“Damn it…”
The Groundhog snapped back to reality and cursed, his expression a mix of confusion and anger.
*Boom!*
At the sound of the distant thunder, the Groundhog immediately turned around and flung the door open, pointing furiously at the sky as he shouted, “You won’t even let me say that?! Just how much of a spectacle are you trying to make of this?!”
The sky rumbled ominously, but no further thunderclap followed.
“If you don’t want me telling others, then why did you tell me in the first place?!”
Everyone gazed out at the sky, where the dark crimson expanse held not a single cloud.
“You lunatic… Are you just doing this for kicks?!”
The Groundhog’s furious tirade at the heavens left everyone inside the room stunned.
“Wait…” Chen Junan turned and asked, “Old Qiao, who the hell is he yelling at in the sky?”
“Pointing at the sky…” Qiao Jiajin blinked. “Probably cursing at birds.”
The Groundhog raged for a while longer, but the sky remained silent. Finally, he spat on the ground, stormed back inside, and began panting heavily, clearly in a foul mood.
“Hey, Monkey Bro, making a phone call just now?” Chen Junan joked.
“Damn it…” The Groundhog shook his head repeatedly. “I just can’t figure out ‘Qinglong’…”
“Who?”
The group exchanged puzzled glances.
“Who else could it be after that ‘Thunderclap’ display?” the Groundhog growled under his breath. “He really doesn’t see us as human… With the power to judge the entire ‘Land of the End,’ yet all he does is intimidate us ‘Zodiacs’… Damn it… damn it… We—”
“Alright, alright, Monkey Bro, don’t get worked up,” Chen Junan interjected. “I think that ‘Qinglong’ was just messing with you. If he really wanted to, one bolt of lightning and you’d be an African monkey right now. Am I right?”
The Groundhog fell silent, turning to sit at a nearby table before waving dismissively. “Like I said, my business has nothing to do with you. Leave already.”
He then jerked his chin toward Qi Xia’s unconscious form. “Take him with you.”
“Monkey Bro, Monkey Bro,” Chen Junan pressed, grinning as he stepped forward. “Since we’ve come this far, why not share what you know? If you can make a deal with Old Qi, maybe we can too.”
The Groundhog had been about to pull out a cigarette, but Chen Junan’s words made him pause. He lifted his eyes to study the young man before asking gravely, “Kid… tell me, how many years can a person’s plan keep running smoothly?”
He sighed, finally lighting the cigarette. The others glanced at the casino floor, littered with cigarette butts, unsure if the Groundhog was truly this addicted or if their presence had driven him to chain-smoke.
“That depends on whose plan it is,” Chen Junan replied. “Take me, for example—I only just made a plan for what happened earlier. My life motto is ‘The cart will find its way around the hill when it gets there, and the boat will straighten itself at the bridgehead.'”
He then turned to Qiao Jiajin. “Old Qiao, how long can your plans last?”
Qiao Jiajin chuckled. “What plans?”
The Groundhog sighed in frustration. “Tell me—if someone’s plan has been running smoothly for decades… and it’s still following the exact path they set, what does that mean?”
Chen Junan pondered for a moment. “It means the planner is incredibly capable. Like Old Qi—he’s always been that kind of genius.”
“But how could he have always been this sharp…?” The Groundhog gritted his teeth, crushing the cigarette butt in his hand. “That’s the issue… That’s the biggest problem of all!”
“What?” The group looked puzzled.
The Groundhog’s brow remained furrowed, as if wrestling with countless questions of his own.
“A man who wasn’t all that smart… suddenly becomes a genius. Even if I can accept that… how could the plan he made in his ‘less intelligent’ state proceed so flawlessly? Do you have any idea how intricate this plan is…?”
“I think I get it…” Chen Junan nodded thoughtfully. “You’re saying Old Qi wasn’t as sharp back then, but he still devised this grand scheme… and now, even now, you’re all following it? Is that so terrifying?”
“Isn’t it?!” The Groundhog’s eyes widened. “Is that something a normal person could pull off? Even planning the next day’s schedule requires constant adjustments because of life’s unpredictability. Now stretch that to decades! This level of stability isn’t natural… You just don’t understand…”
Chen Junan considered this before nodding. “You’re right, I don’t get it. But isn’t this just more praise for Old Qi? Because he’s the one behind the plan, everything’s been smooth sailing for you, hasn’t it?”
“No!!” The Groundhog looked almost desperate. “Are you all brain-dead?!”
He stepped forward, gripping Chen Junan’s shoulders as he hissed in alarm, “It means someone else is meddling with the plan!! There’s a third party—someone beyond Qi Xia and us—pulling strings to keep everything on track! That’s why it’s all going so smoothly!”
Finally, the group grasped the Groundhog’s fear.
“Can’t you see…?” He pointed at the unconscious Qi Xia. “Do you know who ‘Rumeng’ is? Do you know how the ‘Zodiacs’ receive orders from ‘that person’? Even ‘he’ is involved now—Qi Xia’s plan was exposed decades ago! He might’ve been a pawn all along, and so have I! Everything I’ve waited for is crumbling!! In this game, who’s really the player… and who’s the piece?”
As the Groundhog’s agitation spiraled, the group grew uneasy. He seemed both deeply wronged and… achingly lonely, as if no one had listened to him in years.
“Big Monkey… calm down first.” Qiao Jiajin stepped forward, patting the Groundhog’s shoulder. The man struck him as odd.
Though they’d been adversaries in the gambling den moments ago, this Groundhog didn’t feel like an enemy.
“Try to look on the bright side…” Qiao Jiajin racked his brain for something comforting to say.
“The bright side…?” The Groundhog turned to him, despair etched across his face. “Qi Xia’s been taken down by ‘Rumeng.’ The truth is staring us in the face. Tell me—where’s the bright side?”
“Hmm…” Qiao Jiajin rubbed his head. “I’m not the sharpest, so bear with me. But what if the one ‘meddling with the plan’ all along… was the improved version of Liar Bro himself?”
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