After arranging the tactics for everyone, the sky gradually darkened.

In truth, Zhang Shan, Qiao Jiajin, and Li Xiangling hadn’t really “discussed tactics” at all. They had just exercised their bodies a bit and chatted casually.

After Zhang Shan and Li Xiangling left, Qi Xia looked around at the people in the room and felt the scene was quite ironic.

Now, besides himself, only Qiao Jiajin, Lin Qin, Han Yimo, and Doctor Zhao remained here.

In just two short days, only these few people were left.

Except for Qiao Jiajin, not a single one was a normal person.

Perhaps it was truly as Xiao Xiao had said—in the “Land of the End,” only “Echo” users were qualified to survive.

“Qiao Jiajin.” Qi Xia called out softly from his corner.

After hearing this, Qiao Jiajin also came to sit beside Qi Xia. “What is it, Liar boy?”

“Tomorrow your opponents are from Extreme Path, so there are a few things I want to tell you privately.” Qi Xia said.

“What are they?”

“Do you still remember Aunt Tong’s lessons?” Qi Xia asked.

“Uh…” Qiao Jiajin scratched his head. “I remember part of them.”

“Mm.” Qi Xia thought for a moment and said, “‘Echo’ successfully activating is premised on ‘belief.’ If you’re pushed into a corner, you can try to make the opponent doubt themselves.”

“Oh?” After hearing this, Qiao Jiajin also thought for a moment. “But specifically how should I do that?”

“I can’t say for sure either.” Qi Xia said while rubbing his forehead. “After all, we don’t know the specific rules of tomorrow’s game.”

“That’s okay too. You’ll be going tomorrow as well, right?” Qiao Jiajin asked. “Not participating, just offering advice from the sidelines.”

“Of course I want to go and offer advice, but ‘Earth’ level zodiacs are all exceptionally cunning. I don’t know if they’ll give me a chance to speak.”

“Don’t worry, tomorrow I’ll show you what I’ve got.” Qiao Jiajin patted Qi Xia’s shoulder with a calm expression. “Don’t worry.”

“I don’t care how many moves you show. Remember, whether it’s Extreme Path or Heaven’s Mouth, you can’t completely treat them as your own people.” Qi Xia said in a low voice. “‘Earth level’ games are dangerous but not necessarily fatal. Your ultimate goal is to stay alive. Even if you lose the game, it doesn’t matter. Understand?”

Qiao Jiajin seemed to see the shadow of Jiu Ge in Qi Xia again.

Jiu Ge had once said, “A’Jin, if you can’t win, you need to run. As long as you’re alive, that’s all that matters. Understand?”

“Don’t worry.” Qiao Jiajin came back to his senses and said, “Liar boy, even if the opponent is the Terminator, I have a way to twist off one of his arms.”

Despite these words, how could Qi Xia not worry?

Without extremely deep scheming, how could one survive in the “Land of the End”?

The kinder a person was, the more miserably they would die here.

Qiao Jiajin was not suited to living here.

After nightfall, everyone ate something simple, then pushed the tables together and lay down.

Qi Xia picked up a lighter and lit a flame for Han Yimo, hoping this would ease his claustrophobia somewhat. Then he gently placed the lighter on the door handle and finally found a corner far from the door to sit down.

The second day was about to pass as well.

Today’s good news was that they hadn’t lost any teammates. The bad news was that Qi Xia had been targeted by Extreme Path.

He still didn’t know what to do about the days ahead.

Late at night, Chu Tianqiu stood in the corridor and knocked on the window.

Qi Xia expressionlessly pulled open the window.

“What is it?” Qi Xia asked.

“Qi Xia, he said ‘I never left.'” Chu Tianqiu said in a low voice.

This answer made Qi Xia’s expression freeze for a moment, but he quickly recovered and said, “I understand.”

Chu Tianqiu said nothing more and turned to leave.

And Qi Xia also sat in his chair and slowly closed his eyes.

He was very tired. Many strings in his mind were tightly wound and couldn’t relax for even a moment.

