Chapter 213: Trap Within a Trap
Had Chu Tianqiu truly sacrificed his rook to save his king?
But this time, the rook he abandoned was genuine, and the king he protected was the real one.
No wonder the Chu Tianqiu before him could come up with such a meticulous plan... So the real deal had finally shown up?
But Qi Xia was still puzzled.
If Chu Tianqiu had confidently sent people to find Xu Liunian, it could only mean one thing.
No one could find Xu Liunian anymore. That person had already been killed by him.
But why had he made this decision?
Could it be that because Qi Xia had proposed a collaboration with Xu Liunian, he had provoked Chu Tianqiu's intent to kill?
No matter how he thought about it, the situation before him reeked of strangeness.
Yun Yao slowly stepped forward and spoke, "Tianqiu... what are you talking about? You said 'Xu Liunian'?"
"That's right. It's her." Chu Tianqiu nodded.
"How could she be someone who 'just joined Heaven's Gate'?" Yun Yao said, her face filled with shock. "Xiao Nian is our teammate!"
Aunt Tong nearby also wore a puzzled expression. She too remembered Xu Liunian.
Supposedly she was a "participant" who came from the same room as Chu Tianqiu and Yun Yao, but she had disappeared for a long time.
"Yun Yao, how long has it been since we last saw Xu Liunian?" Chu Tianqiu added some waste wood to the bonfire. "Think carefully. Even if she was once our teammate, what guarantees do you have that she isn't part of the 'Extreme Path' now?"
"This... how is this possible..." Yun Yao stared wide-eyed.
Chu Tianqiu stopped paying attention to Yun Yao and instead spoke to the gathered crowd, "Everyone, Xu Liunian was indeed our teammate two years ago. Some of you have fought alongside her. But I suspect her identity has now changed. She returned to 'Heaven's Gate' and impersonated me."
Upon hearing this, everyone revealed shocked expressions.
"For the past few days, she's kept me locked in the school's storage room," Chu Tianqiu continued. "Since my 'Resonance' trigger condition is very specific, I didn't dare defy her and had to go along with everything. This is also why we've lost so many teammates recently. Although I didn't do it, I want to apologize to everyone."
After listening, Yun Yao asked, "Then how did you escape?"
"I..." Chu Tianqiu smiled at Yun Yao. "I don't know what happened with her today. After she brought me food, she forgot to lock the door, and I got lucky."
"So that's how it was..." Zhang Shan muttered to himself. "So it was all done by that person called Xu Liunian...?"
Qi Xia slowly furrowed his brow.
Although Chu Tianqiu had handled this matter well, something still felt off to him.
It was like a chess game had just begun. Qi Xia had only moved a single pawn, yet his opponent immediately chose to sacrifice a rook to save the king.
Wasn't this reaction a bit too extreme?
"Comrades." Chu Tianqiu stood up and walked step by step toward the door. "The first thing I did after escaping wasn't to come see you. It was to lock the school gate and bring antibiotics to save people. Now the school gate is guarded. In theory, Xu Liunian absolutely cannot escape. Tonight is our best chance to catch her. Pay attention—her 'Resonance' is 'Transformation.' She can turn into people she knows well. From what I can tell, she's very familiar with me and Yun Yao, so the success rate of transformation is high. That's why Yun Yao and I will act together, leaving her no opportunity. If any of you see a lone 'Chu Tianqiu' or 'Yun Yao,' you can apprehend them directly."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Since that's the case, let's all work hard tonight and skip rest for now," Chu Tianqiu said to the crowd. "Capturing Xu Liunian is our top priority."
He divided everyone into groups and sent them to search the entire school for Xu Liunian, but he didn't assign any task to Qi Xia.
"What about me?" Qi Xia asked.
"You and Qiao Jiajin stay here to protect the injured," Chu Tianqiu said. "We'll notify you once we find Xu Liunian."
Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin exchanged glances but didn't object.
Everyone quickly left the classroom, taking flashlights and dispersing in all directions.
Qi Xia slowly sat down, his mind replaying the entire incident.
"Too strange..." Qi Xia muttered.
When playing chess with a madman, how could one predict their opponent's moves?
"Scam boy... you okay?" Qiao Jiajin asked from beside him.
"I'm fine." Qi Xia shook his head. "I just have a lot of things I can't figure out."
Time passed minute by minute, and Qi Xia grew increasingly restless.
He felt as if he had overlooked something extremely important.
But what was it?
"Here it comes again... this feeling of being out of my depth..." Qi Xia slowly frowned.
The next second, a bell suddenly rang in the distance.
The sound startled the three people in the room.
Qi Xia looked out the window. Though he didn't know the exact time, it was definitely past midnight.
There was no way anyone would be participating in a game at this hour. So this "bell sound"...
"Members of the 'Extreme Path' are attacking!!" someone shouted from outside. "Everyone prepare for battle!!"
In an instant, the entire "Heaven's Gate" fell into chaos.
Qi Xia could only hear a torrent of footsteps and commotion, followed by more bell sounds.
"The 'Extreme Path' is attacking?" Qi Xia looked confused.
Did that even make sense?
Lin Qin had said that the "Extreme Path" wasn't an organized or planned group. And yet they were attacking now?
Qi Xia peered out the window and indeed saw people barging in through the main gate. From a distance, there were about twenty-some people, holding torches and wearing black clothes—clearly an organized force.
Li Xiangling felt extremely uneasy. Clutching her injured arm, she got up and looked outside.
"They're killing people..."
Although visibility was poor in the darkness, she could clearly see violent incidents happening in the distance. A young "Heaven's Gate" member had just reached the gate when he was suddenly pierced through by several wooden poles.
Li Xiangling covered her mouth, then got off the bed to look for something to defend herself.
The bells in the distance kept ringing, accompanied by shouts, screams of battle, occasional explosions, and gunfire—a cacophony that agitated everyone's mind.
"Holy shit..." Qiao Jiajin glanced out the window. "Scam boy, what the hell is going on?"
"I don't know."
Qi Xia shook his head, walked to the bonfire, and quickly extinguished the flames.
Chu Tianqiu had just personally lit this fire. It was highly likely he was using the light as a signal to mark the target for the enemy.
After all, this was the only lit room in the entire school right now. No matter how you looked at it, it was far too suspicious.
"We can't stay in this room anymore," Qi Xia said cautiously. "Fist, take Li Xiangling. We need to move right now."
"Got it!"
Qiao Jiajin didn't ask why. He immediately reached out to support Li Xiangling, draping her arm over his shoulder, then opened the door and carefully peeked outside. "No one."
Just as they were about to leave, they suddenly heard the roar of a car engine.
They turned their heads in confusion and looked out the window. An old, battered sedan burst through the school gate and sped away, disappearing without looking back down the distant road.
"Someone made a run for it in a car?" Qiao Jiajin asked.
"Forget it. Let's go first."
The three of them slipped into the hallway under the cover of night. The main entrance of the teaching building and the courtyard were both swarming with enemies. Escape was simply impossible.
"Scam boy, which way?"
"Let's get away from the battlefield first."