Qi Xia clutched his hair tightly, patiently waiting for the throbbing headache to fade.
After about half a minute, his breathing steadied. Slowly, he lowered his hands and stood up.
His expression was as if nothing had happened.
The headache was like a gust of wind—violent when it came, yet fading away at some point without a trace.
Lin Qin glanced at Qi Xia and asked, “A-Are you okay? Do you get headaches often?”
“No, this is only the second time since I can remember,” Qi Xia sighed. “Probably has something to do with this damned place.”
Lin Qin wanted to ask more, but it seemed Qi Xia didn’t want to dwell on the subject.
“Our time is tight. Even if my brain is infested with worms, I’m not getting diagnosed here.” Qi Xia looked up at the dark red sky and continued, “Thanks to that little girl, we’ve learned a lot of useful information.”
“Have we?” Tian Tian glanced at the corpse of the Rat Person on the ground, her expression still tinged with sorrow. “The only useful thing I can think of is the rules about ‘betting with your life.’ And because of that, this child lost hers.”
“Not just that,” Qi Xia said. “I thought this was a land of chaos and madness, but it seems there are ‘rules’ here too.”
“‘Rules’…?”
“Exactly.” Qi Xia nodded. “That man called ‘Zhuque’ earlier must be one of the administrators here.”
“Administrator? You mean that ‘birdman’?” Qiao Jiajin asked.
“Yes. He appeared to ensure the ‘rules’ weren’t broken.”
“But why wasn’t the administrator wearing clothes…?” Tian Tian frowned in confusion. “He was naked except for a cloak. It looked so strange.”
“Compared to his other bizarre behaviors, ‘not wearing clothes’ is the most normal thing about him.” Qi Xia paused before adding, “These are just the clues we’ve seen so far. There might be others above the ‘administrators.’”
Lin Qin seemed to recall something. “Right… That Zhuque guy said something like, ‘If not for the rules, I’d kill you.’”
Qiao Jiajin nodded. “If even a freak with supernatural abilities like him is restrained, whoever’s above him must be even scarier.”
“‘Supernatural abilities’?” Qi Xia frowned. “Haven’t heard that term in a while.”
“Isn’t that what it was? Like the Terminator.” Qiao Jiajin gestured excitedly. “That guy was flying in the air!”
At that, all three of them froze for a second.
“‘Terminator’? What do you mean?” Lin Qin looked curiously at Qiao Jiajin.
“You dress so stylishly, yet you’re such a country bumpkin?” Qiao Jiajin chuckled. “You’ve never seen The Terminator?”
“Stylish…?” Lin Qin’s mouth twitched awkwardly. That term was something only the older generation used nowadays—just saying it made someone seem outdated.
And yet, she was being judged by someone like *him*.
Qiao Jiajin nudged Qi Xia with his elbow. “You’ve seen it, right, Liar? Arnold Schwarzenegger—so cool!”
“Arnold Schwarzenegger…?” Lin Qin vaguely recognized the name but wasn’t sure.
“I don’t care about ‘The Terminator’ or Schwarzenegger, and I don’t care how unbelievable that birdman is.” Qi Xia took a deep breath. “Right now, I just want to know how far the ‘rules’ extend and what they regulate.”
The other three exchanged confused glances, not understanding what he meant.
“Liar, what are you planning?”
Qi Xia slowly raised a hand and drew a line across his neck, then said, “I want to know if ‘killing to steal Dao’ is actually possible.”
The moment those words left his mouth, Lin Qin and Tian Tian both took a step back.
Only Qiao Jiajin remained still.
“Kill to steal ‘Dao’?” Qiao Jiajin’s expression darkened. “You mean… if you don’t collect 3,600 ‘Dao’ within ten days, you’ll rob others of theirs?”
“Yes. It’s the most efficient method I can think of.” Qi Xia’s tone was calm. “Now that we’re a team, if we’re going to pull this off, I need your help. So I’m laying it out now—let’s hear your thoughts.”
“I won’t help you.” Qiao Jiajin shook his head firmly. “Even if the sky falls here, I won’t do something dishonorable. Those with ‘Dao’ must’ve fought just as hard as us to survive. What right do we have to kill them?”
“Is that so…?” Qi Xia’s expression was unreadable. “But if we want to escape this hellhole, this might be our only way. Three thousand six hundred ‘Dao’… Are you really not even going to consider it?”
“I refuse too,” Lin Qin said. “I don’t think this is a good idea. Even if we could get out by killing, we’d never return to our old lives after that.”
Tian Tian thought for a long moment before speaking. “Yeah. If it comes to killing others… I’d rather die first.”
Qi Xia studied their faces, then after a long pause, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
“Good. Now I can safely tell you my real plan.”
“Wha—” Qiao Jiajin gaped. “Damn it, Liar, you were testing us?!”
Qi Xia nodded. “If you three had agreed to ‘killing for Dao,’ it would’ve proven we weren’t the same kind of people. I’d have abandoned you at any moment.”
“You—!” Qiao Jiajin was almost furious. “I really thought you were serious about murder!”
“Logically, the ‘rules’ wouldn’t allow something like ‘killing for Dao’ to happen.” Qi Xia explained. “Though I don’t know the exact rules here, they seem to enforce a ‘twisted fairness.’ Those administrators act more like ‘referees.’ And if they’re referees, they’d prioritize the participants’ safety.”
He paused before adding, “In other words… they want us to die in the games, not by killing each other.”
The group fell silent at his words.
After a while, Lin Qin snapped out of it and asked, “Then… what’s your real plan?”
“It’s simple.” Qi Xia replied. “Since these games aren’t fatal, we’ll ‘test’ them one by one. You guys figure out the rules and gather clues. Once we’re confident… I’ll ‘bet my life.’ We’ll split all the ‘Dao’ we earn equally. Until we hit 3,600, we’ll keep using this strategy.”
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