Chapter 421: Brain Circuitry

"Yes," Qiao Jia Jin stared at Tian She's nose and nodded, "I really want to punch you and give it a try."

"Can't say you're not honest..." Tian She's expression grew even darker, "But why do you want to hit me?"

"Come on..." Qiao Jia Jin shrugged, "You're 'Sheng Xiao,' and I'm a 'Can Yu Zhe.' We're not on the same team, so isn't it natural for me to hit you?"

Tian She blinked, feeling his train of thought getting tangled.

"Hold on... I'm 'Tian'."

"So I haven't hit you yet."

"You..." Tian She was taken aback, sensing that the other had a point, but still feeling something was off, "N-no, that doesn't seem right... You're just openly thinking about it like that?"

"Openly thinking about it?" Qiao Jia Jin shook his head innocently, "It's fine to say it out loud; it's not embarrassing. I really want to give you a good beating, but I probably couldn't win, so it's just a thought."

This brief exchange left Tian She speechless on the spot.

Qi Xia felt his earlier worries might have been overblown. Just as he sometimes got inexplicably stuck when chatting with Qiao Jia Jin, Qiao Jia Jin's unique way of thinking seemed to have a strong countering effect on Tian She.

"You... you..." Tian She pointed at Qiao Jia Jin, "You can't think that."

"Why not?"

"Because your 'Xin Sheng' will make me hear it."

"Oh, come on, then don't listen." Qiao Jia Jin pointed back at Tian She, "Mind your own business; why are you worrying about me?"

"I, I won't listen?" Tian She scratched his head, "But, but I'm 'Tian'!"

"So I want to hit you!" Qiao Jia Jin emphasized, "Isn't that the logic? Why are you asking again?"

"I..."

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent.

Tian She's face had turned extremely ugly, clearly showing he was very angry.

"Fine... fine..." He nodded vigorously, "I'll remember you... You'd better not let me see you tomorrow."

"Then you can just not show up tomorrow." Qiao Jia Jin smiled.

Tian She opened his mouth as if he had more to say, but in the end, he just waved his hand and turned to leave.

Watching him walk away, Qian Wu burst out laughing. "Ha ha ha ha."

"Er Wa, you've got some nerve..." Qian Wu turned back and said, "You're probably the only one here who can leave someone speechless with just words."

Qi Xia sighed at that moment and said, "Qian Wu, are you really that optimistic?"

"What do you mean?"

"What's 'Tian Ma Shi Ke'?" Qi Xia said, "We've only got one day left; what are we going to do tomorrow?"

"Let's talk inside." Qian Wu gestured to the two of them, then made sure no one was around before turning back to close the prison door.

The group went back to the room where Chen Jun Nan and Li Jing Guan were.

Shi Jiu had been waiting for a while; he looked pale and was already in a dazed state.

"Shi Jiu, give me three more minutes," Qian Wu said.

Shi Jiu nodded and slowly closed his eyes.

Chen Jun Nan was about to speak, but Qian Wu stopped him with a hand: "Da Wa, time is limited; let me go first."

"Um."

"The so-called 'Tian Ma Shi Ke' is the 'Tian Ma You Xi.' The game covers the entire 'Zhong Yan Zhi Di,'" Qian Wu said seriously. "Da Wa and I have been through it once. Tomorrow is only the fifth day. If 'Tian Ma Shi Ke' comes, probably half the people in 'Zhong Yan Zhi Di' will get wiped out."

"What kind of game is it?" Qi Xia asked.

"A life-or-death race," Qian Wu said, staring into Qi Xia's eyes. "Something is chasing us, and if it catches you, you're dead."

Qi Xia never imagined that the so-called 'Tian Ma You Xi' could be so straightforward and brutal.

"You said the game covers the entire 'Zhong Yan Zhi Di'..." Qi Xia found it hard to believe, "Will there be that many things chasing us? It's already the fourth day, and there are a lot of 'Hui Xiang Zhe,' so can't we band together and fight back?"

Chen Jun Nan shook his head after hearing that: "Fighting back is impossible, Lao Qi. The thing chasing us is like a hair-thin line; we have no idea how to deal with it. You can't hit it, and you can't break it, so all you can do is run."

Qi Xia turned to look at Chen Jun Nan: "One line for each person?"

"Yes." Chen Jun Nan nodded, "If that old woman is ruthless enough, we might have to run for a whole day."

"A whole day...?"

Qi Xia realized the problem was tricky. Not to mention a full day, an ordinary person without systematic training would be exhausted after running continuously for just an hour.

If each person was being chased by a line, that meant everyone's running direction could be different, making it hard to look out for each other.

"It probably won't be that long..." Qian Wu said, "Da Wa, the last 'Tian Ma Shi Ke' was only a little over an hour."

Chen Jun Nan nodded: "Yeah, but we've only experienced it once. How do you know it's always an hour? What if next time it suddenly gets longer?"

"I've been through it twice." Qian Wu sighed, "Both times were a little over an hour."

"Twice...?" Chen Jun Nan furrowed his brow, suddenly remembering something—their memories no longer matched.

"We only have twenty-four hours left." Qi Xia looked coldly at Qian Wu, "You were so confident telling Tian Ma you'd hand over the person tomorrow... Do you have a plan?"

"Yes..." Qiao Jia Jin also looked puzzled at Qian Wu, "With just one day, what can we do?"

"Qi Xia, that look in your eyes seems like you think I'd betray you." Qian Wu smiled, "If I wanted to betray you, I would've done it today."

"Because I can't think of a reasonable plan..." Qi Xia said, "What's the point of those twenty-four hours you're buying? Isn't the best option to just hand me over? Trade my life for everyone's, and we can start planning again in the next cycle."

"No way." Qian Wu and Chen Jun Nan both spoke up at once.

"Hmm?"

"Qi Xia." Qian Wu said, "If you go with them, there won't be a next cycle."

"Is that so?" Qi Xia narrowed his eyes slightly, "They can forcibly remove someone from the cycle?"

Qian Wu nodded: "Zhu Que can do it, and Tian She can too. They could turn you into something that's neither human nor ghost, making you an 'Yuan Zhu Min' at any time."

Qi Xia nodded after hearing that: "I get it... So with one day, it's barely enough to work with."

"What do you mean you get it?" Chen Jun Nan and Qiao Jia Jin glanced at each other.

"If I'm right..." Qi Xia stared at Qian Wu, "You want to make all of 'Mao's people 'Hui Xiang' today, and then kill 'Tian Ma' first thing tomorrow morning."

"That's exactly it." Qian Wu said, "We have a whole day today to activate their 'Hui Xiang.' Even if the assassination tomorrow fails, 'Mao' won't suffer heavy losses."

"No... that doesn't seem right?" Qiao Jia Jin was stunned, "You guys can 'Hui Xiang,' but what about Pian Ren Zi?"

"Yeah..." Chen Jun Nan also spotted the issue, "Xiao Qian Dou, this might save 'Mao,' but it still doesn't save Lao Qi."

Qian Wu lowered his head with a serious expression.

"What Qian Wu is doing is right." Qi Xia said, "My 'Hui Xiang' is hard to trigger, so this is the best plan."