Chapter 969: The Brute
"No... no way?" Earth Rabbit was taken aback. "What do you mean, we're the only two teammates left... That sounds way too creepy."
"I'm just saying what if!" Earth Pig replied. "Any other time, we could find a way to verify their identities, but right now, at this critical moment, it's really not good..."
"I still choose to believe them." Earth Rabbit said. "We've been in this room together for so long. Even though everyone has a bunch of flaws... at least they're all good people. I believe they'll make it through any misfortune."
"But what if it's not 'death'... but 'betrayal'?" Earth Pig pressed on. "Big guy... think about it carefully. Even someone like me, who values 'promises' so much, has the potential to betray..."
"You... you..." Earth Rabbit stammered for a moment. "Little Pig, you're still young. You went through all this when your mind wasn't fully mature. Even if you really did betray us, Qi Xia wouldn't blame you."
"What kind of talk is that..." Earth Pig furrowed his brow. "Big guy, it's precisely because you adults have more life experience than me that you have more thoughts when facing critical moments. That's the root cause of why people might betray us."
"This..."
"There aren't many people I can trust right now." Earth Pig continued. "Big guy, you were always a good person before, so I'm willing to trust you unconditionally now. But those two sisters... even if they really are our old acquaintances, I can't guarantee they'll hold onto their true hearts now."
"Little Pig... how can you think of them that way..."
"I'm not deliberately trying to see them as bad." Earth Pig shook his head. "Big guy, the temptations after becoming a 'Zodiac' are just too many... There are comfortable beds, good food here. Each of us gains great power and a group of students who follow us... Haven't you ever had that thought? Becoming a 'Zodiac' is way better than risking our lives following Brother Xia."
Earth Rabbit was momentarily stunned, his ears on top of his head trembling slightly. He didn't know how to counter that statement.
He had indeed hesitated for a long time. Even back then, when Sister Zhuang was shouting in the hallway for her teammates to come out and recognize each other, even if it meant dying just to meet once...
Even after all that was said, Earth Rabbit still hadn't shown himself.
He was separated from Sister Zhuang by only a wooden door, listening with his own ears as Qinglong shattered every bone in her body.
Under such circumstances... who could unwaveringly stick to the path they had chosen?
"It's precisely because you adults have seen enough pros and cons that you're more likely to 'betray'." Earth Pig looked up and said. "But for me, none of these temptations are enough to shake a 'promise.' Big guy, I only know that we are men. We have to keep our word."
Earth Rabbit never imagined that the reason Earth Pig had held on all these years was so simple—so simple that it made him, as an adult, feel ashamed.
"You're right..." Earth Rabbit said after a moment of contemplation. "Now that Qi Xia has made such a big commotion, it's enough to show that he still remembers the promises we made back then. So we don't need to hesitate like this."
"That's exactly it, big guy." Earth Pig said. "Think carefully about what Brother Xia once told you. Did he ever say we needed to recognize each other on the 'train'?"
"This..." Earth Rabbit let out a heavy breath. "He really didn't."
"Then there you go." Earth Pig stood on tiptoe and patted the big rabbit's shoulder. "Big guy, let's keep waiting. There's no harm in recognizing each other after the plan is over."
"Alright..." Earth Rabbit was silent for a while, then looked at Earth Pig again. "Little Pig, are you really going for the 'positional kill'?"
"Yes. I've been exploring the 'Path of the Zodiac' on Brother Xia's behalf, all for this day." Earth Pig replied. "No matter what anyone else does, I'm going to meet 'Heavenly Pig.'"
"In that case, I'll come too." Earth Rabbit said.
"Good!" Earth Pig raised his fist and slowly lifted it. "Big guy, this is a 'promise' between us. To fulfill this 'promise,' we must drink to our hearts' content!"
Earth Rabbit gave a wry smile and extended his large fist to touch Earth Pig's hand. "You little rascal, that's not how you use 'drink to our hearts' content.'"
After their fists bumped, they quickly realized a thorny problem.
This problem might not be common among other 'Zodiacs,' but it appeared for both of them at the same time—a bit of a coincidence, you could say.
"Little Pig... have you ever seen 'Heavenly Pig'?" Earth Rabbit asked. "In all my years here, I've never seen 'Heavenly Pig' show up."
"I'm directly under Earth Dragon's management." Earth Pig replied. "I really have never seen 'Heavenly Pig.' But from the information Earth Dragon has let slip, I know 'Heavenly Pig' is still around. I don't know what he does every day, but he must be in some room on this 'train'..."
"Speaking of which, I haven't seen 'Heavenly Rabbit' either." Earth Rabbit added. "The one directly managing me isn't Earth Dragon or 'Heavenly Rabbit,' but 'Heavenly Horse'..."
"Heavenly Horse...?" Earth Pig was startled. "You're under 'Heavenly Horse'? Don't you want to take down 'Heavenly Horse' first?"
"Shouldn't 'Heavenly Horse' be left to 'Earth Horse'?" Earth Rabbit asked. "If it's a 'positional kill,' then naturally everyone has their own role."
"That's true..."
Earth Pig thought for a moment, feeling that something was still a bit off. After all, 'positional kill' sounded neat and tidy, but many 'Earth-level' characters had supervisors who weren't their corresponding 'Heavenly-level.' In other words, they didn't harbor much hatred for those 'Heavenly-level' ones, making it hard for them to unleash a death-defying fighting spirit in battle.
Besides... The two of them exchanged a silent glance. Neither of them had even seen what 'Heavenly Pig' or 'Heavenly Rabbit' looked like. They didn't know if the other was old or young, male or female, let alone their character. And they were just going to barge into their rooms and try to kill them like this...
"We've become 'invaders'..." Earth Rabbit muttered to himself.
"Big guy! What are you saying..." Earth Pig quickly warned him. "No matter who they are, they're ultimately 'Heavenly Dragon's' people! You might not hate them, but you should at least hate 'Heavenly Dragon,' right?"
"You're right." Earth Rabbit nodded. "In that case... no matter who 'Heavenly Rabbit' is... I plan to take his life. We'll just follow the plan Earth Ox laid out today."
"Same for me, big guy." Earth Pig said. "No matter who 'Heavenly Pig' is, I'll have to say sorry this time. He's just a stumbling block on the path between me and Brother Xia's promise."