Chapter 848: The Thief

I didn't know if it was because I wasn't suited for talking to people, or if Zhang Qiang was just someone similar to me. We'd met many times already, but our first proper conversation was extremely difficult.

Zhang Qiang asked again,"Aren't you participating in the games?"

I nodded."Yes. The Ren Ji games have low difficulty and low rewards, while the Di Ji games are strange—even if the rules sound simple, they always result in casualties. I suspect there are some hidden rules that only become clear once you're in the game, and that's the fundamental reason why participants die."

Zhang Qiang agreed,"You're right. I'm not a smart person, so I can't handle those Di Ji games on my own, but I also can't find suitable teammates. After all, there are too many fools in our room."

After we finished speaking, we both looked at each other, and I seemed to understand his thoughts.

I asked,"Qiang Ge, do you want to team up with me? Even if I don't know if we can earn enough three thousand six hundred Dao, it's still better than nothing, right?"

Zhang Qiang thought for a moment and said,"No... If you really want to collect Dao, I suggest trying another method."

I asked,"What method?"

Zhang Qiang paused and said,"It's been three cycles now, right...? Every time we die, we come back here again."

"Yes."

"Come with me."

Zhang Qiang led me winding through the streets until we reached a narrow alley. He squatted down in a very hidden corner and wiped a brick near the ground.

I followed, not quite understanding, and stood behind him, looking over his shoulder.

There on the brick was a fresh mark—"ZQ".

Zhang Qiang said,"Look. This is what I carved in the previous cycle."

"Oh...?"

Seeing this, I instantly realized something.

It turned out that people could reincarnate and be reborn here, but the time in this city wasn't paused—it kept flowing forward.

I found it hard to grasp this concept. Maybe it was like the production principle of old animated films, where characters move on a static background?

No... We were the static ones, moving in a flowing environment.

We'd been misled by the term "person." It's not that when a person starts over, time starts over.

Zhang Qiang looked at the mark on the wall and said gravely to me,"Zhi Chun, you're a smart person, so you must have figured it out... We're just now regaining our Hui Xiang to preserve our memories, but that doesn't mean we've just arrived here. We might have been cycling through this place for months already."

I nodded."You're right, and... if time can flow, that means this city might not have originally looked like this."

Zhang Qiang said,"The appearance of the city doesn't matter, and we can't interfere with these supernatural things. Let me ask you this... Suppose there are other powerful participants who started collecting Dao early on, but there's a strange phenomenon here: Anyone who lives to the tenth day will inevitably vanish. So, how would those strong collectors handle it? How can they ensure their hard-earned results don't disappear?"

I thought carefully about Zhang Qiang's question and quickly came up with the answer.

"They would hide the Dao before vanishing?"

Zhang Qiang nodded."Yes. You're really smart—that white sheep was right; you and I can't disappear from the room."

Yan Zhi Chun said,"I get what you mean... So that's why you've never participated in the games."

Zhang Qiang turned to look at me and said,"That's right, Zhi Chun. Since we're both collecting Dao, and it's three thousand six hundred of them... We could skip the games altogether and try being 'thieves' instead. What do you think?"

I lowered my head slowly and said,"Thieves... You're right. We just need to steal the Dao that others have hidden... That way, we can leave."

Zhang Qiang shook his head and said,"Whether we can leave is uncertain. But this path is safer. We can avoid contact with others and dodge those deadly games, so I thought I'd find someone to try it with."

After saying that, he stood up, covered the letters in the corner with a stone, and turned back to me."The people who come here are all sinners, right? I used to be a burglar. What about you?"

I stared into Zhang Qiang's eyes and thought carefully before saying,"I'd rather not say."

Zhang Qiang said,"That's fine. I see you're not very sociable, like me, so I can guess you're probably similar. Do you want to work with me?"

Honestly, I hadn't thought this through.

Because I knew I wasn't a bad person, I subconsciously assumed the people here weren't either.

But I was wrong. Zhang Qiang was a habitual burglar.

I'd heard a saying before... All burglars carry weapons.

They might be committing "theft," but if the homeowner suddenly returns, they turn into murderers.

They're all thieves with killing in mind, not the same as me.

But I couldn't tell them here that I'm not like them, or the situation would get even more dangerous.

Zhang Qiang interrupted my thoughts and said,"What's wrong? If you don't want to cooperate, that's okay. I can manage on my own, but I feel you're smart, and we could watch each other's backs."

After thinking for a few seconds, I smiled and said,"I'm willing to cooperate. Let's do it together."

Zhang Qiang asked,"You've thought it through?"

I nodded."Yes. It's like the 'porcupine theory'—porcupines huddle together for warmth in the cold, but they have to keep their distance to avoid hurting each other. We're just like those two porcupines."

Zhang Qiang nodded."I didn't realize you were so cultured. Alright, that's settled."

Thinking back, when did I start doubting the entire Zhong Yan Zhi Di?

It was probably on this day.

Twelve years ago, on the day I decided to become a "thief" with Zhang Qiang.

Do you know how many hidden Dao we found after spending a full ten days searching?

Just one.

Since this place was no different from the real world—people went out during the day and rested in buildings at night—we had to operate during the day to avoid being seen.

The two of us scoured every hidden corner of the city. We even climbed crumbling buildings and crawled into abandoned sewers.

Zhang Qiang, drawing on his professional experience, guided me to one potential hiding spot after another.

But all the corners were empty; we didn't find anything at all, let alone Dao.

The only Dao we found had fallen into a deep crack in the broken ground. Zhang Qiang used two sticks as chopsticks to fish it out.

It was strange... That Dao didn't seem like it had been hidden there; it looked more like it had just fallen in.