Chapter 20: Seeking the Dao

What do the twelve zodiac animals represent? What's at the end of this corridor? Is it the Yin Cao Di Fu?

In the dimly lit corridor that seemed to stretch on forever, the group moved forward, their steps shaky and uncertain.

After enduring several rounds of intense "games," everyone felt utterly drained, both physically and mentally. Now that they had a moment of respite, the overwhelming aura of death that had surrounded them seemed to fade.

Qi Xia casually turned his head and noticed Lin Geng walking beside him.

She was still covering her mouth and nose with her hand.

"Doesn't that make you uncomfortable?" Qi Xia, imitating Lin Geng, placed his own hand over his mouth and nose. "The smell here is terrible, but covering up might make it hard to breathe."

"Breathing?" Lin Geng paused for a moment, then smiled. "I don't feel like it's hard to breathe; it just feels strange not to cover my mouth and nose, like..."

"Like what?"

"Like not wearing clothes." Lin Geng smiled awkwardly, then lowered her hand from her mouth and nose.

Her nose was straight and her lips were rosy; there was no real need to cover them. Qi Xia didn't understand what she meant by "like not wearing clothes."

Lin Geng smiled faintly but still felt uneasy, so she covered her mouth and nose with her hand again.

"It's a bit embarrassing... Don't you feel awkward?" Lin Geng asked Qi Xia. "Just leaving your mouth and nose exposed like that."

"Why would it be awkward?" Qi Xia found it strange.

"It's the kou zhao..." Lin Geng looked at Qi Xia with complete confusion, as if he were an alien. "How can you be so casual without wearing a kou zhao?"

"Mouth..."

Before Qi Xia could reply, a strange light appeared in the distance.

The group was drawn to the light and looked ahead.

It was the exit.

A glow like that of a sunset sky was filtering in from the exit.

"We're getting out!!" Qiao Jia Jin shouted excitedly. "I see the sunset light!"

His shout was like a shot of adrenaline for the group. Zhao Yi Sheng helped Han Yi Mo along as they all quickened their pace.

"Sunset?" Qi Xia thought for a moment and said to the others, "We woke up at twelve o'clock, and after more than an hour of games, it should be around two o'clock now. Whether it's two in the morning or afternoon, it's impossible to see a sunset."

"You're overthinking it." Li Jing Guan shook his head. "The time on the clock might not be accurate. Maybe it really is evening now."

Qi Xia nodded slightly. He knew Li Jing Guan was right; all his knowledge of the time came from the clock in the room, but no one could guarantee that the clock was correct.

After walking a few more steps, the group spotted a dark figure near the exit.

As they moved closer, the figure gradually took on a human shape. He wore an animal mask, but this mask made everyone feel sick to their stomach.

Unlike all the other animal masks, which were made from the skull of a single animal, this one's mask was a stitched-together creation of various organs.

His mouth looked like a crocodile's, his nose like a cow's, his cheeks were covered in fish scales, and his neck in snake skin. On top of that, he had sewn a lion's mane and deer antlers onto his mask.

This creature was simply like...

"Hello, I am Ren Long." The stitched monster spoke slowly. "Everyone survived? How novel."

"Long...?"

The group instinctively stopped, their nerves on edge.

It wasn't that Long was frightening, but they were all too familiar with this kind of introduction.

Every time someone introduced themselves like this, it was followed by a terrifying game.

"Don't be nervous, everyone. Your trials have come to an end." Ren Long waved his hand, and only then did the group notice the eagle claw gloves on his hands.

Every animal part on him was somewhat rotten and swollen, emitting a foul odor, but he acted as if he didn't notice, continuing on his own:

"I won't be bringing you new trials; I'm just here to give you some advice."

The group remained silent, huddled together and watching Ren Long warily.

"You have ten days to change all this." Ren Long said slowly. "If you don't get three thousand six hundred dao within ten days, the world you live in will be destroyed. Everything you can see will perish along with it."

This brief statement left the group completely bewildered.

"Three thousand six hundred dao?" Qi Xia frowned. "Dao—what is that? And what do you mean by our world being destroyed?"

"Questions? Heh heh heh, good." Ren Long nodded. "Questions mean you're still clear-headed. The so-called dao is..."

Ren Long reached into the pocket of his black suit and rummaged around for a while before pulling out four golden beads.

The beads had a white outer layer and a gold inner layer, shimmering all over and looking quite odd.

"This is dao." Ren Long continued. "With three thousand six hundred of these, you can be saved."

Qi Xia pondered for a moment, then reached out to take one of the beads. It didn't feel hard; it was even a bit springy.

"Take them; they're yours anyway." Ren Long said with a smile.

Qi Xia thought for a while longer before accepting the four dao.

"You've passed four trials: Liar, After the Rain, Bamboo Shoots, Death from Above, and Yes or No. These are your rewards, and also your chips."

The group never imagined that the things they had risked their lives for multiple times were just these unassuming little beads. They didn't know what to say.

"Dao..." Qi Xia furrowed his brow, looking helpless as he said, "Are you saying that if we don't find three thousand six hundred of these little beads, everything here will be destroyed?"

"Heh heh heh, that's right. If this place is destroyed... you won't be able to get out, oh." Ren Long nodded, his fish scales and lion's mane swaying with his head, looking extremely awkward.

"You seem to have quite a few of these beads. Couldn't you gather three thousand six hundred yourself?" Li Jing Guan said decisively. "And you're clearly more powerful than us. Why choose us when you could do it yourself?"

"Me?" Ren Long scoffed. "We're all sinners. Sinners can't obtain dao. Only chosen ones like you can get dao and ultimately become gods."

"This is ridiculous!" Zhang Chen Ze interrupted Ren Long, crossing her arms and asking angrily, "Do you even know what you're saying?"