“What did you say?” Qi Xia’s eyes widened instantly. “You’re saying you’ve seen… someone escape from here?”

“That’s right.” Zhang Shan nodded. “But to be precise… we only found that person’s notebook.”

“This…” Qi Xia felt something strange about this matter. “You only found a notebook, and you concluded that person escaped from here?”

Zhang Shan smiled and nodded, saying to Qi Xia, “Brother, let me make this clear first. If you want to join us, we can share this information with you. But right now… whether you believe it or not, I’ve said all I’m going to say.”

Qi Xia roughly understood Zhang Shan’s meaning, but he really couldn’t determine whether what the other said was true or false.

At this moment, a slightly chubby girl heard Zhang Shan’s words and came forward, asking, “Brother… are you still taking people? I can do anything…”

Zhang Shan looked at this girl and said with a smile, “Miss, it’s not that I don’t want to take you in, but our goal is to ‘conquer all the games.’ Do you have the resolve to face the dangers ahead?”

The chubby girl lowered her head silently after hearing this. After thinking for a while, she opened her mouth and said, “I can.”

“Ha ha!” Zhang Shan didn’t seem to believe the chubby girl’s words. He slowly walked up to her and said, “Miss, don’t try to be brave. Just stay alive.”

The girl failed to convince Zhang Shan, and her expression darkened.

Seeing that no one else in the entire room spoke up, Zhang Shan looked at Qi Xia again, pulled out a scrap of paper from his pocket, dipped his finger in the blood on his body, and drew a simple sketch.

“This is our location.” Zhang Shan handed the scrap of paper to Qi Xia. “If you come around to the idea, you can come find us.”

Qi Xia took the scrap of paper, still looking at the three with caution. But Zhang Shan didn’t care at all. He put his arm around Little Glasses, picked up the two bear arms from the ground, and limped toward the door.

“Hey.” Qi Xia called out.

“Hm?”

Zhang Shan turned his head, only to find something white flying toward his face. He hurriedly reached out to catch it.

It was a cloth bag.

“I changed my mind this time—I’ll only take half.” Qi Xia said. “That guy with glasses is not bad. I don’t want his ‘Dao’ anymore.”

Zhang Shan looked at the cloth bag in his hand, stunned for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed heartily. “Ha ha ha! That’s the spirit!”

Little Glasses stood to the side looking completely puzzled. “Huh? Why? This was voluntary… You clearly said before…”

“I’m a liar.” Qi Xia said coldly. “Don’t believe what I say.”

“But, but Mr. Liar…”

“My name is Qi Xia.” Qi Xia said. “Don’t call me Mr. Liar. It sounds terrible.”

“Qi Xia…” Zhang Shan repeated the name. “Interesting. I’ll remember you.”

With that, he lifted one of the black bear’s forearms and tossed it to the four of them.

“Holy crap!” Qiao Jiajin was startled but still caught the furry severed limb.

He found this limb exceptionally heavy—at least fifty or sixty pounds—and it was currently dripping blood profusely.

Zhang Shan said, “The three of us can’t eat that much of this thing, and it’s heavy to carry. Help me throw it away.”

“Throw it away?”

Zhang Shan waved his hand and turned to leave.

The four of them looked at the bear arm, not knowing what to say, until Zhang Shan led those two people out the door.

After a while, Earth-Ox came forward and handed them four dirty cloth bags.

“Take them.”

Only then did Qi Xia and the others come to their senses and accept their rewards.

This time there were many “Dao,” so many that several people were somewhat at a loss. Thanks to Zhang Shan, everyone also obtained the long-missed “food.”

The chubby girl stood not far away, glanced at Qi Xia, then slowly walked over and asked tentatively, “Can I… join you all? My teammates all died in the ‘Interview’…”

Qi Xia seemed not to have heard the girl’s words. He only weighed the cloth bag in his hand and said to the three, “Let’s go.”

With that, he turned and walked toward the exit, leaving the girl standing awkwardly in place.

Qiao Jiajin shrugged helplessly at the girl and said, “Don’t be upset. He’s always like this.”

Seeing that Qiao Jiajin looked like someone easy to communicate with, the girl grabbed his arm and said nervously, “Please let me join you all… I’m so scared right now…”

“Well…” Qiao Jiajin wore an apologetic smile. “I guess that’s fine… Pretty lady, why don’t you follow us for now…”

“Hey, Qiao Jiajin.” Qi Xia turned around from a distance and called out. “Let’s go.”

Qiao Jiajin looked at Qi Xia and found Qi Xia frowning slightly at him.

“Oh, okay, I’m coming.” Qiao Jiajin seemed to understand something. He nodded, turned around and said, “Pretty lady, not this time. Let’s meet up next time.”

With that, he too, like Qi Xia, paid no more attention to the girl and walked toward the exit.

When the chubby girl saw that Qiao Jiajin had left as well, her previously aggrieved expression turned cold, gradually becoming sinister.

At this moment, only she and Earth-Ox remained in the room—all the participants had departed.

Earth-Ox was picking up the chairs that had fallen on the ground while raising his head to look at her. After a while, he finally opened his mouth and asked indifferently, “You’re still up to your old tricks?”

“Yes.” The chubby girl nodded. “What a shame. Our line of work is getting harder and harder.”

“Why can’t you be normal?” Earth-Ox turned his head to ask. “Isn’t it good for us to follow orders together?”

“Ha ha!” The chubby girl was provoked into angry laughter. She walked forward and grabbed Earth-Ox’s collar, asking with a fierce expression, “What gives you the right to talk to me like that?! Speaking of ‘normal,’ how much better are you ‘Zodiacs’ than us?!”

Earth-Ox turned his head to the side and said quietly, “At least we’re working toward the same goal…”

“Then let’s each work hard and see who’s right.” The chubby girl released her hand, turned and walked to the exit. Before leaving, she said seriously, “Zhang Shan can’t be allowed to stay. As for that Qi Xia… I’ll figure something out.”

…

“Little Liar…” After leaving, Qiao Jiajin carefully looked back, then asked in a low voice, “What’s the situation? Does that woman have a problem?”

“I’m not certain, but pretty close.” Qi Xia said. “It’s better to be careful in a place like this.”

“You can read faces too?” Qiao Jiajin laughed. “From that woman’s kind and gentle appearance, I couldn’t see any problem.”

“This isn’t a matter of reading faces at all.” Qi Xia shook his head. “First, she said all her teammates died in the ‘Interview.’ If this is true, then she must have used some extreme means. Otherwise, I find it hard to believe that out of nine people, only a weak woman would survive. Second, she’s survived until now all alone. Combined with her survival tactics in the game, it’s enough to prove she’s no ordinary person. It’s highly likely she approached us for our ‘Dao.'”

After hearing this, Qiao Jiajin also nodded in sudden realization. “I see… Damn, I thought she was quite pitiful.”

“Of course, what I said could all be false.” Qi Xia said. “I just don’t want to trust others easily.”

After saying this, he turned around and asked the three, “By the way, your ‘Dao’—let me use them for a bit.”