Chapter 585: Severance

"Di Hu," Qi Xia called out, "As we agreed before... I've come back for you."

"Yang..."

Di Hu was about to speak, but Qi Xia raised a hand to stop him. "It's Qi Xia."

"Oh... oh... Qi Xia." Di Hu nodded. "Now, is it...?"

"Today, there shouldn't be any other 'Can Yu Zhe' coming to join your game, right? I want to find a place to talk." Qi Xia glanced at Di Hu with his eyes, then looked at the building behind him.

"Alright." Di Hu thought for a moment and nodded. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Xu Liunian getting out of the taxi.

"Yang... Qi Ge..." Di Hu called out.

"Qi Xia," Qi Xia corrected.

"Alright, alright, Qi Xia..." Di Hu scratched his head. "And this one is?"

"Let's just say she's a teammate on the same front for now." Qi Xia said, "Let her come in too."

Xu Liunian looked at Di Hu in front of her, then at Qi Xia, feeling that things had completely exceeded her expectations.

Why was a 'Di Ji' being so polite to a 'Can Yu Zhe'?

"Got it, I'll tidy up a bit!" Di Hu respectfully turned and opened the door, leading the two inside the building.

This time, he didn't go straight to the elevator. Instead, he took out a key and unlocked the wooden door next to it, revealing a staircase leading downward.

He limped along, supporting his leg, guiding the two down. Below was the "hidden area" of this game, the pitch-black place where everyone who fell from the log bridge would end up.

The site still bore traces from the last time Qiao Jia Jin and Luo Shi Yi had participated in the game. Di Hu had cleaned it carefully, but the wounds left by the numerous 'Hui Xiang Zhe' battles were still vividly apparent.

In the center of the site was a square table with a candle burning on it.

Di Hu brought out several chairs from a hidden spot and placed them by the table, then gestured for the two to sit.

"Qi Xia, I don't have much here for sitting," Di Hu said, scratching his head. "But it's relatively quiet. I'm not opening for business today, so go ahead and say whatever you need."

"I wouldn't call it an order." Qi Xia said, "I just need you to help with something."

"Sure! No problem, just tell me what to do!" Di Hu said boldly. As he finished, he reached up and scratched at the wound on his face.

The wound looked fresh, with blood now scabbed over, forming a clump amid the facial hair.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Qi Xia furrowed his brow and, by the light of the candle, carefully examined Di Hu. Only then did he realize how badly injured he was—not just his massive tiger face, which had been broken, but his legs seemed unsteady too.

"What could be wrong with me?!"

Di Hu slammed the table, his expression full of excitement, but his body appeared very weak, as if he wanted to cough but ultimately held it back by gritting his teeth.

"Then go ahead and tell me." Qi Xia leaned back in his chair and lightly tapped the table. "You got yourself into this state—what happened?"

"I..." Di Hu's gaze wandered, and he hesitated. "Qi Xia... I... are we talking about this here?"

Xu Liunian, standing nearby, glanced at the two and said softly, "I don't think that's wise either... Are we just going to say it out in the open like this?"

"Hmph..." Qi Xia snorted. "We didn't hide it before, and we don't need to now. The one monitoring us is 'Qing Long' anyway. If there's going to be a problem, it would have happened already. Now, he needs me, so he won't let anything happen to me."

"Qing Long...?" Di Hu was startled.

"But there might be more than one 'Ling Wen'!" Xu Liunian whispered. She looked at Qi Xia, then glanced at Di Hu. "'Sheng Xiao' should know that better than I do..."

"It's Tian Gou." Di Hu nodded. "The superior of the lazy dog, it's the ears of the entire 'Tian Ji'."

"So we don't need to avoid it?" Xu Liunian asked.

"Probably not." Qi Xia said, "We can just tell him what comes next."

"What...?" Xu Liunian and Di Hu exchanged glances. "You think that... 'Tian Gou' is on our side too?"

"How would I know?" Qi Xia said, "Does it matter to me whether he's on our side or not?"

"This..."

Xu Liunian and Di Hu still looked puzzled. "If he's not on our side, shouldn't we be more careful...?"

"I already said." Qi Xia explained, "Right now, 'Qing Long' needs me to do things for him. Even if 'Tian Gou' can hear, any mess that comes up is for Qing Long to handle, not me."

After hearing this, Xu Liunian felt a chill down her back. After a few seconds, she asked, "Qi Xia, did you start using him the first time you met Qing Long?"

"It's something Qing Long could have foreseen." Qi Xia said, "He dared to appear in front of me, so he should have expected this outcome. When he wants to control a highly destructive weapon, he should be familiar with its side effects."

"But aren't you afraid Qing Long might change his mind...?" Xu Liunian asked, "If he gets tired of you as a 'chess piece,' could he just abandon you?"

"He has no choice." Qi Xia shook his head, his face indifferent. "He can't find a replacement for me. After all, I'm the only one who is 'Sheng Sheng Bu Xi'."

"'Sheng Sheng Bu Xi'...?" Di Hu frowned after hearing this. "What's that...?"

"My 'Hui Xiang'." Qi Xia said to Di Hu, "I suspect I'm advancing along the path I once laid out. I've already walked half of it... The next part depends on you."

"You really have a 'Hui Xiang'?" Di Hu felt a bit surprised. "Four characters? You're not kidding me, right?"

Hearing Di Hu's words, Qi Xia turned his head to look at him and said, "Di Hu, let me guess—in the time you knew me... I was probably an 'unfortunate one,' right?"

Di Hu was startled. "You... have memories?"

"No." Qi Xia shook his head. "Logically speaking, the reason I became 'Sheng Xiao' is precisely because I couldn't 'Hui Xiang.' Back then, that was my only path left."

After hearing this, Xu Liunian slowly furrowed her brow. "But Qing Long said you were 'Ling Wen'..."

"If I'm not wrong... I cut off the 'trigger' for 'Ling Wen'." Qi Xia said decisively. "'Ling Wen' awakens through 'grief.'"

"Cut it off...?" Xu Liunian narrowed her eyes, pondering the chill in Qi Xia's words. "How could you cut off 'grief'...?"

"The details aren't confirmed yet... Maybe I used something against science, like asking 'Wang You' to do something to me back then..." Qi Xia said, tapping his temple. "Or maybe I used a scientific method, like forcibly implanting a tumor in the frontal lobe of my brain to interfere with emotions."