# Chapter 42: Seeking Benefits and Avoiding Harm
"Cough, cough..." Qiao Jiajin lay on the ground, continuously coughing, feeling as if all his internal organs had been shattered.
Little Glasses reacted quickly, immediately getting up and beginning to reset the iron plate.
"Come help!" he shouted to the women behind him. "If these two fall, we're all finished!"
Although the girls were terrified, they knew the situation was urgent. Everyone bent down, gritting their teeth to move the iron plate.
Qi Xia lay on the ground, feeling dizzy all over.
Black Bear's charge seemed to have knocked his soul right out of his body. He really didn't know how Qiao Jiajin had managed to withstand two attacks on his own.
"I'm going to make that fat bastard who ran away die a horrible death..." Qiao Jiajin gritted his teeth and cursed.
"Seeking benefits and avoiding harm... it's only human nature..." Qi Xia lay on the ground, muttering to himself. "As recorded in 'Memorial to General Liang Shang': 'When it comes to seeking benefits and avoiding harm, fearing death and loving life, all men are equal'..."
"Did you get your brain rattled?" Qiao Jiajin opened his eyes with difficulty and looked at Qi Xia. "What the hell does General Liang have to do with anything? If that bastard hadn't suddenly abandoned us, this iron plate wouldn't have fallen over like this..."
By now the iron plate had been propped up by the girls again. Little Glasses bent down to pull Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin up. "Brothers, you guys okay?"
The two stood up, leaning weakly against the iron plate.
"Can't say 'okay'... can only say 'not dead yet'," Qiao Jiajin answered while glancing at Black Bear.
After that collision, the beast wasn't in much better shape. Its massive body seemed dazed, constantly shaking its head to stay conscious.
"Let me take a turn this time!" Little Glasses said. "You two rest at the back of the line for now."
With that, he imitated Qiao Jiajin's stance, lowering his body and bracing the iron plate with his shoulder.
But Little Glasses looked far too skinny. Just holding the plate seemed incredibly difficult for him. His legs kept trembling, and veins bulged on his forehead.
"Damn... is this iron plate really this heavy...?" He seemed to think his posture was wrong and adjusted the angle of his legs slightly, but the plate didn't get any lighter.
"Brother, it's not that I don't trust you," Qiao Jiajin shook his head helplessly. "If you're the one holding the plate, there's no point in us standing behind you. We'd be dead either way."
"M-Maybe you should do it..." Little Glasses gave an awkward smile and stepped aside.
By now the team had basically adjusted their defensive formation, and Qiao Jiajin was once again braced against the iron plate.
Black Bear had mostly recovered its senses. It was about to charge the iron plate again when it noticed the middle-aged man standing alone off to the side.
"Crap! Old Lyu!" Little Glasses suddenly panicked. "Hurry up and get over here!"
"Hmph." Qiao Jiajin sneered coldly. "That fat guy chose to walk out and seek death himself. Let him be."
"No..." Little Glasses' expression turned cold. "Old Lyu saved my life before. I can't just abandon him!"
"You're a fool," Qiao Jiajin said.
But before Little Glasses could figure out a way to save Old Lyu, Black Bear had already positioned itself between the crowd and Old Lyu.
It seemed to understand that once Old Lyu got behind the iron plate, it would never have another chance to kill him.
Little Glasses looked extremely anxious now. After hesitating for a long time, he turned back to Qi Xia and said, "Can you save Old Lyu?!"
Qi Xia's gaze turned cold, and he said, "Sure, go save him yourself. I won't stop you."
"I-I can't... that's why I'm asking you..." Little Glasses said tremblingly. "You seem like a very capable person. Can you help me..."
"No." Qi Xia said without hesitation. "If you want to go, go yourself."
Little Glasses wanted to say something more, but upon reflection, he really had no proper reason to ask a complete stranger to risk his life.
After thinking for a long while, he could only grit his teeth and say, "Th-Then fine... I'll go save him..."
He slowly let go of Qi Xia's clothes and fixed his gaze on Black Bear.
Then, Little Glasses took three rather comical deep breaths, let out a yell to boost his courage, stomped his right foot, and was about to charge at Black Bear.
Just as the situation reached a critical point, Qi Xia reached out and stopped him.
"What the—" Little Glasses was startled and nearly twisted his waist from the sudden halt. "What are you doing?!"
"You'll die. Aren't you afraid?" Qi Xia asked slowly.
"Of course I'm scared!" Little Glasses looked like he was about to cry. "But I can't just stand here and watch Old Lyu die!"
"Since that's the case, let's make a deal." Qi Xia stared at the Black Bear not far away. "If I manage to keep you alive through this game, the two of you give me your 'Dao'."
"Huh?" Little Glasses hadn't expected Qi Xia to suddenly make such a demand at this moment. For a moment, he didn't know how to respond.
"Of course, if you're unwilling, you can go save him yourself."
Qi Xia's tone brooked no argument, temporarily putting Little Glasses in a dilemma.
He and Old Lyu had risked their lives to participate in this game, and if they ended up without even a single "Dao", what was the point of all this?
"I can only promise to give you my own 'Dao', but Old Lyu's..." Little Glasses said with difficulty. "I don't know if he'd be willing."
"Then vouch for him," Qi Xia said. "You two are together, right?"
"I... I..." Little Glasses thought it over repeatedly, ultimately deciding that "life" was far more important than "Dao". "Fine... I'll vouch for him. If we both survive, our 'Dao' goes to you."
"Good." Qi Xia nodded. "Take off your shoes and give them to me."
"What?"
"Your shoes," Qi Xia repeated.
Not knowing what he intended to do, Little Glasses quickly took off his two dirty sneakers and handed them to Qi Xia.
"Hunting rules: animals are instinctively sensitive..." Qi Xia silently recited in his mind. "First taboo: attack the back."
Qi Xia weighed one sneaker in his hand, then suddenly took a step forward and hurled the shoe with force, hitting Black Bear right on its back.
This startled Black Bear immensely. Its entire body seemed to shudder as it quickly turned around to look around.
"Second taboo: heavily injure the nose."
Qi Xia picked up the other sneaker and threw it fiercely at Black Bear's face.
This shoe hit Black Bear right on the nose. Though the force wasn't great, it made the beast stumble back a step.
Black Bear was enraged again. Completely ignoring Old Lyu in front of it, it turned and charged straight at Qi Xia.
Qi Xia reacted quickly, immediately pulling Qiao Jiajin's clothes and adjusting the direction of the iron plate.
This time, Black Bear's attack seemed completely unorganized, simply slamming its front paws against the iron plate.
Once. Twice. Three times.
Though it roared wildly, the power of these attacks was clearly less than before, and all of them were blocked by Qiao Jiajin and the iron plate.
Old Lyu also took this opportunity to scramble over and join the team.