Chapter 79: Strange Logic
Old Lyu was finally caught up to at the last possible moment, just as he reached Qi Xia's side.
"Qi boy!! There's been a murder!" Old Lyu shoved Qi Xia forward. "You've gotta save me..."
"What happened?" Qi Xia asked, puzzled.
Seeing Qi Xia blocking his way, A Mu was clearly furious.
"Move it!"
Qi Xia didn't step aside. Instead, he reached out and held A Mu back.
"Hey buddy, let's talk this out. What's going on?" he asked with some urgency. "Did my teammate here upset you?"
A Mu gradually stopped, eyeing Qi Xia suspiciously. "You're their leader?"
Qi Xia scratched his head at that, not answering A Mu's question but instead asking, "Anyway, don't start anything yet. Just tell me the situation."
"Fine. Since you're asking, I'll at least let him die knowing why." A Mu said viciously. "Just now, this old dog—"
Before he could finish, an iron lock went flying straight toward A Mu's face.
He never expected the man in front of him to suddenly strike. In that split second, he couldn't dodge in time and took the hit right on the nose.
After a brief stumble, A Mu quickly regained his footing.
"Damn... Good one."
Though his nose still stung, A Mu now understood that the man before him was not to be trifled with. If he let his guard down, he might end up dead before the "punishment" even arrived.
He had just steadied himself and was about to assume a counterstrike stance when Qi Xia threw another punch, connecting once more with his face.
A Mu could tell from Qi Xia's amateurish punching form that he didn't expect the blow to carry much force. But to his surprise, he was knocked straight to the ground, his temple throbbing with pain.
Qi Xia followed up with a vicious kick to his jaw, and A Mu lay on the ground, unable to get up.
Seeing that his opponent had lost his fighting capability, Qi Xia slowly tossed aside the lock he'd been holding. Get hit in the temple with that thing, and most people aren't getting back up.
"Who cares what really happened?" Qi Xia said coldly. "You dared to lay a hand on my teammate... You entered the bet, now accept the loss."
Just then, Bald and Blond arrived at the scene.
Qi Xia found it strange. Why were their cabinet doors open too?
Had they cracked the code right after him?
"A Mu!"
The two rushed over anxiously and found A Mu knocked to the ground.
"Kill them..." A Mu said weakly. "If we don't act now, we're going to get punished..."
"Damn it!" The two men stood up and each pulled a folding knife from their pockets.
Seeing this, Qi Xia and Old Lyu both stepped back.
As ruthless as Qi Xia's attacks had been, facing two knife-wielding thugs who were now entirely on high alert gave him no good options.
"Hey! Earth Dog!" Qi Xia shouted through gritted teeth. "Players are fighting! Aren't you going to do something?!"
A few seconds passed before Earth Dog's voice came weakly from a distance. "I am, of course I am! But hold on a moment, I'm packing up my things. I'll be there later."
"Heh..." Bald raised his knife slowly. "The 'Zodiacs' want us to kill each other in the games anyway. Why would they stop us?"
Qi Xia's expression darkened to the extreme. He had never realized that players killing each other might also be tacitly permitted by the "rules."
Back when he and Zhang Shan had brawled at the Earth Ox's game venue, the Earth Ox had only intervened at the very end.
It looked like this time things were going to be even worse.
"Old Lyu... take Zhang Chenze and run." Qi Xia said in a low voice. "The room I was in has a window. Break it and escape."
"Qi boy... what about you?!" Old Lyu asked, panicked.
"I'll find a way to deal with them."
"You..." Old Lyu's eyes darted around. He made a quick decision. "Then be careful!"
He turned, grabbed Zhang Chenze's hand, and charged into the room. He pulled Jiang Ruoxue off a chair, lifted the chair, and smashed the window.
"Let's go!" Old Lyu shouted at Lawyer Zhang. "Those guys are desperate. They'll really kill us!"
Jiang Ruoxue watched the two of them with great interest, a smile curling at the corner of her mouth.
"No. I can't go." Zhang Chenze said. "Sir, please don't touch me."
"What the hell time is it?!" Old Lyu felt like this girl was way too stubborn. "We're running for our lives! What's the big deal if I touch you?!"
"I'm not leaving unless Qi Xia leaves too." Zhang Chenze said. "If you want to run, go ahead on your own."
With that, she picked up a long, slender piece of broken glass from the floor, held it in a reverse grip, and turned to walk back out the door.
"Little girl, have you lost your mind?!" Old Lyu was about to lose it. He stepped forward and grabbed her wrist. "What are you gonna do with that piece of junk? They've got knives!"
"Please don't touch me." Zhang Chenze's eyes turned icy. "If you want to survive in a place like this, running alone won't cut it. I'm going to fight them."
Listening to their exchange, Jiang Ruoxue couldn't help but break into laughter.
"You two are so interesting..." she said, covering her mouth—laughing in a completely inappropriate moment.
They both glanced at her, but neither responded.
Old Lyu continued trying to persuade Zhang Chenze. "Little girl, you've watched TV dramas, right? Sometimes people could've gotten away safe, but they just had to go back and get themselves killed... That's exactly what you're doing now. You're just making things worse."
Zhang Chenze thought it over carefully, then said, "If Qi Xia is alone, his chance of death is indeed very high. But if I join the fight with a weapon, both his and my chances of survival increase exponentially."
"What the hell..." Old Lyu was completely baffled. "You think running in there with a piece of glass makes your chances increase exponentially?"
Jiang Ruoxue was so amused she laughed out loud.
"What are you laughing at?" Zhang Chenze asked.
"I..." Jiang Ruoxue walked over to Lawyer Zhang and asked, "Can you tell me how you plan to deal with those two men?"
"I don't know." Zhang Chenze looked at the shard of glass in her hand. "If I'm lucky, I might be able to slit one of their throats with this."
Jiang Ruoxue slowly reached out and grasped Zhang Chenze's hand. She spoke slowly and deliberately. "Sister, you need to understand the 'logical relationship' here."
"Logical relationship?" Zhang Chenze was confused.
"Exactly. Like you said yourself..." Jiang Ruoxue smiled at Zhang Chenze. "It's precisely because you are joining that both your and Qi Xia's survival rates increase. So your appearance will definitely result in one of their deaths. And for you to kill one of them, you will definitely use that glass to pierce their throat. All of this is predetermined. So don't say things like 'if I'm lucky.'"
"What do you mean...?" Zhang Chenze still didn't understand. "Miss, aren't you on their side?"
"With death staring me in the face, do I still care whose side I'm on?" Jiang Ruoxue slowly released Zhang Chenze's hand. "Go ahead. A life is waiting for you to take it."