Chapter 763: The Meaning of Ants

"But that person seems really formidable," Qiao Jia Jin said. "He can crush stones with his bare hands..."

"That's right, Lao Qi," Chen Jun Nan also said. "Even if we all gang up on him, can we beat him? He'd smash our heads like it's nothing..."

"Wrong," Qi Xia said. "Even if his physique is incredibly strong, since he can't see or hear, they'd be at a huge disadvantage in a real fight. Even someone without any combat ability could toy with them."

"You're right," Chen Jun Nan said after pondering for a moment, then nodding. "They can attack when they want and run when they want—just throwing stones could take them out."

"So, they'll try to avoid fighting others as much as possible," Qi Xia said. "That should be why they stay away from people."

Qi Xia recalled the day he and Lin Geng first encountered these "Lü Yi." When they first met, the "Lü Yi" showed no reaction, but when they brought a torch close, the creatures scattered as if sensing something—it must have been the heat from the torch. To them, that was an extremely dangerous signal.

What was ridiculous was that on that day, the people in the room were constantly worried that the "Lü Yi" would break in and butcher everyone inside.

If you put yourself in the "Lü Yi"'s shoes, it becomes clear... How could they possibly break in?

Their sense of crisis and fear surpassed that of everyone else there.

"This is just like 'Luo Ke Ding Lv'—lowering unattainable goals appropriately," Qi Xia said. "The rulers quietly changed the 'Lü Yi's goals."

"'Luo Ke Ding Lv'?"

"These people's goals have always been lowered," Qi Xia said. "Not just the 'Lü Yi'—it's the same for others."

"What do you mean?" Chen Jun Nan asked.

"Think about it... If ordinary 'participants' find it too hard to collect three thousand six hundred 'Dao,' they'll gradually abandon that goal and choose to become 'Sheng Xiao.' So, their objective shifts from collecting three thousand six hundred 'Dao' to 'killing,'" Qi Xia said. "For many people, killing might be easier to achieve than gathering 'Dao.'"

"What's that got to do with the 'Lü Yi'?" Chen Jun Nan asked.

"Chen Jun Nan..." Qi Xia said, "A large part of the 'Lü Yi' are 'Sheng Xiao' who made mistakes."

"This..."

Chen Jun Nan had suspected it before, but he still couldn't believe it was true. Those seemingly lowly "Lü Yi" had once been full of hope.

"They might have removed their masks, revealed their names, or simply offended 'Tian Long' and 'Qing Long' on the 'train,' and that's how they ended up like this," Qi Xia said. "Their goals kept dropping—from 'gathering Dao' and 'killing' to just 'turning back into humans.'"

After hearing this, Chen Jun Nan and Qiao Jia Jin's expressions gradually darkened.

"And is 'turning back into humans' an easy condition to meet?" Qi Xia continued. "These 'Lü Yi' must have their own 'promotion rules.' Now, their goal might just be scavenging countless corpses in the endless night to find a single 'Dao.' But even if they turn back into humans, it doesn't count as success—it's just starting everything over. They'd still have to gather 'Dao' as humans in this place. What a desperate life!"

Chen Jun Nan nodded after listening. "Thinking about it that way, those two at the top are really twisted."

"You can only say it's an extremely effective way to rule," Qi Xia said, turning to Chen Jun Nan. "'Tian Long' and 'Qing Long' keep everyone here so busy with immediate tasks that 'participants' face severe punishments if they're not careful. How many people even remember... the real goal of coming here is to 'escape'?"

At that moment, even the usually cheerful Chen Jun Nan and Qiao Jia Jin fell silent.

In the end, the "upper levels" have always been safe.

It's the "participants" who are killing each other, staying busy, or risking their lives on the edge of danger.

Even if everyone completed their current goals right now, no one could escape.

"Participants" would still be "participants," and the "upper levels" would remain the "upper levels."

"Pian Ren Zi..." Qiao Jia Jin said, "So, in your view, when that person crushed the stone in the end, what message was he trying to convey to you?"

Qi Xia thought for a few seconds after hearing this, then pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and slowly unfolded it in front of the two.

It was a folded map.

"What's this?" Chen Jun Nan asked.

Qi Xia didn't answer; he just let them look at the markings on it.

The detailed map had eight characters written in red pen:

Chou, Mao, Chen, Si, Xu, Shen, You, Hai.

"These are eight 'Sheng Xiao,'" Qi Xia replied. "I suspect all eight of them know me."

Qi Xia deliberately omitted what "Qing Long" had said, since "Qing Long" had activated "Jian Mo" when sharing that information.

"I know this 'Shen,'" Chen Jun Nan said, pointing to the "Shen" on the map. "Isn't that the big fat monkey?"

"Fei Ma Mao?" Qiao Jia Jin glanced at the map and saw that "Shen" was indeed the position of "Di Hou."

"Yes," Qi Xia nodded. "Going in order, the others are 'Chou Niu,' 'Mao Tu,' 'Chen Long,' 'Si She,' 'Xu Gou,' 'You Ji,' and 'Hai Zhu.'"

"Uh..." Chen Jun Nan studied it for a while and pointed to "Mao Tu" on the map. "I know this rabbit. The person is alright."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, I've met him, and I had this strange 'instinct,'" Chen Jun Nan replied. "That big rabbit always wanted to take us out, but he's still pretty upright. He didn't use any dirty tricks, and after winning, he didn't hassle us. Overall, he's not bad."

Qi Xia had also heard Di Hu mention that strange rabbit. He said the rabbit seemed to have no motives but insisted on staying in the "rebellion" room.

Now, the identities of the rabbit, monkey, and pig were confirmed, but the others...

"So, Lao Qi, how does this map you pulled out relate to the 'Lü Yi' we were just talking about?"

"It does," Qi Xia said. "Thanks to you two, I came up with an idea."

"What...?"

"If most 'Lü Yi' are 'Sheng Xiao'... then among these eight people, could some have already become 'Lü Yi'?" Qi Xia said. "And the ones who turned into 'Lü Yi' still remember me, so they're doing everything they can to get close and warn me to be careful of the 'Long.'"

"Ah?"

"It's precisely because I am who I am that only I can receive this message. No one else can."

After saying that, Qi Xia looked at the two again. "So, he is that 'Long.'"