Lin Qin was startled by Qi Xia's behavior and hurried forward to hold him back.
"Qi Xia... calm down..."
She did not quite understand why the usually calm Qi Xia had suddenly become so furious. Qi Xia still did not let go. He tightly grabbed Doctor Zhao's collar and gritted his teeth as he spoke.
"How do you expect me to calm down? Do you know how many people I've seen die right in front of me just today?!"
Hearing this, Lin Qin silently lowered her head. It was true. From the Human Rat at the very beginning, to Qiao Jiajin and Tian Tian at the end, they had experienced too many moments bordering on death.
"No wonder..."
Qi Xia continued.
"No wonder your first reaction upon hearing someone come through the door was to hit them with a wooden board... You knew Officer Li and Lawyer Zhang were never coming back, didn't you?"
A trace of panic appeared on Doctor Zhao's face.
"No... Qi Xia, listen to me, there was nothing I could do. Those two really wanted to go throw their lives away..."
"Throw their lives away?"
Qi Xia coldly scoffed.
"You have never stepped foot outside this room, so you know absolutely nothing about this place. Officer Li must have talked with the bull head across the street. He found out that the games here are not fatal, and instead, there is a chance to obtain Dao. That is why he took Lawyer Zhang and left together."
"Huh?"
Doctor Zhao revealed a look of deep confusion. It seemed like this was genuinely the first time he had heard this information.
"Not fatal? How... how could that be?"
Xiao Ran climbed up from the ground at this moment, wiped the dirt from her face, and turned her head with an angry expression.
"Zhao Haibo! What are you just standing there for?! They are walking all over us!"
"B-but I..."
Doctor Zhao's expression was obviously not looking good.
"Useless!"
Xiao Ran shouted in frustration.
"How can you be so completely useless?!"
Qi Xia looked at Xiao Ran, and then looked at Doctor Zhao. He suddenly felt somewhat disheartened. Where would he find the time to keep arguing with these two here?
At this thought, he silently let go of his grip. Right now, Qi Xia had completely lost his sense of direction. Where could Officer Li and Lawyer Zhang have gone?
Did they meet a Zodiac whose title starts with the word Earth? Did they participate in a life-gambling game? Are they even still alive?
Rustle, rustle. Rustle, rustle.
The chirping of bugs outside the door grew even louder and more chaotic. It sounded as if a cricket was crouching right outside the door, making it impossible for anyone to calm down and think.
"Qi Xia, what should we do?"
Lin Qin asked with a sorrowful expression. Qi Xia raised his head and asked Doctor Zhao, "Did the two of them say where they were going?" He still held onto a final sliver of hope in his heart.
Officer Li was a cautious person. If he really was going far away, he should have left behind some sort of clue.
"No..."
Doctor Zhao shook his head.
"But after they finished the game with the bull head across the street, I saw them walk down the street to the right..."
"To the right?"
Qi Xia looked at the pitch-black sky outside and began calculating things in his head. Officer Li probably would not go too far. He most likely just wanted to get away from these two people.
After all, he had told him that he hoped they could meet again someday to exchange information. If that was the case, he should still be moving around in this area. Besides the restaurant across the street, it was highly possible he was in the game room closest to here.
After figuring out the general direction, Qi Xia felt more certain in his heart. Even though the sky was pitch-black right now, he truly did not want to stay in the same place as these two people any longer. So, he picked up a wooden stick from inside the room and slowly walked over to Han Yimo's corpse.
He said in a low voice, "Brother, you cannot even find peace in death. I am sorry to have to do this to you."
"What are you doing now?"
Xiao Ran asked in an annoyed tone. Qi Xia did not answer. He simply tore off a piece of clothing from Han Yimo's body and wrapped it around the tip of the wooden stick.
Then, he used the stick to smear some dry filth from the ground onto the cloth. After finishing all of this, he walked over to the firelight in the room and ignited the end with the piece of cloth. A simple torch was now ready.
"Lin Qin, I am going out to find them," Qi Xia said.
