Qi Xia sat in the first-floor hall, feeling somewhat helpless.

Although he had assigned the three of them a strategy to seize the initiative at the start, the subsequent developments could change in an instant. He had no idea what kind of actions the lunatics on the opposing side would take, nor did he know what kind of situation their “Echoes” would lead the competition toward.

Qi Xia was sitting with his eyes closed when he heard the rustling sound of footsteps coming from outside the door.

He turned his head to look. Chu Tianqiu was standing outside the door, watching him with a smile on his face.

Though Qi Xia felt somewhat puzzled, he didn’t say anything and closed his eyes once more.

Chu Tianqiu walked into the room, dragged over a broken wooden crate from the side, and sat down in front of Qi Xia.

Qi Xia didn’t open his eyes, but he frowned slightly. He didn’t particularly like having someone suddenly get this close.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Qi Xia, what do ‘teammates’ mean to you?” Chu Tianqiu asked.

Hearing this question, Qi Xia slowly opened his eyes.

“Teammates…?” Qi Xia pondered for a moment. “They are companions with whom I share life and death.”

“Is that so?” Chu Tianqiu said with a smile on his face. “Yun Yao said that every time you lose a teammate, you get a headache, so are you ‘deeply pained’?”

“What exactly are you trying to say?” Qi Xia asked.

“I suspect we’re the same kind of people.” Chu Tianqiu gently patted the dust off his clothes and said, “When we don’t have a clear goal, teammates are our everything, but when we have a clear goal, teammates become chess pieces.”

Hearing these words, Qi Xia slowly revealed a smile.

“Chu Tianqiu, you’ve really made me search high and low for you…”

“Haha!” Chu Tianqiu laughed. “Have I caused you trouble? My sincere apologies.”

Qi Xia slowly extended a finger, pointing as he said, “There are three members of ‘Extreme Path’ here. Do you think they might want your head?”

“Don’t be like that.” Chu Tianqiu waved his hand as if joking with a friend. “Originally, I really shouldn’t have shown myself, but I genuinely wanted to meet you. Since we finally have a chance to talk, you wouldn’t call someone to interrupt us, would you?”

“Then speak. I’m listening,” Qi Xia replied.

“You and I are both cold-blooded animals without feelings. Everyone in the Land of the End is worth nothing more than their death to us, right?” Chu Tianqiu asked.

Qi Xia didn’t answer, only slowly resting his chin in his hand.

“You knew full well that the ‘Man-Dragon’s’ game was my trap, yet you still participated, and even actively sacrificed a teammate to escape.” Chu Tianqiu nodded with great satisfaction. “What an excellent opponent indeed.”

“You flatter me,” Qi Xia said.

“In order to walk out of here alive, you’ve told many lies.” Chu Tianqiu continued, “You even joined forces with that lunatic Lin Qin, intending to get her killed… Your viciousness and ruthlessness far exceed mine.”

“So what?” Qi Xia asked expressionlessly.

“So… I want to play with fire and cooperate with you.” Chu Tianqiu said, “In this entire ‘Land of the End,’ if we want to get out, only you and I working together have any possibility of achieving it. You should know that I’m even crazier than Lin Qin.”

Qi Xia naturally knew just how crazy Chu Tianqiu was.

To him, human lives truly were chess pieces that could be discarded at any time.

“I want to see that notebook,” Qi Xia said.

After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu smiled slightly, reached his hand into his pocket, pulled out an old notebook, and casually tossed it to Qi Xia.

“Qi Xia, you’d better be careful. This is a core secret of ‘Heaven’s Mouth.’ Only a few members have seen it. Remember not to damage it.”

Qi Xia silently caught the notebook and opened it to read.

This was a diary recorded in the first person.

At the beginning of the diary, it was written that “I” had discovered that items in the Land of the End don’t reset, so as long as “I” wrote down notes and placed them on a path that “I” would inevitably pass through, then “I” would never lose my memories.

Turning further, the content was basically “my” mental journey of gambling lives with the “Zodiacs.” Although it didn’t specify what games were participated in, flipping through it, every day a “Zodiac” was gambled to death by “me.”

At the end of the diary, “I” had gambled all the “Zodiacs” of the “Land of the End” to death, and a magnificently dressed goddess descended from the sky. She said that “I” was the strongest existence in the entire “Land of the End” and could now freely come and go from this place.

And so, “I” went out.

Qi Xia finished reading this notebook with a grave expression, feeling that he had been played.

“Chu Tianqiu, you wrote this notebook yourself, didn’t you?” he asked.

“Of course.” Chu Tianqiu nodded seriously. “Qi Xia, you didn’t really think there would be such an all-capable predecessor who single-handedly gambled all the ‘Zodiacs’ to death through the accumulation of time, did you? This is just a small ploy to guide the people of ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ to willingly go to their deaths. Hahahaha.”

Qi Xia let out a deep sigh. He had long suspected that this notebook might be fake, but he didn’t expect it to be this utterly fabricated.

Chu Tianqiu reached out to retrieve the notebook, carefully putting it back into his pocket, afraid of damaging it. “Now that I’ve told you the core secret of ‘Heaven’s Mouth,’ don’t you believe me yet?”

“How interesting. You bring out a ‘scam’ to exchange for my trust.” Qi Xia laughed and said, “Are you trying to exchange it for another ‘scam’?”

“Oh? That won’t work?” Chu Tianqiu showed an expression full of regret. “Even if this is a ‘scam,’ it’s still my secret.”

“Since gambling all the ‘Zodiacs’ to death isn’t feasible, and yet you’ve been continuously sending ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ people one after another, what is your purpose?” Qi Xia asked.

“I need corpses,” Chu Tianqiu answered without any evasion.

This answer once again exceeded Qi Xia’s expectations.

“You… are creating ‘corpses’?”

“How should I put it… Qi Xia.” Chu Tianqiu touched his chin and pondered for a moment. “If I tell you about this, I’ll have absolutely no secrets left.”

“So do you want to tell me?” Qi Xia asked.

“Hehe…” Chu Tianqiu revealed a trace of a deranged smile. “Of course. Otherwise, why would I risk my life coming here?”

“Then speak. I’m listening,” Qi Xia nodded.

“Qi Xia…” Chu Tianqiu murmured to himself, “When the ‘Day of the End’ arrives, all living people will turn into blood-red powder and scatter with the wind.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Qi Xia raised an eyebrow, looking unsurprised.

“Above this blue sky, it’s filled with people who lived to the tenth day. Now even the sky has been stained dark red by the flesh powder.” Chu Tianqiu gazed toward the sky outside the door as if appreciating a beautiful scene, then said, “Although I don’t know where my previous corpses are drifting, they’re all emitting a putrid stench.”

“That truly is worthy of sympathy,” Qi Xia replied without any feeling.

“But you see…” Chu Tianqiu withdrew his gaze and said to Qi Xia, “Do you know? Only living people turn into powder. Those who died before the tenth day are rotting in the air.”

Qi Xia frowned slightly, feeling that this statement was somewhat eerie.

“So it’s the living who vanish?” Qi Xia asked.

“It’s not ‘the living’ who vanish.” Chu Tianqiu shook his head. “It’s the ‘Participants’ who vanish.”