“He said just that one sentence…?” Qi Xia asked tentatively.

“No… there’s… a bit more after that,” the Man-Snake answered.

“Tell me,” Qi Xia said in an unquestionable tone. “If you don’t choose to trust me now, you may very well miss the best opportunity.”

The Man-Snake knew Qi Xia’s words were not false, so after pausing for a long time, he spoke, “He said, ‘If you Human-level Zodiacs don’t like that new leader, then take off your masks.'”

Qi Xia lowered his head and carefully pondered these two sentences, thinking to himself that no wonder the Man-Snake had thought this was a farewell. But now it seemed more like a mission. Because these two sentences were destined to only become a mission when he himself appeared; otherwise, it would merely be a farewell.

This mission seemed to not only involve the Man-Snake but also allowed him to vaguely grasp something.

Why would Baiyang tell the Man-Snake in advance that “he is him and I am me”?

Could this reason also be attributed to Baiyang’s contempt for him?

Qi Xia quickly shook his head, feeling that Baiyang was being somewhat superfluous. If he had some contempt for him, he could have directly conveyed it through other information. There was no need to tell this sentence to the Man-Snake alone.

Although he also wanted to distance himself from Baiyang, there was no need to single this out at such an important moment of parting.

Of course, the second sentence was also worth noting—if you Human-level Zodiacs don’t like the new leader, you can take off your masks.

This sentence was like a death sentence, yet it had been seen by the Man-Snake as a farewell.

“Man-Snake, do you want to take off your mask now?” Qi Xia asked.

The Man-Snake smiled bitterly and shook his head after hearing this. “I’ve pondered this sentence for a long time, but I’ve never reached a conclusion.”

“How so?”

“Then let me help you explain,” Qi Xia said while touching his chin. “Although I can’t remember exactly what mood he was in when he said this, I should be able to replicate his line of thinking.”

The Man-Snake nodded.

“You also know that neither I nor Baiyang want to kill you, so the first question to consider is: under what circumstances can you take off your mask without dying?” Qi Xia asked.

The Man-Snake thought for a few seconds, feeling this question was already somewhat absurd.

“As long as we’re still in the ‘Land of the End,’ taking off the mask will definitely result in death,” he answered. “Unless… we’re no longer here.”

“That statement doesn’t hold,” Qi Xia decisively denied. “Because Baiyang’s phrasing was ‘if you don’t like the new leader.’ I assume that new leader is me, and he also assumes you’re in the ‘Land of the End’ when you take off your mask. So what I’m asking is… how exactly can you take off your mask in the ‘Land of the End’ without dying?”

“This… I don’t know…” the Man-Snake shook his head. “Based on my experience, all ‘Human-level’ who take off their masks die. There have never been any exceptions.”

“You’ve fallen into a cognitive trap,” Qi Xia tapped the notebook on the table. “Haven’t all these difficult problems strengthened your thinking?”

“I…” the Man-Snake lowered his head, at a loss for words.

“Whether ‘Human-level’ die from taking off their masks is only related to one person,” Qi Xia said in a heavy voice. “That’s ‘Zhu Que,’ right?”

The Man-Snake’s eyes widened, and he quickly nodded. “Yes… ‘Zhu Que’ is the punisher of rule-breaking ‘Zodiacs’… but your meaning is…”

“To survive while taking off the mask, there are currently only two paths,” Qi Xia held up two fingers. “The first is if ‘Zhu Que’ dies…”

“Ah…?”

“If ‘Zhu Que’ dies, it means all ‘Human-level’ are liberated,” Qi Xia said. “At that time, all ‘Human-level Zodiacs’ can take off their masks and return to being ‘Participants’ without facing any sanctions.”

The Man-Snake’s eyes widened, and he didn’t dare speak for a long time.

Zhu Que would die…?

The thing that “Human-level Zodiacs” worried about every day was how to escape with their lives from under Zhu Que’s hands, but they had never thought that one day Zhu Que might die.

“But how… could ‘Zhu Que’… die…?”

After hearing this, Qi Xia didn’t speak. He just slowly stood up and walked to the door on one side of the room.

This door didn’t lead to “Cangjie Chess” but rather to the street.

Qi Xia opened the door and looked at the sky of the “Land of the End,” then roughly confirmed the direction and looked toward the prison.

Qi Xia seemed to know what the Man-Snake was thinking and said softly, “Someone will be responsible for dealing with ‘Zhu Que.'”

“What…”

“I’ve already guessed Baiyang’s intention…” Qi Xia continued. “The ‘Human-level Zodiacs’ may have been drawn into the torrent of ‘killing Zhu Que.'”

“Huh?” After hearing this, the Man-Snake paused, feeling this matter seemed somewhat incomprehensible. “Didn’t you just say someone would deal with ‘Zhu Que’?”

Qi Xia organized his thoughts and spoke, “Yes, but neither Baiyang nor I can guarantee they’ll be one hundred percent successful. We still need someone to provide assistance from the side, and you are those assistants.”

After hearing this, the Man-Snake hurriedly walked over to close the door and asked in a low voice, “…What do we need to do?”

Qi Xia didn’t answer directly but remained silent for a while before saying, “This brings us to the second path for ‘taking off the mask without dying.'”

“What is it?”

“That is when too many ‘Human-level Zodiacs’ ‘violate the rules’ at the same time, and ‘Zhu Que’ simply can’t kill them all,” Qi Xia said.

The Man-Snake felt that every sentence from Qi Xia was breaking the limits of his cognition, making even his voice begin to change. This feeling inexplicably made him want to call out the words “Brother Sheep,” but that phrase “he is him and I am me” stood in his way.

“Wait… wait a moment…” the Man-Snake waved his hands. “Isn’t this too absurd…? Does ‘can’t kill them all’ count as not dying?”

“That’s how it is everywhere in the world,” Qi Xia said. “If lawbreakers suddenly surge, all the police forces in every city would be paralyzed. And it’s the same here. All the ‘Human-level’ are wary of Zhu Que’s ruthless killing methods, which makes none of you dare to break the rules. ‘Zhu Que’ has therefore been quite idle.”

“This is truly absurd…” the Man-Snake said with lowered head. “You’re comparing us to ‘lawbreakers’ and viewing ‘Zhu Que’ as ‘law enforcers’?”

“This isn’t my metaphor,” Qi Xia stared into the Man-Snake’s eyes with a completely serious expression. “Rather, if we truly reach the time to start taking action… in the eyes of all the ‘Participants’ and ‘Zodiacs,’ we will already be through-and-through ‘lawbreakers.'”

After hearing this, the Man-Snake lowered his head in contemplation again.

Qi Xia’s words seemed to verify from the side that their opponents in this operation were not only “Zodiacs” but also those who didn’t know the truth and thus stood on the side of the “Zodiacs.”

“Man-Snake,” Qi Xia called out again. “This afternoon, how many ‘Human-level’ can you incite to take off their masks together?”