Chapter 37: Squad

"It's here!" Xiao Yanjing shouted excitedly. "Finally, it's here!"

A burly man slowly approached. He was about 1.9 meters tall and had a buzz cut.

He yawned as he rummaged through his pocket, then asked the Niu Tou Ren, "How much?"

"One Dao per ticket."

The burly man took a small ball out of his pocket and flicked it with his thumb towards the Niu Tou Ren, who caught it steadily.

"Feeling rested... Let's begin." The burly man stretched and rolled his neck, muttering, "Show me what kind of mess you've cooked up this time."

Qi Xia and his three companions looked at the fierce-looking burly man, sensing he wasn't someone to be trifled with.

Qiao Jiajin paid him little attention, having seen plenty like him on the streets.

These types relied on their brute strength to bully others, and Qiao Jiajin had personally made a few of them cry.

But he wondered if this burly man was just another paper tiger.

Once they had twenty people, everyone slowly stepped forward to pay the "ticket."

Qi Xia thought for a moment and took out four Dao.

It wasn't a small sum for them; after handing it over, they would only have one Dao left.

"Are we really going to join this game?" Qiao Jiajin asked. "What's our plan?"

"I'm debating it too," Qi Xia said. "It's risky, but a game with twenty people doesn't happen often. It's worth the gamble."

After getting everyone's agreement, Qi Xia dropped the four Dao into the box in front of the Niu Tou Ren.

"Very good." The Niu Tou Ren nodded, turned, and opened the door, revealing a staircase leading down to a basement.

"Participants, please enter."

He turned and slowly went down the stairs, with the participants following cautiously behind, heading deeper underground.

"This place looks huge... It's on a completely different level from 'Ren Shu'," Tiantian whispered.

"Be careful," Qi Xia replied. "I have a bad feeling about this."

The middle-aged man had said before the game that it would result in "death," which weighed heavily on Qi Xia's mind.

But what he feared wasn't just dying—it was being buried forever in this strange place.

As a con artist, he had faced life-threatening risks countless times and always survived.

Thinking about it, this situation wasn't much different from before; it was just another dance on the edge of a knife.

Soon, the group reached the bottom of the stairs.

It was a small room with dim lighting and a musty smell. In the center were twenty chairs.

On either side of the room were two doors, one painted yellow and the other green.

"Please, have a seat," the Niu Tou Ren said. "Don't worry; the game hasn't started yet."

The group sat down hesitantly, with Qi Xia and his companions taking seats next to each other.

That's when they noticed a small light on each armrest of the chairs—one yellow and one green.

"Since this is a team game, to ensure fairness, we will now conduct 'random team assignment.' Please remain in your seats, or 'punishment' will be enforced on everyone."

The statement made everyone's faces uneasy.

Xiao Yanjing and the middle-aged man reacted the most: "Ah?! Team assignment?!"

Qi Xia stroked his chin and thought briefly, realizing this setup only benefited the organizers.

If this was a "betting" game, the best way to minimize participants' chances was to shuffle the teams completely.

The Niu Tou Ren went to a corner of the room, found a button, glanced back at the group with a meaningful look, and said, "The game officially begins."

With that, he pressed the button, and the lights on everyone's chair armrests started flashing. The yellow and green lights alternated rapidly, creating an eerie scene in the dim space.

Qi Xia stared at the small light on his armrest, feeling a bit tense.

If "Niu" really meant a physical endurance game, it wasn't his strong suit—this time, they'd have to rely on Qiao Jiajin's brute strength.

But others would think the same way.

For instance, Xiao Yanjing and the chubby middle-aged man had brought the burly man as backup.

Yet, all their schemes seemed to be in the Niu Tou Ren's grasp, which is why they had this "random team assignment."

Qi Xia knew that if he and Qiao Jiajin ended up on different teams, the game's outcome would be unpredictable.

Before Qi Xia could devise a full plan, the lights stopped flashing.

Some people's yellow lights lit up, while others' green lights did.

This was the random team assignment.

Qi Xia glanced around at his group's assignments, feeling mixed emotions.

The good news was that he and Qiao Jiajin both had yellow lights, so they were on the same team. The bad news was that Tiantian and Lin Geng had green lights, putting them on the other team. If this was a physical game, it would be tough for them.

Groans rose from the crowd; apparently, no one else was thrilled with their assignments either.

"Now, I'll read the game rules," the Niu Tou Ren said gruffly. "The two teams will play independently in their own arenas, with no interaction. As long as you survive in your arena for ten minutes without being eliminated, you'll pass. Each participant will receive Dao equal to the number of people who pass."

Many people couldn't sit still after hearing the rules.

"Hey!" The middle-aged man jumped to his feet. "This is bullshit! What kind of game are we even playing? What are we up against?"

The group fell silent, staring at the Niu Tou Ren, expecting more explanation. But he just looked at the middle-aged man and said flatly, "The yellow team, follow me."

"You...!" The middle-aged man gritted his teeth but didn't dare outburst.

He wasn't with his teammate, which already had him fuming, and now the rules were unclear, leaving him emotionally unstable. Xiao Yanjing beside him kept tugging at his clothes, trying to calm him down.

Qi Xia turned to Tiantian and Lin Geng and said, "No matter what's behind those doors, be careful. Remember, survival comes first."

"Mm-hmm." The two girls nodded nervously.

"Let's go," Qi Xia said to Qiao Jiajin.

The two of them moved forward and checked out their "teammates." The situation wasn't great—out of the ten, six were women. If this was a team physical game, it would be a tough battle.

Besides Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin, the other two men were Xiao Yanjing and the middle-aged man. The green team only had Tiantian and Lin Geng as the girls.

"Damn..." Qiao Jiajin eyed the other two teammates and muttered under his breath, "One scrawny guy, one fatso..."

"Enough," Qi Xia said. "We'll have to manage on our own."

The ten yellow team members lined up at the yellow door, while the green team did the same at the green door under the Niu Tou Ren's direction.

With a low chain-rattling sound, the doors opened, revealing another set of stairs leading down.

Qiao Jiajin headed down without a word, and the rest of the team hurried after him.

The stairs were short but steep, and after about thirty steps, they entered a spacious area, roughly the size of half a basketball court. In the center was a table-sized circular iron plate.

Qi Xia quickly scanned the environment. The space was surrounded by high walls, with a large iron gate on one side. Above the gate was a digital countdown clock set at ten minutes.