“I…” Qi Xia suddenly stepped back, only to find this scene seemed familiar.

“Damn!”

Qiao Jiajin was also startled. The two had clearly just arrived here less than a minute ago—where did this old man come from?

Why was he standing silently behind Qi Xia?

“Young man, you absolutely cannot provoke Heavenly-Dragon!” The old man revealed his single remaining tooth, stretching out his withered arm to grab at Qi Xia. “Gambling with your life… even gambling with your life might not be enough…”

Just as Qiao Jiajin was about to step forward to intercept, Qi Xia pulled him back.

“Wait, I want to talk with him.”

He pulled Qiao Jiajin aside and also reached out to grab the old man’s arm.

The two held each other’s arms like old friends who hadn’t seen each other in ages.

“Old man, do you know me?” Qi Xia asked.

The old man froze slightly after hearing this, nearly bursting into tears.

He grasped Qi Xia’s hand and kept applying force, gripping so hard that it hurt Qi Xia.

“You’re willing to talk to me… That’s wonderful… I can wait…” The old man said tremblingly. “Even if everything starts over again, I can wait… You’ll be able to destroy this damned place soon and liberate all of us…”

The old man seemed quite severely mad. Qi Xia could only follow along with his words.

“Liberate everyone?” Qi Xia asked. “What does ‘liberate’ mean?”

“We’re trapped here!!” The old man wailed. “Someone told a lie… someone told a massive lie!! He tricked everyone!!”

“Old man, please calm down first.” Qi Xia released the old man’s hand and grasped his shoulders, trying to stabilize his emotions. “Who tricked us? What lie did he tell?”

“It’s…”

Just as the old man was about to speak, a muffled thunder suddenly rumbled from the sky.

This was the first time Qi Xia heard thunder here. He jerked his head up, only to discover there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky.

If there were no clouds, where did the thunder come from?

“I can’t say…” The old man lowered his head in terror, his voice becoming very small. “I’ll die if I say it…”

He’ll die?

“Alright, let’s change the question.” Qi Xia continued asking. “You said we’re trapped here—what does that mean?”

The old man raised his head, his expression fearful yet his tone serious as he said, “Young man, no one can get out… Even if you die, you can’t get out… Living then dying, dying then living…”

“Why can’t anyone get out?” Qi Xia asked. “Even if we collect enough ‘Dao,’ we still can’t leave?”

“‘Dao’?” The old man froze, then raised his head in confusion to stare at Qi Xia. “What is ‘Dao’?”

What is ‘Dao’?

Qi Xia had never imagined the old man would ask this question.

He kept shouting for Qi Xia to “gamble with his life,” yet he didn’t know what “Dao” was?

“‘Dao’ is…” Qi Xia patted his pocket and found he had no “Dao” on him. The four Man-Dragon had given him were all with Officer Li.

So he could only describe the appearance of “Dao” and said, “It’s a yellowish-white small ball, about the size of a walnut, glowing. That thing is our ‘stake’ for participating in games. Supposedly, if we collect three thousand six hundred of them, we can leave.”

“Three thousand… six hundred ‘Dao’?” The old man’s eyes gradually filled with confusion. “I see… Even though this place has become such a wretched state, he still remembers what the master said…”

“‘Master’?” Qi Xia froze. “Who is the ‘master’?”

“I can’t say.” The old man answered decisively. “The questions you’re asking me here will get me killed.”

Qi Xia felt that the old man before him had an extraordinary identity.

He definitely retained his previous memories.

His memories might be longer than anyone else’s—perhaps he could help at a critical moment.

“Old man, do you want to come with me?” Qi Xia asked again. “We have food there. Are you hungry?”

The old man looked emaciated, and the skin on his face was covered with cracked wrinkles like dead tree bark. He must not have eaten in a very long time.

“Eating… Don’t be foolish. I don’t need to eat at all.” The old man’s expression darkened, looking extremely disappointed. “You actually invited me to eat… What a ridiculous joke…”

“Don’t need to eat?”

Thinking carefully, Qi Xia realized the old man’s words made sense. Even if they starved to death in the “Land of the End,” it didn’t matter—naturally they didn’t need to eat.

Qiao Jiajin watched the old man for a long while from the side and sighed helplessly.

“Liar Boy, he’s clearly a madman. How can you chat with him for so long?”

Before Qi Xia could respond, the old man looked toward Qiao Jiajin.

He approached Qiao Jiajin step by step, forcing him to retreat continuously.

“Hey, hey, hey…” Qiao Jiajin was obviously somewhat flustered. “I don’t hit the elderly, children, or women. Don’t do anything rash…”

The old man ignored Qiao Jiajin and grabbed his wrist in one motion.

“You…” Qiao Jiajin tried to pull his hand back but couldn’t move it even a fraction. “Damn… What kind of strength is this? Are you a martial artist?”

“Qiao Jiajin…” The old man gripped his hand and spoke slowly. “Why don’t you remember me? Qi Xia remembers, but you don’t recognize me?”

Qi Xia slowly narrowed his eyes. This old man really did know them.

“Huh?” Qiao Jiajin froze. He had never dealt with madmen in his life and looked extremely nervous. “Why would I know you? Who are you?”

The old man said nothing, holding Qiao Jiajin’s wrist in silence for quite some time before nodding thoughtfully. “I see… Last time you died before ‘Echo’…”

“Echo what Echo…” Qiao Jiajin said somewhat impolitely. “You’re making my head buzz right now. If you don’t let go, I’m really going to hit you!”

The old man suddenly released his grip. Qiao Jiajin also suddenly lost his counterforce and stepped back.

“You must protect Qi Xia well.” The old man said slowly. “If we want to liberate everyone, we still need to rely on your strength.”

After speaking, the old man fell silent, slowly lowering his head in contemplation.

Qi Xia stepped forward. “Old man, are you sure you won’t come back with us? I still have many things I want to ask you.”

“No need.” The old man nodded. “You don’t need to find me. You just need to wait for me to come find you.”

“This…” Qi Xia looked at him with some difficulty. This old man seemed to be hiding some great secret in his heart, a secret that made him look extremely pained. “Alright, may I know your name?”

The old man stepped back several paces and said, “I have no name, but here, they all call me ‘Baihu.'”

As soon as the words fell, the old man’s body suddenly floated up, then vanished instantly in midair.

He didn’t fly away like in martial arts films, nor did he cast a spell like in fantasy films. His entire person simply disappeared instantly in the air.