Chapter 159: The Second Game
"Possible." Lin Qin nodded. "You made a huge splash in your first cycle, catching not only the attention of 'Heaven's Gate,' but also 'The Extreme Path.'"
"I see..." Qi Xia narrowed his eyes in thought. "So that means I've been here for a month now..."
And Yu Nian'an... had she been missing for a month?
"There's still time..." Qi Xia muttered to himself at last. "A month isn't that long. I'll find you..."
"Qi Xia, there's another very important reason I want to be your teammate," Lin Qin said.
"What?"
"You're too smart, and that actually makes you seem not smart enough. I want to supervise you from your side, because escaping this place successfully requires extreme caution in everything."
Qi Xia paused briefly, not understanding what Lin Qin meant.
"You never restrain your sharpness, and you don't know how to hide your intelligence. Such behavior is no different from suicide." Lin Qin finished the wine in her hand and continued, "If I were you, I might pretend to be an idiot and only reveal my intelligence at the very last moment."
"Not necessary," Qi Xia said. "If I ever encounter danger, it only means that the 'intelligence' I've radiated is far from enough. As long as I can crush my opponent with strategy, I don't need to hide at all."
"What an odd man." Lin Qin chuckled. "Do you never hold 'Heaven's Gate,' 'The Extreme Path,' or the 'Zodiac' in any regard?"
"It's not that I 'don't hold them in regard.' I just want to get out." Qi Xia said. "No matter who it is, anyone who shares the same goal as me is my ally."
"Then..." Lin Qin set down her wine bottle and wiped her lips with her fingers. "I've already told you about my 'Resonator' army plan. Now I'd like to hear your thoughts. Do you have a plan?"
"A plan..." Qi Xia glanced over at Chu Tianqiu in the distance.
If he truly had to formulate a plan, Chu Tianqiu's position would be crucial.
What was this man scheming?
And what was the content of his notes?
Thinking this, Qi Xia slowly stood up. "Lin Qin, our conversation tonight ends here. There's another game waiting for me downstairs. When I have a plan, I'll naturally tell you."
He grabbed a handful of peanuts from the table and slowly walked over to Chu Tianqiu's side.
At that moment, Chu Tianqiu was sitting alone in a corner, smiling as he gazed in the direction of Yun Yao.
"Qi Xia...?" Chu Tianqiu noticed the approaching person and raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"
"I want to ask you a few questions." Qi Xia sprinkled the peanuts onto the table, picked one up, and began to shell it.
"Sure." Chu Tianqiu smiled. "What do you want to ask?"
"A participant is taking his own 'Tao' to play a game. But on the road, there's a group of weird lunatics. Every time they rob passersby, they take half the 'Tao' and then return one. The participant walked on this road for several days in a row, encountering the lunatics multiple times, yet his 'Tao' never suffered any loss. How is this possible?"
After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu was slightly stunned and furrowed his brow.
Qi Xia lowered his head, eating peanuts without saying a word.
"He bribed the lunatics," Chu Tianqiu said.
Qi Xia's expression remained unchanged. He still said nothing.
Seeing Qi Xia's demeanor, Chu Tianqiu knew the answer might be off. He bowed his head and thought for a moment longer before saying, "The participant killed them all."
Qi Xia nodded and then asked another question: "Two people kill someone together. One gets splattered with blood all over his face, while the other remains clean. But after the killing, why is it the person with the clean face who immediately runs to wash it?"
"Because he's allergic to blood," Chu Tianqiu replied.
"Oh? Is that so?" Qi Xia's expression darkened. "The participant is a murderer, and the murderer is allergic to blood... Is that really it?"
"Haha!" Chu Tianqiu laughed. "Qi Xia, are you trying to test me? These kinds of questions won't stump me. Do you want a drink? I'll get you a bottle."
He was about to stand up and leave when Qi Xia suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm.
"Sit down," Qi Xia said coldly.
"What...?"
"I want to talk to the real Chu Tianqiu. The matters from here on are beyond your authority," Qi Xia said.
"'The real Chu Tianqiu'?" A puzzled expression appeared on Chu Tianqiu's face. "Qi Xia, what are you talking about? Are you saying I'm a fake Chu Tianqiu?"
"What do you think?" Qi Xia slowly raised his eyes. "The two questions I asked you were clearly logic problems. Yet the way you answered them didn't use logical thinking at all—you were just wildly guessing based on your own imagination. Quite a few people have told me that 'Chu Tianqiu' is an extremely intelligent man. Is this your idea of 'intelligence'?"
Upon hearing this, Chu Tianqiu let out a silent sigh and said, "Qi Xia, it's true I'm not as smart as you. Although I admit that, I am still Chu Tianqiu."
At these words, Qi Xia felt something was off.
This man was truly too strange.
And he wasn't lying.
No matter how skilled a liar, there are always flaws—but Chu Tianqiu simply had none.
Since he was Chu Tianqiu, and he wasn't smart, yet Chu Tianqiu was supposed to be smart... Could there be another possibility?
"You say you are Chu Tianqiu..." Qi Xia asked quietly. "So are there two of you in this world?"
"What...?"
"One takes the bullets in the open, while the other schemes in the shadows..." Qi Xia continued deducing the current situation, feeling he was one step closer to the truth. "Because of some 'Resonance'... two of you exist in this world?"
The corner of Chu Tianqiu's eye twitched slightly, and Qi Xia caught the fatal flaw.
"So that's it... If Chu Tianqiu's 'Resonance' were to create another version of himself, that wouldn't make much sense." Qi Xia continued. "He should have created a 'perfect' version, not a foolish one—otherwise, it would be too easy to expose."
Chu Tianqiu's expression gradually changed.
"Let me guess..." Qi Xia tapped the table slowly. "So the one who activated the 'Resonance' wasn't Chu Tianqiu, but someone else, right?"
Silence.
"Assuming that person's 'Resonance' is to transform into another person... then the condition would be quite harsh. They would have to completely believe they are Chu Tianqiu for the 'Resonance' to succeed..." Qi Xia raised his eyes and stared into Chu Tianqiu's. "That would make everything fall into place. No matter how we interrogate you... you are Chu Tianqiu—no flaws whatsoever, because deep down you truly believe it. But you simply can't be as smart as the real Chu Tianqiu."
"Qi Xia... you..." Chu Tianqiu was now a little flustered.
"But in 'Heaven's Gate,' who can one hundred percent convince themselves they are Chu Tianqiu?" Qi Xia's lips curled up. "This person knows Chu Tianqiu very well, possesses 'Resonance,' and believes they can play his role..."
"Stop talking for now..." Chu Tianqiu raised his hand to block Qi Xia.
"So when exactly did you return to 'Heaven's Gate'?" Qi Xia slowly leaned in closer to the person in front of him and spoke softly, "Ms. Xu Liunian, the former actress?"