Chapter 66

"How could he die?!" Qixia said in disbelief, "He was fine when we parted yesterday."

"I also find it strange," Old Lü said, "Maybe he lost too much blood? He was still laughing and talking before he went to sleep, but this morning he didn't wake up."

Qixia's pupils constricted, feeling that there was something inexplicably eerie about this.

Although Zhang Shan was injured, it was clearly not fatal. According to Lin'e and Tian Tian's descriptions, the black bear only caused him some superficial injuries and did not damage his internal organs.

But how could he die in his sleep? 🄲

"Did he have any other injuries?" Lin'e asked, "Like being stabbed with a knife or sword in the early morning..."

"No." Old Lü shook his head sadly, "But I can't really say, after all, we're not forensic experts. We just know that Zhang Shan didn't move, didn't breathe, and his heart didn't beat."

Qixia stroked his chin, feeling that this matter was likely related to "Xiaoxiao."

In the Earth Ox game, Qiao Jiajin and Zhang Shan were undoubtedly the two most outstanding players. Without them, it would have been impossible for so many people to survive these two rounds.

But in just one night, both of them were dead.

If it wasn't Xiaoxiao, it must have been the Earth Ox.

"Are you cheating..." Qixia gritted his teeth, his eyes cold.

"Who? Me?" Old Lü was taken aback.

"No..." Qixia had a bad feeling, thinking that the number of people with a chance to pass would become fewer and fewer at this rate.

Thinking about this, he turned to Old Lü and said, "Old Lü, since your 'organization' is no longer around, can you tell me about the escape plan?"

"Not around?" Old Lü scratched his head awkwardly, "I can't say it's not around... but with Zhang Shan dead, I can't stay there anymore..."

"Huh?" Qixia didn't understand, "Wasn't Zhang Shan your leader?"

"Not exactly." Old Lü shook his head, "Our leader isn't Zhang Shan; he was the third in command."

"Third in command?"

"Right." Old Lü continued, "Our organization is called 'Heaven's Gate,' with about twenty people. The leader is called 'Chu Tianqiu,' a very smart man. The second in command is called 'Yun Yao,' who has very good luck and often wins when gambling. She is also very beautiful and was a celebrity before coming here. As for Zhang Shan, since he was a soldier before, he mostly chose 'Ox' types..."

"Wait, wait..." Qixia felt he had discovered a loophole and quickly interrupted Old Lü, "You said your organization has twenty people?!"

"Probably not twenty now... With Zhang Shan dead, we 'waste' were kicked out..."

"That's not the issue!" Qixia said with a puzzled look, "Old Lü, when did you come to this place?"

"Two days ago." Old Lü said without hesitation, "Weren't you?"

Qixia was even more puzzled: "We indeed came two days ago, but I still don't understand... Could you really establish an organization in just two days? Even divide it into three leaders? Could you trust each other?"

After saying this, Qixia shook his head, "No... that's not right. You already had an organization yesterday, in other words, you established 'Heaven's Gate' on the first day?!"

"Right."

Old Lü nodded seriously, "It was all Chu Tianqiu's idea. On the first day, he didn't participate in the game but instead scoured the city to find strong people. Since I, Xiaoyanjing, and Zhang Shan came out of the same room, we joined him together. But now that Zhang Shan is dead, I..."

"Wait..." Qixia interrupted Old Lü again, "You mean that man named Chu Tianqiu gathered twenty people in one day?"

"Yes." Old Lü looked at Qixia seriously, "That's why I say Chu Tianqiu is very smart."

"But why did you trust him?" Qixia asked, puzzled, "Shouldn't you be suspicious when a stranger comes to form a team?"

"Because Zhang Shan trusted him." Old Lü explained, "I don't know what he whispered to Zhang Shan, but after a few minutes of thinking, Zhang Shan took Xiaoyanjing and me to join 'Heaven's Gate.' I have to admit, the people there were pretty good, and I was the weakest among them."

Qixia looked at Old Lü in disbelief, as if trying to determine if he was telling the truth.

If there really was a 'Heaven's Gate' and a person as capable as Chu Tianqiu, why was he still alive?

If the "Zodiac" really wanted to eliminate capable participants, the first to be eliminated should have been the leader, Chu Tianqiu.

"Is Xiaoyanjing not with you?" Qixia asked again.

"No." Old Lü looked a bit dejected, "Xiaoyanjing is stronger than me, so he stayed in 'Heaven's Gate.' He has been studying since he was young, unlike me, who has been selling socks for over twenty years."

Qixia nodded, realizing that although Zhang Shan was dead, nothing had changed.

The organization called 'Heaven's Gate' still held the key to escaping.

The "notes on escaping" that Zhang Shan mentioned should be with the leader, and Old Lü, in his position, wouldn't know the details.

Qixia gradually clarified his goal.

This time, after finding Officer Li, he would try to team up with him, as he was one of the few people Qixia could trust.

Then they could volunteer to join 'Heaven's Gate,' both to seek a way to escape and to participate in these deadly games with a group of capable people if they were indeed there.

As Qixia was thinking, the three of them passed the intersection marked with "S" and "Z."

Old Lü led the two directly in the opposite direction.

Lin'e was taken aback and turned to Qixia, "Did we go the wrong way? Those 'S' and 'Z' weren't left by them?"

"I don't know." Qixia shook his head.

Old Lü, hearing their conversation, glanced at the letters that looked like numbers from a distance.

"'S' and 'Z'?" Old Lü hesitated, "Aren't those '52'?"

"Do you know what they mean?" Qixia asked again.

"I don't know what they mean, but I've seen these numbers in many places," Old Lü said, "Maybe they are numbers to help people remember the way, like '52 Street' or something."

When Qixia realized that these symbols had nothing to do with Officer Li, he no longer cared about their meaning.

After all, there were too many puzzling things here, and there was no time to investigate them one by one.

"We're almost there, just ahead." Old Lü quickened his pace.