Chapter 992: Gathering

Xu Liunian was likely the most hesitant among them all.

At that moment, she stood on the rooftop of "Tian Tang Kou", gazing down at the crumbling, decayed city.

If given a real choice, she wouldn't join Qi Xia or Chu Tianqiu.

As one of those who retained memories the longest, she clearly understood that these two were on an entirely different level from herself.

Getting involved in their game was like willingly becoming a leaf in the storm, with no chance of resistance whatsoever.

Every time she thought she had seen through their schemes and made another choice, she would immediately find herself falling into yet another trap.

This sense of danger and helplessness filled her with immense fear.

More than anyone, she knew that neither of them saw her as a teammate, but where could she run to?

The terror of the term "Di Long" was on par with "Qi Xia" and "Chu Tianqiu". The experiences from her long memory told Xu Liunian that choosing to flee now would lead to even more tragic consequences.

"You can't just leave me alone, can you...?" Xu Liunian asked the dark light door. "I'm just an ordinary person... Why do all your choices have to involve me...?"

Unfortunately, the storm doesn't ask for the leaves' opinions when it sweeps through the forest.

Di Long couldn't answer Xu Liunian's question; it simply waited quietly for her decision.

How should Xu Liunian choose? She knew she had no choices at all.

Her eyes, after flickering with fear, despair, and helplessness, eventually grew dim, as if life had drained from them.

Chu Tianqiu's team was fully assembled.

But for Chu Tianqiu, the game of "selecting generals" wasn't over yet; he needed to choose the last member for Qi Xia.

He approached Qi Xia's equipment, his mind racing.

The one person he absolutely couldn't choose was "Lin Qie", or the exchange in this "selecting generals" would lose its meaning.

His ultimate goal was to disrupt Qi Xia's plan of having all seven members on his side, so he had to insert someone completely unrelated.

It sounded easy, but upon closer thought, it was quite challenging.

If he wrote down someone with no connection to Qi Xia, the other side would likely refuse, leaving Qi Xia's team short one member. Although that would increase his own chances of winning, it would create an uneven game, making victory feel hollow.

"I've got it..." Chu Tianqiu suddenly thought of something. "Your team already has plenty of the weak, sick, and elderly... What's one more?"

Chu Tianqiu knew this person had some acquaintance with Qi Xia but served no real purpose, so Qi Xia wouldn't refuse the invitation and would choose to accept.

Once this person joined the team, Qi Xia wouldn't ignore him and would have to divert energy to take care of him.

But this person's "Hui Xiang" was of the support type, and Qi Xia was already in a somewhat passive position.

In his team, "Po Wan Fa", "Ti Zui", "Hun Qian", and "Qiao Wu" were all support types, and the only one with any real offensive capability, "Hui Xiang", was just "Zhao Zai".

Adding this person now would be perfect.

"Zheng Yingxiong".

Qi Xia paused when he saw the name, then burst out laughing, a smile that left Chu Tianqiu puzzled.

"What's going on...?" Qi Xia said with a wild laugh. "Is this the result of your deep thinking...?"

Only then did Chu Tianqiu feel like he might have overlooked something. Seeing Qi Xia's completely unconcerned expression, had he and Zheng Yingxiong participated in a game together before?

He had clearly disrupted the other's plan, but now Qi Xia seemed to have no plan at all.

Was "Lin Qie" never needed in the team from the start?

Zhang Shan had once said that Zheng Yingxiong's "Hui Xiang" could likely detect the types of "Hui Xiang" on others. Even if Qi Xia really had some connection with Zheng Yingxiong, how would he use this seemingly useless "Hui Xiang" to defeat his own team?

Now, Qi Xia's team included "Tian Xing Jian", "Duo Xin Po", "Yue Qian", "Li Xi", and "Hua Xing".

The only support-type "Hui Xiang" was Wen Qiao Yun's "Chu Neng".

Yet, Wen Qiao Yun's sharp thinking could fully compensate for the drawbacks of support-type "Hui Xiang", not to mention his own role as a walking "Hui Xiang warehouse"... So why was Qi Xia still so composed?

Di Long turned around, reached out, and opened the lone door behind her, but this time, something was off.

When the door opened, it was pitch black inside, as if it led nowhere, just an empty frame.

Neither Qi Xia nor Chu Tianqiu knew what was happening, and they saw Di Long furrow her brow slightly.

A few seconds later, she turned back and asked, "Is the name written correctly?"

Chu Tianqiu and Qi Xia both assumed the name was correct—after all, "Zheng Yingxiong" was a name you heard once and never forgot.

"It should be correct," Chu Tianqiu replied. He had interacted with Zheng Yingxiong before; the other seemed no older than ten, so how could he be scheming enough to use a false name?

"'Tao Yuan' has no one named 'Zheng Yingxiong'," Di Long said. "Are you sure the name is right?"

Qi Xia thought for a few seconds, as if realizing something, and said, "Try some homophones."

Di Long nodded, closed the door again, muttered to herself for a moment, and then reopened it.

This time, light finally appeared outside the door.

Zheng Yingxiong was running down the road, and the door seemed to follow him like a camera in motion.

He quickly noticed the change ahead and slowly came to a stop, panting heavily.

"What word...?" Zheng Yingxiong murmured. "Jie... Ling... What does that mean?"

Fortunately, the words on the black light door were few—just five in total—and Zheng Yingxiong could recognize them all. Besides his own name, it was "Jie Ling".

Di Long hadn't expected that the final person chosen after all the back-and-forth would be a child of just a few years old. Seeing him, she was momentarily stunned, not to mention his combat abilities; he probably couldn't even understand the "rules".

Di Long quickly composed herself and said as usual, "The commander 'Qi Xia' summons 'Zheng Yingxiong' to join 'Cang Jie Qi' as an ally. Accept the order and step through the door; refuse and step back five paces."

"Qi Xia...?" Zheng Yingxiong was stunned and instinctively reached up to remove his crown, his demeanor turning humble.

Di Long never would have imagined that Qi Xia was the "master" in the mind of this eight- or nine-year-old child.

Zheng Yingxiong glanced back at the distance, where crowds were hurriedly gathering, then looked at the light door in front of him. It wasn't that he wanted to back out; he was just confirming which side he should join.

He wanted to go to the main group to protect everyone, but he also wanted to follow Qi Xia's orders.

After hesitating for a moment, he chose to step through the light door.

And so, both teams were now fully assembled.

After closing the door, Di Long said, "Next, please wait here for a moment. I will take you both to the 'review'."