Chapter 47: Escape
Just as the onlookers were panicking, Earth Ox slowly walked over.
"Both of you, stop," he said calmly. "I don't care if you kill each other, but do it outside this room."
The two were completely unresponsive, utterly ignoring Earth Ox as they gritted their teeth and strained against each other.
Earth Ox looked at the two men wrestling together and decided not to bother persuading them further. Instead, he bent down, effortlessly pulled Qiao Jiajin's arm away from Zhang Shan's neck, then grabbed Zhang Shan by the collar with his left hand and Qiao Jiajin's arm with his right. With a gentle toss, the two flew off like pebbles, knocking over all the chairs.
"Damn..." Qiao Jiajin felt like his bones were nearly broken.
On the other side, Zhang Shan wasn't faring much better. He writhed on the ground in pain, blood oozing from all his wounds.
"Shit... you old ox, one day I'll skin you alive..."
The others quickly rushed over to check on them.
"Hey, Qiao Jiajin, you still alive?"
Qiao Jiajin let out a bitter laugh. "What do you think..."
Tiantian and Ringo also gathered around, the three of them helping Qiao Jiajin to his feet.
On the other side, Zhang Shan was helped up by Glasses and Old Lü.
"You okay, Zhang Shan?" Glasses asked.
"I'm fine." Zhang Shan scratched at his own wounds, looking uncomfortable, but he came to his senses and said to Glasses, "Looks like you were right. Those two are interesting."
"Right!" Glasses beamed as if he himself had been praised. "The tattooed guy is strong, and the one called 'Conman' is really smart. They're definitely qualified."
Old Lü, however, kept pursing his lips on the side, as if he didn't quite agree with Glasses.
"Come on, let's go talk again." Zhang Shan gave a hearty laugh and walked forward with the two.
Before they had taken three steps, Earth Ox stretched out a dark hand and placed it on Zhang Shan's shoulder.
"Looking for more trouble?"
Zhang Shan looked at Earth Ox and said, "Don't worry. Just a conversation."
Earth Ox thought for a moment, then withdrew his hand.
"Be careful. I'm watching you."
In just a few steps, Zhang Shan was face-to-face with Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin again.
Qiao Jiajin stepped forward, blocking Qi Xia. "Big guy, are you planning to settle things with me again after we leave?"
"Never mind." Zhang Shan scratched at the shocking wounds on his chest. "I'm out of energy today. Let's arrange another time."
"Ha." Qiao Jiajin was amused. "Since you're not here to fight, what do you want from us?"
"That's not fair." Zhang Shan shook his head helplessly. "I never came looking for a fight from the start. It was your brother who suddenly attacked me."
Qiao Jiajin thought about it and realized that was true.
"Not here to fight?" Qi Xia felt this guy was a bit strange. "Then what did you come for?"
Zhang Shan turned around and waved at Glasses and Old Lü. The two took cloth bags from their waists and handed them to him. Old Lü looked reluctant, but seemed to fear Zhang Shan and followed his orders anyway.
Zhang Shan weighed the two bags in his hands, then tossed them to Qi Xia.
"Thirty-eight 'Dao' in total. Take them."
Qi Xia took the two bags in disbelief. He opened them and saw the golden little balls inside.
"What does this mean?" Qiao Jiajin shot Zhang Shan a suspicious glance. "We haven't even settled the score yet. Why are you giving us the 'Dao'?"
"Because that's what was agreed in the game. If you bet, you have to pay up." Zhang Shan looked back at Glasses and continued, "Besides, Glasses kept praising you in front of me, saying you two are really impressive."
"Impressive?" Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin exchanged glances, not understanding what he was getting at.
"I didn't come looking for trouble at first either." Zhang Shan raised a finger and tapped his temple, saying to Qi Xia, "Glasses told me you beat that black bear using this. Is that true?"
Qi Xia didn't answer. He still looked at Zhang Shan warily.
"Don't overthink it." Zhang Shan said, "We're gathering a group of capable people to get out of this place together. Are you two interested in joining?"
"No." Qi Xia replied.
"Don't refuse so quickly..." Zhang Shan gave a simple smile and patted Qi Xia on the shoulder. "You can think it over."
"That's right!" Glasses also stepped forward and said to Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin, "Mr. Qiao, Mr. Conman, you're both very talented. There's a good chance we can get out of here."
"Mr. Conman?" Qi Xia thought he misheard. "You're talking to me?"
"Yeah..." Glasses thought he'd said something wrong. "Hasn't Mr. Qiao been calling you 'Conman' all along...?"
Qi Xia shook his head helplessly and said, "Never mind. A name is just a label. Call me whatever you want, but I'm not joining you."
"Why so firm?" Glasses didn't understand. "As the saying goes, many hands make light work. And I've played a game with you before—I know you're a trustworthy teammate. If we join forces..."
"But I don't trust you." Qi Xia interrupted. "Besides, only one person can leave this place. What's the point of gathering more people? In the end, they're just cannon fodder."
"Only... only one person can leave?" Glasses was taken aback. "What nonsense are you talking? Why would only one person be able to leave?"
"Isn't it?" Qi Xia countered. "Those animal masks said..."
Qi Xia was about to say something when he suddenly froze.
Wait.
Why did he think only one person could leave?
Had anyone ever said something like that?
No. They hadn't.
Human Sheep had told Qi Xia that if they won the game, one of them would become a "god."
At the time, Qiao Jiajin had explicitly asked Human Sheep, "What happens if we can't win the game?"
Human Sheep's answer was—"If you can't win, that would be a pity."
He never said anything about escaping.
"Could I have misunderstood...?"
The word "pity" was ambiguous.
Who was Human Sheep feeling "pity" for at the time?
For himself... or for the participants?
Qi Xia blinked, feeling like he suddenly understood something.
In this damned place, besides "becoming a god" or "being destroyed," was there actually an option to "escape"...?
"You... why do you think you can all escape together?" Qi Xia asked.
"Because we've seen people who escaped from here, of course," Zhang Shan replied.