Chapter 1149: My Neighbors

Qi Xia stared blankly at Lao Lv and Tong Yi, not uttering a word.

The entire "Ji Dao" team found themselves in a pincer movement, brought to a standstill right there. Escape was out of the question; now, even survival seemed uncertain.

"Xiao Chan, you can't die here. I'll protect you and get you out first..." Lao Lv snapped back to reality and said to Tong Yi. "You know the meeting point. Take the people behind you and head there."

"Ah!!" Tong Yi's temper was clearly rising. "What in the world are you doing?! How is this your business?"

"How the hell is it not my business?!" Lao Lv roared, his chubby cheeks and balding head trembling with indignation.

"Just go save yourself!!" Tong Yi insisted. "I'm accumulating a massive amount of 'Shan Ye', so what awaits me isn't 'death'."

"Enough with the 'Shan Ye' nonsense!!" Lao Lv interrupted. "The knife is already at your throat—what else could be waiting for you besides 'death'?!"

Qi Xia listened, stroking his chin...

Could it have been "Ye Li" that guided them to stand before him?

But this group of seven or eight "Ji Dao" members was encircled by thirty or forty people. Even if "Ye Li" had led them here, how could it possibly help?

Qi Xia surveyed the scene. Lao Lv and Tong Yi had clearly noticed the group, but the two of them silently maintained their composure, pretending not to know Qi Xia and the others.

"Lao Qi... what's the plan?" Chen Jun Nan whispered. "If we five join their eight, we could barely make up the 'Thirteen Protectors'... sounds like it might work..."

"Is this about numbers?" Qiao Jia Jin scratched his head as he spoke. "Groups with names like that usually aren't that tough—they only become famous by banding together."

Zhang Lv Shi shook his head from the side and said, "I suggest we don't get involved. After all, they haven't asked for help. We each have our own mission objectives; we can't mix things up."

Qi Xia stroked his chin after hearing this; he agreed with Zhang Lv Shi's perspective. But as he looked up to speak, he realized Qiao Jia Jin had already vanished from sight.

"Ah..."

"Ha ha ha!" Chen Jun Nan laughed awkwardly. "Lao Qi, don't worry, don't worry. I'm here, so the plan won't go wrong."

"You..." Qi Xia shook his head helplessly. If anyone was likely to cause trouble, Chen Jun Nan was more adept at it than Qiao Jia Jin. "Forget it, you go too. Get it done quickly."

"Got it, ha ha, just watch."

Lao Lv was still arguing heatedly with Tong Yi when one of the "participants" approached them with a knife. This "participant" looked very young, probably a student under twenty.

"Hey!!" the young man shouted, startling Lao Lv and Tong Yi. "Why did you destroy the giant clock and the display screen?!"

"I..." Lao Lv was dumbfounded; he didn't even know the reason himself, so he turned his gaze to Tong Yi.

Tong Yi stared at the young man for a moment before saying, "Kid... this might be hard for you to understand, but we're building up 'Shan Ye'... You have to know that everything we're doing is for the people of 'Zhong Yan Zhi Di'..."

"Nonsense!!" The young man seemed consumed by rage.

They wouldn't consider how unreasonable the escape rules of this strange place were, or how brutally the "Sheng Xiao" killed, or what heartless acts "Tian Long" and "Qing Long" had committed to numb everyone's minds.

They only knew that the giant clock and display screen had been destroyed, so they couldn't check their "Hui Xiang" anymore, and there was no way to escape.

Therefore, the ones they blamed most for not being able to escape weren't "Tian Long" and "Qing Long," but these "rebels" right in front of them.

"It's true..." Tong Yi said. "Kid, if you just feel it with your heart, you'll know the earth isn't crying out—everything is moving in a better direction..."

"You're crazy, you're all completely crazy..." The young man gritted his teeth, reversed his grip on the knife, and lunged at Tong Yi.

At that moment, a strong hand grabbed his wrist.

The young man froze, then felt another arm wrap around his shoulder.

"Handsome guy, hold on a sec, let me say something first."

The young man turned his head and saw Qiao Jia Jin's innocent smile. Though the smile seemed harmless, Qiao Jia Jin looked like he'd just been in a fight—blood was on his face, around his mouth, even on his neck and clothes.

"You... what are you doing..." the young man asked.

"Nothing, nothing." Qiao Jia Jin shook his head. "I just want to chat with everyone. Hey! You over there, put the knife down too. If we're fighting, let's fight fair—don't use knives, or someone might end up dead. What then?"

Everyone turned to look at this tattooed man and saw that, besides his tattoos, he was covered in blood, making him look quite intimidating.

Although they had all been shouting about killing, seeing this menacing figure left them speechless for a moment.

"You... which side are you on?" the young man asked.

"I'm from Bo Lan Jie." Qiao Jia Jin replied. "Can't we all just talk this out?"

"Bo... Bo Lan Jie...?"

"That's right." Qiao Jia Jin smoothly and naturally took the knife from the young man's hand. "We're all 'participants' here, right? What's the point of killing each other? Save that energy for fighting the 'Sheng Xiao' instead."

"You... hang on..." A middle-aged man in the crowd spoke up. "These people are the ones who destroyed the giant clock and display screen. We can't check our 'Hui Xiang' anymore, so how can you side with them? Are you with them?"

"I..." Qiao Jia Jin toyed with the knife in his hand and looked at the crowd. "I'm not on anyone's side. I just hope no one kills each other here. Isn't it better to stay alive?"

Seeing the crowd fall silent, Qiao Jia Jin added, "If you really want to fight, I can oblige. You can all come at me at once, or one by one—whatever works."

Qi Xia turned to glance at Qiao Jia Jin. Normally, he might handle this many people, but Qiao Jia Jin was injured, and neither Chen Jun Nan nor Qi Xia could help much. If it came to a fight, things could get messy.

"Don't listen to him... they're in it together!!" the middle-aged man said again. "He's obviously here to help! Don't be afraid! Just kill them all!"

This left Qiao Jia Jin in a tough spot. The crowd seemed genuinely furious, and regular persuasion wasn't working anymore.

So, what next? Did he really have to take them all down?

"Xiao Qiao." Chen Jun Nan's voice came from behind, making the crowd pause again.

"Xiao Qiao...?" Qiao Jia Jin turned back and whispered, "Me...?"

"How can you make such a mess of a simple task? Haven't you talked it out with the folks yet?" Chen Jun Nan said as he casually walked over. The crowd didn't know who he was and stepped back a bit.

"Folks... I... I haven't talked it out," Qiao Jia Jin shook his head. "They're not listening to me."

"Ah, no big deal, I'll handle it." Chen Jun Nan said, "Folks, we're actually from the 'Zhong Yan Ban Shi Chu'. We jumped straight into the demolition plan without telling you, and that's on us. But our goal is to follow orders from above and replace the giant clock and display screen with better ones for everyone."

After he spoke, the crowd furrowed their brows.