Chapter 1318: Three-Way Gamble

Qinglong’s eyes remained narrowed. “Even as a ghost, you’ll find a way to repay me…?”

“Yes… I’m one hundred percent loyal to you…” Xiaoran said, tears streaming down her face, dropping onto Qinglong’s hand. “It feels like I’ve never thought about giving myself to anyone like this in my entire life… I swear, you’re the first.”

“Why?” Qinglong asked.

“Because I have no other way out…” Xiaoran replied, her eyes closed. “You’re the only person I can rely on in this world. Only by depending on you can I survive.”

Qinglong stared into Xiaoran’s eyes, feeling increasingly strange.

This woman didn’t seem to be lying at all. She genuinely wanted to rely on him and showed a level of loyalty greater than that of Tianshe or Tiangou.

No, in the end, the other *tianji* were mostly loyal to him out of fear, but this woman showed no significant fear—instead, it was a heartfelt loyalty.

But what about that ghostly voice that lingered in his mind? Was this a huge coincidence… or did she have ulterior motives?

Unfortunately, in the context of the entire *Taoyuan*, this woman was too insignificant. He had never paid attention to her before, so he knew nothing about her background, past, abilities, or personality.

Qinglong tilted his ear, realizing that *lingwen* had disappeared once again. He couldn’t hear the *xianfa* associated with her, and everything had turned into a fog, as if it had been predetermined by someone.

A dog so loyal, someone who would serve him even in death… yet he couldn’t detect the *xianfa* on her, and he couldn’t determine how dangerous she was.

If he killed another true *shen shou* with his own hands right now, would it help or hinder the situation?

The dilemma weighed on Qinglong like a mountain, and at that moment, he didn’t even have anyone to consult.

Had he really never seen this woman before?

“Wait… wait…” Qinglong slowly closed his eyes. “That’s not right… You came from Qixia’s room…”

“Y-yes!” Xiaoran hurriedly replied. “I may have come from Qixia’s room, but he’s my sworn enemy. We share Qixia as a common enemy… I want him dead, so I’ll do everything I can to help you… We’re on the same side all along…”

Qinglong wasn’t really listening to Xiaoran’s words. Instead, he closed his eyes and searched his memories.

About twelve years ago, in a room filled with *jianmo*, that man had pushed a piece of paper toward him.

On it were listed several names:

Qiao Jiajin, Chen Junnan, Li Shangwu, Zhao Haibo, Zhang Chenze, Zhang Lijuan, Han Yimo, and… Xiaoran.

“What do you say?” Qinglong had asked at the time. “If I help you track down everyone on this list, will you kill Tianlong for me?”

“No.” Qixia shook his head. “It’s not that simple. I want you to help me find these people, and then we’ll form a new room together.”

“You’re getting a bit greedy.” Qinglong rejected it outright. “Something this big would never escape the notice of the other *shengxiao*.”

“Hide it from the other *shengxiao*?” Qixia raised an eyebrow. “Why would we need to hide it from the other *shengxiao*?”

“You want to leave your current room and switch to a new one.” Qinglong said. “That would involve at least six *shengxiao* in the interviews. They’d all see my behind-the-scenes moves. I want Tianlong’s death to look like an accident, not premeditated murder, you know?”

“You’re mistaken.” Qixia said. “First, this won’t involve any *shengxiao*. The *shengxiao* overseeing my current interview room will just notice people disappearing one by one. They’ll smoothly advance to *diji*, and they won’t care where I went. As for the new interview room’s *shengxiao*, I’ll arrange that for you.”

“You’re going to arrange it for me…?” Qinglong snorted. “You sure have a lot of nerve. Do you even know who you’re dealing with?”

“Qinglong, you have a lot of nerve too.” Qixia said. “Do you think we’re just killing some minor player? He’s on the same level as you—the pinnacle of the entire *zhongyan zhidi*. I’m doing something this huge for you, so how could you expect to take his life without any effort on your part?”

After hearing this, Qinglong lowered his eyes and thought for a moment before asking, “I can make sacrifices, but I need the corresponding returns. What do you want me to do?”

“Your sacrifices won’t be small.” Qixia said. “And I’ll say this upfront: killing someone even you find hard to kill is even tougher for me. You’ll need to cooperate during the operation. Once we find these eight people, I’ll probably have you arrange other rooms too.”

Qinglong’s expression naturally turned unpleasant upon hearing that. He glanced down at the paper on the table and said, “I need to make sure your plan is targeted only at Tianlong and won’t drag me into it.”

“It will definitely drag you into it.” Qixia said. “As the highest rulers here, I’ll try to launch a usurpation challenge against both of you, just like before. But this time, I’ll plan it more thoroughly to ensure Tianlong’s death.”

“Then you’re just manipulating me?” Qinglong laughed angrily. “If it’s the same as before—rebelling against both of us—why would I help you?”

“Because this time, you’ll know about it in advance.” Qixia answered. “Qinglong… surely you have more tricks up your sleeve than that? Knowing about my usurpation this far ahead, yet not confident enough to join the chaos and take down Tianlong with me… If you insist on saying that…”

“Hey.” Qinglong interrupted Qixia. “You’re digging your own grave…”

Qixia shook his head. “If I die, your loss would be greater. After all, I’ve taken on the task of ‘killing Tianlong.’ Aren’t you going to wait and see the results before killing me?”

“Or could there be a scenario like this…” Qinglong leaned forward with a smile. “You say you’re going after Tianlong, but at the last moment, you plan to take both of us down?”

“If I had the power to take both of you down…” Qixia stared back at Qinglong without flinching. “That would mean Tianlong is as good as dead, so you’d have even more reason to make this deal with me.”

Qinglong grew even more hesitant after hearing that. Qixia saying this naturally showed his confidence, but if it involved Qinglong himself, the deal would need rethinking…

“Qinglong, let’s make a bet,” Qixia said, cutting into his thoughts. “You can use the chaos to get rid of me too. That way, we’re even. You want to kill me and Tianlong, I want to kill Tianlong and you. Tianlong gets two votes against him, so his chances of death are high. Let’s see who survives in the end. What do you say?”