“But if in the end only one person can get out, how can I be sure you won’t eliminate me?” Qi Xia asked again.

“That’s a good question. I must clarify this with you in advance.” Chu Tianqiu put away his smile, his expression slowly becoming serious. “If that day truly comes, I will use everything in my power to eliminate you. Likewise, you can also eliminate me.”

Qi Xia nodded.

What Chu Tianqiu had just said finally gave Qi Xia a taste of “sincerity for sincerity.”

“In that case, then it’s agreed.” Qi Xia extended his hand slightly. “You ‘become a god,’ I ‘collect Dao.’ We cooperate.”

Chu Tianqiu also extended his hand and clasped it together with Qi Xia’s.

“Deal.”

Both of them looked at each other with complex expressions, and the atmosphere actually became quiet.

Neither of them dared to be certain how much of what the other said was true. Their handshake at this moment also seemed somewhat weak.

Within a few seconds, a hurried sound of footsteps came from outside the door. The two turned their heads to look.

It was Chu Tianqiu again.

“Phew… you really scared me. You’re really here as expected.” The Chu Tianqiu outside the door said.

“Don’t worry, I know my limits.”

“Hurry and leave… There are quite a few ‘Extreme Path’ members here. Your situation is very dangerous.”

“Alright.” The Chu Tianqiu inside the room nodded, turned around, and left.

And the Chu Tianqiu outside the door transformed into Xu Liunian at this moment, nervously looking around.

After walking a few steps, Chu Tianqiu stopped, turned back, and said to Qi Xia, “Qi Xia, it should be ‘sorrow.'”

“What?”

“The trigger for your ‘Echo’ is extreme ‘sorrow.'” Chu Tianqiu explained. “This is the answer I found, but I can’t find a solution.”

Qi Xia paused and asked, “You mean… you can’t find a way to make me fall into ‘sorrow’?”

“Exactly.” Chu Tianqiu nodded. “So I’m telling you this answer. You can solve this puzzle yourself.”

Qi Xia didn’t speak, only nodding silently.

After watching this, Chu Tianqiu sighed and turned to ask Xiao Nian, “Zhang Shan is upstairs, right?”

“Yes, I arranged for him to come over.”

Chu Tianqiu nodded slightly and said to Qi Xia, “Don’t worry. If Zhang Shan is up there, this game will be hard to lose.”

“Hard to lose?” Qi Xia lifted his head and looked at Chu Tianqiu. “Why?”

“Because he’s about to obtain his ‘Echo.'”

Qi Xia was silent for a while, then asked, “What’s the trigger for Zhang Shan’s ‘Echo’?”

“It’s ‘wanting to win.'”

Chu Tianqiu laughed heartily, then waved his hand and left together with Xu Liunian.

Qi Xia looked at the ground with a sense of loss.

“Wanting to win…”

If there was such a trigger, why worry about not having an “Echo”?

Then what about himself?

“Sorrow…” He looked expressionlessly at the dark red sky outside. “My sorrow…”

Before he could think it through, rustling sounds suddenly came from inside the room.

Qi Xia was startled and slowly stood up.

This sound was very close, as if it was coming from the elevator?

He walked to the side of the elevator and pressed the up button.

The elevator door opened. There was nothing inside.

But that rustling sound continued.

He turned his head to look at the wooden door beside the elevator, feeling that the sound was coming from inside the door.

“Is someone there…?”

He slowly reached out his hand toward the doorknob, but in the next second, the door actually opened by itself.

Xiao Xiao was standing inside.

She didn’t look well. She had injuries in many places all over her body.

“Qi Xia…?” She was also stunned, as if she didn’t know where she was.

“You…” Qi Xia looked at her with a furrowed brow for a long time, feeling very puzzled. Xiao Xiao was clearly on the rooftop. How could she come out from this door?

Xiao Xiao came back to her senses. She no longer paid attention to Qi Xia but instead turned around and walked into the elevator, pressing the button for the sixth floor without saying a word.

Only then did Qi Xia suddenly realize, “This is the hidden rule of the game…”

After seeing Xiao Xiao get on the elevator, he immediately turned back, wanting to enter the wooden door to investigate, but the wooden door automatically closed.

…

Qiao Jiajin stood quietly on the bridge, bleeding all over his body.

He didn’t know what technique Old Sun had used, but now Qiao Jiajin’s four limbs were each stuck in four pieces of rock.

He clumsily moved his limbs, but he couldn’t move a single step.

And behind him, Li Xiangling and Zhang Shan looked like they were in an even worse situation.

Zhang Shan was crushed by a rock as huge as a small mountain. His whole body was thrown face down on the bridge surface and he had passed out, his fate unknown.

Li Xiangling was covered in blood, trying to figure out a way to move the rock.

“Old Sun… I couldn’t tell…” Luo Shiyi patted Old Sun’s shoulder with some admiration. “Your ‘Echo’ must rank among the top in the entire ‘Land of the End,’ right?”

Old Sun’s gaze looked somewhat dull. He could only nod blankly.

To release such a powerful “Echo,” he had nearly turned himself into a madman.

Without being crazy enough, it was impossible to imagine that rocks could grow out of a person’s body.

Old Sun tried hard to control his thoughts and keep himself lucid. “Hey, Flower-Arm Man, I won’t bully you. Jump down yourself…”

“Impossible.” Qiao Jiajin lowered his head, his chest heaving as he gasped heavily. “The ‘brain’ has the ‘brain’s’ mission, and the ‘fists’ have the ‘fists” responsibility. The Liar has helped me many times. This time, I won’t retreat a single step.”

He forcefully lifted his hand that weighed dozens of pounds and smiled bitterly, “Isn’t it just a pair of stone gauntlets? I’ll just treat them as increasing my attack power…”

After hearing this, Old Sun shook his head. “Gauntlets…?”

His thinking was somewhat sluggish. After a few seconds, he said, “No… these aren’t gauntlets, they’re big rocks.”

Qiao Jiajin suddenly discovered that the rocks on his hands had become bigger again.

The right hand he had just lifted dropped down again. This time, it fell straight to the ground, causing his entire body to squat down.

“Damn… this is really troublesome…” Qiao Jiajin used his peripheral vision to glance at Li Xiangling. She still couldn’t move the huge rock crushing Zhang Shan.

“Qiao Ge…” Li Xiangling showed an extremely anxious expression. “What should we do…”

Right now, the only person who wasn’t being controlled was Li Xiangling.

Although her martial arts skills were quite good, if she rashly attacked, she might not necessarily be able to win against these two people’s “Echoes.”

One of them could be immune to pain, and every attack was a killing blow. The other person could conjure rocks out of thin air anywhere. If she wasn’t careful, she would get hit.

This was clearly a three-on-three battle, but these two people had been cheating all along.

“Liar… if it were you… what would you do?” Qiao Jiajin looked around, his expression especially serious.

Before he could think of a strategy, limping footsteps could be heard approaching.

“Heh… aren’t you quite capable?” Xiao Xiao slowly walked over and stood back on the single-plank bridge. “Now killing them would be as easy as turning over one’s hand… right?”