By the time Earth-Sheep ran to Qi Xia’s side, Qi Xia had already finished speaking.
He reached out his hand, wanting to directly finish off Qi Xia, but ultimately didn’t make a move.
Right now, the entire venue only had him and Qi Xia. If he killed Qi Xia… how would he get out?
Qi Xia threw away all the fans in his hands, then sat lazily on the tabletop. He glanced at Earth-Sheep with contempt and said:
“The ‘Card Table Theory’… when you’re at the gambling table and can’t tell who’s the easiest to deceive, then the easiest one to deceive is yourself.”
Earth-Sheep didn’t speak, only stared at Qi Xia.
“What a hassle, exchanging a bunch of broken fans back and forth, completely meaningless…” He raised his head slightly with a mocking tone, “Don’t you think so?”
Earth-Sheep’s protruding mouth pressed tightly into a line, his heart like a stampede of ten thousand horses.
“Originally I wanted to give ‘Sorrow’ directly to them,” Qi Xia shook his head. “But you know how it is with humans—they’ll always suspect what’s given for free, so I could only auction it, exchange it. What a hassle.”
Earth-Sheep gritted his teeth and spat out a few words: “What do you want?”
“What can I want? Right now the words ‘life gamble’ have tied the two of us together. I definitely don’t dare kill you.” Qi Xia’s eyes looked at Earth-Sheep with extreme contempt. Although the two were like grasshoppers on the same string, Qi Xia completely held the upper hand.
“Your deception skills are quite good…” Earth-Sheep nodded. “You never actually wanted to monopolize ‘Sorrow,’ you just wanted to decide for yourself when everyone would leave, right?”
“Yes.” Qi Xia agreed.
“But I still don’t understand.” Earth-Sheep asked like a humble student seeking instruction, “What did you say to everyone? Why would they cooperate with you like this?”
“Isn’t that simple?” Qi Xia smiled. “I told them that Earth-Sheep would go on a killing spree at the last moment to reduce losses, so I’d help them think of a way to delay time, then they could find an opportunity to escape together quickly. Who knew that at the critical moment they’d be even smarter than I expected, actually working out this move of collectively causing conflicts.”
“I actually lost on such a simple sentence…” Earth-Sheep’s expression was extremely ugly.
“No.” Qi Xia shook his head. “Earth-Sheep, you didn’t lose on that sentence, but on my every sentence.”
“Ha…” Earth-Sheep revealed a pained yet eerie smile. He moved his body and sat beside Qi Xia, the two of them sitting like friends, looking ahead while chatting.
“What’s your name?” Earth-Sheep asked.
“Qi Xia.”
Earth-Sheep nodded, then said: “So at the last moment you came before me once again to confirm whether I had the complete set of ‘Joy, Anger, Sorrow, Happiness’ in my hands.”
“That’s right.” Qi Xia nodded. “That’s what we’ll need when we escape together, don’t lose it.”
“Qi Xia…” Earth-Sheep turned to look at him. “Why exactly are you trying so hard? With your mind you could easily make a fortune here… why would you tie your life to mine?”
“Because I want to negotiate terms with you.”
“What makes you think you can negotiate with me?”
Qi Xia said: “Because everyone else is thinking about how to exchange the goods in their hands for money, but I directly robbed the bank. That’s my capability.”
“Qi Xia, aren’t you afraid I’ll drag you down with me…?”
“No, no, no…” Qi Xia shook his head. “Earth-Sheep, it’s not ‘mutual destruction.’ If you want to keep fighting, it can only be ‘you die, you break.'”
Earth-Sheep remained silent, the atmosphere extremely oppressive.
“When I came here I had no ‘Echo,’ and not a single ‘Dao’ on me.” Qi Xia said. “If I fail the life gamble with you, at most I’ll just become a ‘Native.’ I’ve only preserved my memory twice total, so I can accept becoming a ‘Native,’ but what about you?”
Earth-Sheep hadn’t expected this man to have thought ahead even to this step. If he wasn’t lying, then he must have extreme confidence.
He pursed his lips and sighed, then slowly said: “Then let’s… negotiate terms.”
Qi Xia nodded: “Good. I don’t want any of the fans on the ground. I want all the ‘Dao’ you have.”
“Impossible.” Earth-Sheep said decisively.
