“Brother Sheep, your appearance today has cut off almost all my paths.”

Earth-Dog said: “Before this, Pei Qianhu also told me that there’s no way out of this place, or that it’s fundamentally impossible to become a ‘Heaven’ here. But I never believed him.”

“So you believe me?”

“Yes.” Earth-Dog nodded. “Your words are different from Pei Qianhu’s. They carry a power that makes me trust them.”

“Even so, your thinking hasn’t changed?” Qi Xia looked at him with slight compassion. “Like a frog being slowly boiled alive, you’re prepared to just wait here for death all along.”

“What else can I do?” Earth-Dog said. “All these years… I might be the most conflicted one among all the ‘Zodiacs’.”

“How so?”

“I didn’t want to become an ‘Earth’, yet I received my ‘Teacher’s’ special attention and inherited her game venue. Among all her ‘disciples’, I became the one she placed the most hope in.” Earth-Dog smiled bitterly and shook his head. “Later, I wanted to slack off for the rest of my life, but I accidentally recruited a large group of diligent ‘disciples’. So every day I’m torn between whether to slack off, whether to repay my debt of gratitude, whether to get out, whether to stay alive—I feel like I’m about to split apart.”

“Do you believe you became ‘Earth Level’ because you’re powerful?” Qi Xia suddenly shifted topics.

“I don’t.” Earth-Dog answered decisively. “I could have been promoted for any reason, but it definitely wasn’t because I’m powerful.”

“Then that’s right.” Qi Xia said. “Use your brain and tell me why your ‘Teacher’ chose you among so many disciples.”

“What…?” Earth-Dog was stunned, feeling like Qi Xia had raised a question he had never considered.

“Seeking benefit and avoiding harm is human nature.” Qi Xia frowned. “Generally speaking, when a person makes a choice, they will try to benefit themselves no matter what. If your abilities aren’t outstanding yet you were still chosen by your ‘Teacher’, then you should consider what her reason was for abandoning others and choosing you.”

“Putting it that way…” Earth-Dog felt this was a rather sad question. “Brother Sheep, to be honest, I’ve never had any outstanding qualities since childhood. I’m no different from countless other people in this world.”

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be a ‘quality’.” Qi Xia shook his head. “Perhaps it’s just a characteristic that appeared in you but didn’t appear in others.”

“Holy crap…” He was stunned. “Now that you mention it, I really remember… ‘Teacher’ used to often say that among all her students, I was the one who slacked off the most…”

“Slacking off…”

After hearing this, Qi Xia reached up to stroke his chin. This matter clearly already had an answer.

“So that’s how it is…” Qi Xia said. “Your ‘Teacher’ knew that as long as she passed this position to you, you would just keep slacking off and would fundamentally never become a ‘Heaven’.”

“Ah…?”

“Then she told you ‘you must become a Heaven’.” Qi Xia nodded. “This way you’d have a little bit of drive, but would still choose to slack off, achieving a delicate balance.”

“Brother Sheep, I still don’t quite understand.” Earth-Dog said. “My tendency to ‘slack off’ was my ‘Teacher’s’ reason for choosing me? Isn’t this reason a bit too hurtful…”

“No.” Qi Xia interrupted. “Perhaps you don’t know how lucky you were to choose to become a ‘Dog’.”

“What’s good about becoming a ‘Dog’?”

“In the ‘Land of the End’, ‘Dog’ games are very special because they represent ‘cooperation’.” Qi Xia explained. “In this cursed place, even people from the same interview room can’t trust each other one hundred percent, so how could they win in these life-and-death games that require cooperation? Therefore, ‘Dog’ games have very stable kill rates, even exceeding ‘Sheep’. Usually, a very simple rule can make people who already harbor suspicions kill each other.”

After hearing this, Earth-Dog suddenly understood something: “Brother Sheep… I think I get it.”

“Exactly.” Qi Xia affirmed. “Your ‘Teacher’ passed this position to you because only by passing it to you would you not advance too quickly.”

Earth-Dog’s thoughts suddenly became clear in this instant, but he felt this wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

“Because you don’t like working.” Qi Xia continued. “That coin in your pocket has been worn shiny. From my superficial understanding of you, even if three ‘Participants’ really came, you’d most likely propose flipping a coin with them first. If they accept, you can just give them one ‘Dao’ and send them away, right?”

“You, you even know this…” Earth-Dog touched his head somewhat embarrassedly. “I really do this often…”

“So you’re very special among Earth Level ‘Zodiacs’. You often refuse to kill people because you slack off. This should be the answer your ‘Teacher’ arrived at after much deliberation.” Qi Xia looked carefully at Earth-Dog with his gray eyes. “She knew that once you advanced too quickly, you’d very likely be eliminated—just like herself. So she had to leave someone here to wait for me.”

The countless questions that had lingered in Earth-Dog’s heart were actually slowly unraveling before Qi Xia.

Even more terrifying was that Qi Xia seemed to have no memory of who his teacher was, nor did he know what had happened between them, yet based on fragments of clues he had extracted the truth of the entire matter.

“So the reason ‘Teacher’ chose me… was because I was the most useless among all her disciples.” Earth-Dog smiled bitterly, then shook his head as if he had come to terms with something.

“No.” Qi Xia also chuckled lightly. “No need for self-deprecation. There are many useless people in this world. If she just wanted to choose a useless person, perhaps it wouldn’t have been your turn.”

“Hm?”

“Your personality is to remain silent most of the time, then amaze everyone with a single brilliant feat.” Qi Xia said. “I’m understanding your ‘Teacher’s’ thinking more and more. Although you slack off normally, once you get serious you’re extremely capable—you’re simply the most suitable choice.”

After hearing this, Earth-Dog fell silent. After pondering for a long time, he finally opened his mouth to ask: “So whether it’s you or ‘Teacher’, you’re all the same… clearly in desperate circumstances, yet trying to change this place…”

“You’re wrong.” Qi Xia said. “There are no desperate circumstances in this world, only people who despair over their circumstances.”

“What…?”

“So consider it yourself.” Qi Xia reached out and pushed open the door. “If your thinking changes, you don’t need to tell me. Just tell Earth-Tiger.”

Qi Xia didn’t wait for Earth-Dog’s response and walked straight toward the door, leaving Earth-Dog stunned in place.

Qi Xia knew that the Earth-Dog before him who liked to slack off had already been brought under his command.

After three steps, Qi Xia stopped and looked back at Earth-Dog.

“What…?” Earth-Dog was somewhat puzzled.

“The small cakes and fruit.” Qi Xia said. “Can I take them with me?”

“Ah?” After hearing this, Earth-Dog also hurried out of the glass room. “Yes, yes… I already brought them over yesterday. After all, I didn’t know when you’d arrive. Wait a moment, I’ll get them for you.”

“Good.”