Chapter 34: My Tactics
Qi Xia tightly grabbed his own hair, patiently waiting for that headache to fade.
After about half a minute, he steadied his breathing, slowly lowered his hands, and stood up.
His expression was as if nothing had happened.
That headache was like a gust of wind sweeping past him—fierce in its arrival, yet always vanishing quietly at some point.
Lin Qin glanced at Qi Xia and asked, "Are you... are you okay? Do you get headaches often?"
"No, this is only the second time since I can remember." Qi Xia sighed and said, "I guess it's related to this damn place."
Lin Qin wanted to ask more, but it seemed Qi Xia didn't want to dwell on the issue.
"Our time is very tight. Even if there were worms breeding in my brain, I wouldn't take the time to diagnose them here." Qi Xia looked up at the dark red sky and continued, "Thanks to that little girl, we now know a lot of useful information."
"Do we?" Tiantian glanced at the corpse of Ren Shu on the ground, her expression still somewhat sad. "I feel like the only useful information is about the rules of 'Betting Life.' And this kid lost her life because of it."
"Not just that." Qi Xia said, "I initially thought this was a land filled with chaos and madness, but now it seems this place also has its own 'rules.'"
"'Rules'...?"
"Exactly." Qi Xia nodded. "That man just now called 'Vermilion Bird' should be one of the administrators here."
"Administrator? You mean that 'birdman'?" Qiao Jiajin asked.
"Yes. He appeared to ensure that the 'rules' were not broken."
"But why doesn't the administrator wear clothes..." Tiantian didn't understand. "He was naked with a cape on—he looked really strange."
"Compared to his many bizarre behaviors, 'not wearing clothes' is already the most normal one." Qi Xia paused, then added, "That's just the clue we can see. There might be others above the 'administrators.'"
Lin Qin seemed to think of something: "Oh... that person called Vermilion Bird once said something like, 'If not for the rules restricting me, I would surely kill you.'"
Qiao Jiajin also nodded. "Being able to restrain a crazy guy with superpowers like that, I believe the people above him will be even more terrifying."
"'Superpowers'?" Qi Xia frowned. "I haven't heard that term in a long time."
"Isn't it superpowers? Just like the Terminator." Qiao Jiajin gestured. "That guy was flying in the sky!"
Hearing that, the three of them paused for a moment.
"What does 'Terminator' mean?" Lin Qin looked curiously at Qiao Jiajin.
"Looking at how fashionable you dress, yet you're such a country bumpkin?" Qiao Jiajin gave a simple smile. "You haven't even seen the Terminator?"
"Fash... fashionable?" Lin Qin opened her mouth awkwardly. Those two words could only be heard from older generations now. Just being able to say them was already rustic enough.
But she was being looked down upon by this guy.
Qiao Jiajin elbowed Qi Xia and asked, "Liar, you've seen it, right? Arnold Schwarzenegger—super cool!"
"Arnold Schwarzenegger...?" Lin Qin felt like she had heard that name, but also like she hadn't.
"I don't care about 'Terminator' or Schwarzenegger, and I don't care how unbelievable that birdman is." Qi Xia paused, then said, "Right now, I only want to know the scope of the 'rules' and to what extent they can regulate things."
The three didn't understand what Qi Xia meant and looked at each other.
"Liar, what are you planning to do?"
Qi Xia slowly raised his hand and made a cutting motion across his neck, then said to the three, "I want to know whether 'killing to seize Dao' is feasible."
As soon as he said this, Lin Qin and Tiantian each took a step back.
Only Qiao Jiajin didn't move.
"'Killing to seize Dao'?" Qiao Jiajin frowned, his expression extremely serious. "You mean... if you can't gather three thousand six hundred 'Dao' within ten days, you'll take them from others?"
"Yes, that's the most effective way I can think of." Qi Xia said. "Now we are a team. To accomplish such a big task, I need your help. So I'm laying out the plan now and want to hear your thoughts."
"I won't help you." Qiao Jiajin shook his head decisively. "Even if the sky falls in this place, I won't do anything unrighteous. Those who have 'Dao' are probably just like us—they've gone through countless hardships to survive. What right do we have to kill them?"
"Is that so..." Qi Xia nodded with a complicated expression. "But if we want to escape this damn place, this is the only way. That's three thousand six hundred 'Dao'... Are you really not willing to give it a try?"
"I also refuse." Lin Qin spoke up. "I don't think this idea is good. If we really kill someone, even if we can get out of here, we won't be able to go back to the life we had before."
Tiantian thought for a moment and then said, "Yeah. If I have to kill others, I'd rather die first myself."
Qi Xia looked into the eyes of the three, pondered for a long time, and then a slight smile curled at the corner of his mouth:
"Very good. Now I can safely tell you my real plan."
"What..." Qiao Jiajin was startled. "Dammit, Liar, you were testing us?!"
Qi Xia nodded and said, "If the three of you could accept a plan like 'killing to seize Dao,' that would only prove we are not the same kind of people. I would abandon you at any time."
"You..." Qiao Jiajin was almost pissed off by Qi Xia. "I really thought you were going to kill people."
"Logically speaking, the 'rules' would never allow a situation like 'killing to seize Dao' to happen." Qi Xia explained. "Although I don't know exactly what the rules are here, they seem to maintain a kind of 'strange fairness.' Those administrators are more like 'referees.' If they really are 'referees,' then they would certainly ensure the safety of the participants."
He paused, then added, "In other words... they want us to die in the games, not to kill each other."
Hearing Qi Xia's words, everyone fell silent.
After a moment, Lin Qin snapped back to reality and asked, "In that case, what is your real plan?"
"My plan isn't complicated." Qi Xia replied. "Since these games won't kill us, we'll just 'probe' them one by one. You guys first figure out the game rules and gather clues along the way. When we're confident enough... I'll go 'Betting Life.' In the end, we'll split all the 'Dao' we get equally. Until we reach three thousand six hundred, we can keep using this tactic."