But if fifty-one people participated… why would “Earth-Sheep” need to control the subsequent number of people?

This was a dangerous and thrilling conclusion.

The fans distributed in the first round weren’t the one hundred and fifty allocated to fifty people, nor were they the one hundred and fifty-three allocated to fifty-one people.

Because counting Earth-Sheep, fifty-two people stood on the field, and all fifty-two of them received fans.

So theoretically, there were one hundred and fifty-six fans in the first round.

But one hundred and fifty-six still wasn’t the number of fans distributed in the first round.

Before the game began, when Earth-Sheep was demonstrating for everyone, he publicly inserted four fans into the “Pairing Machine.”

Adding these four fans, the game officially began.

The first round had a total of one hundred and sixty fans, forty of each suit.

This way, all the logic made sense.

Earth-Sheep killing people wasn’t for “sanctions”—it was simply that he wanted to kill according to his own preferences.

He was clearly one of the participants.

After all, the “Pairing Machine” had displayed Earth-Sheep’s photo from the very beginning, indicating he was on record.

In other words, the rules here didn’t care whether participants killed each other. This made the problem even more thorny, because Earth-Sheep was also a participant, and he could also kill people at will.

But his power was too strong. If it really came to killing people, no one present was his match.

Come to think of it, as long as Earth-Sheep became a participant, even if the remaining fifty-one people all united as one, it would be completely useless.

He would directly go on a killing spree.

This made forming teams to participate in this game an absolute joke.

Qi Xia shook his head, couldn’t help but think inwardly: Earth-Sheep, oh Earth-Sheep… you’re truly an interesting opponent…

To personally experience the fraud game, do you voluntarily place yourself within it every time?

Qi Xia’s eyes slowly became hesitant…

He had thought his opponents were fifty ordinary people. At worst, he might face a few “Echoes,” but who could have imagined he would directly face Earth-Sheep himself here?

He would kill other participants according to his own needs and preferences.

This massive casino… was simply like his slaughterhouse.

But the current situation was also a bit strange. He clearly could directly kill all the people on the field—why would he allow anyone to escape?

“Could it be that what you want is a relatively fair game…? You killed a violent person because you don’t advocate this method of winning?”

Qi Xia once again looked at the black sheep-headed person in the center of the field. Just at that moment, Earth-Sheep also turned his head to look at Qi Xia.

The two people’s gazes met at this moment.

After a long while, Earth-Sheep turned his head away, staring straight ahead as if he hadn’t seen anything.

Qi Xia also came back to his senses, walked to the dead old man’s side, and pulled the sharp knife from his chest. Then, holding the sharp knife, he walked to the front of the man Earth-Sheep had beaten to death.

This man had died standing, his head rotated three hundred and sixty degrees, twisting his neck into a twisted braid of torn flesh and blood.

His fans had already been “confiscated” by Earth-Sheep, and precisely because of this, not a single person came to examine his corpse.

Qi Xia, holding the sharp knife, looked again at the “wealthy person” whose ribs had been pierced by the knife-wielding man. He came before him and rummaged through the fans in his pocket. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a single “Sorrow.”

“Hey!” Earth-Sheep called out from the distance. “Fans from those who have already escaped cannot be taken again.”

“Cannot be taken?” Qi Xia looked back at Earth-Sheep with confusion, completely unable to deduce whether this statement was true or false.

“That’s right.” Earth-Sheep said. “Originally he should have used these fans to exchange for ‘Dao,’ but he’s dead, so the fans are also voided.”

“Voided…?”

“Yes.” Earth-Sheep nodded.

The corners of Qi Xia’s mouth curved up. He directly picked up all the dead wealthy person’s fans, then tore them into shreds one by one.

“Since they’re voided… then let’s not leave them here, to prevent the game from being unfair.”

Earth-Sheep opened his mouth but didn’t speak.

After Qi Xia tore up the fans, he mixed all the fragments together. Only after confirming they were completely unusable did he leave with the sharp knife.

Qi Xia’s actions drew everyone’s attention. This field no longer allowed killing—why would someone still go get the knife?

