied. “The lives of these eight individuals are tied to my teammates. In this cycle, for every one of them who survives, one of my teammates will lose their sanity and become a ‘native inhabitant.’”

“Huh…?”

The Earth Tiger froze, his large eyes blinking rapidly as if trying to grasp Qi Xia’s stance.

“Qi… Qi Xia… you…” He gestured vaguely, only now realizing the gravity of the situation. “Doesn’t this mean we’re screwed? The people rebelling with me… and your teammates… no matter what, half of them have to die?”

“That’s the gist of it,” Qi Xia nodded.

“But why?!” The Earth Tiger slammed the table, his face twisted in confusion. “Which side is ‘Qinglong’ even on? Is he helping you or sabotaging you?”

“It’s hard to say. I’m exhausted today. Starting tomorrow, I’ll visit each of them one by one based on the information listed.”

At this point, Xu Liunian also looked at Qi Xia with bewilderment.

“Including… the person who entered my room?” the Earth Tiger asked hesitantly.

“Not for now,” Qi Xia answered.

“But isn’t this too cruel to you, Qi Xia?” The Earth Tiger frowned deeply, his expression grim. “If you don’t kill them… your teammates will lose their minds… Something feels off about ‘Qinglong.’ Should he even be involved in this? Isn’t his duty to protect ‘Tianlong’?”

“‘Qinglong’ inserted himself into this. Whatever his intentions, I just hope he won’t regret it.”

Qi Xia stood up and stretched slowly. Though he hadn’t fully participated in the “Pegasus Hour,” he had still been running through the streets for a solid hour.

The fatigue from being relentlessly pursued by death and exhaustion was no less taxing than surviving multiple “Earth-level” games in a single day.

Now, the exhaustion hit him hard, making his head feel heavy.

“By the way,” Qi Xia suddenly remembered something and turned back to the Earth Tiger. “You said… among the Rabbit, Dog, and Pig… is there anyone who seemed unusual?”

“Unusual?” The Earth Tiger frowned, recalling their behavior the previous night. “All three were weird. None of them were normal.”

“Not that kind of ‘weird,’” Qi Xia shook his head. “‘Qinglong’ told me everyone on that list is ‘Tianlong’s’ people. What do you think?”

“Wha—”

The Earth Tiger’s eyes widened instantly, his lips trembling as if he wanted to speak but couldn’t.

After a long pause, he finally asked, “Qi Xia, are you saying ‘Tianlong’ has already infiltrated my group…?”

“It’s hard to say,” Qi Xia replied evasively. “After all, ‘Qinglong’ could be lying. I just wanted to know, from your perspective as a ‘Zodiac,’ if there was anything odd about those three.”

Hearing this, the Earth Tiger replayed their actions in his mind and soon spotted something amiss.

“Even if we look at it that way, those three are still suspicious…” the Earth Tiger mused. “As expected of you, Qi Xia. You’ve just opened a new line of thought for me.”

“Go on.”

“First, the Earth Dog…” The Earth Tiger narrowed his eyes in thought. “Though he himself didn’t seem odd, his superior is ‘Tiangu.’ ‘Tiangu’ and ‘Qinglong’ are both the ‘ears’ of the Land of the End, and those two don’t get along. In other words, the Earth Dog might be ‘Tiangu’s’ man… which would make him ‘Qinglong’s’ enemy.”

“Oh…?” Qi Xia nodded slightly. “Was there anything unusual about his behavior last night?”

“He…” The Earth Tiger shook his head. “He barely spoke, mostly just listened. And he inexplicably brought along a corporate-rat nobody knew. Now I’m growing more suspicious of him…”

“Don’t overthink it,” Qi Xia said. “We’re just sharing thoughts. You don’t have to take ‘Qinglong’ at his word. Even if the Earth Dog serves ‘Tiangu,’ he has every reason to want to kill and replace his superior.”

“True,” the Earth Tiger conceded hesitantly. “But that big rabbit… he’s even stranger.”

“How so?”

“Forget the fact that he was beaten half to death. Just his motives alone make no sense to me,” the Earth Tiger said. “He had no reason to join us. Last night, he never even stated his stance—just stood there observing like it had nothing to do with him. Doesn’t that scream ‘spy’?”

“A spy…?” Qi Xia shook his head. “No, if I recall correctly, the people who went to the Earth Rabbit’s game weren’t pushovers either. That rabbit was probably completely thrown off by Chen Junan.”

“Thrown off?”

“Yeah,” Qi Xia confirmed. “Not only do you not understand his motives—I doubt he even knows what he’s doing. I’ll need to see him in person before drawing conclusions.”

After Qi Xia finished, the Earth Tiger fell silent again.

“What? What about the Earth Pig?”

“Though the little pig is odd too, he can’t be one of them,” the Earth Tiger chuckled awkwardly.

Qi Xia frowned, sensing something off. “Why not?”

“He’s just a kid,” the Earth Tiger said, scratching his cheek. “A child wouldn’t be involved, right?”

“Oh…?” Qi Xia felt as if he’d found ‘Tianlong’s’ needle.

Was it because ‘Tianlong’ knew the Earth Tiger would be lenient toward children that he planted the Earth Pig in his group?

Did that mean ‘Tianlong’ had known about the rebellion all along?

After a few seconds of thought, Qi Xia shook his head.

If ‘Tianlong’ knew about the rebellion but did nothing, the logic didn’t hold.

The emergence of Qi Xia’s “Endless Cycle” had already given ‘Tianlong’ an unprecedented sense of crisis. If someone were rebelling, he would surely make an example of them.

Moreover, if there was concrete proof that one of the eight was ‘Tianlong’s’ spy, it would imply all eight were spies.

But the odds of that were too slim.

So ‘Qinglong’ was likely lying. His true purpose in having Qi Xia meet these eight Zodiacs must be something else.

“Qi Xia… your silence is making me nervous,” the Earth Tiger said. “Is the little pig also suspicious?”

“Like I said, it’s hard to tell,” Qi Xia shook his head. “In any case, don’t suspect anyone outright. Leave this matter to me.”