Chapter 1072: The Meaning of Dragons

"Perhaps this matter isn't difficult," Qi Xia said thoughtfully.

"Not difficult...?" Ren She chuckled bitterly again. "Qi Xia... do you really think there's anything that can save me now?"

"Yes," Qi Xia nodded. "In fact, you know it yourself. As long as you kill someone in this game, everything will be resolved."

Ren She's gaze flickered, as if Qi Xia had hit upon his inner thoughts.

"You believe that if you kill someone, you won't die in this game," Qi Xia continued. "So, you must want to strike more than anyone else. That way, you can better complete the task I assigned to you."

After a pause, Qi Xia corrected himself: "The task that Bai Yang assigned to you."

"In this game... who do you think I can kill?" Ren She pushed the puzzle book forward, sliding it toward Qi Xia. "Logically, I don't even have answers to these questions myself. How am I supposed to gamble my life with the 'participants'? And if I really summon 'Xuan Wu'... how will she judge the outcome?"

"You're just unwilling to answer," Qi Xia said. "If you wanted to, you could think of the correct answer for every question."

"So, I can just declare a 'life gamble' then..." Ren She looked up at Qi Xia. "Qi Xia, you must have sensed it too... this 'Cang Jie Qi' isn't just a simple Di Long game."

"Yes," Qi Xia nodded. "I've wanted to ask you for a while. Both Di Long and Qing Long said this game is being held for the first time, but I heard about 'Cang Jie Qi' from other 'Sheng Xiao' earlier. So, did Bai Yang have a hand in designing this 'Cang Jie Qi'?"

"It's hard to say," Ren She shook his head. "I only know that Qing Long had frequent conversations with Ge before he left, and they exchanged many ideas, but they never mentioned 'Cang Jie Qi'."

"Then it must have been through hints," Qi Xia speculated. "Countless subtle hints that even Qing Long couldn't detect, ultimately guiding the path to 'Cang Jie Qi'."

"Could... that even be done...?" Ren She asked doubtfully.

"Though it's difficult, it's possible," Qi Xia replied. "The fact that 'Cang Jie Qi' appeared here at this time makes it hard to believe Bai Yang wasn't involved."

Qi Xia realized that the setting for this game was the same as for the 'Ren Long' game—a pitch-black, strange space that was the 'Che'.

Before truly boarding the 'Che', it was necessary to uncover its secrets, and that was Bai Yang's true intention.

What's more, Qing Long had fallen into the trap.

He had sent a group of 'Ren Ji' and a few 'Di Ji' as 'referees' for this game, steadily increasing the panic among these 'Sheng Xiao' toward the end, which only fueled the rebellion.

Qing Long thought he was being cautious by not mentioning any 'punishments' in this game and offering generous rewards instead.

But the irony was that all 'Sheng Xiao' assumed any deal with Qing Long came with equivalent punishments. Even if he said nothing, the seeds of panic would keep growing.

Perhaps Qing Long was telling the truth—that no 'Sheng Xiao' would die in this game, and it was just about handing out rewards—but now, every 'Sheng Xiao' was thinking about how to survive.

In a 'Long' game, killing one 'participant' would promote you to 'Di Ji'—such a generous reward, yet no punishment? Why?

Qi Xia sighed. Looking back now, the 'Ren Long' game called 'Seesaw' had also conveyed an important message.

Both sides stood on the seesaw. If they both chose to stay still and maintain the status quo, the game wouldn't end immediately, but at least no one would die.

In reality, one side would always act first, breaking the delicate balance. The seesaw would tip, and in a short time, things would escalate from peace to all-out attacks. Even if one side suffered massive casualties, they would drag the other into hell.

That was the balance between 'participants' and 'Sheng Xiao' in Zhong Yan Zhi Di.

Qi Xia should have guessed it back then. The so-called 'Long' was nothing more than Bai Yang's plaything.

Bai Yang knew he would eventually transform into a 'participant' and reappear on this land, though not necessarily experiencing every 'Sheng Xiao's' game. But 'Long' could never escape.

So, he turned all the 'Long' into a kind of timeless 'messengers', constantly releasing encrypted information to Qi Xia on another timeline.

Now, it seemed that all the 'Long' in Zhong Yan Zhi Di were unaware they were being used. They took pride in their games and enjoyed showing them off to Qi Xia.

Unfortunately, when Qi Xia participated in the 'Ren Long' game, he hadn't realized the complexity of the situation and hadn't thought it through so thoroughly.

Whether it was 'Di Long' or 'Ren Long', every game was a microcosm of Zhong Yan Zhi Di. Whether divided into factions boiling in a massive pot or trapped in a rigid arena slaughtering each other for rules, the essence was the same.

In short, 'Cang Jie Qi' meant entering various rooms to play games, then collecting 'Zi'. The ultimate goal wasn't survival but entertaining the 'Long' watching from above.

That 'Long' called itself 'Shen', imposing strict rules and letting 'mortals' kill each other—a miniature version of Zhong Yan Zhi Di.

Just like the land they were on, 'Cang Jie Qi' thoughtfully provided 'doors' for escape, but fleeing only led to death.

Since no game could be escaped, could Zhong Yan Zhi Di itself be escaped?

"I think in this game... no 'Sheng Xiao' will die," Qi Xia snapped back to reality and said. "Qing Long probably meant exactly what he said. You might be overthinking it."

Ren She's face turned ashen upon hearing this, and he lowered his head. "So, I'm back to my original question... should I believe Qing Long?"

"You can believe me," Qi Xia said. "At this critical point, Qing Long's goal is to stabilize morale, not cause panic among the 'Sheng Xiao'. So, no matter what, he won't kill any 'Sheng Xiao' here."

"But this is still just your speculation," Ren She added. "You know that 'Sheng Xiao' are different from 'participants'. Once we're dead... there's no coming back."

"This isn't hard to solve either," Qi Xia said. "If you're still uneasy, you can choose to kill me."