Chapter 33: Leap
Ren Shu, still shaken, glanced nervously at Vermilion Bird as if seeking his approval.
"What? Do you need me to help you up?" Vermilion Bird asked with a smile.
"N-No, it's fine..." Ren Shu stood up, trembling.
She paused for a long moment before saying to Qi Xia, "Thank you! Thank you!"
Qi Xia shook his head. "You don't need to thank me. I was just—"
«Shlick».
Before he could finish, Qi Xia saw a hand burst through Ren Shu's abdomen from behind.
Her body stiffened, and her voice abruptly cut off.
Warm, sticky blood splattered all over Qi Xia.
Vermilion Bird slowly embraced Ren Shu from behind, like a lover holding his beloved.
"This child has good manners," Vermilion Bird said with closed eyes, pressing his face against Ren Shu's cheek as if inhaling her scent. "Saying 'thank you' is a fine habit. But you broke the rules and tried to escape. He may have let you off, but I won't."
With that, Vermilion Bird reached out with his other hand, pulled off Ren Shu's mask, and tossed it to the ground.
Standing face to face with Ren Shu, Qi Xia now saw clearly.
This 'Ren Shu' was nothing more than a teenage girl.
Her face still bore traces of youthful innocence, her tear-filled eyes full of fear and despair, and blood coughed from her mouth.
"It... it hurts so much..." Ren Shu spat out a large mouthful of blood.
"Easy... it'll stop hurting soon..." Vermilion Bird rubbed his nose against Ren Shu's hair. "You're going to die soon. Don't worry... don't worry... death ends it all..."
"What kind of sicko are you?!" Qiao Jiajin couldn't hold back. "She's still a kid! Damn it... let her go!"
Vermilion Bird let out a cold laugh, withdrew his bloody hand, and pushed Ren Shu forward.
Qi Xia instinctively caught the girl, his expression one of sheer shock.
Yes, this was 'gambling one's life'.
He had won, so she would die.
Even if he didn't want her life, she would still die.
This little girl called Ren Shu had been forced onto the path of death by Qi Xia himself.
He had thought he was only betting his own life, never imagining she would stake the same price.
But weren't they supposed to be among the game's organizers?
Were these animal masks also some kind of 'Participants'?
"Qi Xia, why are you here?" Vermilion Bird shook the blood off his hand and asked coldly.
"What—?" Qi Xia was stunned, looking up at him. "You know my name?"
A faint smile curled at the corner of Vermilion Bird's mouth. He pointed at the four of them, calling them out in turn: "Qi Xia, Qiao Jiajin, Lin Qin, Zhang Lijuan. Why are you all here?"
Tiantian was also startled. 'Zhang Lijuan' was her real name, but she hadn't used it since she was fourteen.
"What do you mean by 'why are we here'?" Lin Qin asked. "If we're not here, where should we be?"
Vermilion Bird's face always carried a meaningful smile. He slowly shook his head and said, "It seems you really don't know why you're here. How utterly pitiful."
"If you have something to say, just say it. What's with all the beating around the bush?" Qi Xia held the dying Ren Shu in his arms, his eyes icy. "Do you think being cryptic makes you look profound?"
At these words, Vermilion Bird's eyes gradually turned cold, and the smile that had been on his face vanished.
"Qi Xia, I knew we wouldn't get along," Vermilion Bird said contemptuously. "You'll never escape. Rot here forever."
"Oh?" At this point, Qi Xia had nothing left to fear. He pressed on aggressively, "Rot here? Are you going to kill me now?"
Vermilion Bird flashed and appeared beside Qi Xia in an instant, his feathered cape fluttering behind him.
He grabbed Qi Xia by the collar and hissed, "If it weren't for the rules, I'd tear you apart right here!"
"Meaning... according to the 'rules', you cannot kill me," Qi Xia replied.
"Heh..." Vermilion Bird finally smiled again. "I won't kill you, but you'll die here anyway."
Under the wary gazes of the group, Vermilion Bird slowly floated into the air like a deity.
"Why do you think I'll die here?" Qi Xia looked up and asked.
"Because you are Qi Xia, so you are destined to die here," Vermilion Bird snorted coldly, then vanished into thin air.
He didn't fly away like an immortal in a TV drama, nor did he emit any light like a spell; he simply disappeared from the air.
This sudden change left the group baffled.
"Because I am Qi Xia... so I'll die here?"
"Cough..." Ren Shu, still lying in Qi Xia's arms, coughed.
Qi Xia looked down at her. The girl's face was clean, unlike someone from this world.
His emotions were complicated. If he hadn't chosen to gamble his life, this girl might not have come to such a fate.
Thinking back, she had never intended to harm Qi Xia from the start.
One 'Dao' for another 'Dao'.
Perhaps, as she herself had said, Qi Xia would never find a simpler or safer game again.
Ren Shu reached into her pocket and slowly pulled out three 'Daos', then said with difficulty, "What a shame... I've been waiting here for a long time. You're the first batch of participants. I thought I could earn some 'Daos'..."
She handed the 'Daos' to Qi Xia and continued in broken breaths, "One of these is your entrance fee, and the other three are my own 'Daos'. They're all yours now..."
The four of them looked at the girl, not knowing what to say.
By position, they should have been enemies. But her helplessness and despair struck a chord deep inside them, evoking an indescribable resonance.
"Are you also some kind of participant?" Qi Xia asked coldly.
Hearing this, Ren Shu laughed instead, blood still flowing from her mouth. "Who here isn't a 'participant'... To be honest... I'd rather be like you, never having put on the 'Rat' mask... Even though none of us can leave..."
Her head slowly lolled to the side, and her arm fell limp to the ground.
The two women sighed, and even Qiao Jiajin looked sad.
But Qi Xia's expression remained as cold as ever.
He gently laid the girl flat on the ground and stood up slowly. No one knew what he was thinking.
"Qi Xia... are you okay?" Lin Qin asked.
"Me?" Qi Xia was taken aback. "Do I... look like something's wrong?"
"Because your face has no expression... that's not normal."
"I—"
Before he could finish, Qi Xia's head suddenly felt like it was splitting apart. He let out a harrowing scream, crouched down, and clutched his head.
"Hey, Liar!" Qiao Jiajin felt something was off with Qi Xia. Earlier that morning, when Han Yimo died, Qi Xia had also suffered from headaches.
Qi Xia felt as if his skull was about to crack. Something was pulsing deep in his brain.