Chapter 267: Day of Harvest

After hearing this, Qi Xia blinked slightly and said, “Di Yang, our current conversation isn’t part of the game. There’s no need for you to lie.”

“Lie?” Di Yang raised his eyes to look at Qi Xia. “‘Tian Yang’ is my path for promotion. If he still exists, it means my promotion is hopeless. How could I be working so hard otherwise?”

“Hmm…?” Qi Xia froze, feeling his thoughts grow tangled again.

If the position of “Tian Yang” was vacant… didn’t that mean “Di Yang” was already the highest-ranking sheep here?

Then what was Yu Nian’an?

Qi Xia had an ominous premonition.

He had once hypothesized that the real Yu Nian’an had either died here or risen swiftly to become a “Zodiac.”

But now… it seemed more likely she had died here?

“Qi Xia,” Di Yang suddenly said. “Don’t you want to become a ‘Sheep’?”

“What?”

“The path of collecting ‘Dao’ is too difficult. Have you considered becoming a ‘Zodiac’?” Di Yang pressed.

“Do you ‘Zodiacs’ actively recruit?”

“No… but there are far too few ‘Sheep.’” Di Yang sighed. “Right now, there are five ‘Ren Yang,’ one ‘Di Yang,’ and ‘Tian Yang’ is completely vacant. Among all the ‘Zodiacs,’ we ‘Sheep’ are the fewest in number.”

“What does that have to do with me?” Qi Xia found it somewhat amusing. “What if all the ‘Sheep’ died out?”

“I can only tell you this… collecting ‘Dao’ is unrealistic. One day, you’ll realize that becoming a ‘Zodiac’ is the fastest way to leave this place.”

After a moment of silence, Qi Xia nodded. “You might be right, but I can’t become a ‘Zodiac’ right now. For me, collecting ‘Dao’ is faster at the moment.”

Seeing that he couldn’t persuade him, Di Yang shook his head and pulled out a large bundle from under the table—all the “Dao” he had prepared.

“Oh?” Qi Xia glanced at the bundle. “Does this mean our deal is successful?”

“What do you think?” Di Yang asked irritably. “Do you really think I’d kill you here?”

Qi Xia nodded, opened the bundle, and inspected it.

Sure enough, it was filled with shimmering orbs. Time was running short, so he couldn’t count them one by one, but considering Di Yang had handed over such a large quantity, it was unlikely he’d try any tricks now.

After securing the bundle and slinging it over his shoulder, Qi Xia asked Di Yang for two fans, and the two successfully paired up.

Now that he was carrying such a massive amount of “Dao,” his situation was both dangerous and safe.

If anyone killed him for these “Dao,” Xuanwu would intervene, making Qi Xia relatively secure. But if his killer didn’t take the “Dao” and instead acted like the “Extremists”…

Qi Xia shook his head and turned to leave.

Three steps later, he stopped, sensing something strange.

An odd sense of dissonance.

He slowly lowered the bundle from his back, opened it again, and took a careful sniff.

The entire bundle of “Dao” had no foul odor.

What was going on?

Previously, the “Dao” given by Chu Tianqiu had emitted a pungent stench the moment the bag was slightly opened. But now, despite holding over a thousand “Dao,” there was no smell at all?

Perplexed, Qi Xia bent down and sniffed again, more carefully this time.

There was a faint, peculiar scent—but it definitely wasn’t the rotting stench.

He picked up one “Dao” and squeezed it, then turned back to ask, “Di Yang… are you lying to me?”

“What?”

“These ‘Dao’—why are they different from the ones I’ve seen before?”

“Different?” Di Yang’s brow furrowed instantly. “Qi Xia, are you pulling this now? I’ve already given you the ‘Dao,’ and now you’re saying they’re wrong?”

Qi Xia pondered for a moment, sensing something truly off.

How could Di Yang have predicted his strategy and prepared over a thousand fake “Dao” in advance?

If that was the case… it was more likely that Chu Tianqiu had lied.

Had he given fake “Dao” instead?

But why hadn’t “Di Hu” noticed that the 2,900 “Dao” were fake?

Di Hu handled “Dao” every day. If there was an issue, he would’ve pointed it out immediately. That could only mean… both types of “Dao” were real?

As Qi Xia was lost in thought, Di Yang turned and walked toward the exit on his own.

“Time’s almost up. I’m done here,” he said while ascending the stairs.

Qi Xia glanced at the digital clock on the wall. It was indeed close to 120 minutes. Without further hesitation, he shouldered the bundle and followed Di Yang.

The two exited the casino one after the other—just as time ran out, ending the game.

Di Yang was about to turn and say something, but Qi Xia abruptly stepped back into the casino and shut the door behind him.

Di Yang froze, then felt a surge of irritation.

Qi Xia’s scheming was practically smacking him in the face.

He had intended to issue IOUs to the crowd, which would inevitably cause chaos. If people noticed Qi Xia carrying a massive bundle of “Dao,” things could spiral out of control.

“Dammit…” Di Yang cursed under his breath. “You’re one crafty bastard.”

Standing behind the closed door, Qi Xia found the situation amusing. The usually rigid Di Yang was now about to face a mob—would he hold his own?

Sure enough, within less than a minute, uproar erupted outside.

What did he mean by “IOUs”? No one had expected to go through all this only to receive a piece of paper in return.

And more importantly… did IOUs from “Zodiacs” even count?

One middle-aged woman in the crowd was particularly vocal—ironic, considering no one had dared to speak to Di Yang like that before the game.

After some time, the commotion gradually died down. Qi Xia cracked the door open slightly and scanned the crowd for Song Qi.

Song Qi spotted him just as quickly. Their eyes met, and Song Qi walked over.

“Hey, brother,” Song Qi said. “Thought you were dead.”

Before he could say another word, Qi Xia handed him five “Dao.”

“This is what we agreed on,” Qi Xia said, then pulled out five more and gave them to him.

“And these are…?” Song Qi stared at the ten “Dao,” slightly confused.

“These five are from me personally. I’d like your help with something.”

“Help?” Song Qi found the man intriguing. “Why ask me? Looks like you made quite a haul here. Aren’t you afraid I’ll turn on you?”

“Because you said your name is Song Qi,” Qi Xia replied. “With your reputation, a fair trade in ‘Terminus’ is guaranteed.”

“Haha!” Song Qi couldn’t help but laugh. “Brother, you’re something else. Alright, what do you need?”

Qi Xia paused, then said, “I need you to deliver a message to ‘Paradise.’ Find a man named Qiao Jiajin and tell him I need help.”

“‘Paradise’…?” Song Qi was taken aback. “You’re from ‘Paradise’?”