Chapter 32: Gambling with Life
The moment the words were spoken, everyone was shocked.
Even the Rat Mask was slightly taken aback.
"You want to... gamble with your life?" the Rat Mask confirmed.
"That's right." Qi Xia nodded. "I'm betting my life."
The Rat Mask's throat moved slightly as she swallowed. Then she said, "Th-there's no need for that, is there?"
Her reaction was beyond Qi Xia's expectations.
He had assumed these animal masks would be willing to stake their lives, so why was she panicking?
"Th-this is just a simple 'searching' game," she said. "You're exaggerating by betting your life... Besides, my ticket only costs one 'Tao'... you don't need to risk your life for this..."
Lin Ju and Qiao Jiajin were also puzzled on the side.
"This game... can you bet your life in it?" Qiao Jiajin asked with a frown. "But bro, why do you want to gamble your life? Are we short on 'Tao'?"
"I remembered what that withered old man said, and I want to try it here." Qi Xia said in a low voice. "Judging by his reaction, it seems he's very afraid of me 'gambling my life'."
"I know you want to win badly," Lin Ju interjected. "But what if something goes wrong when you risk your life to open the can? What if the 'Tao' isn't inside?"
"I will win." After saying this, Qi Xia looked up at the Rat Mask. "I've placed my bet. Can we start now?"
The Rat Mask was silent for a long time before finally speaking, her voice trembling. "If you really want to gamble your life, don't regret it... The game begins now."
Qi Xia walked into the room.
Just as the Rat Mask was about to exit and close the door, Qi Xia grabbed her arm.
This movement made the Rat Mask's whole body stiffen.
Qi Xia reached out expressionlessly and slowly pulled a 'Tao' from the Rat Mask's coat pocket.
"I found it."
The three people at the door all opened their mouths wide in surprise.
Was this allowed?
Finding the 'Tao' on the referee the moment the game started?
Didn't this break the 'rules'?
The Rat Mask was trembling visibly, looking very scared.
"If I'm not mistaken, as soon as you close this door, this room won't have any 'Tao' anymore, will it?" Qi Xia pressed aggressively.
"How did you know...?"
"It's simple." Qi Xia said softly. "Every time you explain the game rules, you have to stand inside the room and tell us 'right now' there's a 'Tao' in this room. What you said wasn't wrong, but it was a huge trap."
Seeing that the Rat Mask didn't respond, Qi Xia continued, "'Right now,' there really is a 'Tao' in this room, but unfortunately, it's about to disappear."
The Rat Mask's eyes behind the mask began to dart frantically. After a long pause, she asked, "And you gambled your life on this bold assumption?"
"An assumption? Of course not." Qi Xia went on. "What really convinced me was when you announced that Tiantian had 'failed the game'."
"What?!"
"At that time, she had closed the door. Logically, none of us could know what was happening inside. But the moment you opened the door, you told Tiantian she had failed." Qi Xia shook his head helplessly. "How did you know she hadn't found it?"
"I..."
"The answer is obvious. You knew there couldn't be any 'Tao' in the room."
The Rat Mask's body shivered slightly.
"And the 'Rodent' game was another trap. We all thought rodents like to come out at night to search for things in the dark—that was Tiantian's train of thought too. Logically, she wasn't wrong. But there are other kinds of rodents in this world. They hide important things in their mouths, don't they?"
The Rat Mask stared at Qi Xia for a long time, knowing she had truly lost.
She paused, then suddenly used all her strength to push Qi Xia down and turned to run.
"Damn it!" Qiao Jiajin immediately reached out to grab the Rat Mask, but she twisted away like a real rat.
She ran fast, disappearing down the street.
The three of them were at a loss. They had never expected these animal masks to run away.
"What's going on... Bro?" Qiao Jiajin helped Qi Xia up from the ground, looking puzzled. "Why did she run?"
"I don't know either." Qi Xia shook his head, but his expression suggested he had thought of something.
Could it be... that 'gambling with life' meant...
He looked in the direction the Rat Mask had fled, trying to confirm his thoughts, but his eyes widened in shock.
"What's wrong?"
Qi Xia extended his hand, trembling, pointing into the distance.
The three turned to look and were instantly frozen in place.
A floating figure appeared in midair, blocking the Rat Mask's path.
"Damn... is that the Terminator...?" Qiao Jiajin's voice quivered. The sight before them was completely beyond his imagination.
The figure in the air gently waved a hand, and the Rat Mask collapsed, as if all strength had left her body.
In the next instant, the two disappeared in the distance, then reappeared right in front of Qi Xia and the others.
This scene, like a deity descending to earth, left the four people momentarily blank-minded.
The figure floating in midair was a slender man. He was naked, draped in a cloak made of blood-red feathers. Several feathers were also stuck in his disheveled long hair. He bobbed up and down in the air, like a bird in flight.
The four were terrified by the sight, none daring to speak.
The Rat Mask was shivering all over, and beneath her mask, there seemed to be a sobbing sound.
"Rat Mask, what were you doing?" the man asked softly. "Were you trying to run away just now?"
"I... I..." The Rat Mask kept trembling, her voice sounding distorted.
"Running away won't do." The man slowly descended, reaching out to gently stroke the Rat Mask's head. "You need to behave. 'Gambling with life' means 'gambling with life'."
"Lord Suzaku...!" the Rat Mask wailed. "Please spare me...!"
"That won't do." The one addressed as 'Suzaku' extended his long fingers and traced them across the Rat Mask's mask. "You have to accept the consequences. He wanted to gamble with your life. I have no choice."
Qi Xia felt a sense of foreboding. Summoning his courage, he spoke up, "I... I don't want her life. I only gambled my own life to get more 'Tao'."
"Oh?" Suzaku lifted his eyes to look at Qi Xia, but his hand slowly moved down to the Rat Mask's pale neck, gripping her as if holding a real rat.
The Rat Mask was frozen stiff, trembling, not daring to say a word.
"Is this necessary?" Qi Xia frowned. "I initiated the 'life gamble.' Now I don't want her life. I just want 'Tao'. Killing her does me no good."
Hearing Qi Xia seemingly plead for her, the Rat Mask slowly looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears.
Upon hearing Qi Xia's words, Suzaku slowly withdrew his hand and let out a snicker.
"How interesting... Rat Mask, get up quickly... He's sparing you." He patted her back.