Xiao Xiao casually smashed a table and picked up a wooden plank with nails from the ground. She slowly walked toward Qiao Jiajin.

“Hey!!!” Qi Xia sensed something was wrong. “What are you doing?! Wait a moment…”

“These people can die,” Xiao Xiao said. “Their deaths wouldn’t be a loss. I’ll prove it to you.”

“Don’t!” Qi Xia shouted anxiously. “I understand! I’ll do whatever you say. Just put that thing down first!”

Xiao Xiao acted as if she hadn’t heard anything and slowly raised the wooden plank in her hand.

“Hey! I agree to all your conditions! You don’t need to prove it to me!!!”

Seeing Xiao Xiao acting like a madwoman, Qi Xia hurriedly tried to wake Qiao Jiajin: “Hey! Qiao Jiajin! Stop playing dead! Get up!!!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Xiao Xiao’s plank fell down. The side with the nail pierced directly into Qiao Jiajin’s skull.

“Long live the Extreme Path,” she said with a smile.

Qiao Jiajin’s entire body trembled, his hands and feet convulsed violently several times, then fell silent.

“Hey… Qiao Jiajin…”

Qi Xia’s eyes widened, his lips trembling slightly.

“Say something, Qiao Jiajin… What the hell are you pretending… Even the bear didn’t kill you… How could a nail possibly kill you…?”

Qi Xia didn’t receive an answer from Qiao Jiajin. Instead, he saw the blood spreading outward.

He knew that with a nail driven into the brain, no one could survive.

Qiao Jiajin was dead.

“Qiao…” Qi Xia looked at the scene before him in disbelief, a phrase echoing repeatedly in his mind…

“You have the brains, I have the strength. Shall we work together?”

“Qi Xia, look,” Xiao Xiao said with a smile. “Their deaths are not a loss.”

“Ahhhh——”

Qi Xia suddenly screamed in agony. An intense pain came from deep within his brain. His hands and feet instantly regained sensation, but at this moment he could only roll on the ground clutching his head.

Seeing Qi Xia suddenly able to move freely, Xiao Xiao clearly paused for a moment.

This headache lasted an extremely long time. Qi Xia felt as if that nail hadn’t pierced Qiao Jiajin, but had instead been driven into his own brain. The nail kept churning through his brain matter, making him wish he were dead.

Two minutes later, Qi Xia’s headache suddenly disappeared. He stood up with an expressionless face.

“Impressive, Qi Xia,” Xiao Xiao said with a smile. “Can you ignore my ‘Echo’?”

“I advise you to know when to stop…” Qi Xia said coldly. “If you have a problem, take it out on me…”

“No,” Xiao Xiao said. “I need to make you understand that these people can be killed at will. You can kill them too.”

“Why would I want to kill them…” Qi Xia’s eyes were extremely cold, his whole person appearing devoid of any emotion. “I’m different from you lunatics. Don’t compare me to you people.”

“It seems you still don’t understand.” Xiao Xiao shook her head helplessly, then with a flick of her hand, pulled the nail-studded plank from Qiao Jiajin’s head. She shook off the blood and said to Qi Xia, “Once I’ve killed them all, you’ll naturally understand.”

With that, she walked straight toward Tiantian.

“Lunatic, that’s enough…” Qi Xia’s lips trembled slightly. “We barely survived until now with great difficulty. What gives you the right to decide our life and death…”

“That’s why I say it has no meaning.” Xiao Xiao raised the plank once more.

This time Qi Xia didn’t give her a chance. He immediately rushed forward, intending to knock this woman down, but despite the tremendous impact force, the woman didn’t budge an inch.

Qi Xia could only change tactics on the spot. He wrapped his arms around her waist, which was as thick as a load-bearing wall, and tried to push her backward.

Xiao Xiao took two steps back, her expression turning cold.

“Qi Xia, I’m clearly helping you, yet you remain obstinate. I’m deeply disappointed.” Xiao Xiao shook her head, grabbed Qi Xia by the neck, and then tossed him aside like throwing a dog.

Qi Xia crashed into the wall and let out a painful wail. He felt the woman before him possessed abnormally strong power and must have undergone extremely rigorous training.

“Long live the Extreme Path.” Xiao Xiao smiled, and the plank in her hand fell once more, piercing through Tiantian’s skull.

Tiantian’s voice rang out in Qi Xia’s mind—

“I came to this place only because there was no room for me there.”

That excruciating tearing pain swept over him again. Qi Xia clutched his head on the ground, howling in agony.

Tiantian was dead too.

Qi Xia felt like his head was going to split open.

Everything before his eyes went pitch black, and his entire consciousness was gradually becoming blurry.

Before passing out, he heard another enormous bell sound ring out in the distance.

…

“Xia, look.” Yu Nian’an held up a worn shirt, seemingly showing it off to Qi Xia. “Look here.”

She extended her pale fingers and pointed to the pocket area on the shirt’s chest, where a cartoon sheep had been sewn on.

“I mended the torn spot for you! Pretty good craftsmanship, right?”

“Indeed, it’s quite good.” Qi Xia nodded while eating his instant noodles in large bites. “But why not buy a new one?”

“To save money!” Yu Nian’an smiled. “When we have money in the future, you can buy as many as you want. For now, let’s make do.”

Qi Xia paused slightly after hearing this, put down his instant noodles, and said: “Xiao An, we’ll have money soon. If my deal succeeds, we’ll have two million…”

“I believe you.” Yu Nian’an nodded with a smile. “Xia, there are many paths in this world, and everyone has their own. I believe you will definitely succeed.”

“Mm.” Qi Xia nodded, feeling exceptionally reassured. He wanted to say something more to Yu Nian’an, but suddenly noticed the sky outside the window.

A dark red sky hung with a clay-yellow sun.

Qi Xia blinked, feeling something was strange.

“What’s going on…” He turned his head to look at Yu Nian’an, only to find her face had turned into Xiao Xiao’s.

Xiao Xiao smiled at Qi Xia, moved her lips, and said: “Long live the Extreme Path.”

The next second, two figures appeared behind Xiao Xiao—it was clearly Qiao Jiajin and Tiantian.

Their foreheads were streaming with brain matter and fresh blood, and they were looking at Qi Xia with grotesque expressions, their eyes carrying a trace of resentment and unwillingness.

“You… you all… I…”

Qi Xia suddenly felt a wave of terror, so he immediately flipped off his chair and ran out the door.

He had to escape this damned place.

All of this was a nightmare.

When he opened his room door, he felt an even deeper despair.

Outside the door was an endless corridor with millions of room doors on both sides. At this moment, people wearing animal masks were continuously emerging from them.

…

“Qi Xia! Qi Xia!!!” An anxious voice rang out, pulling Qi Xia back.

He slowly opened his eyes and found Lin Qin’s clean face before him.

“Lin…” Qi Xia frowned, feeling his head splitting with pain. “What happened?”

Tears welled up in Lin Qin’s eyes as she sobbed: “You really scared me to death… I thought you had died like Qiao Jiajin and Tiantian…”

Only then did Qi Xia recall that terrifying experience. He stood up in a daze and looked toward the bodies of Qiao Jiajin and Tiantian not far away, momentarily losing himself.

Although this wasn’t a dream, it was a reality even more terrifying than any dream.

“Qi Xia… what exactly happened…” Lin Qin asked chokingly. “Who killed them?”

Qi Xia didn’t answer. Instead, he looked at Lin Qin with an expressionless face and asked with slight confusion: “Why are you still alive?”