Chapter 771: The Person in the Shadows
"So, Brother Sheep..." Earth Dog spoke again after noticing Qi Xia's prolonged silence, "What exactly is the ending of the 'Earth-level'?"
"Hmm?"
"This question has been weighing on my mind for a long time."
"Why ask me?" Qi Xia countered. "Now that you're a 'Zodiac,' you should understand the 'Zodiac' rules better than I do."
"But you're a living legend of the entire 'Land of the End.'" Earth Dog said with some urgency. "Back then, all of us saw you disappear from the 'Train,' and we learned that you had become the 'Heavenly Sheep.' Yet now you're a 'participant'... What exactly happened?"
Qi Xia slowly narrowed his eyes. He finally understood Earth Dog's purpose.
"So you've been wanting to see me..." Qi Xia said, "just to figure out what happened to me?"
"Yes." Earth Dog nodded. "Brother Sheep, I admit you're my idol. You're far stronger than I am, but I've been working toward my own goal too. Right now, I just need an answer. If all the 'rules' in this place are a lie..."
Qi Xia thought for a few seconds, then said to him, "There are two answers to that question. Do you want to know if this place can really let you become 'Heavenly,' or do you want to know if it's possible to escape?"
Earth Dog pondered for a moment, then said, "I... I want to get out."
The answer was clearly hesitant, and Qi Xia detected a hint of deceit in it.
"Impossible." Qi Xia replied. "No one can ever leave this place. Even if you become 'Heavenly,' it won't matter."
Qi Xia's brief words struck like a thunderbolt-wielding spear, piercing straight through Earth Dog and making his entire body tremble slightly.
"So... we've been deceived all along?" Earth Dog murmured. "For all these years... the goal we've been striving for... it doesn't even exist?"
"You could say that." Qi Xia nodded.
"Heh..." Earth Dog let out a bitter laugh, his eyes looking as if they had died.
Qi Xia stared at Earth Dog's expression, reached up, and rubbed his chin.
Strange. The current situation was far too strange.
The Earth Dog before him seemed, by all accounts, to be nothing more than an ordinary 'Zodiac.' If anything, he seemed to stand on the side of all the 'Earth-level Zodiacs' rather than on the side of the 'Heavenly Dragon.'
He had no idea about the truth of this world, and he was still striving to be promoted to the 'Heavenly level.'
He was no different from any other 'Zodiac.' If Qi Xia's words reached any other 'Zodiac's' ears, the effect would be exactly the same.
The only difference might be whether the other party believed him.
But right now, what kind of bizarre situation was this? Multiple paths had simultaneously pointed toward this 'Earth Dog,' yet his performance left Qi Xia deeply disappointed—
What exactly was so necessary about meeting him?
"Then... Brother Sheep..." After a moment of silence, Earth Dog asked again, "Can one still become 'Heavenly' in this place?"
Qi Xia gave Earth Dog a cold, long stare before speaking slowly:
"Yes, you can."
"What...?"
"As long as you're lucky enough, you can still become 'Heavenly.'"
This answer seemed to contradict what Earth Dog had in mind, leaving him stunned on the spot.
"Brother Sheep... you mean even though there's no way to escape, one can still become 'Heavenly'?"
"That's what I mean." Qi Xia said.
"Then... what does 'lucky enough' mean?" Earth Dog pressed.
"You should understand." Qi Xia replied. "Not everyone who meets the requirements can become 'Heavenly'... Or rather, the requirement to become 'Heavenly' isn't about killing three thousand six hundred people."
"I see..." Earth Dog nodded, his eyes vacant. "Many of the current 'Heavenly' ones don't seem to have reached their height by 'killing people'..."
"Simply put, it's all at the whim of the 'Heavenly Dragon' and 'Azure Dragon.'" Qi Xia said. "If they say you can become 'Heavenly,' then you are 'Heavenly.' 'Killing people' is just a way for the many 'Zodiacs' to show their 'loyalty' to them."
Earth Dog slowly lifted his eyes and asked, "So, not only do I have to look like a 'dog' on the outside, I also have to think of myself as their 'dog' on the inside?"
"Of course." Qi Xia said. "If you're a 'dog' that follows their orders, wags its tail and begs for mercy, and is utterly loyal, your chances of becoming 'Heavenly' will increase dramatically."
"That's a message I expected... and one that completely dashes my hopes." Earth Dog said.
"You might gain supreme power here, but the price is that you'll never leave. Would you be willing?"
"I... am not."
"Then that's interesting." Qi Xia knew Earth Dog's resolve was wavering, and this was his perfect opportunity to break through his defenses. He spoke decisively. "But in my view, you care more about whether this place can make you 'Heavenly' than whether it can be 'escaped.'"
"What...?"
"Before asking about becoming 'Heavenly,' you first asked about escaping. That only means you're still on guard against me. You can't be sure I'll tell you the truth, so you threw out a less important question to test the waters—a question you wanted to know the answer to but whose result didn't matter as much."
Earth Dog thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, Brother Sheep... It's a long story..."
"So both are your goals?" Qi Xia asked.
"Yes." Earth Dog nodded. "I'm ashamed to say... I once promised someone that I would definitely become 'Heavenly,' but at the same time, I've been secretly plotting how to escape from here. Thinking about it now, maybe I'm also a 'Sheep'..."
Earth Dog's words instantly cleared some of Qi Xia's confusion. It turned out that another person was involved with this 'Zodiac.'
"Wait a minute..." Qi Xia raised a hand to stop him. "You promised someone you would become 'Heavenly'?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
"My teacher." Earth Dog replied. "The one who has been guiding me ever since I became a 'Human Dog.'"
Qi Xia nodded. "Where is he now?"
"Brother Sheep... she broke the rules." Earth Dog said.
Upon hearing the words "she broke the rules," Qi Xia felt a sharp sting in his forehead—a pain he hadn't felt in a long time.
"Did she become an 'Ant'...?" Qi Xia asked.
"I'm not sure..." Earth Dog shook his head. "She might have been directly erased, or she might have become an 'Ant'... Maybe, as you said, the fate of 'Zodiacs' here depends entirely on the whims of the 'Heavenly Dragon' and 'Azure Dragon.'"
Qi Xia slowly raised his hand to cover his forehead, then asked again:
"What 'Zodiac' was that person...?"
"Same as me. When I met her, she was an 'Earth Dog.'"