At his words, everyone was shocked. Even the Human Rat was momentarily stunned.
"You want to... bet your life?" the Human Rat asked for confirmation.
"That's right."
Qi Xia nodded.
"I want to bet my life."
The Human Rat's throat bobbed as she swallowed. Then she said, "There's... there's no need for that, is there?" Her reaction was beyond Qi Xia's imagination.
He thought these animal-masked people would be willing for him to bet his life, so why was she so flustered?
"Th-this is just a very simple 'finding' game. Y-you betting your life is too much... Besides, my entry fee is only one 'Dao'. You don't need to bet your life..."
Lin Qin and Qiao Jiajin were also confused.
"This game... can you even bet your life?"
Qiao Jiajin asked with a frown.
"But, con man, why do you want to bet your life? Are we short on 'Dao'?"
"I remembered what that withered old man said, and I want to give it a try here," Qi Xia said in a low voice.
"From the looks of it, she seems terrified of me 'betting my life'."
"I know you're desperate to win," Lin Qin interjected, "but you're betting your life on this. What if something goes wrong? What if the 'Dao' isn't inside?"
"I will win."
After saying this, Qi Xia looked up at the Human Rat.
"I've placed my bet. Can we begin?"
The Human Rat was silent for a long while before finally saying with a tremble in her voice, "If you really want to bet your life, then don't regret it... The game begins now." Qi Xia walked into the room.
Just as the Human Rat was about to exit and close the door, Qi Xia suddenly grabbed her. This move made the Human Rat freeze. With a deadpan expression, Qi Xia reached out and slowly pulled a "Dao" from the Human Rat's jacket pocket.
"I found it."
The three people at the doorway all stared with their mouths agape. Is that allowed? To find the "Dao" on the referee's person the instant the game began.
Did that really not break the "rules"? The Human Rat was trembling uncontrollably, looking absolutely terrified.
"If I'm not mistaken, as soon as you closed that door, there would no longer be a 'Dao' in this room, correct?"
Qi Xia pressed.
"How did you know..."
"It's simple," Qi Xia said softly.
"Every time you explained the rules, you made a point to stand inside the room and tell us that 'right now' there is one 'Dao' in this room. You weren't lying when you said that, but it was a massive trap."
Seeing the Human Rat remain silent, Qi Xia continued, "'Right now' there is indeed one 'Dao' in the room. It's just a pity that it's about to disappear." The eyes beneath the Human Rat's mask darted about frantically.
After a long pause, she finally asked, "You bet your life just because of this bold assumption?"
"An assumption? Of course not," Qi Xia continued.
"What truly convinced me was when you declared that Tian Tian had 'failed the game'."
"What?!"
"The door was closed then. Logically, none of us should have known what was happening inside, yet the moment you opened the door, you told Tian Tian she had failed."
Qi Xia shook his head with a sigh.
"How did you know she didn't find it?"
"I..."
"The answer is obvious. You knew there couldn't possibly be a 'Dao' in the room."
A slight shiver ran through the Human Rat's body.
"And the 'Rat game' itself was another trap. We all assumed that since rats are nocturnal, we should search for the target in the dark. That was Tian Tian's line of thought, and logically, she wasn't wrong. But there are other kinds of rats in this world, rats that hide important things in their own mouths, aren't there?"
The Human Rat stared at Qi Xia for a long moment, knowing that she had truly lost. She paused, then suddenly pushed Qi Xia down with great force and turned to flee.
"Damn it!"
Seeing this, Qiao Jiajin immediately reached out to grab the Human Rat, but she was just like a real rat, twisting away to dodge him. She ran very fast, disappearing down the street in a flash. The group was at a loss.
They had never imagined that one of these animal-masked people would actually flee.
"What's going on... con man?"
Qiao Jiajin helped Qi Xia up from the floor, his face a mask of confusion.
"Why did she run away?"
"I don't know either."
Qi Xia shook his head, but his expression suggested he had realized something. Could "betting on life" mean... He glanced in the direction the Human Rat had fled, hoping to confirm his suspicion, but his eyes widened in shock.
"What is it?"
Qi Xia raised a trembling hand and pointed into the distance. The other three turned to look and were also instantly frozen to the spot. A person was floating in mid-air, blocking the Human Rat's path.
"Damn... Is that the Terminator...?"
Qiao Jiajin's voice trembled. The sight before him was completely beyond anything he could have imagined. The person in mid-air gave a casual wave of their hand, and the Human Rat collapsed to the ground as if all strength had drained from her body.
Immediately after, the two of them vanished from the distance and, in the next second, reappeared right in front of Qi Xia and his companions. This scene, like a deity descending to the mortal world, made the minds of the four people present go completely blank. The person floating in the air was a tall, slender man.
He was bare-chested, wearing only a cape made of blood-red feathers. A few more feathers were tucked into his disheveled long hair. He somersaulted in the air, looking just like a bird.
The four of them were deeply frightened by the scene, and no one dared to utter a word. The Human Rat, meanwhile, was shaking from head to toe, and a whimper seemed to escape from beneath her mask.
"Human Rat, what do you think you're doing?" the man asked softly.
"Were you trying to run away?"
"I... I..."
The Human Rat trembled so hard her voice was distorted.
"Running away won't do."
The man slowly descended to the ground, reaching out to gently stroke the Human Rat's head.
"You need to behave. 'Betting on life' means betting on life."
"Lord Zhuque...!" the Human Rat cried out, her voice a wail.
"Please spare me...!"
"Oh, I can't do that."
The man called Zhuque extended his long, slender fingers and traced them over the Human Rat's mask.
"If you make a bet, you must accept the outcome. He was the one who wanted to bet on life with you. My hands are tied."
A foreboding feeling crept into Qi Xia's heart. He summoned his courage and said to the man, "I... I don't want her life.
I bet my own life only because I wanted to win more 'Dao'."
"Oh?"
Zhuque glanced up at Qi Xia, but his hand slowly moved down to the Human Rat's pale neck, gripping it as one would a real rat. The Human Rat's body stiffened as she trembled, not daring to utter a single word.
"Is that really necessary?"
Qi Xia frowned.
"I was the one who initiated the 'bet on life'. I'm saying now that I don't want her life, I only want the 'Dao'. Killing her does me no good."
Hearing Qi Xia seemingly intercede on her behalf, the Human Rat slowly raised her head to look at him, her eyes brimming with tears. Hearing Qi Xia's words, Zhuque slowly drew his hand back and let out a chuckle.
"How interesting... Human Rat, get up... He has spared you."
He patted the Human Rat on the back.