Earth-Snake was still clutching his face and screaming to himself. Xu Qian watched as he clawed bloody marks across his own face—it was quite terrifying.

“What’s wrong with that old man?” Chen Junnan couldn’t see anything and could only ask anxiously.

“He… seems to have broken down a bit,” Xu Qian said puzzledly.

“No, this is getting a bit ridiculous.” Chen Junnan shouted through the phone, “A dignified ‘Earth-level,’ and he’s breaking down because I bet lives with him? This young master here hasn’t even broken down yet.”

“Then, then what do we do now?” Xu Qian said. “Just wait for him to finish breaking down?”

“No way!” Chen Junnan replied, “Have him take the phone again.”

“Again?” Xu Qian smiled bitterly. “You’re not going to literally scare him to death, are you?”

“What’s there to fear? The life-betting’s already been said, could it get any worse than this?”

Xu Qian nodded, stretched the phone cord, and took two steps forward.

“Um… Earth-Snake, he still wants to talk to you…”

Earth-Snake’s whole body jerked, staring blankly at the phone in Xu Qian’s hand.

“Wh-what?!” Earth-Snake shouted, “This punk wants to kill me! She’s coming! She’s about to come!”

“Qian Jie, never mind him, just shove the phone in his face,” Chen Junnan said.

Xu Qian could only slowly extend her hand and offer the phone. Earth-Snake finally couldn’t bear it anymore and reached out to snatch the phone away.

“What the hell are you trying to do?!” Earth-Snake roared into the phone with his hoarse voice, “Bet lives with me?! Do you have that capability?!”

“No, don’t get agitated.” Chen Junnan said with a completely serious expression, “At your age, you need to watch your health. There’s no surveillance here either—if you really keel over, I won’t be able to explain myself.”

“You… you…” Earth-Snake kept panting heavily. He felt some regret—clearly knowing Chen Junnan was a troublemaker, he had carelessly accepted his ticket.

But who could have imagined that a troublemaker who looked so frivolous would actually dare to stake his life against an “Earth-level”?

“Kid, why are you doing this…?” Earth-Snake asked tremblingly.

“Since you’re asking, according to the rules, this young master should have a proper chat with you.” Chen Junnan reached up to scratch his nostril. “Not long ago, a beautiful big sister came here to participate in your game. Because she didn’t want to do those disgusting things with you, you slapped her four times. Did that happen or not?”

“What…?” Earth-Snake could hardly believe his own ears. “What’s wrong with you? I just slapped her four times, I didn’t do anything else! You want to bet lives with me over this?!”

“Little old man, listen to yourself—are those even human words?” Chen Junnan said righteously through the phone, “You got an enhanced body and you use it to hit women? I want to ask you, when you were a ‘Zodiac,’ didn’t the other Zodiacs beat you up?”

“You, you… even if I was wrong, you’re being way too extreme!” Earth-Snake shouted, “Do you know that if I become a Participant in this game, there will be no ‘Question Setter’! ‘She’ will come!”

“That crazy woman?” Chen Junnan laughed. “Let her come then, the two of us can have a proper match.”

“How, how about this…” Earth-Snake said tremblingly, “I have a way that benefits both of us. We can get through the forty-eight questions safely, no one has to die, and after it’s done I’ll give you more…”

“Is that so?” Chen Junnan hesitated. “Sounds quite tempting, but what about those four slaps you dealt earlier?”

“I, I can slap them back, can’t I?!”

“Oh? That works too?”

“Y-yes…” Earth-Snake agreed.

“Slap.”

Hearing Chen Junnan’s words, Earth-Snake raised his hand and viciously slapped himself.

SLAP!

This slap left Xu Qian completely dumbfounded.

“That one doesn’t count.” Chen Junnan continued digging at his nostril, holding the phone with his head and saying casually, “The slap wasn’t loud enough. Slap again.”

Earth-Snake gritted his teeth, took a breath, raised his hand and slapped himself hard again.

SLAP!

This one sounded tremendous, the sound reaching Chen Junnan’s ears directly.

“That one sounds about right.” Chen Junnan nodded. “Old man, that’s the first one, three more to go. Keep slapping.”

SLAP!

Earth-Snake was indeed somewhat frightened now. If he didn’t comply, this man might very well shatter his emperor dream.

“Again.”

SLAP!

SLAP!

After four slaps were finished, Earth-Snake’s face had swollen up.

The last memory of being slapped came from that damn white Earth-Sheep.

“There, there, that’s enough, right?” Earth-Snake said through gritted teeth. “I’ve returned the four slaps too. Now you listen to me, we…”

“But I don’t agree,” Chen Junnan said with a laugh.

“What?”

“I’m saying that suggestion you made earlier about surviving together—this young master doesn’t agree.” Chen Junnan stretched lazily. “Let’s begin the life-betting.”

As soon as Chen Junnan’s words fell, an evil wind suddenly began to blow across the entire venue.

“Your mother…” Earth-Snake cursed, then looked around fearfully in a circle. His first reaction was actually to flee, but after two steps he stopped.

No, he couldn’t run.

If he ran, he would definitely die, but staying here didn’t necessarily mean he would lose.

This was all that troublemaker’s fault…

He slowly raised his eyes to look at the air above, where a strange figure had appeared.

This figure was completely wrapped in long hair and was currently standing in mid-air as if walking on flat ground.

Earth-Snake swallowed, and the forked tongue in his mouth began to tremble uncontrollably.

The figure in mid-air extended one hand and slowly parted the hair in front of her, revealing her pale face and naked body. Then she looked down at Earth-Snake and said sternly: “I am ‘Xuanwu.'”

Hearing this woman’s dangerous voice, Earth-Snake could only take a deep breath and ask while playing dumb: “Wh-what do you want?”

“I sensed that life-betting was triggered at this venue, and the referee position is vacant. I have come specifically to fill it.”

Sure enough, what couldn’t be escaped still couldn’t be escaped.

“Then, then…”

Earth-Snake’s voice was already somewhat trembling. He felt that he had lived too long in debauchery and corruption—now he had actually forgotten the dangers that “Zodiacs” would encounter.

“Earth-Snake, please participate,” Xuanwu said coldly.

“Can… can we wait a bit longer?” Earth-Snake’s eyeballs rolled around. In his heart, he was calculating how he could escape this game.

“No.” Xuanwu descended from mid-air and came to stand beside the lectern in the center of the venue.

Earth-Snake knew he had no hope of escaping now. All he could do next was rack his brains to survive the game.

After thinking for just a few seconds, he revealed an ugly smile.

Yes, he hadn’t changed games in so long that he had nearly forgotten the “insurance” he had once set up.

This life-betting troublemaker was still too young—he had overlooked one thing.

What was he now?

He was an “Earth-level” Zodiac.

Even if that giant sphere fell straight down, it wouldn’t necessarily kill him directly. After all, when he designed the game, he had experimented on his own flesh.

Although he might get injured, he wouldn’t necessarily die.

“Earth-level” was still “Earth-level” after all—they had physical qualities that ordinary Participants could never match.

This was his greatest trump card.