After hearing this, Xiao Ran’s expression froze slightly, but she quickly recovered her smile and walked forward to press against Qi Xia.

A soft, warm sensation kept rubbing against Qi Xia’s arm.

“Brother Qi, you’re so smart, you can definitely lead us out, right? Just take me along.”

Tiantian looked at the girl before her with a helpless expression, feeling that her condition was even more professional than her own colleagues.

No… to put it bluntly, neither she nor her colleagues truly liked this profession. They were all forced into it by life’s circumstances, so none of them would show this kind of fawning expression.

“We’re not compatible.” Qi Xia was unmoved, looking coldly at Xiao Ran. “You should find another team.”

A hint of coldness flashed through Xiao Ran’s eyes, but it quickly returned to normal. Through the performance in the previous games, she knew Qi Xia was an extremely intelligent person. If she didn’t follow him, she would absolutely have no chance of survival.

“Brother Qi…” Xiao Ran pouted her lips pitifully. “Do you dislike me that much?”

“Yes, I dislike you very much.” Qi Xia nodded again, shook off Xiao Ran, and distanced himself from her. “Is anyone else coming with me? If not, we’ll part ways here.”

His gaze fixed on Han Yimo and Officer Li with a hint of expectation.

Qi Xia hoped these two would voluntarily participate in the games so they could transform into trustworthy teammates.

“Qi Xia.” Officer Li suddenly called out.

“What is it?”

Officer Li’s lips moved slightly, as if organizing his words. After a while, he asked: “Do you think I… can get out?”

After hearing this, Qi Xia slowly lowered his head, his eyes looking at the ground.

This question had double meaning and was difficult to answer.

If Officer Li could return to the real world, then he would become a veritable murderer.

Even if he were lucky enough to return to the day before the murder, he would still be a corrupt cop colluding with fraudsters.

This dilemma was like two sharp knives, one pressed against his throat and the other against his heart, preventing him from moving forward even an inch.

No wonder Officer Li had looked hesitant until now—he had no reason to go out at all.

Qi Xia thought for a while, then asked seriously: “Do you have someone you care about?”

“Someone I care about…” A chubby, cute smiling face appeared before Officer Li’s eyes.

That was Xuanxuan.

“Of course I have someone I care about… but how should I face her…”

“I’ll help you.” Qi Xia interrupted Officer Li’s words. “Whether it’s ‘getting out’ or your ‘situation,’ I’ll help you.”

Officer Li was stunned, looking at Qi Xia somewhat incredulously, instantly understanding what he meant.

But because both sides had concerns, neither spoke openly about it.

Could it be that Qi Xia already had a way to deal with Zhang Huanan?

Thinking carefully, Qi Xia and Zhang Huanan weren’t even on the same level. If he was willing to give advice, he could definitely escape from that scumbag.

For Zhang Huanan, ordinary reasoning was no longer useful. Now they could only “fight evil with evil.”

“Alright, I trust you.” Officer Li said. “I’ll join too.”

Qi Xia nodded, then looked at Han Yimo.

But he said nothing, merely giving him a look.

Compared to last time, the only variable this time was Han Yimo.

Officer Li hadn’t yet achieved “Echo,” so Han Yimo became the only “Echoer” in the team.

Looking at it this way… with both sides having “Echoers,” did they have hope of confronting “Extreme Path”?

“Can I… refuse?” Han Yimo answered.

“Yes.” Qi Xia nodded. “But I want to know the reason.”

“I…” Han Yimo lifted his head with difficulty. “Qi Xia, although you just saved me and I really want to repay you, my psychological state absolutely cannot handle these games. I’ll break down…”

He gave an extremely honest reason, so honest that Qi Xia didn’t know how to refute it.

Han Yimo’s biggest problem was being “timid,” and according to what he said himself, he suffered from severe claustrophobia. Many games would be fatal for him.

But thinking it over, according to Jiang Ruoxue’s explanation, people under extreme emotions were more likely to hear “Echoes,” which was probably why Han Yimo was the first to awaken this ability.

“What if you don’t need to participate in games?” Qi Xia asked.

“Don’t need to participate in games?” Han Yimo didn’t quite understand. “Then wouldn’t I have even less reason to join your team?”

Qi Xia also felt this request was somewhat far-fetched, but to recruit Han Yimo, there really was no better way.

“It’s fine, just follow along and help us strategize.” Qi Xia said. “If we really can win ‘Dao,’ I’ll share it with you.”

After brief consideration, Han Yimo also joined the team.

Seeing everyone actively dividing into teams, Lawyer Zhang, who had been watching from the side for a long time, was somewhat puzzled and asked: “Without knowing anything about the intelligence, you’re all this confident?”

Xiao Ran stood beside Qi Xia and naturally took his arm: “With Brother Qi here, what intelligence do we need?”

“Let go.” Qi Xia stopped Xiao Ran’s action.

Lawyer Zhang’s words weren’t without merit. Everything Qi Xia was doing was too suspicious. Now, except for Lawyer Zhang and Doctor Zhao, almost everyone had sided with Qi Xia.

This made the team numbers seven to two, extremely unbalanced.

Doctor Zhao looked at the current team division, also stepped forward and said: “Let me say a few words… Since everyone has sided with the officer, I actually feel there’s no need for us to ‘divide teams.’ Why don’t we all just act together? Wouldn’t that be safer?”

“Yes, yes!” Xiao Ran also quickly said. “It’s safer if everyone goes together.”

Things were gradually developing in a strange direction. Qi Xia really wanted to speak up and stop it, but he had no reason to.

Forcibly dividing everyone into two teams here would make people even more suspicious.

Seeing this, Officer Li also nodded: “Looking at it this way, there’s really no need to divide teams. Let’s all go together.”

Qi Xia knew that the only person who had seen and remembered Xiao Ran’s true face last time was himself.

Officer Li could be considered to have had a minor friction with Xiao Ran, but it wasn’t quite hostility. Han Yimo had died on the first night and had no idea what happened afterward.

Only Qi Xia understood that this woman could potentially disintegrate the entire team from within.

But how could he find a legitimate reason to kick her out now?

“Everyone… although I don’t really want to interrupt you…” Lin Qin suddenly spoke from the side. “But there’s something that’s been bothering me…”

“What is it?” Qiao Jiajin turned to ask.

Lin Qin extended a finger pointing into the distance, where a youth was standing.

“From earlier on, it seems like someone has been staring at us.”

Seeing that everyone had noticed him, the youth didn’t avoid them at all and slowly walked toward the group.

Seeing his appearance, Qi Xia couldn’t help but freeze.

The youth with braided hair came before everyone, gave a symbolic bow, then said: “Everyone, I saw you were all conversing earlier, so I didn’t interrupt. Are you finished talking now?”