Chapter 47: Escape

As the onlookers watched with panicked expressions, Di Niu slowly walked over.

"You two, stop," he said lightly. "Even if you kill each other, it doesn't matter, but please take it outside this room."

The two men were unmoved, completely ignoring Di Niu as they gritted their teeth and continued their struggle.

Di Niu glanced at the pair grappling with each other, then decided not to persuade them further. He bent down, effortlessly pulled Qiao Jia Jin's arm away from Zhang Shan's neck, grabbed Zhang Shan's collar with his left hand and Qiao Jia Jin's arm with his right, and tossed them lightly aside. The two flew like small stones, knocking over all the chairs.

"I... damn..." Qiao Jia Jin felt as if his bones were about to break.

On the other side, Zhang Shan was in bad shape too, writhing in pain on the ground as blood flowed from his wounds.

"Damn... that old cow, one day I'll skin you alive..."

The crowd quickly rushed over to check on the two men.

"Hey, Qiao Jia Jin, are you still alive?"

Qiao Jia Jin managed a bitter laugh in response: "What do you think..."

Tian Tian and Lin Geng also came over, and the three of them helped Qiao Jia Jin to his feet.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Zhang Shan was lifted up by Xiao Yan Jing and Lao Lv.

"Are you okay, Zhang Shan?" Xiao Yan Jing asked.

"I'm fine," Zhang Shan replied, scratching at the wounds on his body, which hurt badly, but he quickly composed himself and said to Xiao Yan Jing, "Looks like you were right—those two are interesting."

"See?" Xiao Yan Jing said, beaming as if he'd been praised. "The tattooed guy is really strong, and that one called 'Pian Ren Zi' is incredibly smart. They're definitely qualified."

Lao Lv stood nearby, smirking skeptically, as if he didn't agree with Xiao Yan Jing.

"Come on, let's go talk to them," Zhang Shan said with a hearty laugh, leading the two forward again.

They hadn't gone three steps when Di Niu extended a dark hand and placed it on Zhang Shan's shoulder.

"Still looking for trouble?"

Zhang Shan looked at Di Niu and said, "Relax, it's just a simple talk."

Di Niu thought for a moment, then withdrew his hand.

"Be careful—I'm watching you."

In a few steps, Zhang Shan was face-to-face with Qi Xia and Qiao Jia Jin again.

Qiao Jia Jin stepped forward, shielding Qi Xia: "Big guy, planning to settle things with me after we get outside?"

"Forget it," Zhang Shan said, scratching at the alarming wound on his chest. "I'm out of energy today. We'll settle it next time."

"Ha." Qiao Jia Jin chuckled at the remark. "If you're not here to fight, then what do you want with us?"

"You're being unreasonable," Zhang Shan said, shaking his head helplessly. "I didn't come to fight you from the start—it was your buddy who suddenly attacked me."

Qiao Jia Jin thought about it and realized that was true.

"You're not here to fight?" Qi Xia found the man a bit odd. "Then what do you want with us?"

Zhang Shan turned back and waved at Xiao Yan Jing and Lao Lv. The two took bags from their waists and handed them over. Lao Lv did it reluctantly, but he seemed to fear Zhang Shan and followed the order anyway.

Zhang Shan weighed the two bags in his hands, then tossed them to Qi Xia.

"That's a total of thirty-eight 'Dao' for you."

Qi Xia caught the bags in disbelief and opened them to see the shiny golden balls inside.

"What's this about?" Qiao Jia Jin eyed Zhang Shan suspiciously. "We haven't even decided a winner yet—why are you giving us the 'Dao'?"

"Because that's what was agreed in the game—you have to honor your bets," Zhang Shan replied, glancing back at Xiao Yan Jing before continuing. "Besides, Xiao Yan Jing kept praising you two in front of me, saying you're both pretty impressive."

"Impressive?" Qi Xia and Qiao Jia Jin exchanged puzzled looks, unsure of what the other was up to.

"I didn't come to cause trouble from the beginning," Zhang Shan said, tapping his temple with a finger as he addressed Qi Xia. "Xiao Yan Jing told me you beat that black bear using this— is that true?"

Qi Xia didn't answer, still watching Zhang Shan warily.

"Don't overthink it," Zhang Shan said. "We're gathering a group of capable people to get out of this place together. Are you two interested in joining?"

"No," Qi Xia replied.

"Don't say no so quickly..." Zhang Shan chuckled good-naturedly and patted Qi Xia on the shoulder. "You can think it over."

"That's right!" Xiao Yan Jing chimed in, stepping forward to Qi Xia and Qiao Jia Jin. "Mr. Qiao, Mr. Pian, you both have outstanding abilities. We have a real chance of getting out of here if we team up."

"Mr. Pian?" Qi Xia thought he'd misheard. "Are you talking to me?"

"Yeah..." Xiao Yan Jing hesitated, thinking he might have said something wrong. "This Mr. Qiao has been calling you 'Pian Ren Zi'... right?"

Qi Xia just shook his head helplessly. "Whatever—names are just labels. You can call me anything, but I'm not joining you."

"Why are you so set against it?" Xiao Yan Jing didn't understand. "As the saying goes, there's strength in numbers. And I've played games with you, so I know you're a trustworthy teammate. If we work together..."

"But I don't trust you," Qi Xia interrupted. "Besides, this place only lets one person out. What good is gathering more people? In the end, they'd just be cannon fodder."

"Only... only one person can get out?" Xiao Yan Jing was taken aback. "What are you talking about? Why would only one person get out of here?"

"Isn't that the case?" Qi Xia countered. "Those animal masks said..."

Qi Xia stopped mid-sentence, suddenly freezing.

Wait a minute.

Why did he think only one person could get out?

Had anyone actually said that?

No, they hadn't.

Ren Yang had told Qi Xia that if they won the game, one of them would become a "god."

Qiao Jia Jin had clearly asked Ren Yang what would happen if they didn't win, and Ren Yang's answer was: "It would be such a pity."

He hadn't mentioned anything about escaping.

"Could I have misunderstood...?"

The word "pity" was ambiguous.

Whose pity was Ren Yang referring to?

His own... or the participants'?

Qi Xia blinked, feeling like he was starting to piece it together.

In this strange place, besides "becoming a god" or "being destroyed," was there an option to "escape"?

"You... why do you think you can escape together?" Qi Xia asked.

"Of course, because we've seen people escape from here," Zhang Shan answered.