“Pocket Picking” was, after all, just “Pocket Picking.” No matter how strong Officer Li’s conviction was, he couldn’t possibly become the Creator.
Qi Xia picked up a few “Dao” from the ground, and in the next second, he was seized by indescribable pain. The “Dao” rolled back onto the ground.
“Liar, you…” Qiao Jiajin stepped forward to support Qi Xia, his face full of confusion.
He had no idea what was wrong with Qi Xia—he could only see him trembling and curling up.
Yun Yao paid no attention to Qi Xia. Instead, she stared blankly at the two corpses beside Officer Li.
Although their faces were completely unrecognizable and their hair and clothes had been burned away, the physiques of those two people were far too distinctive.
One appeared to be a young boy, while the other had a lean, wiry build.
“No way…?” Yun Yao’s lips trembled slightly. “Have we… been killing our own people this whole time…?”
“Idol, don’t say anymore…” Qiao Jiajin said quietly.
“So Tiantian desperately drained all her blood… just to kill our own companions…” Yun Yao’s eyes widened, her mind in turmoil.
“Stop talking…” Qiao Jiajin looked at Qi Xia and Yun Yao, who were both nearly losing control, and for a moment felt helpless. “Both of you, calm down…”
“If this is what ‘Dragon’ games are like… how can we possibly lead everyone out?” Yun Yao’s eyes dimmed. “Chu Tianqiu never told me about this…”
Qi Xia finally came to his senses and slowly stood up, all expression vanishing from his face.
“Liar… you…” Qiao Jiajin looked at Qi Xia before him and felt as though they were separated by a vast distance, as if they didn’t belong to the same world.
“Qiao Jiajin, did you see?” Qi Xia said. “Even if we don’t kill people, we’ll eventually be killed.”
Qiao Jiajin’s eyes also turned cold as he said, “Liar, I don’t understand those grand principles. I only know you did nothing wrong, and that’s enough for me.”
“You think I did nothing wrong…?” Qi Xia slowly picked up the “Dao” from the ground one by one. “One day you’ll regret it, Qiao Jiajin. You’ll regret standing on the same side as me.”
“I won’t…” Qiao Jiajin said. “Liar, stay calm. You’re about to be influenced by this place.”
After hearing this, Qi Xia said nothing more. He coldly pushed past the two Man-Dragons and left the room.
Qiao Jiajin could only follow him out.
After pondering for a long time, Yun Yao also followed them.
“Hey, you haven’t taken your reward yet.” The male Man-Dragon laughed and tossed over a cloth bag. “Thirty ‘Dao’—you still made a profit.”
Qi Xia reached out to catch the cloth bag, feeling utterly ironic.
A profit?
Were five human lives worth less than thirty “Dao”?
Then what would be the value of three thousand six hundred “Dao”?
Qi Xia had no desire to continue with the next game. After all, he had learned about “Dragon” at the cost of five lives.
But if he examined his own heart—did this feeling count as “sadness”?
No. He only felt an emptiness inside, but no sadness.
The three of them carried Tiantian’s body back to “Heaven’s Gate.”
Chu Tianqiu was standing in front of the teaching building. When he saw the three approaching from a distance, his face showed shock, and he immediately rushed forward to meet them.
“What happened?” He frowned and asked, “How did someone die on the very first day?”
Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin exchanged glances. Qiao Jiajin nodded and handed Tiantian over to Qi Xia’s arms.
Tiantian’s body was extraordinarily light and ice-cold throughout.
“Pink Sausage, come out here.” Qiao Jiajin waved at Chu Tianqiu, then rolled up his sleeves.
“What are you doing…?” Chu Tianqiu slowly retreated a step.
“I have something to ask you. Come out here.”
Seeing that Chu Tianqiu still hadn’t moved, Qiao Jiajin could only walk forward himself.
“What exactly are you trying to do?” Chu Tianqiu looked nervously at Qiao Jiajin. “Are you planning to fight here?”
“Why does the map you gave us lead to ‘Man-Dragon’?” Qiao Jiajin asked bluntly. “What’s your purpose?”
“What?” Chu Tianqiu looked shocked. “Man-Dragon…?”
