“What does it have to do with me whether this child gets beaten to death or not?”

Baiyang Gege looked coldly at Tiger Uncle, his gaze somewhat frightening.

“Yang Ge, you know what kind of characters the Earth-level ‘Zodiacs’ here are.” Tiger Uncle said, “This child can’t earn ‘Dao’, she definitely won’t last more than a few days.”

“How do you know she can’t earn ‘Dao’?” Baiyang Gege said, “Someone who can put on a mask, how could they possibly be an ordinary person?”

“But…”

Tiger Uncle also seemed to find something strange. After pausing for a moment, he turned back to ask me: “Little Mouse, how did you put on the mask?”

“I…”

Seeing everyone looking at me, I could only tell them everything that happened today in full detail.

After they heard about my ordeal, their expressions all changed.

Snake Uncle even cried uncontrollably.

Only then did I realize that although he smelled unpleasant, he was actually a very good person.

“Are those people even human…” Snake Uncle sobbed, “Tomorrow I’ll go chop their corpses into meat paste and make meatballs for you all to eat… wuwuwu…”

I take back what I just said. He still seems quite strange.

“You can eat them yourself.” Tiger Uncle said to him irritably. Then he looked at Baiyang Gege again, “Yang Ge, you heard it too. This little girl’s reason for becoming a ‘Zodiac’ is completely different from ours. Do you have the heart to watch her die…”

Baiyang Gege said nothing, but Black Sheep Uncle spoke up.

“Renhu, have you gone mad?” He slowly stood up, “Do you know why we are ‘Zodiacs’? With such overflowing sympathy, when will you ever sign the contract?”

“If I became as emotionless as you, that’s when I’d truly be mad.” Tiger Uncle said angrily, “Even if we can kill people at will, does that conflict with helping a child? Does this child deserve to die?”

“Whether she deserves to die or not, she has already put on the ‘mask’.” Black Sheep Uncle said, “If she cannot bear these consequences, she will live more miserably than anyone. You can’t burden us with dead weight just because you miss your own daughter, can you? I think what Yang Ge said is right—if she’s going to die sooner or later anyway, she might as well find release now.”

“Release your ass!”

Tiger Uncle roared and was about to step forward to fight when Baiyang Gege lightly tapped the table.

All four table legs broke at that moment, and the food on the table began tumbling to the ground. I felt it was such a waste and reached out to catch it, but I simply couldn’t catch anything. I could only hear the “clatter and crash” as plates and bowls shattered on the floor.

Baiyang Gege slowly raised his eyes to look at the two uncles and said: “Did you two eat something filthy? You actually want to fight in front of me?”

With that one sentence, both of their bodies trembled.

“S-sorry…”

“It’s our fault, Yang Ge…”

Both uncles immediately lowered their heads, seeming very afraid of Baiyang Gege.

How strange—Baiyang Gege’s voice sounded as soft as a goat’s, yet everyone was terrified of him.

“That… that…” I said quietly, “Uncles, please don’t quarrel… it’s all my fault. I’m full now, I’ll leave right away. Please don’t create conflict because of me…”

“Little Mouse, don’t speak.” Tiger Uncle pressed his hand firmly on my head, “I didn’t bring you here just to let you eat one full meal.”

“How about this…” Baiyang Gege pondered for a while and said, “Little Mouse, if you agree to a few conditions, I’ll see if I can take you in.”

“T-take me in?” Although this was my first time meeting these people, I really did want to stay.

They were different from everyone I had ever met.

Perhaps it was because they gave me food as soon as we met?

If not for this meal, I might have already starved to death.

“Little Mouse, what I’m about to say are rules that every person who becomes a ‘Zodiac’ must follow. We call them the ‘Zodiac Code’.” Baiyang Gege said, “If you fail to do even one of these things, you will be directly killed by the ‘Divine Beast’.”

“Ah… I…”

“First, you cannot give up your ‘Zodiac’ status at any time, unless you die.”

“Second, you cannot remove your mask at any time, unless you die.”

“Third, you cannot reveal your real name at any time, unless you die.”

“Fourth, ‘Zodiacs’ never ‘Echo’.”

“Fifth, ‘Zodiacs’ never ‘Rout’.”

I didn’t understand very clearly, but I still nodded.

Does this mean I’ve now become a ‘Zodiac’? I put on the mouse mask, so I’m now the mouse in the ‘Zodiacs’?

“Next are the game design rules…” Baiyang Gege was about to say something but paused, “Little Mouse, you don’t have a ‘game’ right now, do you?”

“Ga… game? I…” I felt my head was all fuzzy, really not knowing how to answer.

“I’ll give you tonight.” Baiyang Gege said, “Go design a ‘game’ for me.”

“Design a game…” After hearing this, I seemed to understand a bit, “That… I’ve only played sandbag throwing and hopscotch, so I…”

Before I could finish, Tiger Uncle immediately covered my mouth.

“Little Mouse, stop talking nonsense. I’ll explain it to you in detail in a bit.”

“Sandbag throwing and hopscotch…?” Baiyang Gege showed a hint of a smile, “If those two are the answers you give me tomorrow morning, I will personally throw you out of here.”

“Ah?”

Seeing how respectful everyone was toward Baiyang Gege, I didn’t dare speak anymore.

Baiyang Gege slowly stood up, looked at the uncles again, and said: “I’m going to read. See you at breakfast tomorrow.”

He pushed open the door and walked out. Only then did the three people in the room breathe a sigh of relief and slowly sit down in their chairs.

Seeing that none of them spoke, I could only lower my head and start picking up the broken plates from the floor.

These plates looked to be of such good quality, but they were all broken. What a shame.

“Little girl… stop cleaning.” Tiger Uncle said to me, “I advise you to hurry up and think about a ‘game’.”

“But these plates are broken, what if the uncles step on them later…”

“That’s not for you to worry about!” Tiger Uncle grabbed me, “Little Mouse, you need to know that if you want to survive here, Yang Ge’s help is crucial! He’s different from other ‘Earth-levels’, you…”

“I think you’re overthinking it.” Black Sheep Uncle shook his head, “How ruthless is Yang Ge? He just wants to find an excuse to openly drive this child away.”

I didn’t know what to do and could only look at Snake Uncle.

Snake Uncle winked at me, then stood up and walked to Black Sheep Uncle’s side.

“What are you doing?” Black Sheep Uncle asked.

“Old Sheep, oh Old Sheep…” He reached out and gave Black Sheep Uncle’s shoulders a massage, “I don’t care what Yang Ge’s true intentions are. I only know he told this child to design a game… You’re the smartest one in this room, won’t you help this child?”

“Help her? Why should I?”

“If you don’t help her…” Snake Uncle said with a mischievous smile, “Tonight I’ll hold onto you and won’t leave.”