Qi Xia kept pressing his forehead with his hand as that familiar sensation washed over him once again.
“Earth Dog… You said that person was an Earth Dog…?” Qi Xia murmured under his breath.
“Brother Sheep… What’s wrong with you?” Earth Dog paused, confused. “Wait, you must have met her when you were a ‘Sheep’… Though not long after you became a ‘Tian Ji,’ she broke the rules…”
“She broke the rules after I became a ‘Tian Ji’?” Qi Xia felt like he had finally grasped a crucial clue.
“Yeah…” Earth Dog nodded with a hint of sorrow. “It’s such a shame… I still can’t accept it.”
“Do you know what rule she broke?” Qi Xia pressed.
“No,” Earth Dog shook his head. “After hearing what you said, I even started wondering… maybe she didn’t break any rules at all. Maybe the two dragons just didn’t need her anymore. That’s all.”
“Is that so…?”
“My teacher was always the kind of person who was hardest to handle…” Earth Dog said. “Even though she followed the rules, she never once pleased ‘Tian Long.’ So, breaking the rules was inevitable.”
Despite his words, Qi Xia couldn’t shake the feeling that the timing of Earth Dog’s rule-breaking was peculiar. No matter how he looked at it, it had to be connected to him.
He reached out and ran his fingers over the table inside the glass room. This table was originally used by Earth Dog to draw lots during games. Though visibly worn, it had been meticulously cleaned.
Qi Xia’s fingers brushed the surface, and then, as if guided by some unseen force, he knocked on it.
The moment his knuckles rapped against the wood, fragmented memories flooded his mind. The voice of its owner seemed to awaken within him, echoing deep in his consciousness.
*”Xiao Qi, if you don’t unite with everyone against the outsiders, I’ll beat you to death right now.”*
*”Xiao Qi, are you sure this plan will work? We’re on the same side, you know.”*
*”Xiao Qi, our teammates are everything.”*
*”Stop arguing, Xiao Qi. I believe in you.”*
*”Xiao Qi… it’s me. Don’t you recognize me like this?”*
*”Bai Yang, are you Xiao Qi?”*
*”Bai Yang, why won’t you answer me?”*
A jolt like an electric current surged through Qi Xia’s brain, making his body tremble slightly.
The silhouette of a woman with a cigarette dangling from her lips flashed through his mind like a fleeting dream. Before he could even make out her face, the memory vanished.
Qi Xia narrowed his eyes, studying the table, then his own fingers that had just knocked on it.
He felt as if he had grasped something vital. Raising his hand again, he knocked once more.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
Sure enough, the woman’s figure flickered into his mind again—though this time, the vision lasted even shorter.
“So that’s it…” Qi Xia’s eyes widened slightly as he ran his palm over the table. *”Yu Nian’an said ‘knock, knock, knock’…* It was a code I set for myself.”
In an instant, Qi Xia recalled every time he had knocked on a table in the past. At some point, he had developed a habit of tapping surfaces at critical moments.
It seemed like a trained *subconscious reflex*—something he had conditioned himself to do in order to record and later retrieve crucial information.
This was an *anchor* he had set for himself.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
He knocked three more times, but no further memories surfaced. Why?
If knocking on the table triggered his recollections, then logically, each knock should bring back *some* memory. Yet that wasn’t happening.
Was there a specific timing required for it to work?
“Earth Dog,” Qi Xia turned to ask, “Did you design this game yourself?”
“Uh…” Earth Dog shook his head. “Brother Sheep, you might not know this about me, but while I’m diligent at work, I’m also the laziest person alive once I’m off the clock. I’d never design a game that requires this much cleanup after every session—it’d mean endless overtime. That’d kill me.”
“Oh?” Qi Xia nodded. “So this game setup was inherited from someone else?”
“Exactly. You always get straight to the point.” Earth Dog replied. “This game was left to me by my *teacher*, so I’ve been maintaining it in her stead. Every pane of glass in this shop has to be spotless—not a single fingerprint allowed.”
“So this table…” Qi Xia traced his fingers along the surface again.
“…was also used by my *teacher*,” Earth Dog finished. “Is there something strange about it?”
“I see…” Qi Xia didn’t answer. Instead, he quickly pondered the mechanics behind the *knocking*.
It seemed his *anchor* had limitations—he could only retrieve memories by knocking on *this specific table*.
“Brother Sheep… What’s really going on with you?”
Qi Xia turned back, composed himself, and said, “If I’m not mistaken, your *teacher* and I had some kind of partnership. But now, she can no longer fulfill her promises to me.”
“What…?”
“What exactly did she tell you back then?”
Earth Dog thought for a moment before answering, “I’m not sure what you’re getting at… But my *teacher* did say that if she ever disappeared, I had to take over her game and become a ‘Tian.'”
Qi Xia nodded. It seemed the plan he had set in motion long ago was still unfolding as intended.
Even though casualties had occurred—some had been thrown off the speeding train—someone *had* to keep moving forward.
“One last question,” Qi Xia said. “How close were you to your *teacher*? How much would you sacrifice for her?”
Earth Dog’s nose twitched slightly, and a guarded look entered his eyes. “Brother Sheep… I’m grateful to my *teacher*, but I wouldn’t necessarily *die* for her. After all, as you’ve said, there’s no way out of this place. Now that Pei Qianhu is making his move, if I keep following your lead, I might lose everything.”
“I completely understand,” Qi Xia replied. “I appreciate people who don’t hide their intentions.”
“Right. So I might help Pei Qianhu a little, but I won’t pay any real price for it.”
Qi Xia pondered for a moment before adding, “Earth Dog, you should also know this—if you remain a ‘Zodiac,’ death is only a matter of time.”
Earth Dog lowered his head slowly. He knew Qi Xia’s words held truth. But if death was inevitable either way, he’d rather delay it as long as possible.
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