Qi Xia stared seriously into Chu Tianqiu’s eyes. This man had far too many suspicious points.
“The map I gave you was for ‘Tiger’! How could it be ‘Dragon’?”
His expression seemed to genuinely know nothing about it.
Just then, Qi Xia turned his head and saw four more people approaching from behind—Lin Qin, Han Yimo, Old Lu, and Zhang Shan.
It seemed they were on the same team.
From this, one could deduce that the person who died beside Officer Li was Lawyer Zhang.
The four of them also appeared to have participated in a game and were now returning with a cloth bag.
“Lin Qin, you’ve come at just the right time.” Qi Xia said. “Come help me test for lies.”
“Test for lies…?”
Before Lin Qin could react, she caught sight of Tiantian in Qi Xia’s arms.
Her face showed shock, and she quickly stepped forward to check Tiantian’s condition.
But Tiantian’s complexion had already turned deathly pale with a purple tinge—she looked nothing like a living person.
“What happened?”
“That scumbag Chu Tianqiu is playing clever tricks again.” Qi Xia said in a low voice. “I suspect he had it all planned out. Help me determine whether he’s lying.”
“Alright.” Lin Qin nodded and stood up, coming to Qiao Jiajin’s side to face Chu Tianqiu together with him.
Zhang Shan sensed that something was wrong and also strode forward to stand beside Chu Tianqiu.
“What the hell… tensions are high. What’s going on?”
“Big guy, I don’t have time to play with you.” Qiao Jiajin said. “Your boss got someone killed. I want an explanation from him.”
“Explanation?” Zhang Shan frowned, then snorted coldly. “The rule of ‘Heaven’s Gate’ is to follow Chu Tianqiu’s arrangements. Besides, people die in games anyway—what explanation do you need?”
Qi Xia sighed and said, “The games everyone participated in were all arranged by Chu Tianqiu. In this arrangement, he also got Little Glasses and Jin Yuanxun killed. This is only the first day—don’t any of you have any questions?”
“What…” Chu Tianqiu was clearly stunned. “Little Glasses and Jin Yuanxun are dead?”
Zhang Shan also looked at Chu Tianqiu with some doubt. After all, Little Glasses came from the same interview room as himself. He was extremely righteous and humble and courteous to everyone. Such a good person… how could he just die like this?
After hearing this, Old Lu’s jaw also dropped in shock. “What the hell?! Who the fuck got Little Glasses killed?!”
But looking at Chu Tianqiu again, he still had a completely aggrieved expression on his face.
“What are you pretending for?” Qi Xia said in an icy tone. “Didn’t I tell you to put away your scheming calculations?”
“There must be some misunderstanding here!” Chu Tianqiu waved his hands. “The maps I gave you were all for ‘Tiger’—there’s absolutely no way they could be for ‘Dragon.’ Think carefully—I have no reason at all to get Jin Yuanxun and Little Glasses killed.”
Lin Qin stared intently at Chu Tianqiu’s expression, her face showing doubt.
He didn’t appear to be lying.
This only suggested two possibilities: First, this person was completely unaware. Second, he had undergone corresponding microexpression training.
His eyes, lips, nostrils, and the positioning of his hands and feet—none of it resembled someone who was lying.
“Qi Xia, something’s strange.” Lin Qin said. “There’s a higher probability that he’s not lying.”
“Is that so?” Qi Xia nodded slightly. As expected, Chu Tianqiu was no ordinary character.
Could it be that what Chu Tianqiu gave them really was a “Tiger” map, but the “Dragon” had seized the magpie’s nest and taken over the “Tiger’s” game location?
But if that was the case…
Why would Officer Li’s and Jin Yuanxun’s teams end up killing each other?
After thinking for a long time, Qi Xia suddenly revealed a meaningful expression and couldn’t help but think to himself: Chu Tianqiu, could you possibly be the same kind of person as me?
Are you a liar?
“I know you’ve always been suspicious of me.” Chu Tianqiu said to Qi Xia. “But I truly have no malicious intent. Our goal is to escape from here, so naturally the more people who remain, the better. Jin Yuanxun and Little Glasses were both ‘Echoers’ with potential. Think carefully—before they ‘Echo,’ what reason would I have to send them to their deaths?”