And he was clearly provoking Earth-Sheep…

Wasn’t this person afraid of death?

Holding the knife, Qi Xia came to a corner of the field and slowly sat down.

The remaining time was just for waiting.

Waiting for the “Sorrows” in the field to be consumed.

Forty “Sorrows” were distributed in the first round, so… how many remained in the end?

Earth-Sheep consumed one for the demonstration, two teams escaping consumed two.

Qi Xia had three in his hand. Theoretically, at that time, at most thirty-four “Sorrows” remained circulating on the “market”…

So… how many did Earth-Sheep just replenish?

After all, he had said “guarantee everyone has a chance to replenish fans,” which meant the number of fans he produced the second time was the same as the number of people present—fifty-two. This way there was a chance for everyone to replenish fans.

Fifty-two could be evenly divided by four, thirteen of each suit.

The only good news was that all thirteen replenished “Sorrows” were taken away by the “wealthy people.”

So all the other fans were replenished by thirteen, but only the quantity of “Sorrows” remained unchanged, still decreasing.

These three teams of “wealthy people” not only took away thirteen “Sorrows,” but also consumed three “Sorrows” to escape. Thirty-one “Sorrows” remained.

Before Qin Dingdong left, she took out one “Sorrow” and gave it to him, reducing the “Sorrows” on the “market” again.

Now at most only thirty “Sorrows” were circulating on the “market,” and this condition was still established on the premise that “all who escaped only consumed one Sorrow.”

“No, that’s not right…” Qi Xia suddenly thought—Qin Dingdong’s original hand was “Joy, Anger, Sorrow.”

She took one extra “Sorrow” when she left.

Twenty-nine “Sorrows” remained on the field.

If Qin Dingdong’s situation wasn’t an isolated case… that meant the final remaining quantity of “Sorrows” would only be less than twenty-nine, possibly even approaching twenty.

So… could the “Sorrows” on the field be reduced to less than twenty?

Forty people needed to escape, theoretically requiring the consumption of another twenty “Sorrows.” Could he hold out until the very last moment?

Would everyone escape first… or would “Sorrows” be consumed first?

Qi Xia discovered this bizarre game had no “Nash equilibrium point” at all. Continuing to sit idly was just seeking death.

To ensure the plan was foolproof… he must consume large quantities of “Sorrows.”

But how could he consume the “Sorrows” in other people’s hands now?

After thinking carefully for a while, Qi Xia couldn’t help but reveal a smile.

Did he need to think about it?

He could directly use unorthodox tactics to defeat the old master—just use Qin Dingdong’s method.

Now he could take the initiative to “pair” with others, and the knife in his hand could play the role of “enforcer.”

Qi Xia raised his head, then immediately saw three more teams of escapees. The number decreased by six again, leaving thirty-four people.

“Sorrows” decreased by three more, at most twenty-six remaining.

Before Qi Xia could find his prey, the square-faced man he’d seen at the beginning walked over, saying with a face full of smiles: “Hey! Brother! Brother!”

Qi Xia turned his head to look at him, not understanding.

He thought the negotiation between the two had already collapsed.

“Brother… I agree!” The square-faced man said somewhat nervously.

“What?”

“I’ll give you one extra fan, just pair with me!”

Qi Xia lowered his head to look at the square-faced man’s bulging pocket, couldn’t help but think of something.

“Sure!” Qi Xia nodded. “Give me one fan first, then I’ll pair with you.”

“No problem!” The man looked somewhat anxious and immediately took out a fan from his pocket and handed it to Qi Xia.

Qi Xia lowered his head to open and look at it—it was “Joy.”

“Alright, let’s go pair up.” Qi Xia said.

The square-faced man nodded. The two came to the front of the “Pairing Machine.”

“What should I put in?” The square-faced man was stunned. “What do you have?”

“Except for ‘Sorrow,’ I have all the rest.” Qi Xia said.

“Then I’ll put in ‘Sorrow’ and ‘Happiness,’ you put in ‘Joy’ and ‘Anger’!”

“Alright.”