Chapter 238: Headache
“What...?” Qi Xia paused for a moment, the snacks in his hand frozen.
“What?” Dihu cast a contemptuous glance at Qi Xia. “You said you wanted to make a deal, but you can't even handle a small favor like this for me?”
Qi Xia's expression didn't change as he tucked the snacks into his pocket. “No, it's just that it's too late tonight. Moving now would be dangerous.”
“Then go rest in my game area—there are no 'ants' there.” Dihu impatiently pushed Qi Xia aside and strode toward the light door.
“And these two thousand nine hundred 'Dao'...”
Dihu stopped in his tracks, lowering his head to think for a moment. “Leave them with me for now. If you don't handle this matter well, I'll make you regret it for the rest of your life.”
With one hand, he grabbed the two heavy sacks of 'Dao,' draping them over his shoulder like a towel, then turned and plunged into the light door.
The light door snapped shut at that moment.
Before Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin could say a word, another light door appeared in the same spot, and in the next second, a flood of dark figures crawled out from within.
Each figure moved on all fours, their limbs twisted and contorted, emitting a faint rustling sound from their mouths as they stared ahead with hollow, eyeless sockets.
“Not good...” Qi Xia grabbed Qiao Jiajin. “Let's go. Quickly.”
Startled by the sight, Qiao Jiajin quickly snapped back to his senses and followed Qi Xia as they ran toward the building.
The two entered Dihu's arena, closed the door behind them, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Liar boy... what was that?” Qiao Jiajin asked, confused. “Those... are people?”
“Probably...” Qi Xia said gravely. “I've seen them before. They don't attack people, but they always feel dangerous.”
“Holy crap...” Qiao Jiajin slowly caught his breath, then changed the subject. “Liar boy, are you sure it's safe to give all that 'Dao' to that tiger guy?”
“For now, it's the safest option.” Qi Xia thought for a moment before speaking. “Have you noticed... 'Dao' is completely useless to 'Earth-level' zodiacs.”
“What...?” Qiao Jiajin was taken aback.
“Think about the Earth-level games we've played. Every zodiac was operating at a loss. The tickets they collected were far less than the rewards we won.”
Qiao Jiajin rubbed his chin in thought for a long time, then said seriously, “Liar boy... I've only participated in one 'Earth-level' game.”
“Uh...” Qi Xia shook his head. “You did participate—you just don't remember. When we first arrived in the 'Land of the End,' the bear you beat up was an Earth-level game.”
“Oh, right...”
Qi Xia continued, “So I suspect the purpose of the 'Earth-level' games isn't to win 'Dao' at all. They use 'Dao' to lure us into dying. 'Dao' is meaningless to them—they can even afford to lose it.”
“But...” Qiao Jiajin still seemed uneasy. “You're basing this on a 'guess.' Aren't you taking a huge risk by giving him all our 'Dao'?”
“Of course it's risky,” Qi Xia said. “As long as those two thousand nine hundred 'Dao' are in my hands, any choice I make is risky. The 'Jidao' will hunt us down to the last for that 'Dao.' Comparatively, entrusting the 'Dao' to an Earth-level 'zodiac' is actually a safer move.”
Qiao Jiajin nodded, then asked, “And what about that 'Heavenly Sheep' you mentioned? Where do we find him?”
“I don't know,” Qi Xia said, shaking his head. “Let alone the 'Heavenly Sheep'—we can't even find the 'Human Rat' Dihu mentioned.”
“What?” Qiao Jiajin looked at Qi Xia, puzzled. “He gave us the address. How can we not find him?”
“That child is dead,” Qi Xia said with a hint of regret. “When we first arrived last time, you and I saw a corpse together... Do you remember?”
“Holy crap... a child?” Qiao Jiajin suddenly recalled the scene. “I only remembered the corpse was very small. That was a kid?”
“Yeah.”
“Who the hell was ruthless enough to kill her?!” Qiao Jiajin looked furious. “Killing a child—what kind of person does that...”
“I did,” Qi Xia said bluntly.
“Huh...?”
“Back then, I heard that in the 'Land of the End,' you could stake your life instead of paying a fee in games. So I tried it in that child's game.” Qi Xia sighed gloomily. “But I didn't realize that the 'judge' here was also a kind of 'participant.' If I staked my life and won, it would cost theirs.”
Qiao Jiajin let out a regretful sigh.
When you know nothing, how can you consider whether your choice might cost a 'zodiac' their life?
“So what do we do now?” Qiao Jiajin asked. “Looks like that tiger-headed guy doesn't know yet...”
He turned to look at Qi Xia, suspecting that Qi Xia's approach would likely involve deceiving Dihu.
“I'm planning to tell him tomorrow,” Qi Xia said. “I did it. I'll own up to it.”
“What?! Own up?! What if he tries to kill you?” Qiao Jiajin sounded uneasy. “I don't think I can last two rounds against him...”
“Probably not,” Qi Xia shook his head. “As a 'zodiac,' he shouldn't be able to kill people outright. But he'll definitely be furious. Since I've decided to work with him, I'll try showing genuine sincerity.”
With that, Qi Xia found a corner to sit down against the wall. “Fist, get some rest. There's a lot to do tomorrow.”
Qiao Jiajin nodded uneasily, then found a wooden board to lie down on.
But despite his words, how could Qi Xia possibly sleep?
Everything that happened today kept swirling through his mind.
Yu Nian'an had committed suicide.
Qi Xia wasn't surprised—it was even within his expectations.
He had originally planned to seek out the Heavenly Sheep this cycle, but then Yu Nian'an's substitute appeared. So he changed his plans and instead brought Yu Nian'an to join 'Heaven's Gate.'
This way, no matter what happened to Yu Nian'an's substitute, he could immediately and openly point the finger at Tian Chuqiu.
He just hadn't expected the day to come so soon.
These 'created' versions of Yu Nian'an always seemed a little off—
Their subconscious knew they were fake. They doubted themselves, and sometimes even became unhinged.
The 'Dong dong dong' last time and this suicide were proof enough.
That's why Qi Xia had inexplicably left a fruit knife behind.
A quiet, lonely classroom late at night, the foul air, a field full of corpses, combined with Yu Nian'an's self-doubt—what a perfect setting for suicide.
Qi Xia felt he could use this trait to distinguish the real Yu Nian'an. The real one wouldn't doubt herself, but the fake one would.
Beyond that...
Qi Xia reached up and touched his forehead.
Every time he was about to feel grief, That immense pain would strike. But today, when he witnessed Yu Nian'an die before his eyes, his head didn't hurt.
That was another perfect piece of evidence.
It seemed that 'substitutes' had no effect on him at all.
“Headache...” Qi Xia squinted, thinking briefly.
The first time he felt a headache in the 'Land of the End' was when the 'Human Rat' died.
Logically, he didn't even know that child. Why had it hurt then?
A complete stranger, and it made him grieve?
“Was it because the one who died was a child...?”
Qi Xia pulled out the bag of snacks Dihu had given him from his pocket and shook his head with regret.