Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin carried the two enormous burlap sacks out into the night.

Along the way, Qiao Jiajin acted as if he were on a tour, humming Cantonese songs as he walked.

Qi Xia, on the other hand, cautiously watched their surroundings with utmost vigilance.

The quantity of two thousand nine hundred Dao was truly staggering, but fortunately today was Day Zero. It was impossible for anyone to anticipate that such a massive amount of Dao would be carried through the night by two people.

As for Chu Tianqiu…

Qi Xia concluded that he absolutely wouldn’t send people to seize the Dao, or else it would destroy the only bargaining chip for cooperation between them.

Thinking carefully, Chu Tianqiu hadn’t hesitated when handing over the Dao, which showed his ultimate goal truly wasn’t “collecting Dao” but rather his so-called “becoming a god.”

“Liar, where exactly are we going?” Qiao Jiajin looked around. Dusk was approaching now, and the road was becoming difficult to see.

“Just follow me, Fist.” Qi Xia thought for a moment. “There’s a place that should be very safe, but I’m not sure if my idea will work.”

Qiao Jiajin nodded, then stopped speaking and simply followed silently behind Qi Xia.

After walking for a while, Qi Xia suddenly thought of something and turned to ask, “Fist, did you make it to the last day?”

“Me?” Qiao Jiajin thought for a moment. “You mean last time?”

“Yes.”

“I did.” Qiao Jiajin nodded. “Kung Fu Girl and I left the ‘Mouth of Heaven’ and stayed until the last day.”

“What does the ‘End’ look like?” After Qi Xia spoke, he felt somewhat ridiculous.

Having stayed in the Land of the End for so long, he could only learn what the “End” looked like from others’ mouths.

“That day…” Qiao Jiajin’s expression slowly darkened. “I found several cans of beans in a broken house and was just preparing to heat them up over a fire for Kung Fu Girl to eat, when I witnessed her body begin to dissipate with my own eyes…”

“Dissipate?”

“Yes…” Qiao Jiajin nodded. “That feeling was terrifying. Kung Fu Girl looked at me with panic all over her face, but her palm slowly turned into dark red powder and scattered in the air, then her entire arm, her shoulder, and then her head.”

That scene seemed to appear before Qi Xia’s eyes.

Just as Chu Tianqiu had said, when the “End” arrived, all the Participants would turn into dark red powder, and even “Endless Life” couldn’t reverse it.

“Liar, you know… I couldn’t catch her at all…” This was the first time Qiao Jiajin showed such an expression. He looked extremely distressed. “Kung Fu Girl scattered all around me… She was everywhere! I could still feel her terrified gaze, but I had no idea how to save her…”

“And then?”

“Then it was me…” Qiao Jiajin raised his palm to look at it and said, “I also started to scatter. That feeling was very strange… It didn’t hurt or itch, but I could clearly feel myself turning into sand. I had the tactile sensation of every speck of dust in the air, but I couldn’t stop it.”

Qi Xia lowered his head in silence.

“I became sand scattered in the air until I lost all consciousness. When I opened my eyes again, I was already standing at the prison gate.”

“Prison?” Qi Xia paused.

“Yes… It was the day before I came here, when I was standing at the prison gate.” Qiao Jiajin revealed a bitter smile. “Speaking of which, I’m truly pitiful… I was clearly able to return to the real world, but the result didn’t change at all… Things you didn’t do at the time, you won’t do in the future either.”

Qi Xia looked at Qiao Jiajin with some sympathy. Whatever could make him show such an expression must have hurt him deeply.

Wasn’t he the same way?

He once thought he could manipulate everything, but in the end, he was played time and time again.

As night deepened and the chirping of insects emerged from all around, the two arrived at their destination.

It was a small building five or six stories high, and in front of it sat a strange creature with a tiger head and human body on the ground.

Hearing the footsteps approaching from far to near, Earth-Tiger raised his head to look.

“Yo…” His gaze lingered on Qi Xia for a few seconds. “I’m off work today. Come back early tomorrow.”

After speaking, he stood up and slowly walked toward the darkness.

“Wait.” Qi Xia called out. “Earth-Tiger, you can’t get off work yet. I have something to discuss with you.”

“Scram.” Earth-Tiger barked coldly and continued walking forward.

After much deliberation, Qi Xia still stepped forward and grabbed him.

“Earth-Tiger, I have a deal I want to make with you.”

“A deal?” Earth-Tiger turned his head. The bright white fur on his head reflected threads of light in the night. “What makes you think you’re qualified to discuss a deal with me? Scram.”

Qi Xia could only gamble now.

He threw the sack he was carrying in front of Earth-Tiger, then stepped forward to open the seal. The astonishing quantity of Dao in the sack emitted a foul stench while also illuminating the surrounding area.

“Earth-Tiger, I now have two thousand nine hundred Dao. I want to entrust them to you.”

Earth-Tiger, who had been determined to leave, froze slightly upon hearing these words, then looked down at the sack.

“Two thousand nine hundred?”

“That’s right…” Qi Xia nodded. “I hope you’ll help me safeguard them.”

Earth-Tiger thought for a few seconds. The whiskers on his face twitched, then he revealed a contemptuous smile.

“Help you safeguard them? Why don’t you take a piss and look at what kind of thing you are?” His tiger claw resealed the sack opening, dimming the surrounding light somewhat. “What obligation do I have to help you safeguard them?”

“I will find ‘Heavenly-Sheep’ and have her come see you.”

“What…?” Earth-Tiger paused. “Heavenly-Sheep…?”

“Earth-Tiger, you really want to see Heavenly-Sheep, don’t you?” Qi Xia swallowed and said slowly, “I want to as well, so I will definitely find her. My status is different from yours, so I have more options. You should know that it doesn’t matter even if I die over and over, so it’s easier for me to find her.”

These words actually moved the tiger-headed person before him.

Earth-Tiger thought for a while, then turned his head. “Kid, you might not understand… I don’t just want to see ‘Heavenly-Sheep.’ I don’t care whether that person is now a Heavenly, Earth, or Human Sheep. I just want an explanation.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a faint ring of light suddenly appeared not far away. Qi Xia looked carefully and saw this light ring seemed to be the light gate from when they first arrived.

Earth-Tiger looked at the light gate and said, “Kid, I need to clock out.”

Qi Xia frowned. This was the first time he knew that Zodiacs actually “got off work.”

“I understand. You want to see ‘that person.’ I will help you with all my strength.”

“If you want me to believe you… you need to do something for me.” Earth-Tiger said.

“What?”

Earth-Tiger pulled out a bag of crumpled puffed snacks from his pocket and stuffed it into Qi Xia’s hand, then slowly extended his hand and pointed in a direction.

“Walk in this direction for about an hour and you’ll see the ‘Clock.’ To the right of the clock, there’s a small path leading to a Man-Mouse’s game venue.” Earth-Tiger said in a deep voice, “I can’t leave this place. Help me deliver this bag of snacks to her.”