Following the directions from the two maps, Qi Xia arrived at this dark, shadowy alley.

He found it hard to imagine that a “Zodiac” would actually set up their game venue in such a hidden corner.

At this moment, in the dark corner of the wall, there was an extremely lazy-looking “Earth-Dog” leaning against the wall and sitting, as if dozing off.

He wore a suit with his bare body exposed, revealing the clear muscle lines on his body.

Qi Xia slowly walked forward, blocking the only beam of light, and stood before the Earth-Dog.

The Earth-Dog also lazily raised his head, glanced faintly at Qi Xia, then lowered his head again as if he hadn’t seen anything.

The other party’s behavior instantly made Qi Xia quite curious.

Regardless of whether the other party was his former teammate or someone belonging to “Heavenly-Dragon” or “Qinglong,” he shouldn’t be showing this kind of expression.

This expression looked as if he had never known him at all.

“Hey.” Qi Xia called out. “Lift your head and look at me.”

After hearing this, the Earth-Dog slowly frowned. That hunting dog face lifted up somewhat irritably.

“You’re quite arrogant.” The Earth-Dog replied. “Do you talk this way when facing other ‘Zodiacs’ too?”

“Interesting.” Qi Xia said softly. “You don’t recognize me?”

“Do I need to recognize you?” The Earth-Dog asked again. “Are you one of my past victims?”

The other party’s response was as if he truly had never seen him before. This was a situation Qi Xia had not anticipated.

“Buddy.” The Earth-Dog continued, lifting those half-asleep eyes and saying, “You wouldn’t be a veteran, would you?”

“Hm?”

“If you’re a veteran, then don’t waste my time while I’m slacking off.” The Earth-Dog waved his hand. “You know, I’m a ‘Dog.’ A ‘Dog’s’ game can’t possibly be participated in by one person alone. Just go find some other ‘Zodiac’ to bother. Don’t stay here with me.”

“So I can leave?” Qi Xia asked again.

“If you’re not leaving, are you planning to stay here and chat with me?” The Earth-Dog said again.

“Yes, I really want to chat with you.” Qi Xia walked beside the Earth-Dog and sat down just like him.

The Earth-Dog seemed increasingly unable to understand the actions of the man before him. He could only take out a coin from his pocket and say, “How about we flip a coin? If you win, I’ll give you a ‘Dao,’ but you must leave. How about it?”

Qi Xia felt the Earth-Dog before him was indeed quite interesting, so he nodded and said, “Alright.”

After hearing this, the Earth-Dog held the coin with his thumb, flicked it directly into the air, then caught it with the back of his hand, covered it with his palm, and slowly moved it before Qi Xia’s eyes.

“I can’t lose this kind of game.” Qi Xia said. “Before the coin jumped, it was heads. It rotated sixteen and a half times in the air before you caught it.”

“So what?”

“So you’re going to lose.”

“I didn’t want to win in the first place.” The Earth-Dog answered. “I hope you take the ‘Dao’ and leave quickly.”

“So do you understand what I mean by ‘lose’?” Qi Xia said. “I guess it’s heads.”

After hearing this, the Earth-Dog slowly lifted his palm. The coin was tails.

“Didn’t you say you saw it…?” The Earth-Dog asked.

“Maybe I guessed wrong?” Qi Xia shrugged.

“I’ll give you one more chance.”

After saying this, the Earth-Dog once again held the coin with his thumb, flicked it into the air, then caught it again.

“It jumped up heads, rotated nineteen times.” Qi Xia said. “I guess it’s tails.”

The Earth-Dog felt there was something incongruous between this person’s reasoning and final answer, but could only lift his hand with furrowed brows.

The coin was heads.

“Oh, I was wrong again.” Qi Xia said.

“Are you doing this on purpose…?” The Earth-Dog finally understood where the incongruity in this matter lay, and said, “You can clearly see the coin’s trajectory, yet you keep choosing the wrong answer?”

“Yes, so I don’t want the ‘Dao.'” Qi Xia smiled. “I just want to chat with you. You can flip with me for a day and a night without spending a single ‘Dao.'”

“This is the first time I’ve encountered such an interesting situation.” The Earth-Dog put the coin back in his pocket and asked, “So who are you?”

“I’m Qi Xia, whose life is worth a few small cakes and a few pieces of fruit.”

“Hm…?” The Earth-Dog looked at Qi Xia meaningfully, then slowly widened his eyes.

Only now did Qi Xia finally confirm that the Earth-Dog’s earlier indifference wasn’t an act, but that he truly had never seen him before.

This meant all the circumstances needed to be reconsidered.

The “Dog” before him wasn’t his former teammate… then what about the others?

“Your expression is very interesting.” Qi Xia said. “Have we never met before?”

“Yes, I haven’t seen you.”

After hearing this, Qi Xia narrowed his eyes.

After the Earth-Dog finished speaking, he felt his expression was mistaken and corrected himself, “But you’re my idol!”

“I… dol?” Qi Xia looked at the Earth-Dog with furrowed brows. “When did this happen?”

“Of course it was when you became Bai…” After hearing this, the Earth-Dog felt something wasn’t right and directly grabbed Qi Xia’s arm. “Come with me!”

Qi Xia followed the Earth-Dog into his game venue, and the Earth-Dog turned back and locked the door.

Only now did Qi Xia discover that this game venue was a glass shop with all kinds of glass, every piece cleaned spotlessly.

The Earth-Dog pulled Qi Xia all the way to the center of the venue, where there were five huge glass houses—four in the east, south, west, and north directions, and one in the center.

The two came to the huge glass room in the center. The Earth-Dog closed the door of the glass house, and only then did Qi Xia discover that all the glass house doors had soundproofing strips. Once the doors were closed, they were almost completely cut off from the outside.

After the Earth-Dog confirmed the door was locked, he called out, “Brother Baiyang?”

“Wait a moment.” Qi Xia reached out to interrupt the other party’s words and said again, “Have you really never seen me before?”

“Indeed, I rarely lie.” The Earth-Dog said. “If I were that good at lying, I would have become a ‘Sheep’ back then. Unfortunately, people are hard to deceive, and being a sheep is difficult.”

“Then in the past… who was in the same room with you?” Qi Xia asked again.

The Earth-Dog pondered for a while, then slowly opened his mouth and said, “I can tell you, but this will be somewhat dangerous for me, so I want to verify your identity here.”

“Oh?” After hearing this, Qi Xia made a puzzled sound. “How will you verify?”

“If you’re really Brother Baiyang, you should be able to crack my game at a glance.” The Earth-Dog said. “I’ll tell you the game rules now, and you tell me the solution.”

After hearing this, Qi Xia nodded. “I’m all ears.”

The Earth-Dog took out several lots and explained in detail to Qi Xia the rules of his “Year of Calamity” game. Before the game explanation was even finished, Qi Xia had already reached out to interrupt the other party.

“I already know the solution.” Qi Xia said. “The four rooms represent the ‘four seasons,’ and the ‘four seasons’ need cooperation. This game only needs one smart person.”