The man slowly lowered his head and carefully opened the fan in his hand. Hanging on it was the character “Anger” torn down the middle, looking especially ironic.

“It’s Anger…” The thin man cried especially sadly. “It probably can’t be used anymore… What should I do… What should I do?!”

Qi Xia pondered briefly and said: “I’ll trade with you, how about it?”

“Trade…?” The man was stunned.

“I have three fans here. I’ll randomly pick one out to trade with you.” Qi Xia said, “I guarantee my fan isn’t torn.”

Qi Xia’s thinking was simple. Based on Earth-Sheep’s earlier demonstration, all the fans were folded before being inserted into the machine, indicating the machine wasn’t identifying the characters on the fans but rather the fans themselves. Therefore, as long as the torn fan wasn’t missing any components, it should be usable.

“But… but why would you trade with me?” The thin man asked again.

“That’s my own business.” Qi Xia answered, “Your fan is torn. Keeping it in hand is troublesome. If you secretly trade it to me now, when the fans are supplemented next time, you’ll have two intact fans in hand and can still ‘pair’ with others.”

After hearing this, the thin man actually became cautious.

He hugged his torn fan tightly, his gaze very suspicious.

“No, that’s not right, is it?” The thin man thought halfway through. “Everyone wishes they could stay far away from the torn fan. Why would you want to trade with me? What’s your purpose?”

“What?”

“You definitely don’t have good intentions…”

Qi Xia was silent for a while, feeling that base human nature was truly laughable.

“I might have been too generous with you.” Qi Xia sneered. “You don’t dare defy the person who stole your fan, but when I want to trade for your broken fan, you become suspicious. Forget it, I take it back. You can stay here and wait to die.”

Qi Xia knew there were still over forty people on site. There was a high probability that someone like him had drawn three fans with the same content. As long as the other party was willing to trade, he didn’t need to risk trading for a torn fan.

“Ah?! Don’t go!” The thin man suddenly rushed over and grabbed Qi Xia’s arm. “I was just asking casually… How about I trade with you after all? This fan…”

“I said I take it back.” Qi Xia said coldly, “Opportunities in this world won’t wait for hesitant people like you.”

Although Qi Xia wanted to trade the folding fans in his hand, he knew he didn’t need to beg this man. He immediately shook off his hand and left.

Now everyone knew this man had a torn fan, which was even worse than having three “Sorrows.”

Twenty minutes passed. Although no new participants escaped, quite a few people had formed teams.

It seemed the remaining people all planned to obtain the next supplementary folding fans before escaping. This way, they could at least earn ten “Dao.”

While Qi Xia was observing the crowd, the fashionable woman he’d seen earlier walked toward him.

“Hello.” The woman said softly, “Do you have a teammate now?”

Qi Xia shook his head and then looked at her.

“Want to team up?” The woman said, “You look quite smart. Want to make a big profit with me?”

“Make a big profit?” Qi Xia looked the woman up and down. Her makeup was very refined, she had a strong fragrance on her, and she was currently wearing a tight-fitting dress. Her figure was quite good.

“Yes.” The woman nodded. “I have a pretty good plan, but I need a man to work with me.”

Qi Xia felt the young lady before him was indeed somewhat interesting. Her proposal wasn’t to “escape” but to “make a big profit.”

“So what do you need me to do?”

“Just protect me.” The woman said, “Otherwise I feel like I’ll be beaten to death.”

“Then… what’s my compensation?” Qi Xia asked again.

“You won’t lack for benefits.”

The corners of Qi Xia’s mouth lifted: “So what’s your plan?”

“Well…” The woman thought about it. “Come with me.”

Qi Xia followed her forward, feeling like he was the muscle in a honey trap operation.

Soon, the woman selected a middle-aged man. The middle-aged man had been looking around constantly, as if searching for a suitable teammate.

“Hey, Uncle!” The woman called out, “Want to cooperate?”

“Cooperate…?” The uncle was stunned. “For what?”

“You want to get out, right? I’ll ‘pair’ with you.” The woman smiled sweetly. “What fans do you have?”

The middle-aged man’s gaze rudely lingered on several private areas of the woman’s body before he said with shifty eyes: “You, you first say what you have.”

The woman nodded and directly took out three fans, spreading them open in her hand to show him.

“I have Joy, Anger, and Sorrow.” The woman looked at the man. “As long as you have ‘Happiness,’ our pairing will succeed.”

The middle-aged man thought for a while, then took out two folding fans from his pocket and slowly opened them as well.

They were “Happiness” and “Joy.”

“Very good.” The woman smiled and nodded. “I’ll produce ‘Anger’ and ‘Sorrow,’ you produce ‘Happiness’ and ‘Joy.’ Deal?”

The middle-aged man looked at the woman’s face and legs dubiously again, then asked: “You won’t deceive me, will ya?”

“No, Uncle, why would I deceive you?” The woman directly grabbed the uncle’s arm. “If you’re not at ease, we can go to the ‘Pairing Machine’ right now.”

The middle-aged man looked somewhat suspiciously at Qi Xia behind the woman and lowered his head in thought for a while.

Qi Xia was also somewhat curious about what exactly the woman before him wanted to do. He could only quietly watch the two and didn’t speak.

“Alright.” The uncle nodded, then stared at the woman’s fair, white thighs and said, “Girlie, I’ll ‘pair’ with ya.”

“Great!” The woman acted as if she hadn’t noticed at all, still smiling sweetly. “Then shall we go find a ‘Pairing Machine’?”

She pulled the big man to a corner. There was no one around here—clearly a deliberately chosen location.

Qi Xia also followed closely behind the two. Although he hadn’t agreed to become the woman’s “muscle,” in this kind of corner, whatever they did would be more convenient.

The fashionable woman came before the “Pairing Machine” and reached out to press the button on the left. The woman’s photo appeared on the screen, with three smiley faces below.

At this moment, a line of text lit up: “Waiting for teammate…”

“Uncle, it’s your turn.” The woman said to the middle-aged man with a smile.

The middle-aged man nodded and reached out to press the button on the other side. The next second, the middle-aged man’s photo also appeared on the screen. The text on the screen began to change.

“Both people in position, pairing begins.”

“Uncle, you don’t seem very proactive.” The woman still wore a smile and said softly to the middle-aged man, “I already proactively pressed the button. Won’t you show something in return? Are you afraid I’ll deceive you?”

“Eh… that ain’t it.” The middle-aged man shook his head and also revealed a smile. “It’s my fault. I should’ve been more proactive too.”

He took out two fans from his pocket and showed them to the woman. They were indeed “Happiness” and “Joy.”

The woman nodded, then watched wide-eyed as the middle-aged man inserted both fans into the two holes.

“There! I put mine in, girlie. Your turn!” The uncle looked up at the woman. “Where’s your ‘Anger’ and ‘Sorrow’?”

The woman smiled, crossed her arms, and slowly stepped back: “Uncle, sorry. I’ve changed my mind.”