Seeing Zheng Yingxiong’s expression, the three women beside him all felt somewhat reluctant to proceed.

The child’s eyes were red and brimming with tears, yet he kept his mouth firmly shut without crying aloud.

They had spent some time with Zheng Yingxiong but had never heard him proactively say what he wanted. This was perhaps the first time he had taken the initiative to speak up.

“Let’s give them some time,” Tiantian said, pulling three “Dao” from her pocket and handing them to Zheng Yingxiong. “We’ll wait for you outside.”

The three of them unanimously nodded to Zheng Yingxiong. He carefully accepted the three “Dao,” turned around, and handed them to the Man-Monkey.

The Man-Monkey’s gaze pierced through the rotting mask, seemingly bearing gratitude as he nodded slightly to the three of them. Then he naturally took Zheng Yingxiong’s hand and led him into his game venue.

The two of them were like brothers who hadn’t seen each other in a long time—yet one wore a rotting baboon mask on his head while the other wore a crown folded from newspaper. Their backs conveyed a trace of bizarrely heartwarming intimacy.

Yet Yun Yao still couldn’t understand what kind of experience in this place would lead to a long-awaited reunion between a “Zodiac” and a “Participant.”

Although the Man-Monkey’s mask looked fierce and menacing, everyone somehow felt he wasn’t a bad person and wouldn’t do anything dangerous to Zheng Yingxiong.

The instant he opened the door, the three of them glimpsed the layout inside. This game venue was extremely crude, containing only a table with two old cardboard boxes placed on it.

Yun Yao had seen this room once before. It felt exactly like a sealed toilet—extremely small in area, without even a window through which a sliver of light could penetrate.

In many cases, a small room plus an extremely simple set of game props comprised the entire life of these Human-level “Zodiacs.”

Even if they spent all their time, they might not necessarily win three thousand six hundred “Dao” from Participants to hand over to the Earth-level “Zodiac” who managed them. Even if they could luckily gather enough quantity, it still depended on whether their “teacher” was willing to put in the effort to apply to “Heavenly-Dragon” for a “Zodiac Ascension Gambling Contract” on their behalf.

If they were fortunate enough to succeed at this step as well, next they would have to immerse themselves in the “Interview Room” for several years. They might eternally cycle within the Interview Room, or they might once again break through that extremely minuscule probability to become a new “Earth-level.”

And when they finally managed to break free from everything and reach new heights, only to discover that the path from “Earth-level” to “Heaven-level” was even more difficult to achieve—these people who had been rushing about for their lives for so many years, constantly making choices, would find themselves in a dilemma.

After all, no one was willing to abandon so many years of hard work to revert back to “Participant” status, nor did anyone dare make any transgressive moves that would see them transformed into an “ant” without any consciousness.

Although the facts had been laid bare countless times before their eyes, no one was willing to believe that “Earth-level” was the endpoint. So they could only stand in this position and continue working for “Heavenly-Dragon,” hoping for that infinitesimally small chance to get ahead.

Before them was fog; behind them was a cliff.

Unable to advance even an inch; unable to retreat.

At the same time, this path had a bizarre rationality to it—namely, that no one had ever promised the “Zodiacs” anything. Each of them thought they had discovered the true “path” and voluntarily put on the mask.

Although no one had ever mentioned the four words “bear the consequences” to them, it had always been branded in their hearts as the price of wearing the mask. Once they put on the “Zodiac” mask, no one would guarantee anything about what happened next.

The Man-Monkey before them was one member among the many tragic “Zodiacs.” Unfortunately, he had only just begun on this path when he discovered he could no longer turn back.

He turned around and gently closed the door, then turned on the dim light in the room.

Zheng Yingxiong kept staring at the familiar yet strange figure before him. Although he had ten thousand things he wanted to say, he was afraid of those rules regarding “Zodiacs.” He was also afraid that the other person would disappear forever because of something he said offhandedly.

In the entire “Land of the End,” there weren’t many people important to Zheng Yingxiong, but Gu Yu happened to be one of them.

The Man-Monkey took the two cardboard boxes from the table to the side, then turned away and fiddled with them for quite a while. About several minutes later, he brought the two boxes back and placed them on the table again.

“Man-Monkey…” Zheng Yingxiong called out. “Don’t you have anything you want to ask me?”

“Seeing you appear here all alone… perhaps I have no more questions,” the Man-Monkey said dimly. “The ending was determined long ago and won’t change just because so much time has passed.”

Zheng Yingxiong didn’t speak. He simply nodded slightly before looking at the two cardboard boxes on the table.

“Three ‘Dao’ in each box. We’ll play rock-paper-scissors to decide the order,” the Man-Monkey said.

“No need. You go first,” Zheng Yingxiong said.

The Man-Monkey nodded and took out one “Dao” from the box on his left side. It seemed he didn’t care how to win; he just wanted to spend more time with Zheng Yingxiong.

“Look at this ‘Dao,'” the Man-Monkey said. “There are three ‘Dao’ in the box, and it’s the first to leave. Although it escaped from the box first, it has no way to decide its own fate. It can only be temporarily placed on the table. In the end, it will be taken away by the ‘winner,’ so it can’t even decide its own next path.”

“I know,” Zheng Yingxiong nodded sadly. “But what if you win? You’ll take the ‘Dao’ away. You’ll decide where it goes.”

“I can’t win,” the Man-Monkey’s tone was very despondent. “I should have understood this from the beginning… Relying on me, relying on myself alone, I fundamentally can’t win. I can’t take this ‘Dao’ away. I can’t decide its next path.”

“Is that so…?” Zheng Yingxiong stared at the “Dao” on the table and nodded. “But it’s free.”

“Free…”

“No matter who takes it away, this ‘Dao’ has left the box. That’s always a good thing.” Zheng Yingxiong reached out and gently stroked the golden little sphere, saying in a low voice, “I once looked for this ‘Dao’ at another Man-Monkey’s place, but the scent on that Man-Monkey wasn’t familiar. In the end, I still came here.”

After hearing this, Gu Yu nodded. “Yes, after all, the ‘Dao’ in the box are ultimately all trying to find ways to leave the box…”

The two quietly took out the “Dao” from the boxes one by one. When only two “Dao” remained in the box on the same side, Zheng Yingxiong reached in and pulled one out.

But Zheng Yingxiong didn’t hold this one steady, letting it roll onto the floor with a clatter.

Watching that “Dao” roll farther and farther away until it finally disappeared into a corner of the room, Zheng Yingxiong’s tears finally burst through the dam.

“But she left…” Zheng Yingxiong cried in anguish. “Elder sister left… There were only her and me left in the box… but she left first…”