# Chapter 1318: Three-Way Bet
"Even as a ghost, I would find a way to repay you…?" Azure Dragon's eyes remained narrowed.
"Yes… I am one hundred percent loyal to you…" Xiao Ran's tears streamed down, dripping onto the back of Azure Dragon's hand. "In my entire life, I don't think I've ever wanted to give myself to someone like this before… I swear you are the first."
"Why?" Azure Dragon asked.
"Because I have no other way out…" Xiao Ran said with her eyes closed. "You are the only person I can rely on in this world. Only by depending on you can I survive."
Azure Dragon stared into Xiao Ran's eyes, feeling more and more strange.
This woman's appearance didn't seem like she was lying at all. She genuinely wanted to rely on him from the bottom of her heart, and she displayed a loyalty greater than that of Celestial Serpent and Celestial Dog.
No, when it came down to it, the other Heaven Grade Zodiacs were loyal to him mostly out of fear, but this woman didn't show much fear at all. Instead, it was a loyalty that came from deep within.
But what about that ghost-like sound that kept lingering around in his mind?
Was this an incredible coincidence… or did this person have ulterior motives?
Unfortunately, this woman was too insignificant in the whole of Taoyuan. He had never paid attention to her before. Her background, her past, her abilities, her personality—he knew nothing about any of it.
Azure Dragon pricked up his ears and found that Spiritual Hearing had disappeared again. He couldn't perceive the Immortal Art on this woman. Everything had become shrouded in fog again, as if it had been predetermined by someone long ago.
A dog so loyal, a person who would remain devoted to him even in death… but right now, he couldn't ascertain the Immortal Art on her, and he couldn't determine how dangerous she was.
If he were to personally kill another true Divine Beast at this moment, would that be beneficial or detrimental to the situation?
The difficult choice weighed on Azure Dragon's heart like a mountain. At this moment, he didn't even have a single person to consult.
Had he really never seen this woman before?
"Wait… wait…" Azure Dragon slowly closed his eyes. "No… you came from Qi Xia's room…"
"Yes, yes!" Xiao Ran hastily agreed. "Although I came from Qi Xia's room, he is my mortal enemy. We have a common enemy in Qi Xia… I want him dead, so I will spare no effort to help you… We've always been on the same side…"
Azure Dragon wasn't really listening to Xiao Ran's words. Instead, he closed his eyes and searched his memory.
About twelve years ago, in a room filled with Silence, a man pushed a piece of paper in front of him.
On it were written names—
Qiao Jiajin, Chen Junnan, Li Shangwu, Zhao Haibo, Zhang Chenze, Zhang Lijuan, Han Yimo, and… Xiao Ran.
"What do you think?" Azure Dragon asked at the time. "If I help you find everyone on this list, can you kill Celestial Dragon for me?"
"No." Qi Xia shook his head. "It's not that simple. I want you to help me find these people, and then together, we will form a new room."
"You're pushing your luck." Azure Dragon refused decisively. "Such a big move—how could it possibly be hidden from the other Zodiacs?"
"Hiding it from the other Zodiacs?" Qi Xia raised an eyebrow. "Why would I need to hide it from the other Zodiacs?"
"You want to leave your current room and move to a new one," Azure Dragon said. "That would involve at least six Interview Room Zodiacs. They would all see the little tricks I'm pulling. I want Celestial Dragon to die by accident, not premeditated murder, you know?"
"There's a misunderstanding," Qi Xia said. "First of all, this matter won't involve the Zodiacs. The Zodiac in charge of my current Interview Room will only notice the people in the room disappearing one by one. They will smoothly advance to Earth Grade and won't care at all where I've gone. As for the Zodiac in the new Interview Room, I will arrange that for you."
"You'll arrange it for me…?" Azure Dragon snorted. "You have quite the nerve. Do you know who you're making a deal with?"
"Azure Dragon, you also have quite the nerve," Qi Xia said. "Do you think the person we're going to kill this time is some minor character? He is the pinnacle of the entire Zhongyan Land, just like you. If I'm going to do something this big for you, how can you take his life without making any sacrifices?"
Azure Dragon's eyes drooped slightly. He thought for a moment, then asked, "I can make sacrifices, but I need to get the corresponding returns. What do you want me to do?"
"Then your sacrifice won't be small," Qi Xia said. "Let me be blunt—someone who is hard even for you to kill is even more difficult for me. You need to cooperate with me in the operation. After these eight people are gathered, I will probably ask you to arrange other rooms."
Hearing this, Azure Dragon's expression naturally turned unpleasant. He looked down at the paper on the table, then said, "I need to make sure this plan of yours is only aimed at Celestial Dragon and won't implicate me."
"I will definitely implicate you," Qi Xia said. "You and Celestial Dragon are the supreme rulers here. I will do as before and try to launch a usurpation challenge against both of you at the same time. Only this time, the plan will be more detailed, with the goal of killing Celestial Dragon."
"Then aren't you just playing me?" Azure Dragon laughed angrily. "If it's the same as before—rebelling against both of us at once—why should I help you?"
"Because this time, you know in advance," Qi Xia replied. "Azure Dragon… you don't only have this much ability, do you? Knowing about my usurpation plan so many years in advance, yet you don't have the confidence to take Celestial Dragon's life together with me in this chaos… If you're going to say that…"
"Hey." Azure Dragon interrupted Qi Xia. "You're asking for death…"
Qi Xia shook his head. "If I die, your loss will be greater. After all, I've taken on the mission of killing Celestial Dragon. Don't you want to see the results before killing me?"
"Then could there be a situation…" Azure Dragon leaned forward slightly, a smile on his face. "You say you're going to kill Celestial Dragon, but at the last moment, you try to take us both down?"
"If I had the strength to take you both down…" Qi Xia stared back at Azure Dragon's eyes without flinching, "then wouldn't that mean Celestial Dragon is as good as dead? Shouldn't you be even more willing to make this deal with me?"
Azure Dragon became even more hesitant after hearing this. The fact that Qi Xia could say this naturally proved he had that confidence. But if this matter implicated him, the deal needed to be reconsidered…
"Azure Dragon, I'll make a bet with you. You can also take this chaos as an opportunity to kill me," Qi Xia interrupted Azure Dragon's train of thought. "That way, we'll be even. You want to kill me and Celestial Dragon, and I want to kill Celestial Dragon and you. Celestial Dragon has two votes against him—his death probability is extremely high. Let's just see who can survive until the end. What do you think?"