Qi Xia avoided everyone along the way and arrived at the room marked with “巳” (Si).

Although he was already in the opponent’s territory, this place still seemed relatively safe, with no one having entered.

He reached out and touched the lonely “door” standing in the center. This was his first time touching these strange teleportation doors, so he couldn’t help but take a few extra looks.

From the outside, these “doors” looked no different from ordinary doors—made of common wooden material with shaky, decaying craftsmanship that could be found anywhere.

Why did these “doors” look so ordinary, yet could transport people anywhere else?

Qi Xia turned the handle and slowly pushed open the “door.”

On the other side of the “door” was a bookstore.

Qi Xia stood at the doorway with slightly furrowed brows. He recalled the location Chen Junnan had mentioned earlier and felt he hadn’t gone wrong, but why would a bookstore be on the other side?

A white snake so pale it seemed to glow had its back to the “door.” As if sensing something, it slowly turned its head around, and its gaze met Qi Xia’s.

“Damn… brat…?” White Snake was stunned for a moment.

“You…?” Qi Xia pondered for a few seconds, feeling the situation was somewhat different from what he had imagined.

“I didn’t expect anyone could actually enter this place of mine,” White Snake said with a smile. “Come on, you damned brat, come in and read some books.”

“I appreciate the thought,” Qi Xia replied coldly. “I’ll close the door first. I might come back later.”

“Close the door…?”

Without another word, Qi Xia closed the door, then walked to a corner of the room and pulled out the three “characters” he had on him.

One of the “士” (shi – soldier/scholar) characters was crooked and twisted—anyone could tell at a glance it was fake.

Qi Xia placed the fake “士” on the ground, walked over and opened the door. The other side was still the bookstore.

White Snake blinked, feeling Qi Xia’s behavior was a bit strange. Just as he was about to ask something, he saw Qi Xia wordlessly close the “door” again.

To verify his final hypothesis, Qi Xia also placed the “兵” (bing – soldier) on the ground, holding only the real “士” as he opened the “door.”

Still the bookstore.

“No… damn brat, are you playing with me?”

“No,” Qi Xia answered. “I’m conducting an experiment.”

“Damn brat, what the hell experiment are you conducting?” White Snake cursed with furrowed brows. “If you want to come in, just come in. Why do you keep opening the ‘door’ at my place?”

“I’m alone,” Qi Xia said. “If I go in, I’ll need to compete with you, and I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“Uh…” After hearing this, White Snake felt Qi Xia made some sense, and asked again, “Then what experiment are you doing?”

“I’m thinking of a way so that when I open the door, I won’t see you,” Qi Xia said. “I’ve already found it now.”

“Found it…?”

“Anything else to say?” Qi Xia asked. “Next time I open the ‘door,’ it won’t be you I see.”

White Snake sighed after hearing this and walked to the door.

The two faced each other, yet seemed separated by a vast distance.

White Snake looked into the door and saw the dark space and the figure high above. Naturally, he knew this wasn’t a place for conversation.

He paused and said, “Anyway… be careful. If you die there, no one will collect your corpse.”

“I’ll take your auspicious words. Same to you.”

Qi Xia gave White Snake a meaningful look and closed the “door.”

He pulled out the real “士” from his pocket and tossed it on the ground. Now he only kept the “兵” on him. Taking a deep breath, he opened the “door” again.

Inside the door was an extremely simple space with only one “Zodiac” and a table.

The situation was about what Qi Xia had imagined. Once a chess piece that couldn’t “cross the river” did “cross the river,” it would experience an “Earth-level game” the instant it opened the “door.”

Fortunately, he hadn’t entered the room together with an enemy at this time. Otherwise, once locked in an “Earth-level game,” no one could guarantee one hundred percent survival.

At that time, there might also be a “life gamble” with an “Earth-level Zodiac,” with an extremely high death probability.

Seeing Qi Xia standing at the doorway, the “Snake” inside the room slowly stood up.

The two had met not long ago. At that time, the Man-Snake had opened the door and released this group of people into the corridor, but when they met again after a few days, it felt like a lifetime had passed.

After a long while, the Man-Snake slowly uttered two words: “You are…”

“I am.”

Seeing Qi Xia’s such decisive answer and looking at his gray-white eyes, the Man-Snake knew there was nothing more he needed to ask.

Brother Sheep had never escaped from the beginning to the end.

He slowly lowered his head and reached out to touch the notebook that he had almost worn out from flipping through: “This too…”

“This too,” Qi Xia said.

The Man-Snake had nothing to say, only feeling an unprecedented sense of emptiness welling up in his heart.

This emptiness felt like a rope strangling him until he couldn’t breathe, and it made all his words stick in his throat.

If Brother Sheep had never escaped from the beginning to the end… what had he been persisting in all along?

On one side was the person most important to him, and on the other side was the most important thought in his heart.

Now the person had returned, but the thought had also vanished into smoke. So should he feel joy or sorrow?

He hoped Brother Sheep would never leave, and yet hoped Brother Sheep had truly left.

But he never hoped Brother Sheep would become a “Participant” and start all of this over again.

It was like a person who, between advancing and retreating, chose to linger, and between survival and destruction, chose reincarnation.

If even Brother Sheep couldn’t escape this place, who else would dare claim they could leave?

Qi Xia turned back and closed the door, then walked in front of the Man-Snake and slowly sat down.

He surveyed the room, feeling the surroundings were somewhat too simple—it should be a dilapidated building commonly seen on the streets.

“Brother Sheep…” The Man-Snake choked up. “You had already left for almost a month, so what’s going on now?”

“It’s a long story,” Qi Xia answered. “I became a ‘Zodiac’ never to become ‘Heaven,’ but for this very moment.”

“What…?”

“In short, every time I felt I couldn’t ‘win,’ so I chose to ‘lose,'” Qi Xia continued. “Fortunately, everything is barely within the plan now, so you don’t need to worry.”

The Man-Snake nodded after hearing this, yet seemed to be lost in thought.

“Didn’t you want to see me?” Qi Xia said. “Was it just to confirm my identity?”

“I promised Old Hei and Pei Qianhu before to confirm your identity…”

The Man-Snake gripped the notebook filled with difficult problems tightly in his hand until the corner folded. He felt very sad, but didn’t know why he was sad.

“They should have already confirmed my identity long ago,” Qi Xia said. “I also believe you didn’t call me over just for this matter.”

“What…”

“Does Baiyang have any words to pass on to me?” Qi Xia asked coldly.