Chapter 53: A New Goal

After hearing this, Lin Qin was clearly taken aback.

“What do you mean, ‘how am I still alive’?” She took a step back, sensing danger from Qi Xia standing before her. “W-what are you planning to do?”

Seeing Lin Qin’s reaction, Qi Xia seemed to understand something. He slowly walked over to Qiao Jiajin and Tian Tian.

“Qi Xia… do you know something?” Lin Qin asked with a trembling voice. “What exactly happened?”

Qi Xia crouched down, staring at these two “comrades” he had known for barely two days, his heart heavy with mixed emotions.

Though his mood was somber, every time he recalled the moments he had shared with them, it felt as though a worm was writhing in his mind, trying to burst out, giving him a splitting headache.

Lin Qin watched Qi Xia with fear. “Say something… please…”

“That woman, Xiao Xiao, killed them,” Qi Xia said quietly. “I’ll make her pay with blood.”

“Xiao Xiao…?” Lin Qin blinked in disbelief. “The girl we met earlier…?”

Qi Xia gently touched Tian Tian’s forehead, where a small hole remained—a mark left by a nail piercing through.

Tian Tian had once said she could die here.

But now, she didn’t even know why she had died.

“I don’t understand why…” Lin Qin said. “Why would she kill Qiao Jiajin and Tian Tian?”

Qi Xia paused briefly before replying, “I want to know why she did it too. And more importantly… why didn’t she kill you?”

“No wonder you asked me that…” Lin Qin seemed to grasp Qi Xia’s implication. “But I don’t know why I survived either. Even if you suspect me, I can’t prove my innocence.”

“I did suspect you when I first woke up, but not anymore. After all, you were just afraid I might kill you—that’s not the reaction of an accomplice.” Qi Xia reluctantly tore his gaze away from Qiao Jiajin and Tian Tian and stood up slowly. “You thought I killed them just now, didn’t you?”

“I…” Lin Qin lowered her head in frustration. “Yes. Since only the two of us survived, the killer could only be…”

Qi Xia didn’t dwell on it and continued, “Xiao Xiao told me to give up searching for ‘Dao,’ but I don’t plan to listen to her.”

Lin Qin frowned, trying to process his words. “She told you to abandon ‘Dao’? Why?”

“I don’t know.” Qi Xia shook his head. “They seem to be part of an organization. If I had to guess, they’re trying to stop people from collecting ‘Dao.'”

“That’s too strange…” Lin Qin muttered, reaching for her waist. “Ah! Where’s my ‘Dao’?”

She checked Qi Xia’s belt, then looked down at Qiao Jiajin and Tian Tian’s waists.

Everyone’s ‘Dao’ was gone.

“That’s exactly what I wanted to tell you,” Qi Xia murmured. “That woman wasn’t collecting ‘Dao’—she was destroying it.”

He pointed at the extinguished furnace nearby and said to Lin Qin, “I saw her burn our ‘Dao’ with my own eyes.”

“But that doesn’t make sense…” Lin Qin seemed confused. “Didn’t you say the ‘referees’ would never allow something like ‘killing to steal Dao’?”

Qi Xia lowered his head in thought before replying, “That woman, Xiao Xiao, is cunning—or rather, she knows the ‘rules’ here too well. First, as I said, she didn’t ‘steal’ the ‘Dao,’ she destroyed it. Second, when she took or burned the ‘Dao,’ Qiao Jiajin and Tian Tian were still alive. From any angle, she didn’t break the ‘rules.'”

“So ‘killing’ is allowed, but ‘stealing Dao’ isn’t…” Lin Qin crouched down, her expression filled with sorrow. She slumped onto the ground and asked Qi Xia, “Now that we don’t have a single ‘Dao’ left… we can’t even participate in any games… right?”

Qi Xia glanced at her and said calmly, “Do you really care about playing games? I never got the sense you wanted to leave this place before.”

Lin Qin nodded. “Yes, I had no interest in this place at all. But now… there’s something I must go back and confirm.”

“Go back and confirm?”

“Exactly.” Lin Qin met his gaze seriously. “I need to return to the real world to verify something.”

Qi Xia stared into her eyes for three seconds, as if judging whether she was lying.

After a moment, he slowly stood up and said, “Lin Qin, regardless, we should part ways.”

“Part ways?”

“Yes. Separate.” Qi Xia nodded. “That woman is after me. If you stay with me, you’ll be in grave danger.”

Lin Qin stood up as well and replied, “I can’t leave. I have to stay with you—otherwise, even if I return to reality, I won’t be able to confirm that thing.”

Qi Xia paused slightly. “Is this ‘thing’ you mentioned… related to me?”

“Yes.”

“And your interest in me… is because of it?” Qi Xia asked.

“Yes.”

“What exactly is it?” Qi Xia rarely encountered situations he couldn’t decipher, but this girl named Lin Qin had piqued his curiosity like no one else.

“I’m sorry, I really can’t say.” Lin Qin shook her head. “Just remember—we’re not enemies.”

Qi Xia fell silent for a moment before speaking earnestly. “If you stay with me, you might die.”

“Hmm…” Lin Qin hesitated but finally answered, “I’m willing to take that gamble. Maybe I won’t die. Maybe I’ll even make it out of here.”

Seeing her determination, Qi Xia stopped trying to dissuade her. He walked to the door and glanced at the darkening sky.

“Then let’s gamble together,” he said. “We’re not completely out of ‘Dao’—there’s still one left with an acquaintance.”

“You mean…” Lin Qin caught on. “Will Officer Li give it to you?”

“He will.” Qi Xia paused. “But his three teammates won’t.”

“What do we do then?”

Qi Xia shifted his gaze to Qiao Jiajin’s body on the ground and gritted his teeth. “I’ll beg them. I must get that ‘Dao.’ As long as I keep playing games, that woman Xiao Xiao will show up again. I won’t let Qiao Jiajin and Tian Tian die for nothing.”

With that, he picked up the remaining bear meat along with the pot and pushed the door open, stepping outside. Lin Qin followed closely behind.

The sky had dimmed further, and the city was alive with the chirping of insects—crickets rustling everywhere.

“We need to hurry,” Qi Xia said. “Let’s hope they find this bear meat appealing.”

Lin Qin looked up at Qi Xia again, feeling an inexplicable emptiness inside.

This man before her seemed devoid of emotion—indifferent to the deaths of everyone around him.