“What do you mean…?” Both Siwei Jiejie and I froze.

“Hero, Siwei…” Guyu Gege let out a deep sigh. “You should also be able to figure it out—since one team is about to collect enough ‘Jade,’ the other teams won’t be far behind either.”

After hearing this, the two of us understood what he meant and lowered our heads somewhat silently.

“Although I managed to scare them off this time, what about next time? And the time after that? If every time someone is about to collect all the ‘Jade’ it gets stolen, no matter what kind of ‘house rules’ we establish, this home can’t be protected anymore.”

“Then… then Guyu Gege, you…” I asked somewhat anxiously.

“Next cycle, I’m planning to leave,” he said. “This time… I won’t be coming back.”

Although I had guessed this might be the answer, when Guyu Gege said it out loud, my heart still skipped a beat.

“Leave…?” Siwei Jiejie was stunned too. “Guyu, where are you going? Have you found a way to escape?”

“No.” Guyu Gege shook his head. “But after all these years… I think you should have seen it too—this city has no hope left.”

“Are you going to switch to another city? But no matter which city you go to… you’ll still return after ten days…”

“Yes, normally that’s the case, but there’s a method to avoid this from happening.” Guyu Gege stood up and walked to the corner of the room. After rummaging around for a bit, he pulled out a box.

Siwei Jiejie and I looked at him, not understanding, having no idea what he was planning.

He brought the box in front of me, reached out to pat my head, then said softly, “Hero Didi, all these years I’ve treated you as a hero. Today I want to treat you as an ordinary child.”

I blinked but didn’t speak, though I felt like crying a little.

“How about we play a game?” Guyu Gege placed the box in front of me, carrying an air of sadness, then took out a small handful of “Jade” and tossed them inside.

“There are thirty pieces of ‘Jade’ in here… We’ll take turns drawing them out, and we can take however many we want each turn,” he said with a bitter smile. “Whoever takes the last piece wins. How about it?”

I had never played this game before, but I still cooperated with Guyu Gege and played twice. I lost both times.

“Guyu…” Siwei Jiejie called out. “What exactly are you trying to do?”

“This is a ‘game’ I designed.” Guyu Gege looked at the box in his hands gloomily. “I want to become a ‘Zodiac.'”

Hearing this, Siwei Jiejie and I jumped to our feet with a start. We were shocked.

“Become a ‘Zodiac’?!” Siwei Jiejie froze. “What do you mean?! Guyu, what are you planning to do?”

“I’ve never told you this before, but as long as you put on a ‘Zodiac’ mask, you can become a ‘Zodiac.’ After all, this path is just too dangerous.” Guyu Gege kept shaking his head with a bitter smile. “So I’m planning to become a ‘Zodiac’ and walk the path of a ‘Zodiac’ once through.”

“This is too absurd!” Siwei Jiejie said. “Aren’t the so-called ‘Zodiacs’ the enemies of the ‘Participants’? Are you planning to join the enemy?”

“Don’t be foolish, Siwei.” Guyu Gege shook his head. “All the ‘Zodiacs’ in this place used to be Participants, it’s just that they awakened earlier than us and have walked this path further than we have.”

“So you…” Siwei Jiejie seemed somewhat anxious, her voice changed. She pointed at the box in Guyu Gege’s hands and said, “You’re going to use this childish game… taking turns drawing ‘Jade’ from the box to climb up? Aren’t you afraid someone will ‘bet their life’ against you?!”

“I have a trump card.” Guyu Gege smiled bitterly. “Have you forgotten? I used to be a magician.”

“So what if you were a magician?”

Then Guyu Gege reached his hand into the box and picked up a piece of “Jade,” but I clearly saw that two pieces had disappeared from the box.

He turned his hand over to show us—there was another piece hidden in the center of his palm.

“This is called ‘palm concealment.’ It’s the most commonly used technique in close-up magic. I can ‘cheat’…” His hand was trembling slightly. After pausing, he continued, “Every ‘Zodiac’ has their characteristics… Just like how Dogs can ‘instigate,’ Rabbits can ‘destroy,’ Snakes can ‘show favoritism,’ and Goats can ‘lie’—Monkeys… can ‘cheat.’ I will become a ‘Man-Monkey.'”

Although he was patiently explaining to us the principles of magic and the “Zodiacs,” the scent on his body was truly very sad.

I think… choosing this path, Guyu Gege must have had absolutely no other options left, right?

“You actually have such deep knowledge of the ‘Zodiacs’…” Siwei Jiejie froze for a moment. “Have you been wanting to do this for a long time?”

“That’s right.” Guyu Gege nodded. “Siwei, to be honest, four years ago before I returned, I went through some inner struggle. At that time, there were two paths before me: one was to return to ‘Jade City’ and change things here, and two was to become a ‘Zodiac.’ I even bet a Man-Monkey to death beforehand and hid his mask, just so that one day I could become a ‘Zodiac.’ But I knew that if I didn’t return to ‘Jade City’ and try to change things here once, I might regret it many years later.”

Listening to his words, Siwei Jiejie and I fell silent.

“You’ve also seen it… over these four years, the situation in ‘Jade City’ has continuously deteriorated. Even with all three of us putting in all our effort, it’s the same—this ‘beast’ has already started biting people.” He shook his head and stood up as well, facing Siwei Jiejie. “Siwei… I’ve already tried my hardest within the scope of what I could do. I also know that I’m very much like a soldier deserting before battle, but I must think for myself. I can’t choose to wait here for death after knowing what the outcome will be.”

“I… I understand…” Siwei Jiejie said. “Your choice is right… I support you.”

I clearly detected a trace of sadness from Siwei Jiejie’s scent, yet she still maintained her smile.

She sniffed, then smiled again and said, “But if you become a ‘Zodiac’ here, there might not be anyone to participate in the game… so…”

“I won’t choose ‘Jade City.'” Guyu Gege said. “Although the people of ‘Jade City’ are enthusiastic about participating in ‘Human-level’ games, they never get involved in ‘Earth-level’ games except for the ‘Punishment Officials.’ Once I advance to ‘Earth,’ I’ll be confined. And ‘Extreme City’ won’t work either—it’s too dangerous there. I might face dozens of ‘Participants’ betting their lives against me in a single day. So…”

“So you want to become a Man-Monkey in ‘Dao City’…?” Siwei Jiejie nodded. “But aren’t there a lot of smart people there… with this game of yours…”

“I can only take a gamble. I’ll also spend the upcoming time perfecting this game. I might use two boxes or more chips. In any case, I’ve already decided.” Guyu said. “There are only these three cities left now. I have no other path to walk. If I really have to say it, becoming a Zodiac in ‘Dao City’ might be safer than staying here.”

Seeing Siwei Jiejie remain silent, Guyu Gege asked again, “Siwei, don’t you want to become a Rabbit who can ‘escape’?”