Qi Xia looked at the little boy kneeling on one knee before him, his face devoid of any expression.
The others present seemed equally bewildered by the scene. Zheng Yingxiong was taking the crown from his head and placing it solemnly over his chest, as if pledging fealty to Qi Xia.
Chen Junnan, still visibly fuming, looked ready to explode with curses, while Qiao Jiajin beside him kept tugging at his sleeve to hold him back.
“Why are you kneeling?” Qi Xia asked.
Zheng Yingxiong slowly raised his head, his gaze filled with an indescribable complexity. For a fleeting moment, he had sensed something inhuman in the man before him.
“I… want you to help me save someone.”
“What’s in it for me?” Qi Xia countered.
“I don’t know if I’m of any use to you, but I’ll do everything I can to help you,” Zheng Yingxiong said with unwavering seriousness.
“You’re useless to me,” Qi Xia replied coldly, his pale gray eyes piercing through the boy like needles. “Go back where you came from.”
“You were the one who called me here!!” Zheng Yingxiong shot to his feet with a sudden movement. “Why are you lying?”
“What…?”
“The scent on you is so heavy, it’s drowning this entire city…” Zheng Yingxiong said urgently. “Are you really sure you don’t need us?”
“I called you here…?” Qi Xia frowned slightly, raising a hand to his forehead. “Seems like my memory still has gaps… Strange. How did Chu Tianqiu manage it…?”
The others exchanged uneasy glances at Qi Xia’s odd behavior.
“Ha…” Suddenly, Qi Xia cracked a smile. “No matter… I’ll just go ask him myself…”
He turned his gaze toward Di Hou, who had been lurking in the corner. A single glance was enough to send a chill down the monkey’s spine.
“I’m leaving,” Qi Xia declared.
“Oh…” Di Hou, cigarette dangling from his lips, studied Qi Xia warily.
“Hold them back,” Qi Xia commanded, his tone brooking no refusal.
Di Hou swallowed hard, then nodded stiffly.
Without another word, Qi Xia turned and strode toward the exit, leaving the others staring after him in stunned silence.
“Damn it, Lao Qi… Stop right there!” Chen Junnan rolled up his sleeves and took a few aggressive steps forward. “You’re not walking away without explaining yourself—”
Di Hou snapped out of his daze and quickly intercepted Chen Junnan, grabbing him firmly.
“Hey…” Di Hou rasped. “Let him go.”
“Old Monkey, this is between him and me now,” Chen Junnan spat, his anger flaring. “At first, I thought I’d been fooled, but then I realized I wasn’t… I was just starting to feel good about it, and now he tells me I *was* fooled after all?! What the hell does he take me for? A damn joke?”
“I don’t know anything about your beef with him,” Di Hou muttered, scratching his stubble. “But he told me to stop you… and that’s between *him* and *me*.”
“You bastard…” Chen Junnan gritted his teeth, unable to break free from Di Hou’s grip. “Old Monkey… you saw it yourself… I risked my neck for that guy, and he sold me out! Are you really gonna side with him?!”
Di Hou lowered his head slightly, as if pondering the question, but his grip didn’t loosen.
After a moment of silence, Qi Xia pushed open the door and walked out of the casino.
“Fine…” Chen Junnan exhaled sharply. “Alright, Old Monkey, I don’t blame you. Just let go now. Whatever happens outside this casino isn’t your problem anymore. That bastard’s been lying to me—I *need* answers from him.”
Qiao Jiajin stepped forward cautiously. “Hey, Junnan… maybe you should cool down first?”
“Cool down?! Are you kidding me, Lao Qiao?!” Chen Junnan snapped. “Did the monkey scramble your brain? He didn’t just screw me over—he fooled you too!”
“Junnan, think about it…” Qiao Jiajin tilted his head. “What exactly did Cheater lie to you about?”
“What *didn’t* he lie about?!” Chen Junnan jabbed a finger in the air. “First, seven years ago, he told me he’d found a way out and asked me to keep everyone trapped in that room for seven years—then he just *vanished*! What the hell was that?!”
“Well…” Qiao Jiajin scratched his head. “He *did* say ‘I found a way out,’ not ‘I’m leaving right now’… and in the end, he never actually left, right?”
“Yeah, he didn’t leave—he went to—” Chen Junnan cut himself off, glancing at Di Hou before rephrasing. “But so what?! Whatever he did, he didn’t take *you* with him! That bastard *promised* me! Even if he was just asking for directions, he should’ve dragged you along!”
“But he *did* come back after asking for directions, didn’t he?” Qiao Jiajin grinned. “Junnan, maybe this was all part of Cheater’s plan. He didn’t trick us.”
“You’re way too damn optimistic…” Chen Junnan exhaled sharply. “But Lao Qi’s always been an ‘Unlucky One’… When he came back, he had no memory left. We don’t even know where those ‘directions’ he asked for led him…”
“Junnan, you *knew* Cheater was an ‘Unlucky One’ all along, didn’t you?” Qiao Jiajin chuckled. “So we still don’t know the full story. You can’t say for sure he lied.”
“Fine, fine…” Chen Junnan, on the verge of being swayed, forced himself to stay firm. “Let’s put that aside for now. What about just now? We agreed to start fresh—I busted my ass trying to help him—and then what did he say?!”
“Just now…” Qiao Jiajin hesitated, then smiled faintly. “Whatever Cheater said, didn’t this kid claim he was lying? So maybe we shouldn’t take his words at face value. Let’s just stay put.”
“You…” Chen Junnan stared at Qiao Jiajin’s earnest eyes, momentarily at a loss for words.
Meanwhile, Tian Tian walked up to Zheng Yingxiong and gently patted his head. “Hero, why do you say Qi Xia was lying?”
“I can smell it,” Zheng Yingxiong replied flatly. “When people lie, their scent grows heavier. Qi Xia’s scent has been overwhelmingly heavy—so much that it’s filling this entire city. He was definitely lying just now.”
The others exchanged glances. Even the boy’s way of addressing Qi Xia had changed.
“A scent heavy enough to drown the city?”
They looked at one another in confusion. The air in this city *was* undeniably foul—but was it really because Qi Xia had been lying?
Or was this just the boy’s “Spiritual Scent” at work?
“Kid…” Chen Junnan narrowed his eyes. “Has your nose ever been wrong?”
“Never,” Zheng Yingxiong said firmly. “He *was* lying. I just don’t know *what* about.”
Chen Junnan fell silent for a moment, then suddenly smirked. “If that’s the case… then I *definitely* need to catch up with him.”
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