“No, it’s possible.” Qi Xia said. “Earth-Sheep, I only have this one demand. If you can’t do it, we’ll wait here and die together.”
After hearing this, Earth-Sheep stretched his legs and stood up on the ground. He turned around, his face full of anger, and asked: “Do you fucking know what ‘negotiating’ means?! Who negotiates like this? Who opens by demanding everything the other party has?!”
“This is ‘negotiating.'” Qi Xia said. “I only have this one condition. If you don’t agree, I will absolutely die here with you.”
Earth-Sheep knew that right now the best outcome would be for the two of them to pair up, then both walk out of the room.
That way neither of them would have killed the other in the game, counting as a ‘life gamble failure.’
“Don’t be so greedy.” Earth-Sheep said angrily. “If I really gave you all my ‘Dao,’ how would I exchange the fans with them when I go out?! I’d be ‘breaking the rules’ too!”
“Oh?” Qi Xia raised his eyebrows. “Breaking the rules?”
“If they can’t exchange their fans for ‘Dao,’ my game loses its meaning! I’ll also be sanctioned!” Earth-Sheep roared. “If I’m dead either way, I definitely won’t let you go!”
“Is this matter really that difficult?” Qi Xia said.
“What?”
“You just need to give them ‘Dao,’ right?” Qi Xia asked while stroking his chin.
“Of course! The rewards in the game must be honored!”
“Then just write an IOU.”
“An IOU…?!” Earth-Sheep’s jaw nearly dropped.
“Have everyone come back at this time tomorrow to collect their ‘Dao.’ Keep them on credit until then.”
“Are you fucking crazy?” Earth-Sheep said somewhat desperately. “I’ve been here so long, I’ve never heard of ‘writing IOUs’… Moreover, with so many ‘Dao,’ even tomorrow I still can’t…”
“Borrow from Earth-Tiger.” Qi Xia said. “Ten percent daily interest rate. If you’re willing, you can go borrow tonight.”
“Earth-Tiger…?” Earth-Sheep stared wide-eyed. “You… were sent by Earth-Tiger to mess with me?!”
“Don’t overthink it.” Qi Xia shook his head. “Even without Earth-Tiger, I still wanted to come find you.”
“Why…?”
“Because you’re a ‘Sheep.'”
Hearing this sentence, Earth-Sheep ultimately deflated.
“Qi Xia, that’s one thousand one hundred ‘Dao.’ Can you even carry them away?”
“You calculated wrong.” Qi Xia shook his head. “It’s not one thousand one hundred, but one thousand four hundred seventy-six.”
“What?” Earth-Sheep felt Qi Xia was being utterly excessive. “The first time I distributed one hundred sixty fans, the second time fifty-two, the third time four, the fourth time four—a total of two hundred twenty fans. Each fan is five ‘Dao,’ I only prepared one thousand one hundred ‘Dao’ total. Where did you calculate those extra three hundred plus from?!”
“It’s the entrance fee for us fifty-one people.” Qi Xia said. “Five per person, totaling two hundred fifty-five.”
“That’s still only one thousand three hundred fifty-five…”
“Plus the first time when we replenished fans, spending three ‘Dao’ to purchase fifty-two fans, adding up to a total of one thousand four hundred seventy-six.”
Earth-Sheep knew he was completely caught.
“Qi Xia…!” Earth-Sheep said angrily. “Your appetite is truly too big! In the ‘Land of the End’ until now, no one has ever been able to win this many ‘Dao’ in a single game! Do you know what will happen to you walking down the street with these ‘Dao’?!”
“That’s not my concern.” Qi Xia shook his head. “Right now I’m just a gambler who won money. If you don’t give me the money, I’ll stake my life against yours. It’s that simple.”
“You…” Earth-Sheep only felt himself dizzy with rage. “What grudge do I have with you?”
“None. You and I have no grudges or grievances, but I’ve said before, because you’re a Sheep, I will definitely come seize your weakness.” Qi Xia said. “It just so happens this opportunity came along, and I also want to ask you a few questions.”
Earth-Sheep slowly lowered his head: “What… do you want to know?”
“I want to know where ‘Heavenly-Sheep’ is.” Qi Xia said.
Hearing this question, Earth-Sheep looked at Qi Xia with suspicion, then said: “Although I shouldn’t tell you this, the position of ‘Heavenly-Sheep’ is currently vacant.”