Chapter 51: Xiaoxiao
They ate a small portion of the bear meat and then finished off the broth. It had to be said, the broth tasted better than the bear meat. Or perhaps it was because everyone was so thirsty that anything they drank seemed sweet.
"Let's leave the rest of the bear meat here," Qi Xia said, stretching his limbs. "If we make it back tonight, we can have another meal."
Xiaoxiao suddenly spoke up. "I want another bowl." With that, she took her bowl and picked out some more bear meat.
"Suit yourself." Qi Xia slowly stood up and looked at the sky. It should be afternoon now. "We need to hurry," he said. "The four of us only earned ninety-five 'Dao.' That's far from enough considering our progress. Today's target is three hundred and sixty."
"That's right," Qiao Jiajin also stood up. "Let's go."
Tiantian and Linqin packed up their things and brushed the dust off their clothes. They turned around and saw that Xiaoxiao still hadn't gotten up. She continued eating the meat in her bowl as if she hadn't heard anything.
"Sister Xiaoxiao, aren't you coming?" Tiantian asked.
Xiaoxiao tossed a large piece of fatty meat into her mouth, licked her fingers, but still didn't reply.
"Ignore her," Qi Xia said, knowing that this woman's motives were not pure. It was best for them to part ways early. "Let's go."
Qiao Jiajin nodded and turned to walk toward Qi Xia.
Just then, a loud bell sound rang out from afar.
"Dong!!!"
Everyone looked puzzled.
Qi Xia was about to say something when he suddenly saw a "wall" flying toward his eyes.
"What?"
Before he could react, he slammed heavily into that wall. It took him several seconds to realize what had happened. It wasn't a flying wall at all—he had fallen face down onto the floor. He had never felt such a strange sensation, as if all his senses were disoriented. Qi Xia turned his head with difficulty and saw that Qiao Jiajin, Linqin, and Tiantian were also lying on the ground, sprawled out, their eyes closed as if unconscious.
"What is this..." Qi Xia felt the situation was extremely bizarre. He shook his head in disbelief. He tried to extend his left hand but extended his right. He tried to stand up but fell to the ground. It felt exactly like being drunk, yet his mind was surprisingly clear.
Xiaoxiao stared at her bowl, eating the leftover meat in big mouthfuls, as if she hadn't seen anything.
"You... what did you do?" Qi Xia stared at Xiaoxiao. "Did you poison us?"
Though he asked that, he felt a hint of doubt. Xiaoxiao had eaten more of the bear meat than anyone else. If it was poisoned, why wasn't she affected?
"Qi Xia, listen. The bell rang," Xiaoxiao said calmly.
"What does the bell mean?"
"It means... I want to negotiate a condition with you." Xiaoxiao put down her empty bowl and stood up.
"A condition...?" Qi Xia looked incredulously at this slightly plump woman. He had originally thought she was merely a bit scheming, but now it seemed she was more terrifying than he had imagined. Now she had complete control, and he had no right to refuse.
"What condition do you want to discuss?" Qi Xia asked.
"Stop collecting 'Dao,'" Xiaoxiao said. "Live here peacefully."
"What...?" Qi Xia had considered many possibilities, but this was the last thing he expected. She wasn't after the 'Dao'?
"You want me to live here peacefully?!" Qi Xia tried to get up but found his limbs completely unresponsive. He could only lie on the ground and growl, "Why the hell would I want to live here?!"
Xiaoxiao wiped the grease from her hands on her pants, then walked over to the four of them and took off all the 'Dao' hanging at their waists. Finally, she crouched beside Qi Xia and said expressionlessly, "Because you're too strong. You have a chance of collecting enough 'Dao.'"
"Isn't that a good thing..." Qi Xia gritted his teeth. "I'll unravel the mysteries of this damn place and take everyone out."
"No, I can't let that happen." Xiaoxiao shook her head calmly. "I won't allow anyone to succeed. I have to protect this place. If you continue to be obstinate, I'll make you regret it."
"So that's it..." Qi Xia sneered. "You look normal, but you're actually a madwoman... You want me to live here forever like those walking corpses? Hasn't anyone told you that this damn place only has ten days left? It's going to annihilate!"
"It's going to annihilate?" Xiaoxiao nodded, seemingly unsurprised by the answer. "Then let me put it another way. I want you to quietly wait for annihilation in these few days. No more collecting 'Dao.'"
"You... madwoman..." Qi Xia said slowly. "If I don't comply, what will you do? Kill me?"
"Maybe."
"You won't."
"Oh? Why?"
"Because you have the chance to kill me now," Qi Xia said. "You could have killed me directly, but instead you want to 'negotiate a condition.' Why?"
Xiaoxiao frowned upon hearing this, then turned around, removed the pot, and threw all the 'Dao' into the fire.
"Hey!!" Qi Xia shouted. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
As the fire crackled, all the 'Dao' that Qi Xia and the others had risked their lives to obtain turned to ashes. At that moment, Xiaoxiao turned back, a look of sadness on her face, and said to Qi Xia, "I'm not killing you because I hope that someday in the future you'll join us."
Qi Xia felt that it was impossible to reason with this woman named Xiaoxiao. "Don't you understand? There are only ten days left! After ten days, everything will disappear. What do you mean by 'someday in the future join us'?" After saying that, he paused and then asked, "And who is 'us'?"
"Qi Xia," Xiaoxiao said, "after ten days, you'll understand everything. This place, these people..."
She pointed at the three people lying on the ground and said to Qi Xia, "They are all unimportant. Their deaths are not worth regretting. But you are different. You need to live here."
"Stop it," Qi Xia said. "How would you know whether they are important to me?"
"I..." Xiaoxiao paused for a moment, as if something had occurred to her, and then said to Qi Xia, "I can prove to you that their deaths are not worth regretting."
"You... what are you going to do?"
After saying this, Xiaoxiao took off her top, revealing a sports vest underneath. It was then that Qi Xia realized the woman in front of him was far from "slightly plump." Her muscle mass even surpassed Qiao Jiajin's. Her abs were clearly defined, and her arms were like stone pillars. When he had first seen this woman, with her large frame and broad shoulders, he naturally assumed she was overweight. Although her face was thin, no one could have imagined that under that loose T-shirt lay a body of powerful muscles.