Chapter 53: A New Goal
Lin Qin was clearly taken aback after hearing this.
"What do you mean, 'why am I still alive'?" She slowly took a step back, feeling that Qi Xia in front of her was somewhat dangerous. "You... what are you going to do?"
Seeing Lin Qin's reaction, Qi Xia seemed to understand something, and slowly walked over to Qiao Jiajin and Tiantian.
"Qi Xia... do you know something?" Lin Qin asked with a trembling voice. "What exactly happened?"
Qi Xia crouched down, staring at these two 'comrades' with whom he had only spent two days together, a mix of emotions churning in his heart.
Though his spirits were low, whenever he thought about the moments spent with the two of them, it felt as if a worm was trying to burst out of his head, causing him a splitting headache.
Lin Qin looked at Qi Xia fearfully. "Say something... you..."
"The woman named Xiaoxiao killed them," Qi Xia said in a low voice. "I will make her pay with blood."
"Xiaoxiao...?" Lin Qin blinked in disbelief. "The girl we met before...?"
Qi Xia gently stroked Tiantian's forehead. There was a small hole there.
A mark left by a nail piercing through.
Tiantian had once said she could die here.
But now, she didn't even know why she had died.
"But I don't understand why..." Lin Qin said. "Why did she kill Qiao Jiajin and Tiantian?"
Qi Xia paused slightly and said, "I also want to know why she did it. And even more, I want to know... why didn't she kill you?"
"No wonder you asked me that..." Lin Qin seemed to understand Qi Xia's meaning. "But I don't know why I survived either. Even if you suspect me, I have no way to prove my innocence."
"I did suspect you when I first woke up, but I have no doubts now. After all, you just seemed afraid that I would kill you. That's not the expression an accomplice would show." Qi Xia took one last reluctant look at Qiao Jiajin and Tiantian and slowly stood up. "You thought I was the one who killed them, didn't you?"
"I..." Lin Qin lowered her head in chagrin. "Indeed, since only the two of us survived, the killer could only be..."
Qi Xia didn't mind and continued, "Xiaoxiao told me to give up searching for the 'Dao,' but I don't plan to listen to her."
Lin Qin frowned and carefully processed this sentence, then couldn't help but ask, "She told you to give up searching for the 'Dao'? Why?"
"I don't know." Qi Xia shook his head. "They seem to be some kind of organization. If I'm not mistaken, they are preventing others from collecting 'Dao'."
"That's very strange..." Lin Qin said, reaching for her waist. "Ah! Where's my 'Dao'?"
Then she looked at Qi Xia's waist and then down at Qiao Jiajin and Tiantian's waists.
Everyone's 'Dao' was gone.
"That's what I wanted to tell you," Qi Xia murmured. "That woman isn't collecting 'Dao'; she's destroying 'Dao'."
With that, Qi Xia pointed at the extinguished furnace not far away and said to Lin Qin, "I saw with my own eyes that she burned our 'Dao'."
"But that doesn't make sense..." Lin Qin seemed puzzled. "Didn't you say that the 'Referee' wouldn't allow something like 'killing to take the Dao' to happen?"
Qi Xia lowered his head in thought for a moment and replied, "That woman named Xiaoxiao is very clever... or rather, she is deeply versed in the 'rules' here. First, as I said, she didn't 'take the Dao'; she just destroyed it. Second, when she removed or destroyed the 'Dao,' Qiao Jiajin and Tiantian were still alive. No matter how you look at it, she didn't violate the 'rules.'"
"So 'killing' is allowed, but 'taking the Dao' is not..." Lin Qin crouched down, her expression especially sad. She sat down on the ground and asked Qi Xia, "Now that we don't have a single 'Dao' left... we can't even participate in the games anymore, can we?"
Qi Xia looked at Lin Qin and said calmly, "Are you so concerned about participating in the games? I didn't get the sense before that you wanted to get out of here."
Lin Qin nodded. "Yes, originally I had no interest in this place at all. But now... there's something I have to go back and confirm."
"Go back and confirm?"
"Exactly." Lin Qin looked seriously at Qi Xia. "I need to return to the real world to confirm something."
Qi Xia stared into Lin Qin's eyes for three seconds, as if judging whether she was lying.
After a moment, he slowly stood up and said, "Lin Qin, regardless, let's part ways."
"Part ways?"
"Yes, part ways." Qi Xia nodded. "That woman was coming for me. If you keep following me, you'll be in great danger."
Lin Qin also stood up and replied, "I can't leave. I have to act with you, or else I won't be able to confirm that thing even if I return to reality."
Qi Xia paused upon hearing this and asked, "Does that 'thing' you mentioned have to do with me?"
"Yes."
"Is that why you're so interested in me? Because of that 'thing'?" Qi Xia asked.
"Yes."
"What exactly is it?" Qi Xia rarely encountered a situation he couldn't figure out entirely. This girl named Lin Qin in front of him made him extremely curious.
"Sorry, I really can't say." Lin Qin shook her head. "Just remember that we are not enemies."
Qi Xia was silent for a moment, then earnestly advised, "If you stay with me, you might die."
"Mm..." Lin Qin seemed hesitant but still replied, "I'm going to take a gamble. Maybe I won't die and will get out of here."
Seeing Lin Qin so persistent, Qi Xia no longer tried to dissuade her. He slowly walked to the door and looked at the darkening sky.
"In that case, let's take a gamble together," Qi Xia said. "We're not completely out of 'Dao.' There's still one stored with an acquaintance."
"You mean..." Lin Qin also thought of something. "Will Officer Li give you the 'Dao'?"
"He will." Qi Xia paused and added, "But his three teammates won't."
"Then what do we do?"
Qi Xia shifted his gaze to Qiao Jiajin on the ground and gritted his teeth, saying, "I'll beg them. I'm determined to get that one 'Dao.' As long as I keep playing the games, that woman named Xiaoxiao will show up again. I can't let Qiao Jiajin and Tiantian die for nothing."
With that, he picked up the remaining bear meat along with the pot, pushed the door open, and walked out. Lin Qin followed closely behind.
The sky had grown somewhat dim now. The city seemed filled with insect calls, and the rustling of crickets could be heard everywhere.
"We need to hurry," Qi Xia said. "I hope they'll think this bear meat is worth something."
Lin Qin looked up at Qi Xia again, feeling an emptiness in her heart.
The man before her seemed devoid of emotion, indifferent to everyone's death.