“Never mind that… When does the ‘Heavenly-Horse Moment’ begin…?” Qi Xia asked, coming back to his senses.

“It’s still morning now. It should start around noon,” Qian Wu replied. “We need to pack our respective bags and prepare at the main gate. After all, when the ‘Heavenly-Horse Moment’ arrives, most of us will scatter and flee. No one knows where we’ll escape to.”

“I see…” Qi Xia held his forehead and slowly got off the bed. Although he looked like he had slept through the night, his expression showed utter exhaustion.

“Are you alright?” Chen Junnan asked with a frown. “Old Qi… Any of us can die, but you can’t… If you die, we’ll be in big trouble.”

“I’ll try my best not to die…” Qi Xia shook his head. “But lately my brain always feels very strange.”

“Don’t overthink it,” Qian Wu said. “Everyone, I’m going to gather all the ‘Cat’ team members now. We’ll proceed according to the original plan. I’ll first try to organize everyone to kill ‘Heavenly-Horse’ together. If I fail, there’s no need for anyone to come back. Each of you just flee for your lives. We’ll meet again in five days.”

Hearing these words, Qi Xia felt his brain gradually clearing, as if he could think normally again.

“Qian Wu… something doesn’t seem right…” Qi Xia grabbed his hair and said through the headache. “I keep feeling that this plan to kill ‘Heavenly-Horse’ is strange…”

“After all, no one has ever tried it before,” Qian Wu sighed. “In all my years in the ‘Land of the End,’ this is the first time I’ve experienced what it feels like to have an uncertain future. I don’t know how to proceed, and I don’t know if I’ll have another cycle.”

“Why don’t you flee too…” Qi Xia said. “I think this matter requires more careful consideration…”

“I’ve fled long enough,” Qian Wu replied. “Now that you powerful figures have gathered together, it’s time for me to make the ‘Cat’ team’s true decisions. This time we’re targeting ‘Heavenly-Horse.’ Regardless of the outcome, the next target will be ‘Xuanwu.'”

Qi Xia stood up and grabbed Qian Wu’s arm.

“It’s not right… Qian Wu,” Qi Xia said, grabbing his hair. “According to the rules of the ‘Land of the End,’ the ‘Heavenly-Horse Moment’ is ‘Heavenly-Horse’s’ game. You’re trying to kill the referee during the game. ‘Xuanwu’ will immediately appear.”

“Then I’ll already be dead,” Qian Wu said. “Just like when I killed the Man-Horse in the starting room, the ‘murderer’ has already died. Even if the ‘Enforcer’ appears, there’s nothing they can do. The dead should be the safest.”

Although Qian Wu’s words had no obvious flaws, Qi Xia still felt very uneasy.

Everyone packed their belongings, each person shouldering a tattered backpack, and they all stood on the prison’s exercise yard. Qian Wu gave instructions to each person. Fortunately, most of the ‘Cat’ team members who hadn’t “Echoed” yesterday had already obtained their “Echo” in the solitary confinement rooms. Only “Liquefaction” Bai Jiu and a few trainees were still in an ordinary state.

But according to Qian Wu, Bai Jiu’s “Echo Trigger” was “physical and mental exhaustion.” Even if he hadn’t obtained his “Echo” now, there was a high probability he would awaken during the “Heavenly-Horse Moment” while desperately fleeing.

After Qian Wu finished his instructions, he had everyone hide in concealed spots on the exercise yard to avoid ‘Heavenly-Horse’ seeing them all battle-ready when he appeared, which might cause unexpected problems during the “assassination.”

Qi Xia looked up at the sun in the sky and found it was about to reach directly overhead.

“The activation time of the ‘Heavenly-Horse Moment’ is noon…” Qi Xia pondered in his mind and came to a simple answer. “Because it’s ‘Wu-Horse’ (午馬), the ‘Heavenly-Horse Moment’ should refer to the ‘Wu Hour’ (午時), which is between eleven o’clock and one o’clock—a full two hours.”

After reaching this conclusion, Qi Xia felt somewhat alarmed.

In Chen Junnan and Qian Wu’s previous conversation, they had also mentioned that the “Heavenly-Horse Moment” lasted about one to two hours, which meant his speculation should be reasonable.

Normal people would have to run for a full one to two hours. If they stopped, they would die. Thinking about it this way, the “Participant” mortality rate should be extremely high.

It was already noon on the fifth day. Most “Participants” didn’t know the “Heavenly-Horse Moment” was about to arrive. Once they started fleeing for their lives, even if they could run continuously for two hours, they would ultimately fall into an immobile state due to dehydration or exhaustion.

Moreover, at this very moment, there should still be a considerable number of people in various “Game Venues” playing games. They would die directly and have no way to escape.

“What an unreasonable ‘Hour,'” Qi Xia said.

As soon as he finished speaking, two figures appeared around the corner of a distant street—one old, one young. From afar, they were clearly ‘Heavenly-Horse’ and ‘Heavenly-Tiger.’

‘Heavenly-Horse,’ with his elderly, tottering gait, somehow covered four to five meters with each step, pulling the diminutive ‘Heavenly-Tiger’ and rapidly advancing toward the prison.

“They’re here,” Qi Xia said.

Qian Wu nodded and turned to look at everyone one more time. “Everyone, see you in five days.”

All the ‘Cat’ team members saluted Qian Wu at this moment, watching him step by step walk out of the prison.

At this moment, Luo Shiyi and Chou Ershi exchanged glances and each tucked a dagger into their waists.

“Everyone, farewell,” Luo Shiyi said softly to everyone, then followed Qian Wu’s steps out of the prison.

“Hey… Doesn’t-Know-Pain, Anger boy…” Qiao Jiajin was stunned. “You two…?”

“We have a mission. This time we can’t accompany everyone on a happy run,” Chou Ershi said with a smile. “Brother Qiao, if fate allows, we’ll meet again next time.”

Chou Ershi nodded to everyone and followed Luo Shiyi out.

“Do your best!” Qiao Jiajin said. “Doesn’t-Know-Pain, Anger boy, you two will definitely be fine.”

After three steps, Luo Shiyi stopped and looked back at Qiao Jiajin. “Hey, you said you’d remember me. Who am I?”

Only then did Qiao Jiajin realize he’d said the wrong thing and quickly apologized. “I misspoke. You’re not ‘Doesn’t-Know-Pain.’ You’re ‘Forget-Worry.'”

“That’s right,” Luo Shiyi waved to everyone, then resolutely walked out the gate with Chou Ershi.

Qi Xia’s heartbeat involuntarily quickened at this moment. The Luo Shiyi before him and that man called Chou Ershi both appeared to be capable, experienced team members. If he wasn’t mistaken, their mission this time wasn’t to “kill Heavenly-Horse,” but rather to do everything possible to “kill Qian Wu.”

Whether the mission succeeded or not, they definitely wouldn’t be coming back.

After all, ‘Heavenly-Tiger’ was beside ‘Heavenly-Horse.’

Even though that child looked at most four or five years old, he still bore the title ‘Heavenly-Tiger.’ He definitely wasn’t someone ordinary people could handle.