Chapter 258: The Remaining Sorrow
But if fifty-one people were participating... why did "Ground Sheep" want to control the number of participants?
This was a dangerous yet thrilling conclusion.
The fans distributed in the first round were never the 150 fans meant for fifty people, nor the 153 fans for fifty-one people.
Because counting Ground Sheep, there were fifty-two people standing on the field, and all fifty-two had received fans.
So in theory, the first round had 156 fans.
Yet even 156 was not the actual number of fans distributed in the first round.
Before the game began, when Ground Sheep demonstrated to the group, he publicly inserted four fans into the "Matching Machine."
With those four added, the game was truly established.
The first round had a total of 160 fans, forty of each suit.
With this, all the logic fell into place.
Ground Sheep didn't kill for "retribution"—he killed simply because he felt like it, according to his own preferences.
He was clearly one of the participants.
After all, the Matching Machine had shown Ground Sheep's photo from the very beginning, indicating he was recorded as a participant.
In other words, the rules here didn’t care whether participants killed each other. This made the situation even more troublesome, because since Ground Sheep was also a participant, he could kill anyone at will.
And with his strength, if it came to killing, no one on the field was his match.
As expected—once Ground Sheep became a participant, even if the remaining fifty-one people united, it would be useless.
He would simply go on a killing spree.
This made the idea of teaming up in this game a complete joke.
Qi Xia shook his head and muttered to himself, "Ground Sheep... Ground Sheep... you really are an interesting opponent..."
"Do you personally put yourself into the game every time just to experience the deception firsthand?"
Qi Xia's gaze gradually grew hesitant...
He had thought his opponents were just fifty ordinary people, and at worst, a few "Echoers." Who could have imagined he'd end up going directly against Ground Sheep himself?
Ground Sheep would kill other participants based on his own needs and preferences.
This enormous casino... was practically his slaughterhouse.
But now, something was strange. If he could kill everyone on the field outright, why would he allow anyone to escape?
"Could it be that you want a relatively fair game...? You killed that violent guy because you don't approve of that method of winning?"
Qi Xia looked again at the black goat-headed figure in the center of the field. Just then, Ground Sheep turned his head and looked back at Qi Xia.
Their eyes met in that moment.
After a long pause, Ground Sheep turned away, staring straight ahead as if he hadn't seen anything.
Qi Xia came back to his senses. He walked over to the dead old man and pulled the dagger from his chest. Then, carrying the dagger, he approached the big man Ground Sheep had beaten to death.
The big man had died standing, his head twisted 360 degrees, his neck contorted into a bloody, shredded rope.
His fans had already been "confiscated" by Ground Sheep, and for that reason, no one came to check his corpse.
Qi Xia lifted the dagger and looked at the "rich man" whose ribs had been pierced by the knife-wielding man. He went over to him and rifled through the fans in his pocket. Unfortunately, not a single "Sorrow" was there.
"Hey!" Ground Sheep called from a distance. "Fans from people who have already escaped cannot be taken."
"Can't be taken?" Qi Xia turned back to look at Ground Sheep, puzzled, unable to tell if this was the truth.
"That's right," Ground Sheep said. "He was supposed to use these fans to exchange for 'Tao,' but he died, so the fans are null."
"Null...?"
"Yes." Ground Sheep nodded.
Qi Xia smirked, grabbed all the dead rich man's fans, and tore them into shreds one by one.
"If they're null... then they shouldn't stay here, so the game remains fair."
Ground Sheep opened his mouth but said nothing.
After Qi Xia shredded the fans, he mixed all the fragments together. Only when he was sure they were completely unusable did he pick up the dagger and walk away.
Qi Xia's actions drew everyone's attention. No killing was allowed in the field anymore, so why was someone still picking up a knife?
And he was clearly provoking Ground Sheep...
Wasn't this guy afraid of death?
Qi Xia walked to a corner of the field with the dagger and slowly sat down.
All that was left to do now was wait.
Wait for the "Sorrow" in the field to be consumed.
Forty "Sorrow" fans had been distributed in the first round... So how many would remain?
Ground Sheep had consumed one during his demonstration. Two teams had escaped, consuming two more.
Qi Xia had three in his hand. In theory, at that point, the maximum number of "Sorrow" fans in circulation was thirty-four...
Then... how many had Ground Sheep just replenished?
After all, he had said, "Everyone will have a chance to replenish their fans." That meant the number of fans he brought out the second time matched the number of people present—fifty-two. That way, everyone could potentially replenish.
Fifty-two is exactly divisible by four: thirteen of each suit.
The only good news was that those thirteen replenished "Sorrow" fans had all been taken by the "rich men."
So the other suits had all been replenished by thirteen, while the number of "Sorrow" remained unchanged—still decreasing.
These three teams of "rich men" not only took away thirteen "Sorrow" fans but also consumed three to escape, leaving thirty-one "Sorrow" fans.
Before Qin Dingdong left, she had given another "Sorrow" fan to Qi Xia, further reducing the number on the "market."
Now, at most thirty "Sorrow" fans were circulating on the "market," and that was assuming each escapee had consumed only one "Sorrow."
"No..." Qi Xia suddenly thought of something. Qin Dingdong's original hand had been "Joy, Anger, Sorrow."
She had taken an extra "Sorrow" with her when she left.
So the "Sorrow" on the field now numbered twenty-nine.
If Qin Dingdong's case wasn't an exception... then the final number of remaining "Sorrow" would be less than twenty-nine, possibly approaching twenty.
So... could the "Sorrow" on the field fall below twenty?
Forty people needed to escape. In theory, twenty more "Sorrow" would be consumed. Could Qi Xia hold out until the very end?
Would everyone escape first... or would the "Sorrow" run out first?
Qi Xia realized this bizarre game had no "Nash equilibrium point." Just sitting there doing nothing was suicide.
For the plan to be foolproof... he had to consume a massive amount of "Sorrow."
But how could he consume the "Sorrow" in others' hands?
After thinking it over, a smile spread across Qi Xia's face.
Why think anymore?
Just do it the old-fashioned way—use Qin Dingdong's method.
Now he could actively go "match" with others, and the dagger in his hand could play the role of an "enforcer."
Qi Xia looked up and saw three more teams escaping. The number of people decreased by six again, leaving thirty-four.
"Sorrow" decreased by three again, leaving at most twenty-six.
Before Qi Xia could find a target, the square-faced man he had seen earlier walked over with a nervous smile. "Hey! Brother! Brother!"
Qi Xia turned to look at him, surprised.
He thought their negotiation had already fallen through.
"Brother... I agree!" the square-faced man said anxiously.
"What?"
"I'll give you an extra fan. Match with me!"
Qi Xia looked down at the man's bulging pocket and thought of something.
"Fine!" Qi Xia nodded. "Give me a fan first, and then I'll match with you."
"No problem!" The man seemed desperate. He immediately took a fan from his pocket and handed it to Qi Xia.
Qi Xia opened it and looked. It was "Joy."
"Alright, let's go match," Qi Xia said.
The square-faced man nodded, and they went to the Matching Machine.
"What should I offer?" the square-faced man asked, surprised. "What do you have?"
"Everything except 'Sorrow,'" Qi Xia said.
"Then I'll offer 'Sorrow' and 'Joy,' and you offer 'Joy' and 'Anger'!"
"Fine."