I agreed to Chu Tianqiu’s request.

Thinking about it carefully, it was truly frightening. On one hand, I was agreeing to Qinglong’s demands, while on the other, I was trying to insert myself into the struggle between Chu Tianqiu and Qi Xia. In the game between the four of us, wasn’t the disparity in power too great?

I was like licking blood from the edge of a blade, or charging into the midst of several powerful monsters with a broken little knife. If they carelessly injured me while tearing at each other, I would be shattered to pieces in an instant.

In this whirlpool whose shape I couldn’t see, how exactly was I supposed to escape unscathed?

Fortunately, it appeared that Chu Tianqiu’s plan and Qinglong’s plan had some overlap.

Qinglong wanted Chu Tianqiu and Qi Xia to fight each other, while Chu Tianqiu also hoped I could actively reveal flaws to Qi Xia.

Looked at this way… as long as I did well what they both expected me to do, I should barely be able to maneuver between them.

This feeling truly made my hair stand on end.

Whether it was Qi Xia or Qinglong, I couldn’t see through either of them.

Now even Chu Tianqiu’s eyes were covered with a layer of mist.

Just as I said, from beginning to end I was an ordinary person, completely unable to compete with these people who were born monsters, but I would do everything within my power to the best of my ability.

Either I would find a way to destroy this place, or this place would destroy me.

In the days that followed, I constantly worked hard to play Chu Tianqiu well, while Chu Tianqiu went to hide himself in the shelter he had built in the cemetery.

“Heaven’s Mouth” was also different from before.

Although the people here were still acting according to my instructions, they seemed to have lost their “souls.” The “Heaven’s Mouth” of two years ago was definitely not like this. Back then, everyone had the motivation to move forward, and you could see light in their eyes.

Even Zhang Shan was no longer as full of drive as before.

Although many people didn’t remember what had happened before, the “sense of despair” hidden deep in their hearts would still be preserved, lingering in everyone’s hearts without dissipating.

Speaking of all the members of “Heaven’s Mouth,” in whose eyes was there still light?

Naturally, it was Yun Yao.

The light in her eyes was stronger than anyone else’s. She wanted to leave more than anyone, and she was incomparably determined.

In the second cycle, I waited at the place where Qi Xia and his group appeared according to Chu Tianqiu’s instructions, and directly invited them to join “Heaven’s Mouth.”

The plan went even more smoothly than I had imagined.

After all, the Chu Tianqiu I was playing truly had no flaws. I would use Chu Tianqiu’s signature smile, facing everyone with refined affinity.

When they arrived at “Heaven’s Mouth,” I immediately sent Zhang Shan to control Qiao Jiajin and successfully angered Qi Xia.

However, I didn’t expect that Qi Xia had also changed.

Although the former Qi Xia was extraordinarily intelligent, he would try his best to extend a helping hand to those around him. In my memory, Qi Xia would absolutely never knock someone to the ground over a disagreement.

Moreover, he immediately raised a brick, wanting to completely kill me, this Chu Tianqiu.

There was an air of despair about Qi Xia that had never existed before. This air made him become incomparably ruthless. Even just having his eyes stare at me could make me feel despair to the bone.

What had happened to him?

Just a few days ago when he sat in the taxi covered in blood, he was still asking me “Are you clear-headed now?”

The Qi Xia who cared so much even about a stranger was now glaring with a pair of cold eyes, holding a brick and gripping my neck.

I had only been absent for two years—why had everyone changed?

What had happened to Chu Tianqiu?

What had happened to Qi Xia?

Would these two strong individuals actually make Qinglong personally appear to watch them fight?

“Chu Tianqiu, what are you pretending with me?” Qi Xia asked.

“Pretending…? You say I’m pretending…?”

I struggled to squeeze out a trace of a smile, but my heart was extremely uneasy. Why would he think I was pretending?

What was going on with this man? Had he seen through me?

He looked at me coldly and continued, “I don’t care whether you’re the leader of ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ or the deity ruling this place—why did you provoke me?”

“I… where did I provoke you?”

Qi Xia’s brief sentence nearly made every hair on my body stand on end. Did he really know something… or was he just talking nonsense?

Why would he suddenly mention the leader of “Heaven’s Mouth” and the deity ruling this place?

I felt my brain becoming more and more confused. In this game, it seemed only I was kept in the dark.

The three of them were simply too powerful. I was completely no match. I had a premonition that I seemed to have… already entered someone’s “game”…

But whose game was it now?

Qi Xia’s?

Chu Tianqiu’s?

Qinglong’s?

He kept weighing that large stone in his hand, his eyes full of killing intent. I felt like I was really going to be killed by him.

But I hadn’t yet met with Qinglong. If I died this time, I might not be able to revive.

After all, he hadn’t promised to give me the identity of a “Participant” for this cycle. If I died, then I would truly be dead.

In that case, what should I do?

Countless thoughts swept through my brain, and I instantly conceived a new idea.

Wait… I might still have one last path I could take.

That was to come clean to Qi Xia right now.

Since I could no longer drift in the game between these people, then I would actively attach myself to one side. If Qi Xia could know about Chu Tianqiu and Qinglong’s plans, with his personality, it would be enough to throw this place into complete chaos!

“You… wait! Listen to me—there’s a reason I’m doing all this!” I hurriedly shouted. At this moment, if Qi Xia showed even a trace of hesitation, I would spill everything to him.

But Qi Xia was Qi Xia after all. What he did always exceeded my expectations.

“It’s just a pity you didn’t tell me the reason in advance,” Qi Xia answered decisively. “What I hate most in this life are things that exceed my expectations. No matter how shocking a ‘truth’ you’re about to reveal next, I’m still going to smash your head.”

He really was going to kill me.

Fortunately, Yun Yao hurriedly grabbed him from the side and earnestly persuaded him with a few words.

And at this moment, I was truly frightened by Qi Xia. He had become unlike his former self…

If it were the former Qi Xia, every time he appeared he would definitely have a large group of followers, but now his gaze was so sharp, and when going out he only brought Qiao Jiajin. His followers had greatly decreased—why had it become like this?

I thought Yun Yao had already persuaded Qi Xia, but unexpectedly he still raised the stone.

“Anyway, we can live after dying… This time I’ll smash your head to teach you a lesson—in the ‘next life,’ don’t provoke me again.”

“Don’t… I can’t die yet…”

I really couldn’t die. Qi Xia, you can’t do this.

This time, even if it were really Chu Tianqiu, he could die, but I couldn’t!!

I would disappear!!

Just as I was in extreme panic, that stone fell on the ground beside my ear, raising a cloud of dust.