“It’s possible.” Lin Qin nodded. “You shone brilliantly in your first cycle, not only attracting the attention of ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ but also drawing the attention of ‘Extreme Path.'”

“So that’s how it is…?” Qi Xia narrowed his eyes in thought. “Which means I’ve already been here for a month…”

Then Yu Nian’an… has been missing for a month?

“There’s still time…” Qi Xia finally muttered to himself. “A month isn’t long. I’ll find you…”

“Qi Xia, there’s another very important reason why I want to become your teammate.” Lin Qin said.

“What?”

“You’re too smart, which makes you seem not smart at all. I want to supervise you by your side. After all, to successfully escape from here requires being cautious about everything.”

Qi Xia paused slightly, not understanding Lin Qin’s meaning.

“You never restrain your sharp edge and don’t know how to hide your wisdom. This behavior is tantamount to suicide.” Lin Qin finished the alcohol in her hand and continued, “If I were you, I might pretend to be a fool and only reveal my wisdom at the final moment.”

“There’s no need.” Qi Xia said. “If I encounter danger, it only means the ‘wisdom’ I’ve displayed is far from enough. As long as I can crush my opponent in strategy, there’s no need to hide at all.”

“What a strange person.” Lin Qin smiled. “Have you never taken ‘Heaven’s Mouth,’ ‘Extreme Path,’ or the ‘Zodiac’ seriously?”

“It’s not that I ‘don’t take them seriously.’ I just want to get out.” Qi Xia said. “No matter who they are, as long as they share the same goal as me, they’re my allies.”

“Then…” Lin Qin put down her beer bottle and extended her finger to wipe her lips. “I’ve already told you about my ‘Echo user’ army plan. Now I want to hear your thoughts. Do you have a plan?”

“A plan…” Qi Xia glanced at Chu Tianqiu from afar.

If a plan truly needed to be formulated, Chu Tianqiu’s position was crucial.

What was this man plotting?

And what was the content of his notebook?

Thinking of this, Qi Xia slowly stood up. “Lin Qin, our conversation tonight ends here. There’s another game waiting for me next. When I have a plan, I’ll naturally tell you.”

He grabbed a handful of peanuts from the table and slowly walked over to Chu Tianqiu’s side.

At this moment, Chu Tianqiu sat alone in the corner, looking at Yun Yao’s direction with a smile on his face.

“Qi Xia…?” Chu Tianqiu noticed the approaching person and raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“I want to ask you some questions.” Qi Xia scattered the peanuts on the table and picked up one to peel.

“Sure.” Chu Tianqiu smiled. “What do you want to ask?”

“A participant carrying their ‘Dao’ goes to participate in a game. But along the way, there’s a group of strange madmen who rob half the number of ‘Dao’ from passing participants each time, then return one. The participant walked this road for several days in a row and encountered those madmen multiple times, yet his ‘Dao’ never suffered any loss. How did he achieve this?”

After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu was slightly stunned and furrowed his brow.

Qi Xia kept his head down eating peanuts without saying a word.

“He bribed the madmen.” Chu Tianqiu said.

Qi Xia remained expressionless, still not speaking.

Seeing Qi Xia’s appearance, Chu Tianqiu knew the answer might be somewhat off. He lowered his head and thought for a while, then said, “That participant killed them all.”

Qi Xia nodded and asked again, “Two people kill someone together. One of them gets blood splattered all over his face, while the other doesn’t. But after the killing, why does the person with the clean face immediately run to wash it?”

“Because he’s allergic to blood.” Chu Tianqiu answered.

“Oh? So that’s it?” Qi Xia’s expression darkened. “The participant is a murderer. The murderer is allergic to blood. So that’s it?”

“Haha!” Chu Tianqiu laughed. “Qi Xia, are you trying to test me? These questions can’t stump me. Do you want a drink? I’ll get you a bottle.”

Just as he was about to stand up and leave, Qi Xia suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm.

“Sit down.” Qi Xia said coldly.

“What…?”

“I want to talk with the real Chu Tianqiu. You can’t make decisions about what comes next.” Qi Xia said.

“The ‘real Chu Tianqiu’?” Chu Tianqiu’s face showed a puzzled expression. “Qi Xia, what are you saying? Are you suggesting I’m a fake Chu Tianqiu?”

“What do you think?” Qi Xia slowly raised his eyes. “The two questions I asked you are clearly logic problems, yet your approach to answering completely doesn’t use logical thinking—it’s purely based on your own imagination and wild guesses. Quite a few people have told me that ‘Chu Tianqiu’ is an extremely intelligent person. But is this your ‘intelligence’?”

After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu sighed silently and said, “Qi Xia, I’m indeed not as smart as you. Although I admit this, I really am Chu Tianqiu.”

Hearing this, Qi Xia felt the situation was ominous.

This person was truly too strange.

And he wasn’t lying either.

Even the most skilled liars must have flaws, yet Chu Tianqiu had none.

Since he was Chu Tianqiu and he wasn’t smart, but Chu Tianqiu was very smart… then could there be another possibility?

“You say you’re Chu Tianqiu…” Qi Xia asked quietly. “Then are there two of you in this world?”

“What…?”

“One you in the open taking the bullets, another you in the shadows plotting…” Qi Xia continuously deduced the current situation, feeling he was one step closer to the truth. “Because of some ‘Echo’ reason… there are two of you in this world?”

The corner of Chu Tianqiu’s eye twitched slightly, allowing Qi Xia to catch a fatal flaw.

“I see… If Chu Tianqiu’s ‘Echo’ was to create another self… that clearly wouldn’t make much sense.” Qi Xia continued. “He should create a ‘perfect’ version of himself, not a foolish one. Otherwise, it would be too easy to reveal flaws.”

Chu Tianqiu’s expression slowly changed.

“Let me guess…” Qi Xia slowly tapped the table. “So the person activating the ‘Echo’ isn’t Chu Tianqiu, but someone else, right?”

Silence.

“Assuming this person’s ‘Echo’ is to become another person… then the limiting conditions are quite harsh. They must completely believe they are Chu Tianqiu for the ‘Echo’ to continue succeeding…” Qi Xia raised his head and stared into Chu Tianqiu’s eyes. “This way, everything makes sense. No matter how we interrogate you… you are Chu Tianqiu. There are no flaws whatsoever, because you believe this from the bottom of your heart. But you simply can’t be as smart as Chu Tianqiu.”

“Qi Xia… you…” Chu Tianqiu began to panic at this moment.

“But in ‘Heaven’s Mouth’… who could one hundred percent consider themselves to be Chu Tianqiu?” The corner of Qi Xia’s mouth lifted. “This person knows Chu Tianqiu very well, possesses an ‘Echo,’ and believes they can play him…”

“Stop talking for now…” Chu Tianqiu extended his hand to stop Qi Xia.

“So when exactly did you return to ‘Heaven’s Mouth’?” Qi Xia slowly drew closer to the person before him and slowly spoke. “Ms. Xu Liunian, who used to be an actress?”