Chapter 87: Kings Do Not Meet
The earthy-yellow sun of the third day once again climbed into the dark red sky. It should have been another day of foul stench and calm, but Lin Qin and Zhang Chenze in the massage parlor were panicking.
Because Qi Xia was gone.
They had searched every corner of the massage parlor, and could even feel that Qi Xia's blood on the bed had been chilled by the wind, yet there was no trace of him.
At the deepest part of the corridor, that native was still massaging the dried corpse, creating a deeply unsettling feeling.
"He left..." Zhang Chenze stared at the direction of the door, lost and dazed. "Just like he said himself—he's tired, he gave up."
"No... that can't be, right?" Lin Qin found it hard to believe. "Maybe he was too worried about the two of us, so he went to join a game himself..."
"All twenty Dao are right here." Zhang Chenze picked up the small cloth bag from the bed and waved it at Lin Qin. "Qi Xia didn't take a single Dao—how could he join a game?"
Lin Qin was momentarily speechless, completely at a loss for words.
Where could Qi Xia go?
He was injured now, carrying no Dao on him. What could he possibly do while dragging around this heavily wounded body?
"Lawyer Zhang, are you willing to join a game with me?" Lin Qin steadied her mind and spoke slowly.
"The two of us?" Zhang Chenze was slightly startled. "Do you think we have a chance?"
"I'm definitely not as strong as Qi Xia, so let's try to find some 'Human-level' games. If we win, it's a gain; if we lose, we won't die. If Qi Xia can come back one day, we'll have enough Dao to welcome him again."
Zhang Chenze thought about it briefly, then nodded.
Would Qi Xia come back?
With only seven days left until annihilation, his injuries would only worsen in the coming days. There was no way he could fully recover.
Could he really come back?
The two packed their things and walked out of the massage parlor under the brand-new sun.
...
Qi Xia, holding a map drawn in blood, staggered along the street.
He had never imagined that excessive blood loss would make his hands and feet disobey him. After walking for just over an hour, he was already covered in cold sweat.
He looked down at the map in his hand, knowing this was his final hope.
"Heaven's Gate."
After three days of probing, Qi Xia had a rough picture of the situation here.
Gathering three thousand six hundred Dao from these games was no different from scaling the sky on the spot.
After all, the rewards for each game were far too scarce.
Even though "Human-level" games could increase gains by betting one's life against the Zodiac, "Earth-level" games offered no chance to bet one's life—participants would face lethal danger within the game itself.
In other words, whether "Human-level" or "Earth-level," to obtain any substantial gains, one had to unhesitatingly stake one's own life.
The most dangerous game Qi Xia had seen so far was the Earth Ox's Black Bear Hunt. Without Qiao Jiajin and Zhang Shan, it would have been a nearly certain death game.
Yet even in such a perilous situation, each person could obtain at most twenty Dao.
If Qi Xia truly wanted to collect Dao by playing games, he would need to consecutively participate in a hundred and eighty games as dangerous as the Earth Ox's, achieving "perfect victory" every single time.
How many people would die in the process? How many injuries would he suffer?
And what guarantee did he have that he could hold out until the very end?
Qi Xia had calculated all night but could not figure out his odds of survival.
Thinking it over, only "Heaven's Gate" was the best option.
Zhang Shan had once said that they had seen someone escape from here and had even found the notebook of an "escapee." Now the notebook was in the hands of their leader, Chu Tianqiu.
Following the map Zhang Shan had left behind, Qi Xia kept moving forward and finally arrived at the headquarters of "Heaven's Gate" at noon.
It was an abandoned school.
Since the school's signboard had fallen into disrepair, Qi Xia couldn't tell if it was an elementary or middle school—he could only see the teaching building and the basketball court before him.
A man stood outside the school gate, warily watching his surroundings.
He wore a sports tank top and had a braided ponytail, looking to be only fifteen or sixteen years old.
Qi Xia tightened the bandage on his shoulder and walked toward the young man.
Seeing someone approach, the boy grew more alert and asked, "Liangren?"
"Liangren?" Qi Xia found the man's accent a bit strange, but could only nod. "I'm a Liangren."
"You... need help, like that?"
The man's speech was not only accented but also grammatically odd.
"I..." Qi Xia thought for a moment, then said, "I want to see Chu Tianqiu."
"See Brother Chu..." The man frowned slightly. "What's your name, please?"
"Qi Xia."
The boy thought for a moment, nodded at Qi Xia, and said, "Brother, wait a moment, like that."
He walked into the school gate, locked the door behind him, and quickly ran toward the teaching building.
In the southernmost classroom on the first floor, a man in a black shirt wearing glasses was writing rapidly on the blackboard.
Not far from him, a stunningly beautiful woman was sitting at a desk, painting her nails.
"Brother Chu! Sister Yun Yao!" The braided boy called from the doorway.
"Come in." Yun Yao said calmly without raising her head.
The boy entered, looked at the two, gave a slight bow, and said to the man in the black shirt, "Brother Chu, there's someone outside who wants to see you, like that."
Chu Tianqiu continued writing, asking casually, "What's his name?"
"Qi Xia."
"Qi Xia?" Chu Tianqiu paused his hand, then moved two steps to the left.
He searched through the densely packed text on the blackboard.
Soon, he found the line.
"Number 87: Liar, Bamboo Shoots After Rain, Death from Heaven, Cunning Snake."
He drew a line under this text and lowered his head in thought.
"What's wrong?" Yun Yao asked from the side. "You've heard that name?"
"He's an extremely formidable person." Chu Tianqiu smiled slightly. "The three Zodiacs in charge of Interview 87 were all half a step into 'Earth.' What kind of games do you think they would design?"
Hearing this, Yun Yao was taken aback: "That would mean everyone dies in the interview, right?"
"No." Chu Tianqiu shook his head. "Because of this young man named Qi Xia, nine people survived that interview."
"Everyone survived? Is that possible?" Yun Yao lifted her bright eyes to look at Chu Tianqiu, then suddenly thought of something. "'Qi Xia'—isn't that the Liangren that Little Glasses has been talking about these past two days?"
The braided boy seemed to catch on, nodded, and said, "Brother Chu, I'll bring him in now, like that."
"No..." Chu Tianqiu reached out to stop the boy, then said, "Jin Yuanxun, help me ask him a question."
"A question?"
"Mm." Chu Tianqiu nodded. "Go ask that person named Qi Xia: 'Which day did you come here?'"
"Brother, but if I go ask him that, won't he not understand, like that?"
"It's fine. This is a good chance for you to practice your Chinese." Chu Tianqiu said with a smile.
Although the young man named Jin Yuanxun was a bit puzzled, he knew that Chu Tianqiu always thought things through, so he just nodded and went out.
"I don't quite get it." Yun Yao blew her nail polish dry and screwed the cap back on. "You clearly said that this man called Qi Xia is an 'extremely formidable person,' so aren't you going to recruit him?"
Chu Tianqiu smiled faintly: "Yun Yao, this is precisely 'a king never meets a king.'"