Chapter 1068: The Experiment
Qi Xia avoided everyone along the way and arrived at the room marked "Snake."
Although he was already on enemy territory, the place seemed safe enough for now—no one had entered.
He reached out and touched the solitary "door" standing in the center of the room. This was the first time he had ever touched one of these strange teleportation doors, and he couldn't help but take a closer look.
From the outside, these "doors" looked no different from ordinary doors—common wooden materials, a rickety and decaying craftsmanship.
Why did these "doors" look so ordinary, yet could lead anywhere?
Qi Xia turned the handle and slowly pushed the "door" open.
On the other side of the "door" was a bookstore.
Qi Xia furrowed his brow slightly as he stood at the entrance. He recalled the location Chen Junnan had mentioned earlier and felt he hadn't made a mistake, so why was there a bookstore on the other side?
A white snake that was so bright it seemed to glow, its back facing the "door," seemed to sense something and slowly turned its head, locking eyes with Qi Xia.
"You little... brat...?" The white snake froze.
"You...?" Qi Xia paused for a few seconds, feeling that the situation wasn't quite what he had expected.
"Didn't think anyone would actually be able to get into my place," the white snake said with a chuckle. "Come on in, you damn brat, and read some books."
"No thanks," Qi Xia replied coldly. "I'll close the door first. I might come back later."
"Close the door...?"
Without another word, Qi Xia shut the door. He then walked to a corner of the room and pulled out the three "characters" he had on him.
"Soldier," "Scholar," "Scholar."
One of the "Scholar" characters was crooked and clearly fake.
Qi Xia placed the fake "Scholar" on the ground, walked back to the door, and opened it again. On the other side was still the bookstore.
The white snake blinked, finding Qi Xia's behavior a bit strange. It was about to ask something when Qi Xia silently closed the "door" again.
To verify his final hypothesis, Qi Xia placed "Soldier" on the ground as well, keeping only the real "Scholar" with him as he opened the "door."
Still the bookstore.
"Seriously... are you messing with me, brat?"
"No," Qi Xia replied. "I'm running an experiment."
"Brat, what kind of lousy experiment is that?" the white snake cursed, frowning. "If you're coming in, just come in. Why are you opening my 'door' over and over?"
"I'm alone," Qi Xia said. "If I go in, I'd have to fight you to settle things. I don't think that's necessary."
"Uh..." The white snake considered Qi Xia's words and found them reasonable. "Then what kind of experiment are you doing?"
"I'm trying to find a way to open the door without seeing you," Qi Xia said. "And I've already figured it out."
"You figured it out...?"
"Anything else to say?" Qi Xia asked. "The next time I open this 'door,' the one I see won't be you."
The white snake sighed and walked over to the door.
The two faced each other, though they seemed to be separated by vast distances of space.
The white snake glanced through the door and saw the pitch-black space and the figure standing high above. Naturally, he knew this wasn't the place to talk.
He paused for a moment before saying, "Anyway... stay safe. If you die out there, no one's going to bury you."
"Same to you."
Qi Xia gave the white snake a meaningful look before closing the "door."
He pulled the real "Scholar" from his pocket and tossed it to the ground, leaving only "Soldier" on him. Taking a deep breath, he opened the "door" once more.
Inside was a very simple space, containing only a "Zodiac" and a table.
The situation was just as Qi Xia had imagined—once a piece that couldn't "cross the river" did so, opening the "door" would immediately trigger a "Ground Game."
Fortunately, he hadn't entered the room with an enemy this time. Otherwise, if they were both locked into a "Ground Game," no one could guarantee a 100% survival rate.
At that point, he might even be forced into a life-or-death gamble with the "Ground Zodiac," with an extremely high chance of death.
Seeing Qi Xia standing at the door, the "snake" inside slowly stood up.
The two had met not long ago. Back then, the human snake had opened the "door" to let this group into the corridor, but now, meeting again a few days later felt like a lifetime had passed.
After a long silence, the human snake slowly uttered two words: "Are you...?"
"I am."
Seeing Qi Xia's decisive response and his gray-white eyes, the human snake knew there was nothing left to ask.
Brother Goat had never escaped.
He lowered his head slowly and reached out to touch the notebook that had almost been worn out from flipping through it so many times. "How do you prove that you..."
"This is proof." Qi Xia tapped the notebook on the table.
The human snake had nothing else to say. An unprecedented emptiness surged in his chest.
That emptiness felt like a rope, tightening until it was hard to breathe, choking all his words in his throat.
If Brother Goat had never escaped... what had he been holding onto all this time?
On one side was the person most important to him; on the other, his most cherished belief.
Now that the person had returned, but the belief had vanished, should he be happy or sad?
He had hoped Brother Goat would never leave, yet he had also hoped Brother Goat would truly get away.
But he had never wanted Brother Goat to become a "participant" and go through all of this again.
It was like a person who, caught between moving forward and stepping back, chose to linger, and then, caught between survival and destruction, chose to repeat the cycle.
If even Brother Goat couldn't escape this place, who could possibly have a chance to leave?
Qi Xia turned around and closed the door. He walked over to the human snake and slowly sat down.
He glanced around the room, noting how sparse and simple it was—likely some run-down building you'd find anywhere on the street.
"Brother Goat..." The human snake's voice choked. "You left almost a month ago... but what's going on now?"
"It's a long story," Qi Xia replied. "I became a 'Zodiac' not to become the 'Heaven,' but for this moment."
"What...?"
"In short, every time I felt that I shouldn't 'win,' I chose to 'lose,'" Qi Xia continued. "Fortunately, everything has been going according to plan so far, so there's no need for you to worry."
The human snake nodded, seemingly lost in thought.
"Didn't you want to see me?" Qi Xia said. "Was it just to confirm my identity?"
"I promised Old Black and the Indemnity Tiger that I'd confirm your identity..."
The human snake clutched the notebook filled with difficult questions, gripping it so tightly that its corners bent. He felt a deep sadness but couldn't understand why.
"They should have already confirmed my identity," Qi Xia said. "I also believe you didn't call me here just for that."
"What...?"
"Did White Goat have any message for me?" Qi Xia asked, his eyes cold.