Chapter 145: A Dream Impossible to Realize
"You're fucking with us?!" Qiao Jiajin grabbed Ren Long by the collar, his strength immense.
"How could that be?" Ren Long shook his head. "I told you, this game is called 'Teeter-Totter.' Why did you have to kill each other? Hahahaha!"
Qiao Jiajin instantly tackled him to the ground and punched him hard in the face.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Qiao Jiajin gritted his teeth. "If it's a 'Teeter-Totter,' how could we possibly stay perfectly balanced? Even if one person moved a single step, our balance would be broken! This is a game where someone was destined to die! You're the one who killed people, and now you're standing here making sarcastic remarks?"
Ren Long took the punch but laughed even louder.
"But he's the one who did the killing!" Ren Long laughed wildly. "It wasn't me! It was him!!"
As he laughed maniacally, he stretched out his hand and pointed at Qi Xia: "He's a big liar! He tricked you all!! Who was the first one to say 'we need to get lighter'?! Hahahahaha!!"
"And now you're still trying to drive a wedge between us..." Qiao Jiajin viciously shifted his grip, slowly tightening his fingers around Ren Long's neck. "Are you really forcing me to kill?"
Ren Long's strength seemed completely ordinary. He struggled a few times, found he couldn't break free, then grinned again and shouted with difficulty: "Haha... kill the referee... kill the referee..."
When Yun Yao heard this, she quickly stepped forward and pulled him back. "Qiao Jiajin... no!! You'll attract the higher-ups!!"
Qiao Jiajin paused at that. "Higher-ups?"
"She's right." Qi Xia nodded expressionlessly. "Qiao Jiajin, let go."
"Conman, you..." Qiao Jiajin stared blankly at Qi Xia, unsure of his intentions.
"What... not going to kill me anymore?" Ren Long laughed from the ground. "Use a little more force... I'll be dead soon..."
Qi Xia glanced at Ren Long with a calm expression, then turned around indifferently and said, "Let's go."
"Conman... what are you doing?" Qiao Jiajin asked.
"Nothing. The game's over. Time to leave."
Qiao Jiajin looked deeply distressed. He gritted his teeth, walked back into the room they'd just left, and picked up Tian Tian's body from the floor. Her face was deathly pale, and her body had become very light.
"Don't be afraid, pretty lady. I'll take you with us."
The three of them ignored Ren Long lying on the ground and were about to leave the corridor when they suddenly heard a faint coughing sound coming from another iron door.
"Someone's still alive?" Yun Yao was startled and looked at that iron door.
Qi Xia thought for a moment. The other room had fallen into flames for twenty or thirty seconds—there was indeed a possibility of survival. But what should they do now...?
"I'll go check." Yun Yao stepped forward decisively. "After all, we were the ones who got them into this mess. If we leave them here, they'll definitely die."
With that, she knocked on the door. "Is anyone there?"
The iron door was very hot to the touch, and there was no sound from inside.
Just then, crisp footsteps came from the other end of the corridor. Everyone turned to look and couldn't help but be startled.
It was another "Ren Long."
She walked with a graceful gait, clearly a woman.
The woman Ren Long walked up to the man Ren Long lying on the ground, helped him up, then turned back to the group and said, "Do you want to open the door? I can help you."
Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin stared at her without saying a word.
As far as they remembered, this was the first time two "zodiacs" had appeared together, especially since both were "Dragons." It felt very ominous.
"Open the door," Yun Yao said, regaining her composure. "I'm taking them back."
"Heh..." The woman Ren Long smiled lightly. "As you wish."
She waved her hand gently, and the other iron door swung open.
A horrifying blast of heat poured out, followed by a pungent smell of burning.
"Cough... cough..."
The coughing continued from inside the room, sending a jolt through Qi Xia.
That voice... he felt like he'd heard it somewhere before.
"No... it can't be..." Qi Xia's eyes widened. He stumbled over to the doorway.
Yun Yao and Qiao Jiajin also sensed something was wrong and moved closer to the room.
Inside the room, half of Officer Li's body was horribly burned. His left hand had been severed, and he was now trembling as he fumbled in his pocket with his right hand, trying to pull something out.
No wonder the room had started rising slowly after they first fell into the flames.
Officer Li had cut off his own hand. He was bleeding too.
But the rate of his blood loss was far slower than Tian Tian's.
"Why... why?"
Qi Xia's pupils trembled. Beside Officer Li lay the three bodies that had already been burned to death.
Their clothes had been scorched and fused with their skin, hastening their deaths.
The reason Officer Li had survived this long was most likely because he had taken off his shirt.
Qi Xia had calculated everything, but he never anticipated that Officer Li would be in the opposite room.
"Qi... Xia...?" Officer Li's voice was completely hoarse. "Thank... goodness... come here..."
A loud bell tolled at that moment. What was bound to come had finally arrived.
Qi Xia slowly walked over to Officer Li and crouched down.
His head throbbed with pain as he saw three "Dao" placed beside Officer Li.
And Officer Li was still fumbling in his pocket.
Why?
Why was Officer Li in the opposite room?
Who had teamed up with him?
Were Lin Qin, Lawyer Zhang, and Han Yimo here?
"Three 'Dao'... see... I've already taken out three 'Dao'..." Officer Li said with a strained smile. "There's hope... just wait a little longer..."
"I'm not in a hurry... Officer Li... I'm not in a hurry..." Qi Xia bit his lip, staring at the three Dao on the ground, his expression full of despair.
Officer Li had originally had three Dao.
In other words, he hadn't "produced" a single one.
"Qi Xia... I'll get everyone out... No one has to die..." He continued searching his pocket, but tears were already streaming down his face.
The pocket was empty.
He knew that better than anyone.
Why was it empty?
"I believe you, Officer Li." Qi Xia said in a low voice. "Don't put pressure on yourself..."
Officer Li searched for a long time, crying just as long.
"I..." Blood slowly seeped from Officer Li's eyes, mingling with his tears. It seemed his eyes had been burned as well.
After a long pause, the tall man finally choked out a sob: "Qi Xia... I'm sorry... I might not be able to do it..."
Officer Li was really about to leave.
His eyes lost their focus, and he reached into his pocket one last time.
Qi Xia covered his forehead, unsure how to handle what was coming next.
He could watch people die without warning, but he didn't want to see a good man wear an expression of utter despair.
Officer Li groped around blindly, then suddenly showed a shocked expression.
He forced a smile, trembling as he pulled his hand out and opened it for Qi Xia to see. In his hand was indeed a Dao.
"See... Qi Xia... see..." he rasped. "I can do it... I can do it... This method works... No one has to die..."
Before Qi Xia could take the Dao, Officer Li suddenly coughed up a large amount of blood, then his whole body convulsed violently, and his hand dropped to the floor.
The bell rang again. He was gone.
Qi Xia's expression was extremely complicated.
He stared at the extra Dao, unable to calm down for a long time.
Could Officer Li really pull out a Dao out of thin air?
He instinctively reached into his own pocket.
And revealed a bitter, desperate smile.
The Dao that Officer Li had given him earlier was no longer in his pocket.