“Logical relationship…”

No matter what, this superpower called “Echo” had already exceeded everyone’s range of understanding.

In this bizarre place, there were not only god-like beings, but also lunatics scattered throughout the streets. Numerous participants were being slaughtered at will here, and now they could even obtain superpowers…

If this wasn’t a dream, who would believe it?

“Qi Xia…” Zhang Chenze looked at Qi Xia’s injury, her expression very worried. “You didn’t manage to deceive Jiang Ruoxue just now. What should we do next?”

“Deceive?” Qi Xia covered his wound and shook his head. “I wasn’t lying. I really am going to give up.”

“Huh?” The two were genuinely stunned. “You’re really going to give up?”

“Yes.” Qi Xia’s eyes were like a pool of stagnant water. “Someone stabbed such a huge hole in my body. It’s impossible for me to continue participating in the games.”

Zhang Chenze and Lin Qin hadn’t expected Qi Xia to give up so decisively. For a moment, they didn’t know what to do.

“Don’t lose heart. I also know a bit about bandaging,” Lin Qin said. “Let’s first find a place to stop your bleeding. There are still many days ahead. Talking about giving up is too early.”

“Stop the bleeding…” Qi Xia raised his head to look at the sky. This day had been exceptionally long; it was only evening now.

“That’s right, Qi Xia…” Zhang Chenze also chimed in from the side. “You have more hope than any of us to collect three thousand six hundred ‘Dao.’ If you give up, we really won’t know what to do.”

…

The three found a dilapidated massage parlor to shelter in.

According to Zhang Chenze’s thinking, the massage parlor had separate compartments and beds—at least it would allow Qi Xia to properly tend to his wounds.

This massage parlor, like other buildings, was almost completely decrepit inside, but fortunately they could still find some fabric drapes.

Lin Qin tore the drapes into thin strips, preparing to bandage the wound.

Zhang Chenze also cleared out a clean single-person sofa. The two helped Qi Xia onto the sofa and then removed his shirt.

Qi Xia’s shirt had been completely soaked through with blood. Holding it in hand felt very heavy, and with just a slight twist, the blood water inside the clothes came gushing down.

The two now finally understood that, just as Qi Xia himself had said, his injury was so severe that, never mind continuing to participate in games, even standing required all his strength.

Lin Qin looked at Qi Xia’s wound and felt somewhat uneasy.

When the bald man had stabbed the dagger into Qi Xia’s shoulder, he had twisted the blade.

This action caused what should have been a simple cut to bloom into a red flower of flesh, not only completely tearing apart the skin and flesh on the surface, but also possibly injuring the muscle tissue inside his body.

“We can’t suture the wound anymore…” Lin Qin said. “Just bear with it for now. I’ll bandage you.”

“Just bandaging won’t work.” Qi Xia pulled out the old metal lighter from his pocket. “Find a piece of dry wood. After lighting it, you can cauterize my wound to stop the bleeding.”

“This…” Lin Qin accepted the lighter with some difficulty. “It might hurt a lot…”

“It’s fine…” Qi Xia was about to say something when he suddenly heard a faint noise from not far away.

The sound was like something rhythmically hitting against a wall.

“What’s wrong?”

“Shh!” Qi Xia made the two fall silent and listened carefully with his head tilted. “There seems to be someone in this building.”

“Someone?” The two quickly lowered their voices and also listened carefully. There really was something making noise inside the house.

“It’s probably a native…” Qi Xia slowly stood up and said, “I don’t know if there will be danger. Let’s change locations.”

“No, your injury doesn’t allow you to move around anymore. I’ll go check,” Zhang Chenze said. “We’ve been in here for so long. If there were danger, we’d already be dead.”

“No…” Qi Xia had just tried to reach out to stop Zhang Chenze, but she always acted decisively and swiftly, already rushing out in a few quick steps. Seeing this, Qi Xia could only turn back and call to Lin Qin, “Quick, stop her. There’s no need to take the risk.”

Lin Qin nodded and hurried to follow.

But this massage parlor wasn’t very large to begin with. There were only four compartments in total on both sides of the corridor. Zhang Chenze found the room making the noise in just a few seconds.

She thought for a moment, then reached out to knock on the door.

“Chenze!” Lin Qin said somewhat anxiously in a low voice. “Watch out for ‘natives’!”

“Natives shouldn’t harm us.” Seeing no one answer, Zhang Chenze reached out to push open the door.

As soon as she pushed it open, a foul stench wafted out, forcing both of them to step back.

Inside the room, a man as thin as a skeleton was facing away from the door, massaging the back of a “customer” on the bed.

After the two clearly saw the scene before them, they both drew in sharp breaths.

Yes, “natives” wouldn’t harm people.

But the behavior of natives could always make one’s spine run cold.

The “customer” lying on the bed was simply a dried corpse. Yet the gaunt man had his hands crossed and was continuously pressing down on the back of the corpse.

He looked like he had been pressing for a long time already. The entire back of the corpse had been flattened, and foul-smelling liquid had splattered all over the bed.

“Customer… is the pressure okay… Customer… is the pressure okay…”

The gaunt man asked lifelessly while pressing down forcefully.

His hands, through the corpse, struck against the bed board, making “thud, thud” sounds.

The two women stood frozen in place, not moving for a long time.

Qi Xia slowly walked over, reached out from behind the two, and closed the door.

“Don’t let it affect you.”

After speaking, Qi Xia found a relatively clean compartment and walked in, sitting on the bed. “Go find a piece of wood.”

Lin Qin came to her senses, knowing that stopping Qi Xia’s bleeding was now the urgent priority, so she hurriedly turned to search for dry wood.

Meanwhile, Zhang Chenze looked at the room from earlier, lost in thought. After a few seconds, she opened her mouth to ask, “Qi Xia, do you think these people… were originally like us?”

Qi Xia didn’t answer. Instead, he said to Zhang Chenze, “Lawyer Zhang, you shouldn’t be so impulsive in the future. If what was inside the room wasn’t a native, but a group of desperate criminals like that bald man earlier, what would you have done?”

Zhang Chenze slowly lowered her head and answered, “I was a bit ‘too concerned to think clearly.’ If we can’t rest here, your injury will worsen.”

“Too concerned to think clearly?” Qi Xia felt a bit awkward. He thought for a while and said to Zhang Chenze, “Lawyer Zhang, you need to know that I saved you from that giant microwave because that was the only way to win the game. This doesn’t mean I have any special care for you.”

“I know…” Zhang Chenze nodded. “Maybe it’s because of Officer Li’s situation. Such a good person died right before my eyes… I’m worried you’ll become like that too.”

“Such a good person…?” Qi Xia fell silent.

He recalled the story Officer Li had told him in his dying moments.

Could Officer Li really be considered a “good person”?