“Xia, do you know? There are many paths in this world, and everyone has their own path.”

“Yes, I know.” Qi Xia nodded in his dream, tears in the corners of his eyes. “I’ve always known.”

That night, the dark shadow didn’t appear. The lighter on the door handle remained there the entire time, until it was shaken off by a series of low knocking sounds at dawn.

“Wake up!” Zhang Shan shouted from outside the door.

Qi Xia immediately opened his eyes. The others in the classroom also slowly sat up.

Although living in Heaven’s Mouth was safe, the hard table boards still made them feel sore and achy.

“Damn…” Qiao Jiajin moved his limbs and felt uncomfortable all over. “What time is it?”

“Stop sleeping!” Zhang Shan pushed open the door, and the lighter also fell behind it. “Get up, because we need to pay the entrance fee for ‘Earth’ level games to know the rules, so let’s go pay early and see what we’re actually playing.”

Qiao Jiajin slowly yawned. “Okay, you guys go first… in three hours I’ll…”

Zhang Shan sighed, reached out to grab Qiao Jiajin’s neck, and lifted him down from the table like picking up a pet.

“Hey hey hey?” Qiao Jiajin was startled and instantly became much more awake. “Big guy, that’s a bit much…”

“This is urgent, let’s set out early!” Zhang Shan tossed Qiao Jiajin a pack of crackers. “Old Qi, are you coming too?”

“Yes.” Qi Xia nodded. “I’ll go help you figure things out.”

After hearing this, Han Yimo also became interested. “Can I go?”

Qi Xia paused. “No, don’t go today. You go with Lin Qin and Doctor Zhao instead.”

“Huh?” Lin Qin raised her eyebrows. “Let him go with Doctor Zhao.”

Doctor Zhao was startled. “Huh?”

“Uh…” Han Yimo hadn’t expected to be rejected by so many people. His expression was a bit awkward.

“Then it’s settled. The four of us will go.” Zhang Shan said.

After these words, Qiao Jiajin slowly walked to the door, but when he looked back, he found that the other three hadn’t followed.

He was somewhat puzzled.

“What? Aren’t we leaving?” Qiao Jiajin yawned.

“We can leave…” Zhang Shan nodded. “But are you going without wearing clothes?”

“Uh…” Qiao Jiajin looked down and discovered he was bare-chested. He immediately scurried off to put on his clothes.

After bidding farewell to the others, Qi Xia and the three game participants set out toward the earthy yellow morning sun.

The “Land of the End” in the early morning was strange. It wasn’t cold here, nor was there the hazy morning fog, just that all the scenery was somewhat dim.

Everyone walked for about half an hour. As the sky gradually brightened, “natives” could occasionally be seen moving about in the alleys.

The atmosphere along the way was somewhat strange. Qi Xia felt that something wasn’t quite right.

He looked at the three people in front of him. Their expressions didn’t look at all like they were going to participate in an “Earth level” game, but rather like they were going on vacation.

They were too relaxed.

At this moment, Zhang Shan also seemed to realize something, so he scratched his head and turned back to ask Qiao Jiajin, “Kid, are you nervous?”

“Uh… what?” Qiao Jiajin paused.

“I’m asking if you’re nervous or not?” Zhang Shan asked again.

“I… should I be nervous?” Qiao Jiajin was somewhat confused.

“Damn… what should we do about this.” Zhang Shan seemed a bit troubled. “Chu Tianqiu repeatedly instructed me that we must be careful and cautious in this game, but I just can’t get nervous. I was hoping you’d help set the mood.”

Qiao Jiajin slowly yawned and said, “Is that so? Yes, actually I’m quite nervous.”

This yawn made even Zhang Shan feel sleepy.

“What about you, Li Xiangling?” Zhang Shan came to his senses and turned to ask the girl beside him.

“Me?” Li Xiangling smiled briskly. “Since childhood, Grandfather taught me that the most important thing for martial artists is mental state—even if Mount Tai collapses before you, your mind must not waver. So I don’t really know what ‘nervous’ means.”