Chapter 551: The Scentless One

In the following days, I worked hard to familiarize myself with the new changes in "Taoyuan." Sorry, I just can't break the habit.

I mean, the changes in "Zhongyan Zhidi."

That evening, I went to the dark, foul-smelling basement to see Chu Tianqiu. I spoke to him through the door about what had happened that day.

Not only had Qi Xia arrived, but he had also brought eight other teammates.

Chu Tianqiu didn't ask about Qi Xia's teammates. He just kept staring at me and smiling, which made me feel uneasy.

"What's wrong?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Xiao Nian, could you do me another favor?"

"Go ahead."

"I want to know what 'scent' they have on them."

"Scent...?" Chu Tianqiu's words left me completely baffled. "Do you mean Qi Xia?"

"No, not just Qi Xia." Chu Tianqiu laughed. "I want to know the 'scent' of everyone in Qi Xia's room."

"But I don't understand..."

"You don't need to." Chu Tianqiu laughed. "Just go and sniff the 'scent' on them, then come back and describe it to me in as much detail as possible."

As always, I couldn't figure out what Chu Tianqiu was thinking.

"Got it, I'll go and get them all to gather."

"No, keep it secret." Chu Tianqiu interrupted. "No one else can know about this."

"You..."

Keep it secret?

That meant I had to sneak around and sniff the scent on everyone in Qi Xia's room without them noticing.

For a moment, I was lost, unsure of the situation—who was negotiating with whom, and who was using whom?

"Xiao Nian, you know this, right... If I expose you now, I'm not the one who loses out." Chu Tianqiu seemed to read my thoughts, then smiled and slowly approached the door. "I can get by without your 'neihui,' but you need my 'waike' right now. I'm putting up with hiding in this dark basement, so you should do something for me in return."

Hearing that, I sighed deeply and nodded.

He was right—Chu Tianqiu held the upper hand, not me. If he decided to reveal my identity, I'd be the one in trouble.

But this wouldn't last forever. I couldn't stay this passive indefinitely.

"I understand. I'll go right away."

"Wait a minute, lock the door when you leave." Chu Tianqiu added.

As I was about to leave, I stopped at his words and looked down at the basement door lock.

The lock could only be secured from the outside, trapping anyone inside completely.

"Tianqiu, why do you always ask me to lock the door when I leave?"

"Naturally, it's to put your mind at ease." Chu Tianqiu replied. "If you lock the door, I can't get out. That way, I won't interfere with what you need to do. Isn't that showing my sincerity?"

It was strange, really. I was the one locking Chu Tianqiu in, but I always had a bad feeling, as if once the lock clicked, I was the one imprisoned.

What effect would locking him up have on me?

I thought through countless scenarios and couldn't see any downsides for myself, so I reached out and locked the basement door.

"That's it, Xiao Nian." Chu Tianqiu said with a smile through the door. "We both need to show sincerity to make this a cooperation that satisfies everyone."

Without another word, I left the room and started thinking of a plan.

Luckily, all the people in Qi Xia's room were staying in one space. If I could sneak in, I should be able to gather everyone's "scent" at once.

I still didn't get why Chu Tianqiu was suddenly curious about their scents.

Though we'd been cycling through "Zhongyan Zhidi" all along, our physical bodies were constantly refreshing, always carrying the "scent" from the real world. Was Chu Tianqiu trying to learn about their past through these scents?

I grabbed my usual dagger and took a rope from the warehouse, then slipped out into the hallway under the cover of night. By then, all the classroom fires had been extinguished.

I tied the rope across the hallway in advance, then made my way to Qi Xia's room.

The night was incredibly dark—I could barely see my own hand in front of me, let alone anyone else spotting me.

I turned the door handle with a soft click and stepped inside.

Though visibility was poor, I could tell they were all asleep, so I moved forward a few steps to the person nearest the door.

I reached out and touched their hair, feeling it was a woman, then leaned down to sniff. She had no scent at all.

I didn't dwell on it and quickly moved to the second person. This one had a large build and was snoring loudly—clearly a strong man.

As I leaned in to smell him, something felt off.

This was only the second day since everyone's rebirth... Why did that woman have no scent whatsoever?

Was it possible for a person to have absolutely no scent?

If she'd bathed or changed clothes recently, there should at least be some lingering fragrance. If not, there'd naturally be an unpleasant odor.

But why was there nothing?

"Strange..." I muttered softly.

I knew this opportunity wouldn't last, so even if someone had no scent, I didn't need to overthink it—I just had to report back to Chu Tianqiu exactly as it was.

With that in mind, I sniffed the burly man in front of me. His scent wasn't pleasant—strong tobacco and sweat, like he hadn't bathed in days.

I turned around, and my eyes had adjusted a bit to the darkness, so I scanned the room.

Something seemed off... If I wasn't mistaken, there were eight people here?

I felt a chill down my spine. It was pitch black outside—had someone slipped out in the middle of the night?

Maybe I was seeing things. I carefully counted with my fingers: definitely eight people.

One person was missing.

Since they weren't sleeping here and couldn't have gone out, where could they be?

I realized things were getting complicated. This kind of issue might not matter in other rooms, but this was Qi Xia's room.

A small coincidence like this was clearly a fatal flaw.

At that thought, I abandoned everything and bolted toward the door behind me. At the same time, a shadow sprang into action, also rushing for the door.

Their goal was to shut it, but if I could just beat them to it.

When they realized they couldn't close it in time, they lunged for me, and I dodged instantly, then sprinted down the hallway.