“Oh? So you’ve noticed it too?” Qi Xia nodded. “Carrying different ‘characters’ can lead to different ‘doors’.”

“After all, this is something you had Doctor Zhao convey to me,” Chu Tianqiu said.

“Since I chose the room, you can choose the ‘character’,” Qi Xia replied. “One choice each, otherwise it wouldn’t be fair.”

Chu Tianqiu pondered Qi Xia’s intentions in his mind. If he could freely choose whether to enter the “human-level” or “earth-level,” it indeed meant there couldn’t possibly be any lethal traps within the game venue.

Otherwise, the safest approach would be to set up killing weapons in both rooms separately, and he would also need to convince the “Zodiacs” in both rooms. For Tiantian, that workload would be too great and clearly unreasonable.

So what Qi Xia said was most likely true—Tiantian had only created something extremely simple in this game… but Chu Tianqiu couldn’t guess what it was.

Now he steadied himself and began contemplating the situation before him. The enemy was Qi Xia. Would choosing “human-level” give him a greater probability of winning, or would “earth-level” offer better odds?

The simple rules of “human-level” meant the two would determine victory in an extremely short time with the most brutal strategy, while “earth-level” had more variables, and he might lose even more miserably.

But the time had already come to this point… What the two were about to experience was very likely the final game. Chu Tianqiu could only make a decisive choice and picked up his “General” piece from the ground.

Since even the “General” had already advanced to the enemy’s front lines, a simple path was no longer suitable for the current situation. So this time, they could only engage in an “earth-level” contest.

Qi Xia also nodded, casually picked up a “Soldier” piece from the ground, then used his eyes to signal Chu Tianqiu to open the “door.”

Chu Tianqiu put the “General” character in his pocket, stepped forward, and carefully touched the handle of the “door.” The touch was icy cold, nothing unusual.

So he held his breath and reached out to push open the “door.”

Inside the “door” was pitch darkness; the path ahead was unclear.

“Earth-Rabbit’s game…?” Chu Tianqiu murmured. “An ‘escape’ game. It feels quite fitting for both our current situations.”

Just as Chu Tianqiu was about to enter the “door,” he thought of something and turned back to ask, “Qi Xia, let me ask one last thing.”

“Go ahead.”

“In this game… who on our side is the mole you planted?”

After hearing this, Qi Xia chuckled softly, “What a pity… I’ve stuck countless ‘needles’ throughout the ‘Land of the End,’ but I’ve never stuck a ‘needle’ in your team.”

“None…?” Although he heard Qi Xia deny it himself, Chu Tianqiu still found it hard to believe.

This seemed to be something everyone had tacitly understood from the beginning. If there wasn’t one… then who had he been guarding against all this time?

“What’s interesting about this matter is…” Qi Xia said, “even if I don’t plant a ‘needle,’ it will still achieve the effect of a ‘needle’ in your team. This way I save worry and effort, and you’ll be extremely cautious.”

Chu Tianqiu suddenly understood. This was a tactic only Qi Xia would use.

His team included Doctor Zhao, Yan Zhichun, Xu Liunian—people who had deep connections with Qi Xia. Precisely because planting a “needle” was so easy, it made people assume by default that he had sent a mole into their team.

Qi Xia went along with this plan, using various hints to tacitly confirm the claim that there was a mole in the opposing team.

The brilliance of this strategy lay in the fact that since there was no mole in Chu Tianqiu’s team, no one would appear suspicious. This would lead Chu Tianqiu to trust no one until he could identify the mole.

When everyone seemed unsuspicious, it meant everyone was suspicious.

Even for a dangerous task like smashing the display screen, he didn’t feel comfortable entrusting it to his teammates. Instead, he chose to carry it out himself, ultimately triggering a chain reaction that led him to stand before this “door.”

“How ridiculous…” Chu Tianqiu grinned. “From beginning to end… everyone in my team was loyal to me, and even Han Yimo from your team stood on my side, yet I failed to properly grasp this… This is exactly like my life.”

“You’ve got it backwards,” Qi Xia said. “You’ll believe what I say, but I’m the enemy ‘Commander.’ You don’t trust your teammates, but instead trust the enemy ‘Commander.’ Don’t you think you’ve got your priorities wrong?”

“But what could I do?” Chu Tianqiu said. “You’re asking me to trust people whose abilities, wisdom, and even ‘echoes’ are inferior to mine. Is that supposed to be correct?”

“Your mistake lies in always feeling you’re stronger than your teammates, and only willing to trust people who are your equal,” Qi Xia said. “If you can’t abandon this notion… you’ll truly become the next Qinglong.”

“What if I become Qinglong? The path you and I chose was different from the start,” Chu Tianqiu said. “Because no one can understand me, I’ve been alone from beginning to end.”

“Stop joking,” Qi Xia said. “Does Wen Qiaoyun not understand you either?”

“Wen Qiaoyun…?”

“If I’m not mistaken, she’s currently waiting as your ‘backup plan’ for the outcome on your end,” Qi Xia said. “She clearly doesn’t remember you, yet she’s willing to bet her life for you, and you’re still saying ‘no one understands.’ In my view, it’s not that they don’t understand you, but that you don’t understand them.”

Chu Tianqiu fell silent for a moment, then replied, “Perhaps.”

“It’s already the final moment,” Qi Xia said. “I also have a piece of advice for you.”

“Go ahead.”

“As soon as you enter this ‘door,’ you will certainly lose,” Qi Xia said. “But if you don’t enter, there’s still a small chance you’ll win.”

Chu Tianqiu’s eyes became dead again as he turned to look at the open, pitch-black “door.”

For some reason, Chu Tianqiu also felt that entering this “door” would decide the outcome of this game, but he couldn’t believe that he would “certainly lose” after entering.

This statement was far too absolute. Even if Qi Xia had a high probability of winning, there couldn’t possibly be a situation where he would “certainly lose.”

After much hesitation, he still lifted his foot and walked into the “door.” Since it was already the final moment, it was time to see Qi Xia’s true abilities.

Qi Xia could only sigh helplessly. He was about to say something when he heard a crisp “clatter.”

He couldn’t help but lower his head to look at the “characters” on the ground. If he heard correctly… the “characters” had just made a sound?

But after waiting a few seconds and finding the “characters” had no other reaction, he could only turn his eyes back toward Chu Tianqiu.

Inside the “door” was an abnormally dark space, empty and vast all around.

Chu Tianqiu couldn’t help but feel curious—why did the Earth-Rabbit’s game look so unusual?

Unfortunately, to be cautious, he had never entered any game venue before. Could it be that every single game within this “Cangjie Chess” was this bizarre?

He turned back, wanting to say something to Qi Xia, but what met his eyes was a terrifying scene he could never have imagined.

Qi Xia stood in a black “door” in the center, coldly watching him, while on the left and right sides were three black “doors” each.

Where was this Earth-Rabbit’s game? This was clearly outside the game venue of “Cangjie Chess.”

And Chu Tianqiu had never actually entered the Earth-Rabbit’s game venue from start to finish. That “door” standing in the center of the room with the character “Mao” written on it was actually a disguised “Door of Collapse.”

“I told you Tiantian only created the simplest things in this game,” Qi Xia said. “Those things were neither ‘characters’ nor ‘display screens,’ merely ‘doors’.”