Chapter 87: When Kings Do Not Meet
The earthy yellow sun belonging to the third day once again climbed into the dark red sky. It should have been another day of stench and calm, but Lin Qin and Zhang Chenze inside the massage parlor were panicked.
Qi Xia was gone.
They had searched every corner of the massage parlor, even feeling traces of Qi Xia’s blood on the bed, now cold from the wind, but there was no sign of him anywhere.
At the deepest part of the corridor, that native was still massaging the desiccated corpse, an unsettling sight.
“He left…” Zhang Chenze stared blankly at the direction of the door, feeling lost. “Just like he said—tired, given up.”
“No… that can’t be, right?” Lin Qin found it hard to believe. “Maybe he was too worried about us and went to join a game on his own…”
“All twenty Dao are right here.” Zhang Chenze picked up the small cloth bundle from the bed and waved it at Lin Qin. “Qi Xia didn’t take a single Dao with him. How could he join a game?”
Lin Qin was momentarily speechless, completely at a loss for what to say.
Where could Qi Xia go?
He was injured, had no Dao on him, and was dragging that heavily wounded body—what could he possibly do?
“Lawyer Zhang, would you be 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 certainly not as strong as Qi Xia, so we’ll try to find some Human Grade games. If we win, it’s a gain; if we lose, we won’t die. If someday Qi Xia comes back, we’ll have enough Dao to welcome him again.”
Zhang Chenze pondered for a moment, then nodded.
Could Qi Xia really come back?
Only seven days remained until annihilation. His injuries would only worsen in the coming days, completely impossible to heal.
Could he truly return?
The two packed up their things and stepped out of the massage parlor into the fresh sunlight.
…
Qi Xia, holding a map drawn with blood, staggered along the street.
He had never imagined that excessive blood loss could make his hands and feet unresponsive. After only an hour of walking, his forehead was covered in cold sweat.
He looked down at the map in his hand, knowing it was his last hope.
Heaven’s Gate.
After three days of probing, Qi Xia had a general understanding of the situation here.
To gather three thousand six hundred Dao from these games was as difficult as ascending to heaven on the spot.
After all, the rewards from each game were far too meager.
Even though Human Grade games could expand the reward by betting one’s life against the Zodiac, Earth Grade games offered no such betting chance. Participants faced fatal danger within the game itself.
In other words, whether Human Grade or Earth Grade, to gain any significant reward, one had to risk their life without hesitation.
The most dangerous game Qi Xia had seen so far was Earth Ox’s Black Bear Hunt. Without Qiao Jiajin and Zhang Shan, it would have been a death sentence.
Yet even in such a perilous situation, each person could only obtain at most twenty Dao.
If Qi Xia truly wanted to collect Dao by participating in games, he would need to play a game as dangerous as Earth Ox’s one hundred and eighty times in a row, achieving a perfect victory every time.
How many people would die in the process? How many injuries would he sustain?
And what guarantee did he have of holding out until the very end?
Qi Xia had calculated all night and could not figure out the odds of his survival.
After much thought, Heaven’s Gate was the only viable option.
Zhang Shan had once said they saw someone escape this place and even found the notes of that escapee. The notes were now in the hands of their leader, Chu Tianqiu.
Following the map Zhang Shan had left behind, Qi Xia trudged forward and finally reached Heaven’s Gate’s headquarters at noon.
It was an abandoned school.
The school’s signboard was dilapidated, so Qi Xia couldn’t tell if it was an elementary or middle school. All he could see was the teaching building and a basketball court.
A man stood outside the school gate, vigilantly watching his surroundings.
He wore a sports vest and had his hair tied in a bun. He looked no older than fifteen or sixteen.
Qi Xia tightened the bandage on his shoulder and walked toward the young man.
Seeing someone approach, the boy heightened his guard and asked, “Virtuous Person?”
“Virtuous Person?” Qi Xia found the man’s accent a bit strange, but he could only nod. “I am a Virtuous Person.”
“You… need help, like that?”
Not only was the man’s accent odd, but his grammar was also peculiar.
“I…” Qi Xia thought for a moment, then said, “I want to see Chu Tianqiu.”
“See Brother Chu…” The man frowned slightly. “May I ask your name?”
“Qi Xia.”
The boy thought for a moment, nodded to Qi Xia, and said, “Brother, please wait.”
He walked into the school gate, locked the door behind him, and then hurried toward the teaching building.
In the southernmost classroom on the first floor, a man in a black shirt wearing glasses was scribbling something on the blackboard. Not far from him, an extremely beautiful woman sat in a seat, painting her nails.
“Brother Chu! Sister Yun Yao!” The boy with the bun called out from the doorway.
“Come in.” Yun Yao didn’t look up, speaking calmly.
The boy entered, glanced at the two, bowed, 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 among the densely written text on the blackboard.
Soon, he found that line.
“Number: 87, Liar, Bamboo Shoots After Spring, Death from Above, Cunning Snake.”
He drew a line under that line, then lowered his head in thought.
“What’s wrong?” Yun Yao asked from the side. “You’ve heard that name before?”
“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 Grade. What kind of game do you think they designed?”
Yun Yao was taken aback. “So it was an all-death interview?”
“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 raised her bright eyes to look at Chu Tianqiu, then suddenly thought of something. “Qi Xia… isn’t that the Virtuous Person Little Glasses has been talking about these past two days?”
The boy with the bun seemed to understand, nodded, and said, “Brother Chu, I’ll bring him in now, like that.”
“No…” Chu Tianqiu reached out to stop the boy and then said, “Kim Won-hoon, help me ask him a question.”
“A question?”
“Mm.” Chu Tianqiu nodded. “Ask that person named Qi Xia: ‘Which day did you come?’”
“Brother, but if I ask him the question, will he 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 Kim Won-hoon was puzzled, he knew Chu Tianqiu was always thoughtful, so he nodded and went out.
“I don’t quite get it.” Yun Yao blew on her nails to dry them and screwed the cap back on. “You said that guy named Qi Xia is an ‘extremely formidable person,’ but you’re not planning to take him under your wing?”
Chu Tianqiu smiled faintly. “Yun Yao, this is exactly what it means: ‘When kings do not meet.’”