Chapter 434: The Gopher’s Fear
The four of them once again discussed their strategy, waiting for the second round’s doors to open.
During this time, Qi Xia and Luo Shiyi each dropped a fruit into their own holes, bringing their satiety levels back up to two bars, while the others remained at one.
With a soft click, the door locks disengaged, and the four of them stepped out of their rooms one after another.
"Saturday, after you enter the room, regardless of whether you step on a mousetrap or not, make sure to immediately send a telepathic message to Qiu Shiliu," Qi Xia said. "Luo Shiyi and I will only begin the 'rescue' after you've sent that message."
"Tsk, I got it."
Saturday and Wang Ba walked toward the first and second rooms respectively. Just as they were about to enter, Qi Xia suddenly felt something was off.
"Wait..." He raised his hand to stop them. "Wang Ba, switch."
"Me...?"
Qi Xia nodded and pointed toward the fifth room, the one with the brown wooden door.
Wang Ba sighed after hearing this and slowly walked over.
Qi Xia's concern was that the first and second rooms were too close together. If the Gopher had anticipated his anticipation, it would focus its attention on rooms other than just the third one.
If the Cat this round wasn't using a mousetrap but was instead patrolling, two people this close together could easily be caught at once—that would be the worst-case scenario for the entire game.
But thinking further, last round the Cat had made the right choice by not using a mousetrap, because this round was actually its best chance to catch someone.
That meant there was a very high probability that a mousetrap lay in either of the pairs—Room 1 and 2, or Room 4 and 5. The chance of each person stepping on a mousetrap was one in two.
"Be careful," Qi Xia said quietly. "Warm up a bit beforehand so you don’t cramp up later."
"Huh?" Wang Ba clearly didn't understand, but seeing that Qi Xia wasn't going to explain further, he could only push the door open with a hesitant look and step into the room.
Luo Shiyi's expression toward Qi Xia grew increasingly complicated. He had an odd feeling.
The man in front of him truly seemed extraordinary. Like Qian Wu, he carried a uniquely commanding aura—so much so that calling him a leader of some faction wouldn't be an overstatement.
"Come with me," Qi Xia said expressionlessly. "Let's go check out the Cat Room."
Luo Shiyi nodded silently and followed Qi Xia as they walked forward.
"Hey, you know what? I really like capable people," Luo Shiyi said in a low voice.
"What do you mean?"
"Only truly formidable people earn my respect," Luo Shiyi sneered. "I thought in this city only Five-Ge could keep me in line, but it turns out you've got some skill too."
Qi Xia acted as if he hadn't heard a word Luo Shiyi said. He arrived beside the Cat Room, where there was a button on the wall outside.
Above the button was written: Press to indicate start of rescue.
"I'm really afraid of failure, you know," Luo Shiyi continued. "You might not be my age yet, but once a man passes thirty, there's no time for failure. So you have to follow the right person..."
"No telepathic message yet?" Qi Xia frowned.
"Hey... are you listening to me?"
"No telepathic message means there's something going on in her room. That means she's been delayed by something, and that something can only be a mousetrap..." Qi Xia reasoned, stroking his chin. "Just as I expected—the mousetrap is in Room 1. Next..."
"Hey... I said..." Luo Shiyi was just about to speak when suddenly a bell sounded in the distance.
*Dong!!*
The bell arrived without warning—Blazing Sun had descended.
Qi Xia's eyes widened, and he immediately pressed the rescue button on the wall. At the same moment, a heart-wrenching scream came from the Cat Room.
"Qi Xia!! You're looking for death!!"
Before the voice had even faded, Qi Xia kicked the door open.
Qiu Shiliu, who had been roaring to the sky with bloodshot eyes, froze in place at the sight of him.
The Gopher beside her also seemed frightened by her fury, now cowering motionless in a corner.
"Huh?" Qiu Shiliu blinked. "Wait... you guys... this?"
Seeing her reaction, Qi Xia let out a long sigh of relief. "The intel was wrong. I came to save you."
"You..." Qiu Shiliu's eyes flickered, the rage in them already dissipating by half.
"Save me...? What—what's going on?"
"Let's not talk about that now. Come with me first," Qi Xia said. "Let's go back together."
Luo Shiyi felt something was off. "Wait a minute... what do you mean 'let's go back together'? What about me?"
Qi Xia didn't answer. Instead, he looked around the walls of the room. After a brief moment, he nodded to himself. "Luo Shiyi, you stay here."
"What?!"
Seeing that Luo Shiyi hadn't understood his meaning, Qi Xia leaned in and whispered a few words into his ear.
Those few words made Luo Shiyi's expression shift dramatically.
"You... are you insane?" Luo Shiyi asked. "Did the rules mention anything like that?"
"No, they didn't. But they didn't forbid it either," Qi Xia said. "Since he set it up in advance, it means this method is feasible."
Luo Shiyi still looked skeptical, but when he examined the Gopher's collar closely, and then noticed a pomegranate on the table in the room, his mind finally snapped to full alertness.
"Did you think of this step long ago... or only after entering the room?" Luo Shiyi asked.
"Why do you think I arranged for myself to do the rescue?" Qi Xia looked at him expressionlessly and replied, "I told you, I had something to confirm in the Cat Room. Now everything matches what I thought."
After speaking, he turned to the Gopher. "Have you reconsidered what I said earlier? The three of us are standing together in the Cat Room now—that should prove I wasn't lying before. Are you willing to join a 'torrent'?"
The Gopher's pitch-black eyes looked at the ground with a complicated glint. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking, but Qi Xia knew that his attempt to shake him had most likely succeeded.
"Esteemed leader... you... you're joking," the Gopher said with a bitter laugh. "I just want you all to die, plain and simple. You really overestimate me. How could I ever do something so treacherous?"
"Is that so?" Qi Xia frowned. "Is the person above you really that formidable?"
The Gopher walked step by step toward Qi Xia, meeting his gaze, and then opened his mouth to speak. "So, leader... please, mind your own business. Can you just die obediently? All I want is to grovel and watch your collar explode while your brains splatter—not climb up high and get swept into your 'torrent.' I'm not worthy, you see."
The complexity in that gaze was almost beyond Qi Xia's imagination.
The Gopher wanted to die, wanted to escape, wanted to win, wanted to lose, and wanted to live.
His camouflage had been worn for far too long—so long that even he himself didn't know which of his words were true.
But Qi Xia had seen many Earth-level Zodiacs before, yet he had never seen one so terrified of the Heavenly Dragon. Could it be that above the Gopher was not the Heavenly Dragon, but someone in between?
"If the 'Human Dragon' is the manager of all Human-level Zodiacs..." Qi Xia muttered to himself, "then the one you fear is the 'Earth Dragon'?"