Chapter 625: A Flaw
After a long silence among the numerous "Zodiacs," Earth Tiger began to grow restless.
"Girl, how can you spout nonsense without any rhyme or reason?" he said, rubbing his oversized head. "This sounds pretty far-fetched to me. How could your game have killed Qi Xia?"
"So what?" Earth Rooster looked puzzled at the burly men before her, a hint of meaning in her tone. "Is it really that rare for a 'participant' to die in a 'Ground-level' game?"
Earth Rat furrowed his brow at this point. He exchanged a glance with Earth Tiger before speaking. "Leader Rooster, it's not that we don't believe you... but saying that man died in your game—that does catch us off guard. About when did this happen?"
"Almost a month ago now." Earth Rooster thought for a moment before answering. "What's the matter? Is this man named Qi Xia important?"
The few people in the room who knew Qi Xia naturally felt something was off.
None of their own games had been able to stump him—let alone kill him. They couldn't even gain an advantage in terms of "Tao." So how could Earth Rooster have directly killed Qi Xia?
"Girl, what kind of game is yours?" Earth Tiger asked.
"I'm Earth Rooster, so my game is naturally 'Fighting,'" Earth Rooster replied impatiently. "And you call yourself Earth Tiger—don't you even know that?"
"Of course I fucking know it's 'Fighting'..." Earth Tiger frowned. "What's the specific content? How did Qi Xia get offed by you?"
"It's 'One-on-One,'" Earth Rooster said with a smile. "My game is probably the simplest in all of 'The End Land.' Anyone who enters goes head-to-head in a one-on-one fight until death."
"Ah...?" Earth Tiger was confused. "That counts as a 'game'...?"
"Why not?" Earth Rooster said. "I remember it pretty clearly. That man named Qi Xia came to play my game with a tattooed man, and in the end, the one named Qi Xia died."
"Tattooed...?" Earth Tiger suddenly had a memory.
In his own "Narrow Encounter" game, a tattooed man had shone brightly. He should have been one of Qi Xia's people.
But this man personally killed Qi Xia...?
Did Qi Xia not have a chance to win at that time?
Earth Tiger shook his head. He knew that scenario was unlikely. If Qi Xia died, it was most likely voluntary. Otherwise, he should have had a hundred ways to escape death.
"So... that's your entire impression of the man named Qi Xia?" Earth Tiger asked again.
"Yeah. What other impression should I have?" Earth Rooster looked at him suspiciously. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
The others didn't know how to answer. Earth Rat's eyes darted around for a moment before he spoke up. "I think we're asking the wrong questions... Leader Rooster, we'd like to ask if you know 'White Sheep.'"
"White..." Earth Rooster slowly furrowed her brow, her expression turning unnatural. "Which 'White Sheep'?"
Hearing this question, the group exchanged glances, knowing they'd found a breakthrough.
On this train, there were only two Sheep ranked "Ground-level" or above. So why would someone ask "which White Sheep"?
"Leader Rooster, don't pretend. We're all in the same boat now." Earth Rat stepped forward and said in a low voice. "What did Leader White Sheep say to you? Were the two of you familiar before?"
"I..." Earth Rooster slowly raised her feathered hand, covering her sharp beak, then let out a mischievous laugh, her eyes curving into delighted crescents.
"What's that about..." Earth Tiger was baffled. "Girl, that smile of yours is dangerous... Don't go around sullying my Brother Sheep's name..."
"Oh, come on... I'm not sullying him..." Earth Rooster continued to laugh with ill intent. "Don't you all think White Sheep is pretty handsome?"
"Ah...?" Everyone in the room was stunned.
"I was honestly charmed by him... Hehe..." After laughing, Earth Rooster cleared her throat and quickly turned serious. "But wait—that's not right. No one should know about my secret crush on White Sheep. Who told you? Why ask about this all of a sudden?"
"A cr-crush..." Earth Tiger rubbed his head, realizing things were getting more complicated. "No, girl... Who asked about your crush..."
"Then what did you ask?"
Earth Rooster blinked. Her eyelids had long lashes, and with her dark avian eyes, she looked almost cute.
"Well..." Earth Tiger pondered how to phrase things.
There was a tricky issue facing them now—if this girl had really stumbled into the room by accident, should they tell her about the "rebellion"?
"Let me put it this way..." Earth Tiger said slowly, enunciating each word. "Girl, do you think... Qi Xia and White Sheep... look alike?"
"Ah...? That Qi Xia is pretty handsome too, but he's a participant... Wait..."
Earth Rooster stood dumbfounded for a long moment before forcing out a sentence—
"Are you, you clueless straight guy, trying to set me up?"
After her words, every Zodiac in the room covered their foreheads. This already flawed team was still expanding its flaws.
It seemed this girl didn't care at all about the "rebellion." Her eyes were only for handsome men.
Earth Tiger slowly pursed his lips, thought for a moment, then picked up a handful of sunflower seeds from the table. "Girl, want some sunflower seeds?"
"Want my ass." Earth Rooster slowly stood up and said to the group, "I came to warn you this time. If you cause trouble again, I'm really going to report you to Earth Dragon."
Earth Tiger casually tossed the seeds to Earth Rabbit beside him, his mood extremely complicated.
He felt that White Sheep might have guessed wrong—
This girl joining them wouldn't bring any new plan. Besides, she hadn't even indicated she wanted to join them.
Could the so-called "neighbor" be someone else...?
Black Sheep, who had been watching coldly from the side, now reached up and stroked his chin.
He felt something was off. A flaw.
Logically speaking, there was a flaw in this.
Just as Earth Rooster was about to turn and leave, Black Sheep called out to stop her. "Hold on."
"What?" Earth Rooster turned around, looking at him suspiciously.
"I recall something," Earth Sheep said, stepping forward one step at a time, his eyes sharp. "Qi Xia once won a large amount of 'Tao' in my game. Worried about being robbed, he found a tattooed man to come help him collect the 'Tao' at my venue. That's when I noticed something interesting."
"Oh? So what? Do you want me to express my condolences?" Earth Rooster asked.
"No. On the contrary, I should express condolences for you." Earth Sheep replied. "Next time you lie, you'd better make sure there's no 'Sheep' around."
"Oh? Liar?" Earth Rooster laughed, hands on her hips. "May I ask, Black Sheep Head, where did I lie?"
Earth Sheep paused for three seconds, then asked, "If only the 'tattooed man' and Qi Xia went to participate in your game... how did you know his name was Qi Xia?"