Chapter 412: The One Who Surrenders

Lin Geng heard the question and silently furrowed her brow.

Yes, only “participants” could be reborn; “Yuan Zhu Min” and “Sheng Xiao” could not.

So why could Xu Liunian, who had changed from a “Yuan Zhu Min” to a “participant,” be reborn?

Had she become completely immortal?

Tian Tian didn’t understand what these two were talking about. She quietly walked to the side, picked up a can, and opened it with force.

It was a canned fish, which looked fairly well preserved. Tian Tian lifted it to her nose and sniffed—it didn’t seem spoiled.

She carried the can over to the female shop assistant and placed it on the counter in front of her.

Qiao Yun turned around, swallowed hard, and said, "Are you just buying this…?"

"Yes," Tian Tian nodded. "I’m just getting this one. Let’s check out."

Qiao Yun stared blankly for a while, reaching out to touch the scanner, but it was completely broken.

"This... this thing won’t scan…" Qiao Yun said with some disappointment. "Why don’t you pick something else?"

"Then consider it stolen."

"What…?"

"I said I stole it," Tian Tian said softly. "If it won’t scan, that’s fine. You can report it to the police later."

"Ah…?" The female shop assistant was stunned. "You… you stole something?"

"Um," Tian Tian nodded. "I stole this, but now I’m giving it to you."

"Giving it… to me?"

"Yes, don’t worry. If the police come, they’ll only arrest me. I won’t get you involved," Tian Tian said with a smile. "I steal things just for fun, and I don’t even like eating them. But it’s a waste to throw food away, so I have to give it to you."

Qiao Yun was clearly startled by what Tian Tian said.

"If you do that, you really will get caught."

"It’s okay," Tian Tian shook her head. "I’m a regular at the police station. Getting arrested doesn’t matter—I’ll just get a lecture and be let go. You take it and eat it."

After hearing this, Qiao Yun slowly reached out her hand and picked up the old can.

The canned fish was full of meat and broth, with some oil floating on the surface of the soup. It smelled especially fragrant.

"Can… can I eat this?" Qiao Yun asked in disbelief.

"Of course," Tian Tian nodded. "I stole it, not you. What do you have to be afraid of?"

Yun Yao watched this scene and let out a deep sigh. It seemed that the cans Chu Tianqiu had sent earlier hadn’t been eaten by this female shop assistant at all—instead, they had been stolen by many people who came here.

Unfortunately, the enforcers in this place wouldn’t bother with such minor issues. For this irrational female shop assistant, all she could do was endure it time and again.

Under everyone’s gaze, Qiao Yun reached out with her dirty hand, picked up a piece of deboned fish meat, stared at it for a long time, and then tremblingly put it in her mouth.

Just three seconds later, she burst into tears, sobbing heartbreakingly.

Her expression was like one of complete defeat.

No matter how formidable this woman had been many years ago—how she had once led many “participants” against “Tian Long”—today, she had been defeated by a single expired can of fish.

The people present felt a pang of sadness at this sight.

What “Yuan Zhu Min”… what “Sheng Xiao”…

She was just an ordinary person. She only wanted something to eat, yet she had been starving for so many years.

As soon as the small piece of fish entered her mouth, Qiao Yun started to vomit violently.

Her long-term malnutrition had caused her body’s organs to begin failing, and this clearly couldn’t be fixed with just one can.

But no one could stop her. The girl named Qiao Yun just kept eating and vomiting, vomiting and eating.

She desperately wanted to swallow the food, but her body wouldn’t allow it.

How much physical resilience did it take to survive like this?

"Thank you… thank you…" Qiao Yun cried out while vomiting bile. "I’m so grateful… thank you…"

Lin Geng’s face showed a trace of sorrow at this. She turned and went to the shelves, opening all the cans.

"Consider all these robbed by me," Lin Geng continued. "They’re stored here now. Remember, you can only eat one can a day, or we’ll turn you in to the police."

Qiao Yun nodded vigorously, tears streaming down her dry face.

"Thank you… thank you so much…"

She sobbed as she spoke, and soon she was vomiting again.

Everyone felt like their actions were like pouring a bucket of water on a building about to burn down completely. How much power could that bucket of water have to extinguish the fire?

Yun Yao watched this for a long time before saying, "Let’s split up…"

"What?" Lin Geng asked.

"Originally, I didn’t want to deal with 'Tian Tang Kou' anymore, but now it seems Xu Liunian and Chu Tianqiu still have their secrets…" She turned to Lin Geng and Zhang Lüshi and said, "The three of us can’t go back. Can you two help by going back to investigate?"

Zhang Chenze looked at Lin Geng’s injured right leg, thought for a moment, and said, "You two should stick together. I can go back on my own."

"You alone?"

"Yes…" Zhang Chenze nodded. "As I said before, I won’t make any decisions without a full understanding of something. But now, after three or four days, I’ve gotten to know this place a bit, so you can leave the rest to me."

"But Chu Tianqiu is very cunning…" Yun Yao said. "Even if he doesn’t want to kill you, you won’t get any information out of him. It might be better if Lin Geng goes with you—she’s retained memories from many years."

"No need," Zhang Chenze shook her head. "As long as the other side is reasonable, I won’t lose."

"What…?" Lin Geng felt that Zhang Chenze’s demeanor was different from when they first met. Thinking about the questions she’d asked and the things she’d done these past days, had she really been gathering information as much as possible?

"Lin Geng’s leg is badly injured. You should take her to get it stabilized first," Zhang Chenze smiled and said, "Make sure nothing happens to you two. I really like you both—I like all the strong, kind girls in the world. I’ll handle the rest."

Everyone felt that the Zhang Chenze in front of them was like a gentle and reliable big sister.

"Then… you have to be careful on your own," Yun Yao said. "It seems there are 'Tian Ji' Sheng Xiao active around lately, which has never happened before. I haven’t seen 'Tian' in many years and even thought it didn’t exist here…"

"I understand," Zhang Chenze nodded. "Draw me a map, and I’ll find you afterward."

Yun Yao found a piece of scrap paper in the convenience store, quickly sketched out the route from here to the "Di She" game venue, gave a few more instructions, and then led the others away.

Zhang Chenze glanced at Qiao Yun, who was earnestly eating, and her face showed sadness.

She felt this girl was a lot like her former self, but she had arrived too late to help at all.

That man named Chu Tianqiu seemed gentle and refined—had he, like the butcher Ma once did, imprisoned this girl here?

Zhang Chenze’s expression gradually turned cold, and she walked out of the convenience store, heading toward "Tian Tang Kou."