After seeing off Heavenly-Horse and Heavenly-Tiger, the prison fell into silence, and Qian Wu once again sank into deep contemplation.

“Fifth Brother…” Song Qi came to Qian Wu’s side, bending down with a hesitant expression on his face as he said, “Is it necessary to make this deal with them? With one order from you, we can start the war. Regardless of whether she’s truly ‘Heavenly-Horse’ or not, the brothers will all…”

“There’s no need.” Qian Wu said. “I also want to know what exactly that enormous ‘Echo’ was all about. Since ‘Cat’ was established, we’ve never heard such a sound. Finding out what position they hold is very important.”

“I understand, Fifth Brother.” Song Qi nodded.

“By the way…” Qian Wu narrowed his eyes and continued, “It seems Heavenly-Horse and the others don’t appear to know about the ‘Heaven’s Gate’ matter…”

“‘Heaven’s Gate’…?” Song Qi furrowed his brow. “Fifth Brother, are you saying the enormous ‘Echo’ is related to our last business deal?”

“I can only say the possibility is very high.” Qian Wu nodded. “Our large-scale attack very likely triggered someone’s ‘Echo’, and moreover, this ‘Echo’ appeared in the dead of night. No matter how you think about it, it can’t be unrelated to that incident.”

“I understand.” Song Qi nodded. “Fifth Brother, I’ll go burn Twenty-One now. Tonight we’ll let the brothers rest and reorganize, and tomorrow at first light we’ll head to ‘Heaven’s Gate’.”

“Good.” Qian Wu nodded. “Old Seven, pass down the word—if we really do find that person… remember to keep it confidential.”

…

Earth-Tiger saw the light gate beside him illuminate and slowly stood up.

At this moment, several participants were walking toward him. Taking advantage of the fact that it wasn’t completely dark yet, they seemed to want to participate in Earth-Tiger’s game.

“Scram.” Earth-Tiger roared angrily. “Take one more step forward and I’ll fucking kill you all.”

The several participants paused, then slowly retreated.

Today was another day of not working overtime.

Earth-Tiger, carrying an enormous burlap sack, walked through the light gate. Some human-level “Zodiac” members bowed to him one after another, then disappeared at the other end of the corridor without looking back.

But Earth-Tiger was in no hurry, slowly coming to stand before a wooden door, as if waiting for something.

Before long, a young person wearing a horse-head mask walked over, calling out softly: “Teacher, today…”

“You scram first.” Earth-Tiger said. “I’ll come find you all in a bit.”

“Oh…” The horse-head mask nodded respectfully, seemingly knowing Earth-Tiger’s temperament, and thus left along the corridor without another word.

Earth-Tiger waited quietly, until he waited until he was somewhat impatient and was just about to leave reluctantly when the wooden door before him finally opened.

On the other side of the wooden door was a bar. Earth-Sheep slowly walked out from within. He had deliberately come late, but hadn’t expected Earth-Tiger to be standing right in front of him, so he could only turn around and walk away.

“Yo…” A smile appeared on Earth-Tiger’s face as he looked at Earth-Sheep with full anticipation.

Earth-Sheep acted as if he hadn’t seen anything and walked around Earth-Tiger.

Earth-Tiger looked at him somewhat angrily, then quickly walked in front of him and said again: “Yo!”

Seeing that he really couldn’t avoid this plague god, Earth-Sheep could only helplessly shake his head and say: “Yo what?”

“You came back quite late today!” Earth-Tiger said with a smile. “How was it? Was work busy? Did you win or lose?”

“What’s it to you?”

“We’re old classmates!!” Earth-Tiger said with an excited expression. “We share good fortune together, and if you have troubles, you should tell me about them too!”

“No need.” Earth-Sheep shook his head. “I’ll find a way to solve my own problems myself.”

“I have a ready-made solution right here!” Earth-Tiger threw the sack from his back in front of Earth-Sheep. “Take a quick look at these brand-new ‘Dao’. It’s such a hassle… Why are there so many? How should I deal with them?”

“However you want to deal with them is however you deal with them.”

“Do you want them? If you want them, I can lend them to you!” Earth-Tiger said. “Nine point five percent daily interest rate—you’ll never find such cheap loan sharking anywhere else.”

Earth-Sheep looked at the sack on the ground, then raised his head expressionlessly and asked: “Earth-Tiger… speaking seriously, the person you sent today—exactly what kind of sacred figure is he?”

“What kind of sacred figure?” Earth-Tiger’s brow furrowed slightly. “What do you want to say?”

“I want to know if you’re truly stupid… or if you’ve long since seen through this point.”

After hearing this, Earth-Tiger slowly lowered his head and fell silent.

Seeing Earth-Tiger’s expression, Earth-Sheep naturally guessed something as well.

“His gaze… the methods he used…” Earth-Sheep said with a trembling voice. “Don’t you think we’ve seen him before?!”

“I… I know what you mean, but how is that possible?” Earth-Tiger stretched out his hand and pointed behind himself. “He’s a participant who doesn’t even have an ‘Echo’… How could he possibly be…”

“Tiger, ‘Heavenly-Sheep’ is vacant.”

“What?!” Earth-Tiger was stunned. “Old Black… what the fuck did you just say…?”

“I’ve seen Heavenly-Dragon. He told me himself.” Earth-Sheep said. “Although this matter shouldn’t be spoken of… but do you understand now?”

“Are you saying Brother Sheep never became ‘Heavenly-Sheep’ at all…” Earth-Tiger blinked. “He left about a month ago… but has become a participant again?”

“Isn’t this even more terrifying?” Earth-Sheep turned his head to look at Earth-Tiger. “You and I both know what kind of person Brother Sheep is… He might turn this place completely upside down. How many ‘Zodiac’ members here could stop him?!”

Just as the atmosphere between the two was extremely serious, a lazy voice suddenly rang out from behind them.

“That’s impossible.”

They turned to look, and the person who had arrived was none other than Man-Snake.

“You little brat…” Earth-Tiger wanted to step forward and give him a slap, but suddenly remembered that he had already been promoted to “Earth-level” and could only give Man-Snake a light push. “Who the fuck told you to eavesdrop?”

Man-Snake was pushed back a step by Earth-Tiger, then smiled and said: “What’s the relationship between the three of us? What’s wrong with me listening?”

Earth-Tiger pondered for a moment, then asked Man-Snake: “Why do you say ‘impossible’? With Brother Sheep’s abilities, he could completely clear all of our games.”

“Little Tiger, you’ve always been single-minded.” Man-Snake pushed him with a smile, but Earth-Tiger didn’t budge an inch.

“How am I single-minded?”

“Remember…” Man-Snake said to Earth-Sheep, “Brother Sheep once said the reason he himself joined the ‘Zodiac’.”

With those words spoken, both of them simultaneously remembered something.

“Brother Sheep really did say something like that…” Earth-Tiger lowered his head in contemplation. “Because he belonged to the ‘Unfortunate Ones’… No matter what, he couldn’t hear an ‘Echo’, and for a long time he was unable to preserve his memories… So joining the ‘Zodiac’ was his only way out.”

“In other words… even if Brother Sheep became a participant, he absolutely couldn’t clear the games…” Earth-Tiger silently lowered his head. “Because every time for him is like starting over from the beginning…”