“Ham ga caan, another lunatic.” Qiao Jiajin spat on the ground. “I keep feeling that if we stay here long enough, we’ll go crazy too.”

Qi Xia was disturbed by this old man.

“Qi Xia, are you okay?” Lin Qin asked from the side.

“I’m fine.” Qi Xia steadied his mind. “These people can’t stop me. I’m going to participate in the ‘games.’ You don’t have to follow.”

“I’ll go with you.” Lin Qin said. “No matter what ‘game’ you participate in, I’ll go with you.”

Hearing this, Qi Xia slowly stopped. He turned around and looked coldly at Lin Qin.

This gaze was especially cold, frightening Lin Qin quite a bit.

“Wha-what’s wrong?”

“Lin Qin, what’s your motive?”

“Motive?” Lin Qin asked somewhat puzzled. “Do I need to have a motive?”

Qi Xia stared into Lin Qin’s eyes again and said, “What’s your purpose in getting close to me? No matter how I think about it, you should be moving with the other team, right? We three aren’t the same kind of people as you, and we shouldn’t become companions.”

Hearing Qi Xia ask this, Lin Qin just smiled slightly and said, “I told you, I’m very interested in you. I want to know what you’re thinking.”

“I want to get out.” Qi Xia said without hesitation. “I’ve said it many times. I want to get out and see my wife. She can’t be without me. Do you understand?”

Lin Qin blinked and replied, “I understand.”

“My wife’s name is Yu Nian’an. She suffered for me, endured hardships for me. She’s my entire reason for living. So I have to go back and find her. That’s all I’m thinking. Is that clear enough?”

“Clear enough.”

“Now you know what I’m thinking. Still not prepared to leave?” Qi Xia said coldly.

Lin Qin lowered her head slightly. After thinking for a long time, she answered, “I’m sorry. For certain reasons, I still can’t leave.”

Qi Xia frowned as he looked at Lin Qin. Although he didn’t sense danger or lies from her, he still couldn’t see through Lin Qin’s purpose.

“Whatever…” Seeing he couldn’t get through to this woman, Qi Xia could only turn around and continue forward.

Qiao Jiajin also followed Qi Xia and spoke: “Liar, we agreed. You have the brains, I have the strength. Let’s cooperate.”

“Do you also have a reason you must get out?”

“Yes.” Qiao Jiajin nodded. “Although I don’t want to die, I also don’t want to sit around waiting for death.”

“Cooperation is fine, but I need to say this first.” Qi Xia glanced at Qiao Jiajin and continued, “You and I have no prior relationship. If in the end only one person can get out, I’ll abandon you without hesitation.”

“Diu… you don’t care about loyalty at all?” Qiao Jiajin shook his head helplessly. “Really unlikeable.”

Hearing several people conversing, Tiantian silently lowered her head.

Everyone seemed to have a clear goal.

But compared to them, what was she doing?

Suppose she really overcame all difficulties and got out of this godforsaken place.

Suppose she really returned to the real world, returned to her original life—then she would once again live those dreary days, warmly embracing those filthy old men.

Thinking of it this way… perhaps “dying here” was also a decent ending.

“Tiantian, what’s wrong?” Lin Qin asked.

“Nothing.”

Leaving the plaza, everyone came to the street on the other side.

This place was different from the convenience store’s street. It seemed to be all small residential buildings, low houses arranged in a staggered pattern. It was unclear whether anyone lived here.

After walking just a few steps, the four saw another animal mask.

That person was currently standing at the entrance of an old room, hands clasped behind their back.

Qi Xia walked straight toward them.

Getting closer, they discovered this person wore a huge mouse mask and emitted an unpleasant smell. But this person’s build was very thin and small, not as robust as the previously encountered animal masks.

Qiao Jiajin spoke up: “‘Mouse-Man,’ right?”

The mouse-headed person finally noticed the four people before them, then smiled and spoke: “I’m not ‘Mouse-Man,’ I’m ‘Man-Mouse.'”

Her voice was very pleasant—a girl.

This should be the first time everyone encountered a situation where the person under the animal mask was a woman.

“Puk gai, getting all high and mighty now…” Qiao Jiajin said irritably. “What do I care what you are?”

“Man-Mouse is Man-Mouse. Getting it wrong would be troublesome.” The girl laughed and said, “It’s rare for people to visit here. Do you want to participate in the ‘trial’?”

Qi Xia looked at the house behind Man-Mouse, then asked her: “What are the rules?”

“Mouse-type ‘trial,’ one ‘Dao’ for admission.” Man-Mouse was like a very patient sales clerk, gently introducing it to several people. “You’ll have a hard time finding a ‘trial’ with such low difficulty in other districts.”

“So what’s the game behind you?” Qi Xia asked again.

Man-Mouse turned and pushed open the door to enter. It was a small warehouse.

“My game is called ‘Warehouse Dao Hunt.’ Right now there’s one ‘Dao’ in this room. Limited to one person entering. If you find the ‘Dao’ within five minutes, you win, and that ‘Dao’ belongs to you.”

Qi Xia felt something wasn’t right, so he asked again: “What if we can’t find it?”

“Can’t find it?” Man-Mouse laughed with a “pfft.” “If you can’t find it… your admission ticket is void, and you’ll have lost one ‘Dao.'”

“Lost one ‘Dao’?” Qi Xia was stunned. “That’s it?”

“What else could there be?” Man-Mouse looked at Qi Xia with confusion.

What was going on?

Qi Xia frowned and thought carefully. Admission ticket: one ‘Dao.’ Victory gains one ‘Dao.’ Failure loses one ‘Dao.’

This game was very incongruous. It sounded like you neither gained more ‘Dao’ nor lost your life because of it.

If so, what was the purpose of participating in these games?

“Isn’t this a good opportunity?” Tiantian said. “We can take this chance to participate once and better understand our situation.”

“But…” Qi Xia was still somewhat puzzled. Even if they won this game, what would it represent?

“I can go try first.” Tiantian turned to Qi Xia and said, “It’s fine if I die.”

“What kind of talk is that?” Lin Qin felt Tiantian’s state wasn’t quite right.

“Really.” Tiantian said calmly. “I just figured it out. I feel like whether I get out or not, there’s really no difference.”

After speaking, she asked Qi Xia for a ‘Dao’ and turned to hand it to Man-Mouse.

“Is this okay?” Tiantian asked.

“Yes, ‘admission ticket’ received. The game will begin once you enter the room.” Man-Mouse nodded enthusiastically. “I’ll reiterate the game rules once more. Right now there’s one ‘Dao’ in this room. If you find it and bring it out within five minutes, this ‘Dao’ belongs to you.”

“Okay, I understand.” Tiantian nodded again.

“Are you ready?” Man-Mouse asked.

“I’m ready.” Tiantian nodded.

“Very good.” Man-Mouse said. “The game begins. Good luck.”

After speaking, she closed the door.