"I don't know if there will be any danger out there, but I do not want to stay here. Do you want to wait here until morning? Once the sun comes up, whether I find them or not, I will come back to get you."
Hearing this, Lin Qin turned her head to look at Xiao Ran and Doctor Zhao, then shook her head.
"No, I will go with you."
After she spoke, she picked up the pot containing the bear meat and stood by Qi Xia's side.
"What is this..."
Doctor Zhao finally noticed the battered aluminum pot, his eyes practically glowing.
"This is..."
Lin Qin paused, then shook her head.
"It is nothing."
"Is it food?!"
Doctor Zhao immediately took a step forward.
"Did you find something to eat?"
Xiao Ran's expression also changed slightly at this moment.
"You have food to eat?"
The look in their eyes had become somewhat inhuman, resembling starving wild beasts instead. Qi Xia pulled Lin Qin behind him, standing as a barrier between them. He slowly said, "I am sorry, but this is not for you to eat."
"Qi, Qi Xia..."
Doctor Zhao said in a trembling voice.
"No, Brother Xia... we went a little too far just now. Please do not take it to heart."
"Yes..."
Xiao Ran also forced out a slight smile.
"Who in this world does not bicker sometimes... Besides, as a grown man, are you really going to stay angry at a woman like me? I was just joking with you earlier..."
"Exactly, exactly..."
Doctor Zhao chimed in, echoing Xiao Ran.
"There is quite a lot in your pot. We will just eat a little bit. There is no way we would eat it all..."
Qi Xia's expression darkened once again. He said, "The food in this pot is what Qiao Jiajin risked his life to earn. You can go ask him.
If he agrees, I will have no objections either." Hearing this, the expression on Xiao Ran's face shifted continuously. After pausing for a moment, she directly lunged toward the pot.
Qi Xia had fully anticipated this move. Letting out a helpless sigh, he reached out his hand and blocked her.
"What, you gave up on the con and switched to robbery?"
Qi Xia said with a hint of mockery.
"There is nowhere in this world that is beyond the law. I suggest you think things through very carefully. After all, there originally was a police officer in your team."
"You..."
Qi Xia coldly scoffed and pushed Xiao Ran away. Holding his torch, he walked out the door, with Lin Qin closely following behind him. It was only at this moment that Xiao Ran and Doctor Zhao finally understood what it meant to watch a sure meal slip through their fingers.
That pot of food with its faint, savory aroma was right in front of their eyes, yet they could not even get a single touch.
"You are not leaving!"
Xiao Ran shouted loudly, rushing out the door after Qi Xia once again. The world outside the door was entirely pitch-black, save for the dim light of the torch and the chirping of insects. But to Xiao Ran's surprise, Qi Xia and Lin Qin were currently standing completely still, just three paces outside the door with their backs facing her.
"Hmm?"
A few seconds later, she saw Qi Xia and Lin Qin slowly take a step backward.
"Hey, what is wrong with you two?"
Xiao Ran asked. Moving as stiffly as a robot, Lin Qin turned her head back. Her eyes were filled with absolute terror.
She placed a finger over her lips, making a gesture for silence.
"Is there something wrong with your brains?"
Xiao Ran said in irritation.
"You can leave if you want! But leave the pot behind!"
Right after saying those words, Xiao Ran felt that something was not quite right. The torch in Qi Xia's hand illuminated a small area. Beneath the dim light of the flames, it looked as though something was moving.
In the next second, Xiao Ran clearly saw what was beneath the firelight. Her eyes instantly widened, and an expression of extreme terror surfaced on her face. Right in front of Qi Xia was a naked man, entirely pale and so horribly skinny that he barely looked human.
He was on all fours, his two legs splayed out behind him, crawling across the ground in a highly unnatural and uncoordinated posture. On his shriveled face hung two hollowed-out eye sockets. His mouth was pursed tightly as he continuously let out a sound: "Rustle, rustle—" "Rustle, rustle—"