Chapter 188: The Gambler

"But if in the end only one person can get out, how can I be sure you won't eliminate me?" Qi Xia asked again.

"This is a good question; I have to make it clear to you in advance." Chu Tianqiu put away his smile, his expression gradually turning serious. "If that day really comes, I will do everything in my power to eliminate you. Likewise, you can do the same to me."

Qi Xia nodded.

What Chu Tianqiu had just said finally gave Qi Xia a sense of true sincerity being exchanged.

"In that case, let's agree on it." Qi Xia extended his hand slightly. "You pursue cheng shen, and I seek ji dao. We'll cooperate."

Chu Tianqiu also extended his hand and shook Qi Xia's.

"Deal."

The two looked at each other with complex expressions, and the atmosphere fell quiet.

Neither of them could be certain how much truth was in the other's words, making this handshake feel somewhat powerless.

After just a few seconds, a hurried sound of footsteps came from outside the door, and the two turned to look.

It was another Chu Tianqiu.

"Whew... You really gave me a scare; you're here after all." The Chu Tianqiu outside the door said.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"Quick, let's go... There are quite a few ji dao here; your situation is dangerous."

"Alright." The Chu Tianqiu inside the room nodded and turned to leave.

At that moment, the Chu Tianqiu outside the door transformed into Xu Liunian, nervously glancing around.

After walking a few steps, Chu Tianqiu stopped and turned back to Qi Xia. "Qi Xia, it should be sadness."

"What?"

"The trigger for your hui xiang is extreme sadness." Chu Tianqiu explained. "That's the answer I found, but I couldn't figure out a solution."

Qi Xia paused for a moment and asked, "Are you saying... you couldn't find a way to make me feel sadness?"

"That's right." Chu Tianqiu nodded. "So, I'm telling you this answer. You can solve this puzzle yourself."

Qi Xia didn't speak; he just nodded silently.

Chu Tianqiu sighed after seeing this, then turned to Xu Liunian and asked, "Zhang Shan is up there, right?"

"Yes, I arranged for him to come."

Chu Tianqiu nodded slightly and said to Qi Xia, "Don't worry; if Zhang Shan is up there, this game will be hard to lose."

"Hard to lose?" Qi Xia looked up at Chu Tianqiu. "Why?"

"Because he's about to hui xiang."

Qi Xia was silent for a while before asking, "What is Zhang Shan's hui xiang trigger?"

"It's wanting to win."

Chu Tianqiu laughed out loud, then waved his hand and left with Xu Liunian.

Qi Xia stared at the ground, lost in thought.

"Wanting to win..."

If there's such a trigger, how could hui xiang not happen?

What about himself?

"Sadness..." He looked expressionlessly at the dark red sky outside the door. "My sadness..."

Before he could think it through, a rustling sound suddenly came from inside the room.

Qi Xia was startled and slowly stood up.

The sound was very close, as if coming from the elevator.

He walked over to the elevator and pressed the up button.

The elevator doors opened, but it was empty inside.

Yet, the rustling sound continued.

He turned his head toward the wooden door next to the elevator, feeling the noise was coming from behind it.

"Is someone there...?"

He slowly reached out toward the door handle, but in the next second, the door opened on its own.

Xiao Xiao was standing inside.

She didn't look well; she was injured in several places.

"Qi Xia...?" She was also stunned, as if unsure of where she was.

"You..." Qi Xia furrowed his brow and stared at her for a long time, full of confusion. Xiao Xiao was supposed to be on the rooftop, so how could she come out from this door?

Xiao Xiao snapped out of it and ignored Qi Xia, turning to step into the elevator and pressing the button for the sixth floor without a word.

Qi Xia suddenly realized: "This must be the hidden rule of the game..."

As he saw Xiao Xiao enter the elevator, he quickly turned back to try entering the wooden door to investigate, but it had already closed automatically.

...

Qiao Jiajin stood quietly on the bridge, bleeding all over.

He didn't know what technique Lao Sun had used, but now Qiao Jiajin's limbs were each embedded in large stones.

He struggled awkwardly to move his limbs but couldn't budge an inch.

Behind him, Li Xiangling and Zhang Shan looked even worse off.

Zhang Shan was pinned under a massive stone like a small mountain, collapsed on the bridge and unconscious, his fate unknown.

Li Xiangling, covered in blood, was desperately trying to shift the stone.

"Lao Sun... I have to say, you're something else." Luo Shiyi patted Lao Sun's shoulder with admiration. "Your hui xiang must rank high in the entire zhong yan zhi di, right?"

Lao Sun's gaze seemed a bit vacant; he just nodded stiffly.

To unleash such a powerful hui xiang, he had nearly driven himself mad.

It took sheer madness to imagine a human body growing stones.

Lao Sun struggled to control his thoughts and stay clear-headed. "Hey, tattooed guy, I don't like to bully people—why don't you just jump down yourself..."

"Impossible." Qiao Jiajin lowered his head, his chest heaving as he breathed heavily. "Da nao has its mission, and quan tou has its responsibility. That kid has helped me out many times, so I won't back down an inch this time."

He mustered all his strength to lift his several-dozen-pound arm and gave a bitter smile. "It's just a pair of stone gloves, right? Might as well think of it as boosting my attack power..."

Lao Sun shook his head after hearing this. "Gloves...?"

His thinking was a bit sluggish, and it took a few seconds before he said, "No... these aren't gloves; they're big stones."

Qiao Jiajin suddenly noticed the stones on his hands growing larger.

The right hand he had just lifted dropped down again, this time straight to the ground, forcing him to squat.

"Damn... this is tricky..." Qiao Jiajin glanced at Li Xiangling out of the corner of his eye; she still couldn't move the massive stone pinning Zhang Shan.

"Qiao bro..." Li Xiangling showed a face full of anxiety. "What are we going to do..."

Now, Li Xiangling was the only one not restrained.

Though she was skilled in martial arts, rashly attacking might not overcome the hui xiang of these two opponents.

One could be immune to pain and strike lethally every time, while the other could make stones appear out of nowhere anywhere—get hit, and you're done for.

This was supposed to be a three-on-three fight, but these two had been cheating the whole time.

"That kid... if it were you, what would you do?" Qiao Jiajin scanned his surroundings, his expression extremely serious.

Before he could come up with a plan, the sound of limping footsteps approached.

"Heh... You all seem to be holding up just fine, don't you?" Xiao Xiao slowly walked over and stepped back onto the log bridge. "Now, killing them would be a piece of cake... right?"