Pain.

Qi Xia clutched his head, his entire body trembling violently.

Lin Qin stood beside Qi Xia, looking at him with a troubled expression on her face.

Although she had witnessed this scene more than once before, Qi Xia’s behavior was always unsettling.

Qi Xia kept kneeling on the ground, wailing. The intense pain coming from his mind had long since exceeded the knife wound on his shoulder.

Seeing this scene, Jiang Ruoxue tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said, “Your captain looks very strange. Is he always like this?”

“It seems that every time someone dies, he gets a headache.”

“Then why doesn’t he feel pain when he kills people?” Jiang Ruoxue asked.

“This…”

Lin Qin had no idea about the principle behind Qi Xia’s headaches, but according to her memory, Qi Xia indeed only suffered headaches after someone died.

“He looks like he’s been hypnotized,” Jiang Ruoxue continued. “Every time he’s about to feel sadness, his brain numbs that feeling with pain.”

Hearing these words, Lin Qin’s eyes widened as if suddenly enlightened.

“Hypnosis?!”

“Oh? You understand hypnosis?” Jiang Ruoxue turned her head to look at Lin Qin.

Lin Qin didn’t answer, instead falling into deep thought. “That makes sense… If it’s ‘hypnosis,’ it could indeed create this effect… But that would require not only extremely advanced hypnosis techniques, but also Qi Xia’s wholehearted cooperation… This level of skill shouldn’t exist anywhere in the country…”

After finishing her words, Lin Qin felt even more puzzled.

If no one in the country could do it, international hypnotists would be even less likely.

Hypnosis was different from other psychological counseling methods. If the language used by the other party wasn’t one’s native tongue, it would be very difficult for humans to relax their psychological defenses, much less enter an unconscious state.

“So you’re a psychologist?” Jiang Ruoxue asked.

“I’m a psychological counselor,” Lin Qin answered. “Jiang Ruoxue, do you know a lot about hypnosis?”

“Not really.” Jiang Ruoxue shook her head. “But I’ve been hypnotized before. The hypnotist gave me a similar example at the time, saying that under certain specific conditions, humans can ‘seal away’ their emotions through hypnosis. I think Qi Xia looks very much like this kind of situation.”

“Yes… This kind of technique can only exist in theory. It’s almost impossible for anyone to achieve it in reality…”

As the two were talking, heavy footsteps sounded. Earth-Dog had finally appeared.

“Oh my… what a mess…” He looked at the already dead Bald Man, Blondie, and Old Lu lying on the ground, his expression somewhat troubled. “You participants really don’t know when to hold back when fighting…”

As soon as he finished speaking, he walked over to the barely alive A’Mu, lifted his right foot, and viciously stomped on his head, crushing it.

Bright red brain matter mixed with emerald green hair instantly splattered everywhere like fireworks.

Zhang Chenze and Lin Qin both turned their faces away. Although they had seen death scenes many times, they still couldn’t bear seeing human lives slaughtered like livestock.

“I suppose it’s time for me to hit the road.” Seeing Earth-Dog slowly approaching, Jiang Ruoxue smiled at the two. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll log off first. Let’s keep in touch if we get the chance.”

Seeing how sensibly she was offering herself up for death, Earth-Dog seemed to understand something.

He said nothing more and reached out his hand to grab Jiang Ruoxue’s neck.

“Wait…” Qi Xia slowly stood up, and from his expression, he no longer seemed to be in pain.

“What is it?” Earth-Dog turned to look at him.

“We’ll accept this ‘traitor,'” Qi Xia said, covering his shoulder. “From now on, she’s a member of our team. You cannot kill her.”

Everyone present was stunned by these words, even Jiang Ruoxue herself was taken aback.

“What are you doing… I haven’t helped you at all from start to finish.”

“That doesn’t matter. In any case, this doesn’t violate the rules, right?” Qi Xia looked at Earth-Dog with a serious expression on his face.

Earth-Dog thought for a moment and said, “That’s correct. As long as you abandon your team’s ‘traitor,’ you can accept a new ‘traitor.'”

Having said that, he slowly withdrew his hand and pulled out a very dirty cloth bundle from his chest.

“Here are twenty ‘Dao.’ Along with all the corpses on the ground, they are now your prizes.” Earth-Dog waved his hand, tossed the “Dao” on the ground, and turned to leave.

“‘Corpses’ are also considered prizes…” Qi Xia’s eyes gradually dimmed. “I’m starting to detest this damn place.”

“That just shows you don’t know what’s valuable,” Jiang Ruoxue said to Qi Xia. “Corpses’ are good things. Many survivors have stayed alive by eating corpses.”

“Eating corpses…?” Lin Qin was startled. “Really?”

“What else? In this place, besides ‘corpses,’ what else can you find to eat?”

Before Lin Qin could answer, Lawyer Zhang in the distance suddenly spoke up. “Article 302 of the ‘Criminal Law,’ the crime of insulting corpses. Anyone who steals, insults, or intentionally damages corpses, bones, or ashes shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, or public surveillance.”

“Are you okay?” Jiang Ruoxue looked at Lawyer Zhang uncomprehendingly. “Does the law still apply in this place?”

Lawyer Zhang seemed somewhat dazed. She lowered her head to look at her own blood-stained hands and continued, “Article 232 of the ‘Criminal Law,’ anyone who intentionally kills another person shall be sentenced to death, life imprisonment, or fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years…”

Jiang Ruoxue and Lin Qin looked at each other and shook their heads.

“You were only acting in self-defense,” Qi Xia said. “I personally saw that man run into the glass himself. It has nothing to do with you.”

Only then did Zhang Chenze come to her senses. With a worried expression, she came to Qi Xia’s side and looked at his wound.

This wound reminded her of Han Yimo.

Han Yimo died soon after being injured on his left shoulder. Would it be Qi Xia’s turn this time?

“Everyone, these twenty ‘Dao,’ and those on the corpses… you can divide them among yourselves.” Qi Xia pushed the cloth bundle forward.

“We divide them? What about you?” Lawyer Zhang asked.

“I can’t stop the bleeding from my wound,” Qi Xia said, lowering his head silently. “Even if I bandage the wound properly, I won’t be able to move for the next few days because of the knife injury. I’ve lost this game.”

“What are you saying…” Lin Qin immediately became somewhat flustered. “If you give up now… what does all your previous effort amount to?”

“That’s right, now isn’t the time to give up… Let’s go back and find Doctor Zhao, shall we?” Lawyer Zhang also said with a tearful voice.

“It’s no use,” Qi Xia shook his head. “Even if Doctor Zhao is really willing to help me, at most he’ll just bandage my wound. He can’t make my injury heal faster over the next few days.”

Qi Xia gritted his teeth and stood up, looked at the two of them, his expression extremely dejected.

“I didn’t want to give up originally. My wife has been waiting for me at home… But I can’t do it anymore. I can only leave the rest to you all.” Qi Xia thought for a moment and added, “If you don’t want to participate in the games anymore, I won’t have any objections either. After all, everyone’s life is their own.”

Jiang Ruoxue folded her arms across her chest and spoke casually, “Qi Xia, are you putting on an act for me?”