Chapter 1086: Doomed to Lose

"Oh? So you've noticed it too?" Qi Xia nodded and said, "Bringing a different 'zi' can lead to a different 'men'."

"After all, it was you who had Zhao Yisheng convey it to me," Chu Tianqiu replied.

"Since I've chosen the room, you choose the 'zi'," Qi Xia answered. "One each, to keep it fair."

Chu Tianqiu pondered Qi Xia's intentions in his mind. If he could freely choose to enter either the "ren ji" or "di ji," it would indeed confirm that no lethal traps existed within the game arena.

Otherwise, the safest approach would be to set up deadly mechanisms in both rooms and convince the "shengxiao" in each, which would be an enormous workload for Tiantian and clearly unreasonable.

So, Qi Xia's words were likely true—Tiantian had only created something very simple for this game... but Chu Tianqiu couldn't guess what it was.

Now, he steadied his mind and began to analyze the situation. His enemy was Qi Xia, so which option gave a higher chance of winning: "ren ji" or "di ji"?

The simple rules of "ren ji" meant that victory or defeat could be decided quickly with the most straightforward strategy, while "di ji" introduced more variables, potentially leading to a more devastating loss.

But time was pressing... The game they were about to play was very likely their last, so Chu Tianqiu had to make a snap decision. He picked up his "jiang" from the ground.

Since his "jiang" had already advanced to the enemy's front line, the simple path was no longer suitable for the current situation. This time, it had to be a "di ji" contest.

Qi Xia nodded, casually picking up a "bing" from the ground. Then, with a glance, he signaled Chu Tianqiu to open the "men."

Chu Tianqiu put the "jiang" in his pocket and stepped forward, carefully touching the handle of the "men." It felt ice-cold, with no abnormalities.

He took a deep breath and pushed the "men" open.

Inside the "men," everything was pitch black, the path ahead invisible.

"A 'Mao Tu' game...?" Chu Tianqiu murmured. "An 'escape' scenario feels fitting for our current situation, you and me."

"Hope so," Qi Xia nodded.

As Chu Tianqiu was about to step through the "men," he thought of something and turned back to ask, "Qi Xia, one last question."

"Go ahead."

"In this game... who on our side is your spy?"

Qi Xia chuckled softly. "Unfortunately... I've planted countless 'zhen' in the 'Zhong Yan Zhi Di,' but never one in your team."

"No...?" Though he heard Qi Xia deny it directly, Chu Tianqiu still found it hard to believe.

This had seemed like an unspoken understanding from the start. If there wasn't one... then who had he been guarding against all along?

"The interesting part is..." Qi Xia said, "Even without planting a 'zhen,' it creates the effect of one in your team. That way, I save effort, and you stay extra cautious."

Chu Tianqiu suddenly realized—this was a tactic only Qi Xia would use.

His team included people like Zhao Yisheng, Yan Zhichun, and Xu Liunian, who had deep connections with Qi Xia. Precisely because inserting a "zhen" would be so easy, it led everyone to assume he had done so.

Qi Xia played along, reinforcing the idea through hints that there was a spy in the opposing team.

The brilliance of this tactic lay in the fact that, since there was no spy, no one appeared suspicious. This meant Chu Tianqiu wouldn't trust anyone until the spy was exposed.

If everyone was above suspicion, then everyone was suspect.

Even for a dangerous task like smashing the display screen, he didn't entrust it to his teammates and chose to do it himself, ultimately triggering a chain of events that led him to stand before this "men."

"How ridiculous..." Chu Tianqiu smirked. "From beginning to end... everyone in my team has been loyal to me, and even Han Yimo from your team is on my side, but I didn't make the most of it. It's just like my life."

"You've got it backward," Qi Xia said. "You believe what I say, but I'm the enemy 'zhu shuai.' You distrust your own teammates and trust the enemy 'zhu shuai' instead—don't you think your priorities are misplaced?"

"But what can I do?" Chu Tianqiu replied. "You're asking me to trust people whose abilities, wisdom, and even 'hui xiang' are inferior to mine. Is that really the right choice?"

"Your mistake is always feeling that you're stronger than your teammates, so you only want to trust those who are on your level," Qi Xia said. "If you can't let go of that mindset... you might end up as the next Qing Long."

"So what if I become Qing Long? Our paths have been different from the start," Chu Tianqiu said. "Because no one understands me, I've always been alone."

"Don't kid yourself," Qi Xia said. "Doesn't Wen Qiaoyun understand you?"

"Wen Qiaoyun...?"

"If I'm not wrong, she's waiting as your 'backup' for the outcome here," Qi Xia said. "She doesn't even remember you, yet she's willing to risk her life for you. And you're still saying 'no one understands'—in my view, it's not that they don't understand you, it's that you don't understand them."

Chu Tianqiu fell silent for a moment before replying, "Maybe."

"It's the final stretch," Qi Xia said. "I have one piece of advice for you."

"Go ahead."

"This 'men'—once you go through it, you're certain to lose," Qi Xia said. "But if you don't, there's still a slim chance you could win."

Chu Tianqiu's eyes went dead again as he turned to face the open, pitch-black "men."

For some reason, he also felt that entering this "men" would decide the game's outcome, but he couldn't believe he would "certainly lose." That statement was too absolute—even if Qi Xia had a high chance of winning, there couldn't be a scenario where defeat was guaranteed.

After hesitating, he finally stepped forward and entered the "men." Since it was the final moment, it was time to see Qi Xia's true capabilities.

Qi Xia sighed helplessly, about to say something, when he heard a sharp "clink."

He looked down at the "zi" on the ground. If he wasn't mistaken... that "zi" had just made a sound?

But after waiting a few seconds with no further reaction, he turned his attention back to Chu Tianqiu.

Inside the "men" was an eerily dark space, vast and empty all around.

Chu Tianqiu couldn't help but wonder why the "Mao Tu" game looked so unusual.

Unfortunately, out of caution, he had never entered any game arena before. Was every game in "Cang Jie Qi" this strange?

He turned back, wanting to say something to Qi Xia, but what he saw was a terrifying scene beyond his imagination.

Qi Xia stood in the middle of a black "men," staring coldly at him, with three more black "men" on each side.

This wasn't any "Mao Tu" game at all—it was outside the "Cang Jie Qi" arena.

And Chu Tianqiu had never actually entered the "Mao Tu" game arena. The "men" standing in the room's center, marked with "Mao," was actually a disguised "Kui Tao Zhi Men."

"I told you Tiantian only created the simplest things for this game," Qi Xia said. "Those things weren't the 'zi' or the display screen—they were just the 'men'."