Qi Xia gripped his hair tightly, patiently waiting for that bout of headache to disappear.

After about half a minute, he finally stabilized his breathing, slowly lowered his hands, and stood up.

His expression was as if nothing had happened.

That bout of headache was like a gust of wind sweeping past him—although it came violently, it always faded away at a certain moment.

Lin Qin glanced at Qi Xia and asked, “Are… are you alright? Do you get headaches often?”

“No, this is the second time since I can remember,” Qi Xia sighed and said, “I estimate it’s related to this godforsaken place.”

Lin Qin wanted to ask more, but it seemed Qi Xia didn’t want to dwell on this issue.

“Our time is very tight. Even if worms are growing in my brain, I don’t plan to get diagnosed in this place.” Qi Xia raised his head to look at the dark red sky and continued, “Thanks to that little girl, we’ve learned a lot of useful information.”

“Have we?” Tiantian looked at the Man-Mouse’s corpse on the ground, her expression still somewhat sorrowful. “I feel the only useful information is about the rules of ‘wagering life.’ That child lost her life because of it.”

“Not only that,” Qi Xia said. “I had thought this was a land filled with chaos and madness, but now it seems this place also has its own ‘rules.'”

“‘Rules’…?”

“That’s right.” Qi Xia nodded. “That man called ‘Zhu Que’ just now should be one of the administrators here.”

“Administrator? You mean that ‘birdman’?” Qiao Jiajin asked.

“Yes, he appeared to ensure the ‘rules’ weren’t violated.”

“But why doesn’t the administrator wear clothes…” Tiantian was somewhat confused. “He’s completely naked wearing only a cloak. He looks so strange.”

“Compared to his various bizarre behaviors, ‘not wearing clothes’ is already the most normal thing about him,” Qi Xia paused, then said, “This is just the clues we can see. Perhaps there are other people above the ‘administrators.'”

Lin Qin seemed to have thought of something. “Right… that person called Zhu Que once said something like ‘if it weren’t for the rules restricting me, I would definitely kill you.'”

Qiao Jiajin also nodded. “Someone who can restrict that kind of lunatic with supernatural powers—I believe the people above him would be even more terrifying.”

“‘Supernatural powers’?” Qi Xia frowned. “I haven’t heard that term in a long time.”

“Isn’t it supernatural powers? Just like the Terminator,” Qiao Jiajin gestured. “That person was flying in the sky!”

Hearing this, the three people all paused.

“What does ‘Terminator’ mean?” Lin Qin looked at Qiao Jiajin curiously.

“You dress pretty fashionably, but you’re actually a country bumpkin?” Qiao Jiajin chuckled foolishly. “You’ve never even seen Terminator?”

“Fash… fashionably?” Lin Qin opened his mouth awkwardly. These two words could only be heard from the older generation now. Just saying them was old-fashioned enough.

Yet he was being looked down upon by someone like this.

Qiao Jiajin nudged Qi Xia with his elbow and asked, “You liar, you must have seen it, right? Arnold Schwarzenegger—he’s just too cool!”

“Arnold Schwarzenegger…?” Lin Qin seemed to have heard this name before, yet also seemed not to have.

“I don’t care about any ‘Terminator’ or Schwarzenegger, and I don’t care how incredible that birdman is,” Qi Xia said after a pause. “Right now I only want to know how extensive the ‘rules’ are and to what degree they can regulate things.”

The three people didn’t understand what Qi Xia meant and looked at each other.

“You liar, what are you planning to do?”

Qi Xia slowly reached out his hand and made a gesture at his own neck, then said to the three, “I want to know whether ‘killing people to seize Dao’ is actually feasible or not.”

As soon as these words were spoken, Lin Qin and Tiantian each took a step back.

Only Qiao Jiajin remained in place without moving.

“Kill people to seize ‘Dao’?” Qiao Jiajin frowned, his expression extremely serious. “You mean… if you can’t gather thirty-six hundred ‘Dao’ within ten days, you’ll go rob others?”

“Yes, this is the most effective method I can think of,” Qi Xia said. “Now we’re also a team. If we want to accomplish such a major task, I must have your help, so I’m telling you the plan now to hear your opinions.”

“I won’t help you,” Qiao Jiajin decisively shook his head. “Even if the sky falls in this place, I won’t do unrighteous things. Those people with ‘Dao’ probably went through countless hardships to survive just like us. What right do we have to kill them?”

“Is that so…” Qi Xia nodded with a complex expression. “But if we want to escape this godforsaken place, we can only use this method. That’s thirty-six hundred ‘Dao’… Are you really not going to try?”

“I also refuse,” Lin Qin also spoke up. “I think this idea is not good. If we really kill people, even if we can get out of here, we won’t be able to live the same life as before.”

Tiantian thought for a long time before speaking, “Yes, if we’re talking about killing others, I’d rather die myself first.”

Qi Xia looked into the three people’s eyes, pondered for a long time, and only then did the corners of his mouth slightly rise.

“Very good. Now I can tell you my real plan with peace of mind.”

“What…” Qiao Jiajin was stunned. “Holy crap, you liar, you were testing us?!”

Qi Xia nodded and said, “If you three could accept a plan like ‘killing people to seize Dao,’ it would only prove we’re not the same kind of people, and I would abandon you at any time.”

“You…” Qiao Jiajin was almost infuriated by Qi Xia. “I thought you were really going to kill people.”

“By all rights, the ‘rules’ couldn’t possibly allow something like ‘killing people to seize Dao’ to happen,” Qi Xia explained. “Although I’m not clear what the rules here actually are, they seem to maintain a kind of ‘bizarre fairness.’ Those administrators are more like ‘referees.’ If they really are ‘referees,’ then they will definitely ensure the participants’ safety.”

He paused, then said, “In other words… they want us to die in the games, not kill each other.”

Hearing Qi Xia’s words, everyone fell somewhat silent.

After a while, Lin Qin came to his senses and asked, “If that’s the case, what is your real plan?”

“My plan isn’t complicated,” Qi Xia answered. “Since these games won’t cost us our lives, we’ll go ‘probe’ them one by one. You all first figure out the game rules and collect clues along the way. When we’re confident… I’ll go ‘wager life.’ All the ‘Dao’ we obtain will be split equally among us. Before reaching thirty-six hundred, we can continue using this strategy.”