Chapter 186: The Person Sought for a Long Time

Qi Xia sat in the lobby on the first floor, feeling a bit helpless.

Although he had arranged a strategy for the three people to seize the initiative at the beginning, the subsequent developments changed in an instant. He wasn't sure what the madman on the other side would do, nor what their "Hui Xiang" would lead the competition to become.

Qi Xia had his eyes closed, but he heard shuffling footsteps coming from outside the door.

He turned his head to look, and Chu Tianqiu was standing in the doorway, smiling at him.

Although Qi Xia was a bit puzzled, he didn't say anything and closed his eyes again.

Chu Tianqiu walked into the room, dragged over a broken wooden box from the side, and sat down in front of Qi Xia.

Qi Xia didn't open his eyes, but he furrowed his brow slightly; he didn't like it when someone suddenly got so close.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Qi Xia, what does a ‘teammate’ mean to you?” Chu Tianqiu asked.

Hearing this question, Qi Xia slowly opened his eyes.

“A teammate…?” Qi Xia thought for a moment. “They are my companions through life and death.”

“Is that so?” Chu Tianqiu said with a smile. “Yun Yao said that every time you lose a teammate, you get headaches, so are you ‘heartbroken’ about it?”

“What exactly are you trying to say?” Qi Xia asked.

“I suspect we’re the same kind of person.” Chu Tianqiu lightly brushed the dust off his clothes and said, “When we don’t have a clear goal, teammates are everything to us, but when we do have a clear goal, teammates become pawns.”

Hearing this, Qi Xia slowly smiled.

“Chu Tianqiu, you’ve made me search for you for so long…”

“Ha!” Chu Tianqiu laughed. “Have I caused you trouble? I’m truly sorry.”

Qi Xia slowly extended a finger and pointed, saying:

“There are three ‘Ji Dao’ here; do you think they might want your head?”

“Don’t be like that.” Chu Tianqiu waved his hand as if joking with a friend. “I probably shouldn’t have shown up, but I really wanted to see you. It’s rare for us to have a chance to talk; you wouldn’t call someone to interrupt, would you?”

“Then go ahead, I’m listening.” Qi Xia replied.

“We’re both emotionless, cold-blooded creatures; in Zhong Yan Zhi Di, everyone else is expendable to us, right?” Chu Tianqiu asked.

Qi Xia didn’t answer; he just slowly rested his chin in his hand.

“You knew that the ‘Ren Long’ game was my trap, yet you still participated, even sacrificing a teammate to escape.” Chu Tianqiu nodded in satisfaction. “What a worthy opponent.”

“You flatter me.” Qi Xia said.

“You’ve told many lies to survive and get out of here.” Chu Tianqiu continued. “You even teamed up with that madman Lin Qian; you planned to kill her… Your ruthlessness and cunning far surpass mine.”

“So what?” Qi Xia asked with a blank expression.

“So… I want to play with fire and cooperate with you.” Chu Tianqiu said, “In the entire Zhong Yan Zhi Di, the only way to get out is for just the two of us to team up. You should know, I’m even crazier than Lin Qian.”

Qi Xia certainly knew how crazy Chu Tianqiu was.

To him, human lives were truly just pawns, disposable at any time.

“I want to see that notebook.” Qi Xia said.

Chu Tianqiu smiled slightly, reached into his pocket, pulled out an old notebook, and casually tossed it to Qi Xia.

“Qi Xia, you’d better be careful; this is the core secret of ‘Tian Tang Kou.’ Only a few members have seen it; make sure you don’t damage it.”

Qi Xia silently took the notebook, opened it, and read it.

It was a diary written in the first person.

At the beginning, it said that “I” discovered items in Zhong Yan Zhi Di don’t reset, so as long as notes are written and placed on a path “I” will definitely pass, “I” will never lose memories.

Flipping further, the content mostly described “I”’s experiences gambling for lives with “Sheng Xiao.” Although it didn’t specify the exact games, every day recorded “Sheng Xiao” being gambled to death by “I.”

At the end of the diary, “I” had gambled all the “Sheng Xiao” in Zhong Yan Zhi Di to death. An elegantly dressed goddess descended from the sky, saying that “I” was the strongest existence in Zhong Yan Zhi Di and could now freely enter and exit.

So, “I” left.

After reading the notebook with a heavy expression, Qi Xia felt like he had been tricked.

“Chu Tianqiu, you wrote this notebook yourself, didn’t you?” he asked.

“Of course.” Chu Tianqiu nodded seriously. “Qi Xia, you didn’t really think there was some almighty predecessor who, all alone, accumulated time to gamble all the ‘Sheng Xiao’ to death, did you? It’s just a little scheme to lead the people of ‘Tian Tang Kou’ to willingly go to their deaths. Ha ha ha ha.”

Qi Xia sighed deeply; he had suspected the notebook might be fake, but he didn’t expect it to be so blatantly fabricated.

Chu Tianqiu reached out, took back the notebook, and carefully put it back in his pocket, as if afraid of damaging it:

“Now that I’ve told you the core secret of ‘Tian Tang Kou,’ don’t you believe me?”

“How interesting, you’re using a ‘deception’ to trade for my trust.” Qi Xia chuckled. “Are you planning to swap another ‘deception’?”

“Oh? Can’t I?” Chu Tianqiu showed a regretful expression. “Even if it’s a ‘deception,’ it’s still my secret.”

“Since gambling all the ‘Sheng Xiao’ to death isn’t possible, and you’ve kept sending people from ‘Tian Tang Kou’ to their deaths one after another, what’s your real purpose?” Qi Xia asked.

“I need corpses.” Chu Tianqiu answered without hesitation.

This answer once again exceeded Qi Xia’s expectations.

“You… are creating ‘corpses’?”

“Well… how should I put it, Qi Xia.” Chu Tianqiu stroked his chin and thought for a moment. “If I tell you this, I’ll have no secrets left.”

“Do you want to tell me?” Qi Xia asked.

“Heh heh…” Chu Tianqiu revealed a maniacal smile. “Of course, otherwise why would I risk my life to come here?”

“Then go ahead, I’m listening.” Qi Xia nodded.

“Qi Xia ah…” Chu Tianqiu murmured, “When the ‘Zhong Yan Zhi Ri’ arrives, all living people will turn into blood-red powder and scatter away with the wind.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Qi Xia raised an eyebrow, not looking surprised.

“Above this blue sky, it’s filled with the remnants of those who lived to the tenth day; now even the sky is stained dark red with flesh.” Chu Tianqiu gazed at the sky outside the door like he was admiring a scenery, and continued, “I don’t know where my previous corpses are floating, but they’re all emitting a foul stench.”

“That’s truly pitiful.” Qi Xia replied indifferently.

“But ah…” Chu Tianqiu turned back to Qi Xia and said, “Do you know? Only the living turn into powder; those who die before the tenth day just rot in the air.”

Qi Xia furrowed his brow, finding this statement a bit eerie.

“So, it’s the ‘living’ who vanish?” Qi Xia asked.

“No, it’s not the ‘living’ who vanish.” Chu Tianqiu shook his head. “It’s the ‘participants’ who vanish.”