Chapter 687: The Target Appears
After hearing this, Ground Monkey closed his eyes again, and a weathered voice came from his mouth.
“Jade City…” Ground Monkey sighed. “Didn’t I say it before? I worked in Jade City, and I had my gambling den there as well.”
After saying this, Ground Monkey let out a deep sigh. “If I’d known, I should have designed a game with a more complex venue. Otherwise, every time there’s a job change, us Zodiacs who don’t need a venue are always the first to be transferred. Damn it…”
“Uncle, you know that’s not what I’m asking about…”
Zheng Yingxiong reached out and grasped Ground Monkey’s wrist. At that moment, Ground Monkey felt how ice-cold Zheng Yingxiong’s hand was.
The child’s eyes were very complex, carrying a trace of anticipation amidst the fear.
“Uncle… if you’ve hosted games there, you should know that Jade City has fallen ill… It…”
“Yeah, I spent a few years there, and only two people ever entered my venue. What an interesting city.” Ground Monkey nodded, once again pulling out a cigarette from his pocket.
“Two people is already a lot…” Zheng Yingxiong replied. “Uncle, you’re neither Divine Dragon nor Executioner—two people is already a lot…”
“Indeed.” Ground Monkey nodded. “That’s why I said Jade City is really interesting—they think the rules laid down by the Endlands aren’t enough, so they even make their own new ones. Sooner or later they have to pay homage to the Divine Dragon, and if they make a mistake, they have to go see the Executioner…”
Zheng Yingxiong withdrew his hand and began twisting the hem of his clothes, while Ground Monkey kept glancing at the child from the corner of his eye.
“Have all the Zodiacs there been transferred away now?” Zheng Yingxiong asked quietly again. “Is there no way left to save the people of Jade City? Do they still have a chance to escape by participating in games…?”
Zheng Yingxiong threw out several questions in a row. The people around him were hearing him speak so much at once for the first time.
“No chance.” Ground Monkey lit his cigarette and replied. “That city isn’t ‘ill’—it’s got a terminal disease. The entire city has a terminal disease, and it can only wait for its own demise.”
“But I came out this time specifically to heal Jade City. It’s all because of me…”
“It’s not the fault of any single person.” Ground Monkey cut off Zheng Yingxiong. “If a city is sick, it only means all the people living inside are sick. This kind of situation can’t be changed by one person’s strength alone.”
“I…”
Zheng Yingxiong’s young face was filled with a sadness that didn’t belong to his age.
When you think about it, he was already very different from ordinary children. At eight or nine years old, he had none of the innocence and liveliness typical of his age.
“When they place all their hopes and responsibilities on a child, the path to destruction is already set.” Ground Monkey said softly. “It has nothing to do with you. You’ve come to the outside world and seen it—do you think the people of Jade City did the right thing?”
“I… I don’t know… But they placed their hopes on me… I shouldn’t let them down…”
Zheng Yingxiong kept his head down, as if he had done something wrong, but no one in the room wanted to blame him.
“Don’t you think it’s ridiculous?” Ground Monkey said. “All the other cities are doing everything they can to become stronger, study divine power, defeat the Zodiacs, and escape from here. But Jade City, from the very beginning, has been creating a ‘city hero.’ They’ve been counting on the hero they forged to lead them through hardships. For Jade City to last this long is already a stroke of luck.”
“So, Uncle… you know me…” Zheng Yingxiong looked up with a confused expression.
“The famous ‘city hero’—who wouldn’t recognize you if they’ve been to Jade City?” Ground Monkey reached out to touch the newspaper crown on Zheng Yingxiong’s head, but Zheng Yingxiong instinctively stepped back.
“What?” Ground Monkey sneered. “Have you accepted that title yourself?”
“No…” Zheng Yingxiong shook his head. “Deep down, I’ve always known I’m not a hero. But this crown is very important to me.”
Ground Monkey gave Zheng Yingxiong a complicated look, then fell silent and closed his eyes to rest again.
Seeing that Ground Monkey wasn’t responding, Zheng Yingxiong reached out and patted him. “Uncle, I have another question…”
“Are you annoying or what?”
Although Ground Monkey’s words were a bit harsh, his tone was gentle.
“I’m sorry, Uncle, but I really want to know… Will the Divine Dragon and the Executioner also be transferred away?”
“You’ve asked me so many questions—aren’t you afraid I might lie to you?” Ground Monkey replied. “Do you know that you’re a Participant and I’m a Zodiac? Do the people of your city encourage you to talk to Zodiacs?”
“I never had the chance to talk to Zodiacs… I actually have a lot of questions I want to ask you guys…” Zheng Yingxiong thought for a moment and then said, “Uncle, the smell on you isn’t that dirty, so you probably won’t lie to me. Tell me, will they be transferred away?”
Looking at Zheng Yingxiong’s earnest expression, Ground Monkey couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy.
Should all of this really be borne by this child before him?
“The Divine Dragon and the Executioner…” Ground Monkey shook his head. “Don’t you all really know? Those are just Earth Dragon and Earth Ox. They are Zodiacs just like me, so one day they will leave that city. When they leave… Jade City will truly be dead.”
Zheng Yingxiong sighed. His small body seemed to need all its strength just to stay standing.
Jade City… is going to die?
Is Sister going to disappear too?
Just as Zheng Yingxiong was hesitating, he suddenly smelled a very strange odor.
This smell was neither fragrant nor foul, but a completely indescribable eerie odor.
In all the decades of his life, Zheng Yingxiong had only smelled this once before.
“He has appeared…” Zheng Yingxiong said.
“He?” Everyone looked at him. “Who has appeared?”
While everyone was puzzled, they suddenly noticed some movement from Qi Xia’s direction.
They saw Qi Xia’s bowed head slowly lift up. With a cracking sound, Qi Xia moved his neck with his eyes closed. A strange and dangerous aura continuously emanated from him, as if he had ‘evolved’ once again.
Before he even opened his eyes, the corners of his mouth had already slowly lifted.
The group had been with Qi Xia for a long time, but they had never seen such a terrifying smile on his face before.
Then he opened his eyes and scanned the people in front of him.
His eyeballs had turned a dark gray, and his pupils were horizontal rectangles.
Zheng Yingxiong took a slow step toward Qi Xia. “The ‘target’ I came here for has appeared…”