Chapter 34

Qi Xia clutched his hair tightly, patiently waiting for the headache to subside.

After about half a minute, he steadied his breathing, slowly lowered his hands, and stood up.

His expression was as if nothing had happened.

The headache was like a gust of wind that, though fierce, always faded at some point.

Lin Qin glanced at Qi Xia and asked, "Are you okay? Do you often get headaches?"

"No, this is only the second time since I can remember," Qi Xia sighed, "I guess it has something to do with this place."

Lin Qin wanted to ask more, but it seemed Qi Xia didn't want to dwell on the issue.

"Our time is very tight. Even if there are worms in my head, I don't plan to diagnose them here," Qi Xia looked up at the dark red sky and continued, "Thanks to that little girl, we learned a lot of useful information."

"Is that so?" Tian Tian looked at the dead rat-man on the ground, her expression still sad, "I feel the only useful information was about the 'Life Bet' rules. That child lost his life because of it."

"Not just that," Qi Xia said, "I thought this was a land of chaos and madness, but now it seems there are 'rules' here."

"Rules...?"

"Exactly." Qi Xia nodded, "The man called 'Zhuque' is likely one of the managers here."

"Manager? You mean that 'bird man'?" Qiao Jiajin asked.

"Yes, he appeared to ensure the 'rules' were not broken."

"But why doesn't the manager wear clothes..." Tian Tian was a bit confused, "He was naked except for a cloak, which looks very strange."

"Compared to his various bizarre behaviors, 'not wearing clothes' is the most normal thing," Qi Xia paused, "This is just the clue we can see. Perhaps there are others above the 'managers'."

Lin Qin seemed to recall something, "Right... The man called Zhuque once said, 'If not for the rules, I would have killed you.'"

Qiao Jiajin nodded, "To be able to restrict such a crazy person with special abilities, the people above him must be even more terrifying."

"Special abilities?" Qi Xia frowned, "I haven't heard that term in a long time."

"Isn't it special abilities? Like the Terminator." Qiao Jiajin gestured, "That guy was flying in the sky!"

Hearing this, the three of them paused.

"What does 'Terminator' mean?" Lin Qin looked at Qiao Jiajin curiously.

"You look pretty fashionable, but you're a bumpkin?" Qiao Jiajin chuckled, "You haven't seen the Terminator?"

"Fashionable?" Lin Qin was embarrassed, these words were only heard from the older generation, and saying them was already quite old-fashioned.

But she was being looked down upon by such a person.

Qiao Jiajin nudged Qi Xia with his elbow and asked, "Cheater, you must have seen it, right? Arnold Schwarzenegger, he's so cool!"

"Arnold Schwarzenegger...?" Lin Qin thought she had heard the name before, but she wasn't sure.

"I don't care about the 'Terminator' or Schwarzenegger, and I don't care how bizarre that bird man is." Qi Xia paused, "I just want to know how extensive the 'rules' are and what they can regulate."

The three didn't understand what Qi Xia meant and looked at each other.

"Cheater, what are you planning?"

Qi Xia slowly placed his hand on his neck and gestured to the three, "I want to know if 'killing to take the path' is feasible."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qin and Tian Tian each took a step back.

Only Qiao Jiajin remained in place.

"Killing to take the 'path'?" Qiao Jiajin frowned, his expression extremely serious, "You mean... if you don't gather 3,600 'paths' within ten days, you will go and take others'?"

"Yes, this is the most effective method I can think of," Qi Xia said, "Now we are a team. If we want to accomplish this, we need your help. So I'm telling you my plan and listening to your thoughts."

"I won't help you," Qiao Jiajin shook his head decisively, "Even if the sky falls here, I won't do anything unjust. Those with 'paths' have probably gone through great hardships to survive, just like us. What reason do we have to kill them?"

"Is that so..." Qi Xia nodded with a complex expression, "But if we want to escape this place, we can only use this method. That's 3,600 'paths'... Are you really not going to try?"

"I also refuse," Lin Qin said, "I think this idea is not good. If we really kill someone, even if we can leave here, we won't be able to live the same life as before."

Tian Tian thought for a long time and said, "Yes, if it means killing others, I would rather die myself."

Qi Xia looked into the eyes of the three, pondered for a long time, and then smiled slightly.

"Very well, now I can tell you my real plan with peace of mind."

"What..." Qiao Jiajin was stunned, "Damn, Cheater, you were testing us?!"

Qi Xia nodded, "If you three could accept a plan like 'killing to take the path,' it would only prove that we are not the same kind of people, and I would abandon you at any time."

"You..." Qiao Jiajin was almost driven to anger by Qi Xia, "I thought you were really going to kill people."

"Logically, the 'rules' would not allow a situation like 'killing to take the path' to happen," Qi Xia explained, "Although I don't know what the rules are, they seem to maintain a 'bizarre fairness.' The managers are more like 'referees,' and if they are 'referees,' they will ensure the safety of the participants."

He paused and continued, "In other words... they want us to die in the game, not to kill each other."

Everyone was silent after hearing Qi Xia's words.

After a while, Lin Qin came to her senses and asked, "If so, what is your real plan?"

"My plan is not complicated," Qi Xia answered, "Since these games don't cost lives, we will 'test' them one by one. You go and figure out the game rules and collect clues. When you have a good grasp, I will 'bet my life.' We will share all the 'paths' we obtain equally. Before reaching 3,600, we can keep using this strategy."