Chapter 467: Who Broke the Rules?
Qiao Jiajin's expression was also ice-cold. Several times he wanted to speak, but each time he swallowed the words back down.
Saturday slowly lowered Ning Shiba to the ground, turned to Wang Ba, and said, "Take her out and burn her."
"Alright..." Wang Ba nodded tremblingly, hoisting Ning Shiba onto his shoulder. He turned back and said, "Sixth Sister... are we really not going to make a move? That damn Horse..."
"This wasn't Fifth Brother's intention." Saturday shook her head. "Don't let Fifth Brother worry. Take Little Eighteen away first. She's already done well enough."
Qiao Jiajin watched as Ning Shiba was carried out the door. The obese man in the distance found some broken wood, laid it on the ground as a makeshift pyre, placed Ning Shiba on top, and pulled out a lighter to ignite the flames. A deep sorrow welled up in his heart.
"You damn Horsewoman..." He turned back to look at the Earth Horse. "Your method of victory is to strike at a wounded person who can't even move?"
The Earth Horse nodded. "As long as I kill someone, this round isn't a loss for me."
"What about your 'righteousness'?" Qiao Jiajin asked.
"I'm just a monster with a horse's head. You're talking to me about 'righteousness'?"
"But your arena has 'Martial Virtue' displayed... You killed a wounded person right in front of 'Martial Virtue'." Qiao Jiajin sneered coldly. "Can you hear the lament of that star?"
"Even 'Martial Virtue' is just a prop created by people," the Earth Horse said. "They must obey my orders to kill."
Qiao Jiajin gripped the iron bar in his hand tightly, his face cold as he took a few steps forward.
"Oh?" The Earth Horse gave a hollow smile, pulling another ice sphere from the bamboo tube. "From the look in your eyes, it seems you want to kill me. But that's really quite funny. What do you plan to do?"
"Since you won't let Second Brother be righteous, I'll be righteous for you." The aura around Qiao Jiajin began to change slowly. "The people who came with me were beaten to death by you right before my eyes... Do you think that's funny?"
"Of course it's funny." The Earth Horse bared her pitch-black lips. "A bunch of participants actually deluded themselves into thinking they could face a 'Earth-level' head-on. What made you so confident?"
"The confidence is me." Qiao Jiajin slowly closed his eyes, recalling everything that had happened since entering the game. "You're quite scheming... I've participated in some games before, and some 'Zodiacs' are open and upright, meaning what they say. But you've hidden all the rules that would lead to our deaths, all so we'd be careless and die."
"Yes." The Earth Horse nodded. "Though it's a bit dishonorable, this is the only way to make more people willingly walk to their deaths."
"Ha..." Qiao Jiajin felt a buzzing in his ears. "How ridiculous... 'Not saying it' doesn't count as 'deception'... That's the funniest thing I've ever heard in this world."
The Earth Horse felt something was wrong. The ground beneath her seemed to be trembling slightly.
"Horsewoman, I'll say it again. The confidence we have standing here... is me."
Qiao Jiajin slowly opened his eyes, and suddenly a tremendous sound of a bell echoed from all directions.
**DONG!!**
The sound was so loud that everyone was startled by it. Even someone as strong as the Earth Horse swayed in place.
**"Breaker of All Laws" descends!**
Seeing this, Qi Xia furrowed his brow. He looked around, knowing that only Qiao Jiajin's "Echo" could produce such a massive bell sound.
But was this really necessary?
According to the information he had gathered, "Zodiacs" didn't possess "Echoes." So what use was "Breaker of All Laws" here?
What could he "break" in this place?
"I've had enough of you..." Qiao Jiajin slowly extended his bat, pointing at the distant Earth Horse. "Put away your petty tricks. In this game, no more cheating."
"Heh." The Earth Horse found it utterly ridiculous. "Your 'Echo' sounds impressive, but how do you plan to deal with me?"
But as soon as she finished speaking, the Earth Horse's eyes flew wide open.
Something she had never anticipated was happening right before her eyes.
All the "traps" on both sides of the track began to grow hazy. Within moments, they shattered into specks of starlight and drifted into the air.
These specks of light swirled in the air before falling back down, illuminating the room like a sea of stars.
At this moment, both the "Cat" team and Qi Xia, who had been keeping his composure, were stunned speechless.
"This..." Qi Xia's lips moved slightly, his mind in turmoil.
All the traps were destroyed? What kind of bizarre situation was this?
"Wait, hold on..." Qi Xia seemed to notice a clue. "This 'Zodiac's' game props... were actually 'Echoed' into existence?!"
A string of clues raced through his mind. He felt as if something important was flickering back and forth.
In other words, some "Echoers" helped build these "props"?
From this perspective, Qi Xia suddenly felt that many things he couldn't understand before were now acceptable.
Those bizarre "game props," those items that shouldn't exist in the "Land of the End"... all of them came from "Echoes"!
"God..." Qi Xia felt he had overlooked a crucial question. "Could it be that there are 'Echoers' standing on the side of the 'Zodiacs'?"
The others naturally hadn't thought as deeply as Qi Xia. They were simply astonished by the sea of stars, feeling as if they had returned to the real world. They stared blankly at the falling specks of light, marveling at the breathtaking beauty.
"Little Eighteen," Saturday said with a bittersweet smile. "If you could have held on just a little longer, you would have seen this sky full of stars. I'm sure you could have divined 'good fortune'... We have a way to fight the 'Zodiacs' now."
Qiao Jiajin swung the iron bat, now covered in starlight, and looked coldly at the Earth Horse. "Let me fight you... to the death."
Seeing this, the Earth Horse trembled uncontrollably, whether from anger or tension.
For her, a more troublesome situation had presented itself.
The props she used to kill had been turned into starlight by some unknown force... These meticulously designed traps that had operated for nearly thirty years had vanished before her very eyes?
What was she supposed to do now?
Had she violated the "rules"?
Or had the other party violated the "rules"?
But the other party hadn't even touched these props before they disappeared. Did "disappearance" count as "destruction"?
Countless thoughts swirled in her mind, throwing her into chaos.
The game she had submitted to her superiors was clearly meant to kill using the "Big Dipper," but where was the "Big Dipper" now?
If this game could only involve pushing carts, did it even have a reason to exist?
"What the hell are you...?" The Earth Horse felt as if she had fallen into some kind of dilemma with no way out. "What did you do to those traps?"
Qiao Jiajin turned back blankly, looking at the shimmering dots of light floating around like stars, and said softly, "I don't want to do anything. I just want a fair and just duel."