“Ah?!” The middle-aged man was clearly stunned. “Little girlie, what are ya saying?!”

Qi Xia nodded. He already knew the woman’s tactics.

Injuring herself by eight hundred to harm the enemy by a thousand—this tactic was quite similar to Qi Xia’s previous line of thinking. The plan was good, just a bit reckless.

“I said I’ve changed my mind, Uncle.” The woman withdrew her smile and instead looked at the middle-aged man with slight mockery. “You, a lecherous old ghost—what exactly makes you think I’d ‘pair’ with you?”

“Girlie! What exactly are ya trying to do?!” The uncle looked at a loss. “We both pressed the buttons. How can you change your mind now?!”

“It doesn’t matter.” The woman shrugged. “After all, there are three pairing opportunities. Besides, I haven’t put my fans in. At most, I’m just losing one pairing opportunity.”

“You…” The middle-aged man was so angry his beard bristled and his eyes glared, yet he couldn’t say a single word.

“Uncle, let’s renegotiate the terms.” The woman once again revealed that meaningful smile. “If you want me to put my fans in, you need to give me the remaining one in your hand.”

Qi Xia sneered. Sure enough, this was indeed a fraud game.

If the rules only involved “escaping,” it would be a veritable cooperation game.

But each fan could be worth five “Dao.” This way, human nature would be fully exposed.

“Give you a fan…?” The middle-aged man was stunned and looked at the last fan in his pocket.

“Uncle, you should understand, right?” The woman raised her head. “Even if you abandon me now and go find someone else to pair with… you only have one fan left.”

“But I’ll get the next one soon…” The middle-aged man paused. “You’re playing tricks… I can’t trust ya.”

“What if your next fan is a duplicate?” The woman revealed a crafty expression. “Uncle, there’s a one-in-four chance of duplication. Don’t you want to escape? If you give me the fan now, I’ll let you escape right now. But if you wait half an hour and then get deceived again… your ending won’t look so good.”

The middle-aged man slowly lowered his head with an especially complicated expression. He really did want to escape.

But if he couldn’t keep a single fan, he’d lose five “Dao.”

Which was more important—”Dao” or life?

“Girlie… I really trusted ya wrong.” The middle-aged man stomped his foot. In the end, he still took out the third fan. “Alright, alright… I don’t want to play with you people anymore. The fan’s yours. Quickly let me go!”

“Great!” The woman nodded enthusiastically. “Uncle, you really are smart!”

But only Qi Xia knew this uncle had sent himself into the abyss.

After the woman took the fan and put it in her pocket, she still took no action.

“Girlie, what are ya doing?” The uncle asked with a trembling voice. “Put the fans in!”

“Uncle, I’m sorry.” The woman’s expression became cold again. “I have another idea.”

“Ah?!” This time, the middle-aged man’s voice completely cracked. “No, girlie, you can’t do this! What do you want this time?”

“I want all the ‘Dao’ on you.” The woman continued coldly. “This time, if you give me ‘Dao,’ I’ll definitely put the fans in.”

“Girlie, don’t ask for the moon!” The middle-aged man lost his temper. “Nobody bullies people like this!”

“Then forget it. I’m leaving.” The woman shook her head and turned to leave without hesitation.

“Don’t! Don’t go!”

In less than two seconds, the middle-aged man panicked.

Now that all his fans had been invested, how could he possibly give up like this?

“I, I only have three ‘Dao’ left on me!” The middle-aged man tremblingly took out three small balls. “This is all I have. I don’t want to die… You must keep your word…”

“Don’t worry, killing you has no benefit for me.” The woman reached out and snatched the three “Dao.”

Qi Xia shook his head helplessly. This uncle had completely fallen into the “sunk cost” effect.

Like most failed investors in the world, from his perspective, not continuing to invest would only result in greater losses. From the moment he first invested two fans, the situation had already entered a death spiral.

“Girlie… I’ve given you both ‘Dao’ and fans. I have nothing left…” The middle-aged man said with a trembling voice. “Let me out. I really don’t want to play anymore.”

Qi Xia slowly stepped forward. He knew the time when he was needed had arrived.

“Sorry, Uncle.” The woman revealed an aggrieved expression. “I’ve changed my mind again.”

The middle-aged man’s eyes widened. He couldn’t say anything.

The woman stretched lazily and was about to leave directly.

“Gi-girlie… please spare me. I really have nothing left…”

“Yes, I know.” The woman nodded, turned around, and said with slight sympathy, “Don’t worry, Uncle. This time I don’t want anything anymore.”

“Don’t want… anything?”

“That’s right, Uncle.” She revealed an innocent expression and said with a mischievous smile, “Our cooperation has already ended. I don’t want to leave, so I’ll continue staying here.”

“What… you, you, you…”

“Uncle, let me give you some advice.” The woman patted his shoulder. “Wait here for an hour, and after getting two fans, find a way to get out.”

The middle-aged man’s eyes already looked somewhat desperate: “Little girlie, you’re killing me… Didn’t you say killing me has no benefit for you?”

“I’m not killing you, Uncle.” The woman sighed. “Aren’t you alive and well right now? Although killing you has no benefit for me, letting you out also has no benefit for me.”

After saying this, the woman waved her hand and finally left.

The middle-aged man’s heart went completely cold. He wanted to say something, but seeing Qi Xia behind the woman made him somewhat fearful. In the end, he still didn’t cause trouble for the woman. Like a gambler who had lost all his chips, he leaned against the wall corner and slowly sat down, painfully covering his face.

He blamed no one now, only blamed himself for being blind.

This type of person was not rare in society. But once in the “Land of Finality,” weakness and honesty were innate original sins. Even if he left here, he would die in other games.

Qi Xia looked at this man and could only shake his head helplessly before also turning to leave.

It seemed this woman had anticipated this all along. She knew the middle-aged man before her didn’t have much courage and couldn’t stir up any waves.

“How was it?” The woman turned to ask Qi Xia. “Aren’t I very smart?”

“You call this smart…? You only have three chances. How many times can you deceive?” Qi Xia asked.

“If the plan goes smoothly, I can deceive three times.” The woman smiled and brushed her hair. “The later it gets, the more I can deceive.”

“Oh?” Qi Xia didn’t expect the woman before him to have such a big appetite. “The third time clearly determines whether you can get out, and you still want to deceive?”

“Of course. Going all in is when you can get the most chips.” The woman turned around and handed the three “Dao” to Qi Xia.

“What for?”

“This success has your contribution.” The woman said with a smile. “The fans are too valuable so I can’t give them to you, but these three ‘Dao’ are for you.”

“I didn’t help at all.” Qi Xia said.

“Take them.” The woman insisted on stuffing the three “Dao” to Qi Xia. Qi Xia could only accept them.

“Young man, what’s your name?” The woman asked.

“Qi Xia.”

“That sounds nice.” The woman nodded.

“And you?”

“My name is quite ugly. I’m afraid you’ll laugh if I say it.”

“I want to know how ugly.”

“Well…” The woman shook her head helplessly and said in a low voice, “My name is Qin Dingdong.”