The composition of Chu Tianqiu’s team was more complex than Qi Xia’s, so voices rose and fell in waves, creating a cacophony.

Both Doctor Zhao and Xu Liunian looked completely baffled. They not only loudly questioned Chu Tianqiu about why he chose them but were even asking Earth Dragon if they could swap people now.

In contrast, the situation on Qi Xia’s side was much better. Although the appearance of Lawyer Zhang, Tiantian, and Zheng Yingxiong was somewhat unexpected, all three seemed to completely trust Qi Xia. They neither asked many questions nor expressed their doubts.

Qi Xia merely walked forward and said to the three of them, “I may be disturbing you a bit, but right now I truly need you.”

“It’s fine…” Tiantian said while stroking Zheng Yingxiong’s head. “Not many people in this place need me. If there’s anything you need help with, just say so.”

“Good.” Qi Xia nodded. “Actually, to be honest, I don’t know what about this game requires help either. After all, the rules haven’t even been revealed yet. But each person I’ve chosen is someone I can trust. From here on, we’ll take it step by step.”

Lawyer Zhang beside them nodded with a grave expression, murmuring in a low voice, “To think such a large-scale game wouldn’t inform us of the rules first… it’s far too unfair to us.”

“This place has never been fair,” Qi Xia said. “Lawyer Zhang, they’ve been trying every method to kill us all along, so this is quite reasonable.”

Han Yimo, standing behind everyone, couldn’t quite determine his own position at this moment. He walked forward a step, standing among everyone, and asked tentatively, “Qi Xia… you said everyone you chose… are all people you trust?”

“Yes.” Qi Xia nodded.

“Me too…?” Han Yimo asked again.

“Of course.” Qi Xia smiled. “Han Yimo, this game is extraordinary. Not only is the ‘Earth-level’ leader ‘Earth Dragon’ presiding here, but ‘Qinglong’ is also watching.”

“Qing…”

“One of the rulers of this place,” Qi Xia said. “At that time, our every move will be completely visible to him. Don’t be too afraid.”

The more Qi Xia spoke, the more afraid Han Yimo felt. He couldn’t even deal with ordinary “Earth-level” beings, let alone figures like “Earth Dragon” and “Qinglong.”

“Even if the protagonist experiences countless ‘setbacks’…” Han Yimo said quietly to himself, “it’s absolutely impossible for them to be killed by the villain…”

Just as Qi Xia was preparing to arrange tactics for everyone, a barely audible muffled groan came through.

Zheng Yingxiong covered his nose and crouched to the ground, his expression extraordinarily pained.

“Little Hero!” Tiantian crouched down and cried out in alarm, only to discover Zheng Yingxiong’s condition was not optimistic.

His complexion gradually turned pale, his expression more agonized than ever before.

Qi Xia furrowed his brow and hurried forward to check on Zheng Yingxiong’s condition.

“Qi Xia…” Tiantian said, “Little Hero seems to have been off ever since he came in…”

“Yeah, Old Qi…” Chen Junnan also nodded beside them. “This kid’s nose has been uncomfortable since the moment he walked through the door. He probably can’t hold on much longer… is there something strange about this place?”

Qi Xia only knew that Zheng Yingxiong should be affected after coming in, but he hadn’t expected the impact would be this severe.

He moved closer to Zheng Yingxiong, and only after the other party’s expression eased slightly did he ask, “What do you feel…?”

“This place…” Zheng Yingxiong said through gritted teeth. “The scent is too abundant… I’ve never had this feeling before.”

“How do you explain ‘abundant’?” Qi Xia asked again. “Is the scent more ‘intense’ or more ‘widespread’ in distribution?”

“Neither… neither… It’s like…” Zheng Yingxiong squinted and pondered for a few seconds before saying, “Previously, scents all emanated from a certain person or a certain location… but this time it’s like all of us are standing inside the ‘scent’…”

“Standing inside the ‘scent’…?”

Qi Xia followed Zheng Yingxiong’s train of thought and considered it for a moment. He felt he somewhat understood. These “inspiration-type” “Echoes” weren’t unable to function here—rather, they were being disrupted by something intense.

This would cause them to only receive interference signals, whether they were seeing, hearing, smelling, or touching.

“What ‘scent’ are we inside?” Qi Xia asked again. “Can you sniff out what that ‘scent’s’ name is?”

“I don’t know…” Zheng Yingxiong said. “It’s too enormous… so enormous I can’t smell the name…”

Zheng Yingxiong’s words were difficult for those around him to understand for a moment.

Chen Junnan scratched his head. “A scent so enormous you can’t smell the name… what a fucking niche adjective…”

“It’s not hard to understand…” Qi Xia said. “If you compare this kind of ‘scent’ to a giant text sculpture, when you stand at its foot and look up, you also wouldn’t know what character you’re seeing.”

“But if that’s the case…” Chen Junnan glanced sideways at Zheng Yingxiong. “Then isn’t this kid’s ability just smelling scents… If there are many other scents here, wouldn’t he be unable to display his function…? Who can smell perfume sprayed in a toilet…”

Although Chen Junnan didn’t want to say it so bluntly, this was after all a team of seven people. While Chu Tianqiu’s team appeared to have poorer stability, it absolutely couldn’t be considered weak.

Under these circumstances, if there was someone who couldn’t activate their “Echo,” everyone’s situation in this game naturally wouldn’t be good.

“It’s fine,” Qi Xia said. “Him being able to come in and tell me this already counts as helping me tremendously. After all, it turned some of my speculations into reality.”

As soon as the words fell, everyone saw traces of blood begin to emerge from Zheng Yingxiong’s nostrils.

Only then did Qi Xia realize the situation might be more complex than he had imagined. Zheng Yingxiong would have a nosebleed every time he overused his “Echo,” and it could only possibly be relieved once the scent dissipated.

But if he remained in this space the entire time… wouldn’t that mean his nosebleed wouldn’t stop at all?

“Zheng Yingxiong…” Qi Xia called out. “Cut off your own ‘Echo.’ Unless absolutely necessary from now on, don’t activate your ability. Preserve your life first.”

“I… I…” Zheng Yingxiong said with a troubled expression while covering his nose. “I don’t know how to cut it off at all…”

“Don’t know…?” Qi Xia furrowed his brow. “It’s merely an ‘Echo.’ If you know how it awakened, you should know how to cut it off.”

“I don’t even know how I obtained ‘Clear Fragrance’…” Zheng Yingxiong said. “I only remember that one day I opened my eyes, and this ‘Clear Fragrance’ appeared on my body. I’ve tried countless times to actively cut it off… even wanted to discard this ability, but I’ve never succeeded once.”

Qi Xia felt the situation was somewhat tricky. If Zheng Yingxiong consistently couldn’t cut off his “Echo,” there was a high probability he would die here.

“Fist.” Qi Xia turned his head to look at Qiao Jiajin. “If he can’t cut it off, you cut it for him.”

“Oh, okay.” Qiao Jiajin nodded and was just about to say something when Zheng Yingxiong interrupted them.

“No need,” Zheng Yingxiong said. “I’m fine. If I don’t have this ‘Clear Fragrance,’ then I truly have no reason to stay here. Let me keep this ability.”

“With this ability, you’ll die,” Qi Xia said.

“It’s fine if I die,” Zheng Yingxiong said. “As long as my ‘death’ can bring ‘life’ to others, then everything is worth it.”