Chapter 193: Fairness

Qiao Jiajin took nearly three minutes to slowly descend to the bottom.

The light here was very dim, and his eyes couldn't adjust immediately.

After carefully observing for a long time, he finally found the large rock that had fallen earlier. Then, he flipped over, released his grip on the rope, and landed on the boulder.

"Strange..." He lowered himself and scanned his surroundings. There wasn't a single person in sight.

At that moment, only a faint beam of light shone down from directly above, illuminating the boulder. Everywhere else was pitch black, as if submerged at the bottom of the sea.

"Wei, Gongfu Nü!" Qiao Jiajin shouted loudly, "Are you here?"

As soon as he spoke, echoes reverberated, and from two directions came the faint "shh shh" sounds of footsteps moving.

"So that's how it is..." Qiao Jiajin jumped down from the boulder and stepped into the darkness. "Because it's so dark here, neither of you dares to make a move, right?"

There was no response from around him, and Qiao Jiajin felt a sense of unease.

He knew Li Xiangling must be seriously injured; otherwise, she wouldn't remain silent upon seeing her teammate. Now, he needed to do everything possible to ensure her safety.

"Leather Jacket Man, can you hear my voice?" Qiao Jiajin continued to call out. "I'm in the light, you're in the dark—what are you afraid of? Come and fight me."

A slight sound of footsteps came again, which Qiao Jiajin quickly detected.

He stopped talking and quietly moved toward the source of the footsteps.

"Wei! If you don't come fight me, I'll come find you."

Slowly, Qiao Jiajin felt he was now very close to the person.

But he wasn't sure if the figure in the darkness was Li Xiangling or Luo Shiyi.

So, he slowly raised both hands, ready to restrain the other person's movements at a moment's notice, no matter who it was.

In the darkness, Qiao Jiajin felt his right hand brush against something. His face turned cold as he reached out and grabbed hold of a slender arm.

"Ah!"

A woman's voice let out a soft cry.

Qiao Jiajin quickly steadied her and moved to her side.

"Gongfu Nü?" Qiao Jiajin whispered, "Don't be afraid."

"Qiao Ge..." Li Xiangling let out a relieved breath and whispered back, "You scared me to death..."

"Are you okay? Are you injured?"

"I have a few wounds that are bleeding, and I'm out of strength now..." Li Xiangling said, "That man was so vicious..."

"Leave it to me. You take care of your wounds first," Qiao Jiajin said.

Qiao Jiajin reached out and patted Li Xiangling's shoulder, but he felt something odd—she seemed taller.

He felt again and noticed his hand was covered in blood after patting her.

"You..." Qiao Jiajin's face darkened, "How badly are you hurt?"

"Just surface wounds..." Li Xiangling said weakly, "Don't worry about me... You need to be careful of that man..."

"Okay..." Qiao Jiajin nodded, "What exactly happened just now?"

Li Xiangling took a deep breath and said, "Originally, there was a table in the center here... On it was a candle and a key. The two of us fought over the key, but then a rock fell from above, not only covering the key and candle but also plunging everything into total darkness..."

Qiao Jiajin could feel Li Xiangling growing weaker.

"Don't talk anymore..." Qiao Jiajin said, "I get the situation. I'll handle the rest. We can talk about it later when we're out."

With an extremely cold expression, he turned around, no longer hiding his footsteps, and strode straight toward the other side.

Footsteps had faintly come from there before, and now he was sure that was where that scum was hiding.

"Wei." Qiao Jiajin called out, "Weren't you acting all tough? After beating up a girl, now you're hiding?"

From the dark corner not far away came a low voice: "Pizi, I give up. I won't fight you."

"No." Qiao Jiajin shook his head, "If you had injured me, I could accept you giving up. But you hurt my teammate, so this is about 'revenge,' and 'revenge' doesn't accept giving up."

"Don't push me...!!" Luo Shiyi hid in the corner, his voice trembling, "If you push me, I'll hunt you two down over and over..."

"How am I pushing you?" Qiao Jiajin stepped forward, "I know you're injured, so I'll go easy on you—I'll leave you with both legs."

Luo Shiyi was stunned: "What did you say?"

Qiao Jiajin replied, "Am I not clear? I won't use my legs. Starting now, I'll stand here without moving and won't use any kicking techniques."

"Are you looking down on me...?" Luo Shiyi asked.

"Yeah, I pretty much look down on you." Qiao Jiajin nodded, "I don't really like people who bully the weak."

"You'll regret this..."

Although Luo Shiyi spat out the threat, he still didn't emerge from the darkness.

"I'll give you one more handicap—my right hand." Qiao Jiajin put his right hand behind his back, "I won't use my right hand. Is that okay? Can you come out and fight now?"

"You..."

Luo Shiyi pondered in the darkness for a long time, unsure what he was thinking.

"I'll stop using both hands, damn it!" Qiao Jiajin snapped coldly, putting both hands behind his back, "Cai Zai! I'm giving you all four limbs—do you dare to come out and fight now?!"

"Are you insulting me?!"

Luo Shiyi finally emerged.

As he got closer, Qiao Jiajin could see his injuries clearly under the faint light from above—they were horrifying.

Li Xiangling and he must have had a fierce battle.

At that moment, Luo Shiyi's forehead was exposed with stark white bone, his face covered in blood, and both hands seemed injured, trembling constantly. He limped forward, holding a stone he had picked up from the ground.

"Don't think you can win just because I'm injured..." Luo Shiyi grinned maliciously, "If I really go all out, even if you're a 'Hui Xiang Zhe,' you won't get the upper hand."

"I absolutely don't mean to underestimate you." Qiao Jiajin nodded, "And I'll keep my word—I won't use my four limbs. If I move my hands or feet at all, you win."

"That's what you said!" Luo Shiyi gripped the stone and rushed forward.

But Qiao Jiajin continued coldly, "But to be fair, you can't cheat either."

As soon as he finished speaking, a faint glow suddenly lit up on Luo Shiyi's body. The glow scattered like dandelion seeds, illuminating the entire cave.

"Ah!!!!!!!!"

Luo Shiyi let out a heart-wrenching scream, his voice turning hoarse in moments.

He collapsed in pain, clutching his forehead one moment, his hands the next, and his abdomen after that.

All the pain he had endured since the game began erupted at once.

The internal injuries from Li Xiangling's attacks also took effect. Luo Shiyi coughed a few times and spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood before slowly collapsing to the ground.

"Damn... you..." Luo Shiyi lifted his head and looked at Qiao Jiajin slowly, "What kind of ability is that... What the hell are you thinking?"

"I don't know what this ability is either." Qiao Jiajin shook his head, "I wasn't thinking about anything—I just wanted a fair and square one-on-one fight."

"You're too terrifying... You..." Luo Shiyi coughed up blood and gradually stopped moving.

The man had died from the pain.

"Pu Jie Zai..." Qiao Jiajin said, "Next time we meet, come and try to kill me. I'll be waiting."