Qinglong realized the situation was getting out of hand, but what could he do to salvage it now?
“A ‘wood’ and a ‘cun’…” Qi Xia’s face slowly broke into a smile. “Qinglong… this is a mistake only you would make. No other ‘participant’ would lose their life over such a simple rule. Only you would, because you’ve always looked down on the most fundamental rules. So it doesn’t matter what character I form—I’ve already won this round.”
At this moment, Chen Junnan’s eyes widened as if he’d just realized something. “Holy shit… now that you mention the ‘most fundamental rule,’ I get it. That little god’s third character doesn’t even fucking include ‘soldier’!”
“Dang it!” Qiao Jiajin nodded in agreement. “You’re right! Straw Woman, beat him up—he broke the rules!”
“Two components…” Xuanwu also seemed to realize something. “Two components are indeed wrong—there’s no trace of ‘soldier’ in it.”
Qinglong stood there expressionless for a long time, leaving everyone unsure of what he was thinking.
At that moment, Zheng Yingxiong suddenly caught a vague thought from Qi Xia’s mind. Frowning, he turned to look at Qi Xia, who gave a slight nod in response.
After a long silence, Qinglong slowly grinned. “Gambling… is truly a troublesome thing.”
Qi Xia frowned, his face impassive as he stared at Qinglong. He knew that defeating Qinglong would take more than just one victory in a game—this was merely a decent start.
“Qi Xia, I could easily crush you into pulp with my hands, yet here I am, lowering myself to outwit you,” Qinglong said. “How troublesome…”
“It seems you’ve raised the stakes,” Qi Xia replied. “If you win, you’ll claim victory through strategy. If you lose, you’ll say you held back. Not a bad excuse.”
“Still talking tough,” Qinglong sneered. “Perhaps you don’t realize just how dangerous your current situation is.”
A thick aura of killing intent radiated from Qinglong, choking Zheng Yingxiong so badly he could barely breathe. Before anyone could react, a cold voice rang out beside them.
“Qinglong, foul play…” Xuanwu declared. “Accept your punishment.”
Qinglong turned his head, glaring at Xuanwu before erupting into a furious laugh and slashing a palm toward her.
Xuanwu barely managed to block with her arms before she was sent flying backward, her long black hair streaking through the air like threads.
She landed and quickly steadied herself before lunging forward again.
Her hair whipped wildly around her, like ink-stained flames.
Her hands transformed into claws—one aimed at Qinglong’s throat, the other at his chest.
Qinglong blocked her strike, then unleashed another fierce gust of wind from his palm, sending Xuanwu flying another dozen meters.
She crashed heavily to the ground, coughed lightly, and stood up expressionlessly.
Taking a deep breath, she slowly raised her hand in the air as if to rip out Qinglong’s heart directly. “Qinglong… accept your punishment…”
But before she could move, her entire body froze in place like a statue.
“Dang it… what’s wrong with Straw Woman…?” Qiao Jiajin cursed under his breath. But when he tried to step forward, he found his own body paralyzed as well.
Soon, murmurs of confusion spread as everyone realized they were immobilized by some overwhelming force.
It wasn’t that Xuanwu had given up—she simply couldn’t move.
“It’s ‘Soul Seizure,'” Qi Xia said.
Qiao Jiajin immediately understood. “Qinglong, no cheating!”
The moment he spoke, a faint burst of starlight flickered from Qinglong’s body before dissipating into the darkness.
But after a moment, Qiao Jiajin realized something was still wrong—he still couldn’t move.
The others soon noticed it too. Even though Qinglong’s ‘echo’ seemed to have vanished, they remained trapped under ‘Soul Seizure,’ as if encased in concrete.
“What’s going on?” Qiao Jiajin was stunned. “Qinglong, are you still cheating? Stop it!”
This time, not even a spark of light emerged from Qinglong.
“Too bad…” Qinglong grinned insanely. “‘Soul Seizure’ isn’t mine to begin with.”
“What…?” Chen Junnan’s eyes widened. “You sly old bastard—”
“This is quite the interesting riddle,” Qinglong mused. “I carry ‘Soul Seizure,’ but who was its original owner? What was their name? How will you guess whose ‘echo’ to break?”
Only then did Chen Junnan and the others realize Qinglong’s ‘Soul Seizure’ came from one of the ‘eyes’ embedded in his body.
Just as White Snake had said, Qinglong had grafted various powerful abilities onto himself through ‘eye implantation.’ Now, ‘Law Nullification’ could only dispel Qinglong’s own ‘echo’—not the ‘echo’ of ‘Soul Seizure’s’ original owner.
“To be honest,” Qinglong chuckled, “even I’ve forgotten whose eye that was.”
Zheng Yingxiong swallowed hard, sensing the urgency of the situation. He was about to speak when he once again caught Qi Xia’s thought:
**Wait a little longer.**
His heart pounded violently. Why, at such a critical moment, was Qi Xia staking everything on him?
“Qi Xia,” Qinglong said, “it’s hard to believe you didn’t foresee this. The moment you agreed to gamble with me, you should’ve known you’d lose.”
“Really?” Qi Xia replied flatly.
“The referee was my choice, the game was my design, even the rules of ‘Taoyuan’s’ victory were set by me. How could you possibly win?” Qinglong laughed. “This might be the worst decision you’ve ever made in your life.”
“Maybe there’s still a way out,” Qi Xia said.
“A way out?” Qinglong took a step forward—and everyone else, including Xuanwu, did the same. “Qi Xia, tell me—where is this ‘way out’?”
The moment he finished speaking, Qinglong’s brow furrowed slightly. He raised his head, staring into the dark sky.
He blinked uncertainly, sensing something was wrong.
Something had just slipped into his mind.
A… memory?
But how could a memory forcibly implant itself in his head?
Zheng Yingxiong sensed Qi Xia’s thought once more: **Now.**
Seizing the moment of Qinglong’s distraction, he quickly spoke:
“The scent of ‘Soul Seizure’… seems to have faded.”
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