“Who exactly are you…?” Chu Tianqiu frowned as he looked at Chen Junnan.

“You little brat…” Chen Junnan looked quite angry. “I really should’ve killed you back then… Just looking at your cocky face now makes me furious.”

The several Echoes present heard this person’s tone and began to show puzzled expressions on their faces.

“I say… handsome guy…” Qiao Jiajin said.

“Call me Junnan.”

“Handsome man…?” Qiao Jiajin was somewhat confused. “What’s the difference between ‘handsome guy’ and ‘handsome man’?”

“Uh…” Chen Junnan froze after hearing this. “There should be a difference, right?”

“So is ‘handsome man’ more handsome than ‘handsome guy’?” Qiao Jiajin humbly asked for advice.

“No… what the hell…” Chen Junnan said with a frown. “What does this have to do with ‘handsome guy’? My name has always been ‘Junnan’!”

Chen Junnan vaguely remembered this dialogue had happened many times before.

“Oh… alright then…” Qiao Jiajin nodded. “This handsome man… do you know Tianqiu?”

Qi Xia had originally thought Chen Junnan was a deep and serious person, but now he seemed a bit foolish too, strangely in sync with Qiao Jiajin.

“How could I not know him? Not only do I know him, you all know him too.” Chen Junnan squatted down to stare at Chu Tianqiu, then smiled contemptuously. “Seven years ago, he was crying and wailing to carry shoes for the three of us, and today when we meet, he’s putting on airs instead.”

“Se-seven years ago?” Chu Tianqiu froze. “What nonsense are you spouting… Why can you preserve seven years of memories?”

“Why?” Chen Junnan reached out and patted Chu Tianqiu’s face again, saying word by word, “Be-cause-I-damn-well-want-to.”

Qi Xia watched Chen Junnan’s actions, feeling this person was quite interesting.

He was completely different from Qiao Jiajin.

Qiao Jiajin looked wicked but was actually righteous at heart. But this Chen Junnan looked harmless on the surface yet was thoroughly wicked to the bone.

He was exactly the kind of character Qi Xia needed.

Before long, Jin Yuanxun returned. He was carrying two enormous burlap sacks on his back, panting heavily as he pushed open the door.

“Hey, release him. I brought the stuff.”

“Show me the goods.” Qi Xia said.

“Release him first.”

Qi Xia helplessly shook his head and looked down, saying, “Chu Tianqiu, your man is negotiating conditions with me. What should I say?”

Chu Tianqiu thought for a moment before speaking, “Jin Yuanxun, give it to him.”

“What? Bro! What if he kills you?”

“If he kills me, he becomes a ‘Murderer Who Seizes Dao’,” Chu Tianqiu said. “I’m in more danger if you don’t give it to him.”

Jin Yuanxun’s expression turned grave as he pondered for a while, then finally placed the two sacks on the ground.

“Fist, check it.” Qi Xia said.

“Mm…” Qiao Jiajin nodded and turned back to open one of the sacks.

The next second, a putrid stench that rushed straight to the brain wafted out from the sack, causing everyone in the room to step back.

“Ugh!”

Qiao Jiajin, who was closest to the sack, completely took the hit and kept making retching expressions.

“Damn… what is this… Why is it so stinky?!”

Qi Xia also frowned and looked up. The sack was indeed emitting light—they were Dao.

But why would Dao be so stinky?

In the past, when Qi Xia had Dao in his hands, he’d only had about seventy at most. He’d never paid attention to the smell of Dao. Could these things naturally emit such a foul odor?

Qiao Jiajin endured the stench and pulled out several small orbs from the sack.

These orbs had white outer rings and yellow inner rings, shaped like three-dimensional fried eggs, their entire bodies emitting a faint glow. They were indeed Dao.

Then Qiao Jiajin opened the other sack, which was similarly packed full of Dao, like a bag of walnuts.

No one in the room had ever seen this quantity of Dao before, but there was no time to be surprised because the smell was truly too foul.

“Qi Xia…” Chu Tianqiu said with a smile. “Don’t you want to count them? Once you leave the store, no refunds.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Qi Xia also let out a cold laugh. “If I find the quantity is short, I’ll definitely find every way possible to kill you.”

“Haha…” Chu Tianqiu gave a dry laugh. “Good, then I’ll… be going?”

“Of course, of course.” Qi Xia nodded, having Chen Junnan withdraw the dagger from his neck, then politely helped Chu Tianqiu stand up. “We’re partners. How could I possibly really kill you?”

“Exactly.” Chu Tianqiu slowly stood up. “Qi Xia, I look forward to our future cooperation.”

Jin Yuanxun immediately took two steps forward, staying by Chu Tianqiu’s side.

“Mm, happy cooperation.” Qi Xia agreed.

After seeing the two men leave the room, Qi Xia’s expression darkened.

Qiao Jiajin sealed the sack openings, and the smell in the room improved somewhat.

“Liar… what do we do?” Qiao Jiajin said. “Should we count the quantity together?”

“There’s no need.” Qi Xia shook his head. “No matter the quantity, getting them is already a gain.”

Chen Junnan also thought for a moment after hearing this. “Then what’s next? Old Qi, are you planning to carry around these two thousand nine hundred Dao for the coming days?”

“No…” Qi Xia slowly stood up and said to everyone, “Everyone, do you trust me?”

The crowd looked at each other after hearing this. Compared to Chu Tianqiu, Qi Xia was naturally more trustworthy.

“What do you want to do?” Lin Qin asked. “You should know there are Extreme Path members here, and some of them will do everything possible to destroy your Dao.”

“Of course I know.” Qi Xia nodded. “If everyone trusts me, these Dao will temporarily be kept by me. Before we collect all three thousand six hundred, no one will see them.”

The group fell silent after hearing this.

After all, they all knew that Dao was the key to escaping this place, yet now Qi Xia wanted to keep them all himself.

Seeing everyone remain silent for a long time, Qi Xia added, “Of course there’s a second option. Tiantian isn’t here, so there are nine people. We can divide the Dao equally on the spot. After the division, everyone’s fate is their own, and we don’t interfere with each other.”

This plan sounded more reasonable than the previous one, but it made everyone’s hearts even more uneasy.

“Let’s vote by raising hands,” Officer Li said from the side. “Minority obeys majority. Let’s be democratic.”

“Good.” Qi Xia nodded. “Those who hope to divide the Dao right now, raise your hands.”

After the crowd fell silent for a while, Doctor Zhao and Su Shan raised their hands.

Qi Xia glanced at the two of them, not surprised by their choice.

“Those who agree to let me keep them, raise your hands.”

Qiao Jiajin, Chen Junnan, Officer Li, and Han Yimo raised their hands.

Qi Xia looked at Lawyer Zhang and Lin Qin, who hadn’t raised their hands yet, and asked, “What do you two say?”

“I abstain.” Lawyer Zhang shook his head. “I know nothing about the situation, so it’s not appropriate for me to make a judgment.”

Lin Qin also said with a grave expression, “I just don’t want you to die because of these Dao.”

“Then I understand.” Qi Xia turned to everyone and said, “Minority obeys majority. These Dao will be kept by me.”

With that, he shouldered one of the sacks and turned back to Qiao Jiajin. “Fist, you carry the other one and come with me.”

Before the two men left with the sacks, Qi Xia turned back to look at Yu Nian’an’s corpse.

He felt somewhat sad, but not completely sad.

“Help me bury her.”