Chapter 601: Suspicion

“Watching the fun…?”

Xu Liunian and Di Hu both fell silent.

In Zhongyan Zhidi, some people exhaust all their strength just to find a way to survive, while others treat lives as worthless, killing on a whim just for amusement.

“But Qi Xia…” Di Hu still looked puzzled, “the ‘enemy’ you mentioned earlier…”

“This is the target that Qinglong wants me to eliminate,” Qi Xia said. “The lives of these eight people are bound to my teammates. In this cycle, for every one of them who survives, one of my teammates will lose their sanity and turn into a Yuan Zhumin.”

“Ah…?”

Di Hu was stunned, his big eyes blinking rapidly as if trying to figure out Qi Xia’s stance.

“Qi… Qi Xia… you…” He gestured with his hand, then realized how serious the situation was.

“Doesn’t that mean we’re completely screwed? The people who rebelled with me… and your teammates… no matter what, half of them have to die?”

“That’s the idea.” Qi Xia nodded.

“But why is that?!” Di Hu slammed the table, his face full of confusion. “Which side is Qinglong on? Is he helping you or harming you?”

“I’m not sure. I’m a bit tired today, so starting tomorrow, I’ll visit them one by one based on the information in the list.”

At this point, Xu Liunian also looked at Qi Xia with some confusion.

“Including… the person who came into my room?” Di Hu asked uncertainly.

“Not for now,” Qi Xia replied.

“But this is putting you in such a tough spot… Qi Xia.” Di Hu furrowed his brow, his expression particularly grim. “If you don’t kill a few of them, your teammates will lose their sanity… I just feel that Qinglong is acting strangely. Isn’t this something he should be involved in? Isn’t his duty to protect Tianlong?”

“This matter is something Qinglong got himself into. Whatever he’s planning, I just hope he won’t regret it.”

Qi Xia stood up and slowly stretched. Even though he hadn’t fully participated in the Tianma Shike, he had been running around the streets for a full hour.

The fatigue from being oppressed by both death and exhaustion was no less than participating in multiple Di Ji Youxi in a single day.

Now, the weariness in his body was hitting him, making him feel somewhat drowsy.

“Oh, right.” Qi Xia suddenly remembered something and turned to ask Di Hu, “You said… among the rabbit, dog, and pig, is there anyone who seems off?”

“Off?” Di Hu frowned as he thought back to the three people’s behavior last night. “All three of them were off. None of them acted normal.”

“Not in that sense.” Qi Xia shook his head. “Qinglong told me that everyone on the list is affiliated with Tianlong. What do you think about that?”

“What…?”

Di Hu’s eyes widened in an instant, his mouth trembling slightly as he hesitated to speak.

After a long pause, he finally asked, “Qi Xia, are you saying that someone from Tianlong has infiltrated my team…?”

“I’m not sure.” Qi Xia didn’t answer directly. “After all, Qinglong could be lying. I just want to know, from the Shengxiao perspective, if there’s anything strange about these three.”

Hearing that, Di Hu recalled their behavior and quickly spotted the issues.

“Even if you put it that way, these three are still a bit odd…” Di Hu said. “Not bad, Qi Xia. It’s like you’ve opened up a new line of thinking for me.”

“Go on.”

“First, there’s Di Gou…” Di Hu narrowed his eyes as he thought carefully. “He himself doesn’t seem strange, but his superior is Tian Gou. Tian Gou is like Qinglong—an ear of Zhongyan Zhidi. Those two don’t get along. So, there’s a chance Di Gou is working for Tian Gou… which means he’s opposed to Qinglong.”

“Oh…?” Qi Xia nodded slightly after hearing that. “So, was there anything odd about his behavior last night?”

“He…” Di Hu shook his head. “He doesn’t talk much, mostly just listens to our conversations. And he brought along Shexiu Shu out of nowhere, even though they don’t seem to know each other… Now I’m getting more suspicious of him…”

“No need for that,” Qi Xia said. “We’re just sharing thoughts. You don’t have to completely believe Qinglong. Even if Di Gou’s superior is Tian Gou, he might have good reasons to want to kill his boss and take his place.”

“You’re right.” Di Hu nodded hesitantly. “As for that big rabbit… he’s even stranger.”

“What’s strange about him?”

“For starters, aside from being beaten up all over, I just don’t get his motives,” Di Hu said. “He has no reason to join us. Yesterday, he didn’t express any stance at all, like he was completely uninvolved, just standing there observing. If that’s not spying, what is it?”

“Spying…?” Qi Xia shook his head. “No, if I remember correctly, the person who played Di Tu isn’t exactly harmless. That rabbit might have been thoroughly manipulated by Chen Jun Nan.”

“Manipulated?”

“Yes,” Qi Xia replied. “I’m not saying you don’t know his motives—I suspect he doesn’t even know what he’s doing himself. I’ll need to see him to get the full picture. We can’t jump to conclusions now.”

After Qi Xia finished, Di Hu fell silent.

“What’s wrong? What about Di Zhu?”

“Although Xiao Zhu is a bit strange, I don’t think he is,” Di Hu chuckled naively.

Qi Xia frowned, sensing something off: “Why not?”

“He’s just a kid.” Di Hu scratched his cheek and said, “A child probably wouldn’t, right?”

“Oh…?” Qi Xia felt like he might have found Tianlong’s spy.

Was it because Tianlong knew Di Hu would be especially lenient toward children that they arranged for Di Zhu to join his team?

That would mean Tianlong had known about the rebellion all along?

After thinking for a few seconds, Qi Xia shook his head.

If Tianlong knew about the rebellion but hadn’t taken any action, that logic didn’t hold up.

Ever since his “Sheng Sheng Bu Xi” appeared, Tianlong had been on high alert like never before. If there was a rebellion now, they would surely make an example by killing one to warn the others.

Besides, if he could find solid evidence that one of these eight was Tianlong’s spy, that would prove the other seven were spies too.

But the chances of that were slim.

So, Qinglong was probably lying. He wanted Qi Xia to meet these eight Shengxiao for some other purpose.

“Qi Xia… you’re not saying anything, and it’s making me nervous…” Di Hu said. “Does Xiao Zhu have a problem too?”

“Like I said, I’m not sure.” Qi Xia shook his head. “Anyway, you don’t need to suspect anyone. I’ll handle this.”