After a brief tidying up, everyone followed Old Lu toward the game venue. Perhaps it was just as Old Lu had said. Because he spent all year setting up his street stall, he was particularly familiar with the intricate and winding alleyways of the city.
The group followed him as he wove through various narrow alleys. There were several times when Qi Xia felt as if he had completely lost his sense of direction. Old Lu, on the other hand, walked as leisurely as if he were strolling through his own courtyard, constantly taking left and right turns.
During the walk, Qi Xia spotted the numbers Old Lu had mentioned several times. Besides the 52 he had seen before, Qi Xia also saw a 19 and a 34. He guessed that Old Lu might be right. These numbers were likely just markers someone had written down to remember the way.
After about twenty minutes, the group arrived in front of a dilapidated motel. A Dog was standing at the entrance, seemingly talking to a few people. As Qi Xia and his three companions drew closer to take a look, their expressions instantly changed.
The Dog mask before them was simply too realistic. It was the face of a large bulldog. His suit was a glossy black, and his tailored shirt was completely spotless.
"It is an Earth Dog..."
Qi Xia froze for a moment. Zhang Chenze blinked slightly and asked, "What does Earth Dog mean? Isn't it a Human Dog?"
"An Earth Dog is one level higher than a Human Dog," Qi Xia said, rubbing his chin.
"In an Earth-tier game, people will actually die."
"Die..."
Zhang Chenze was taken aback.
"Are we still going to participate then?"
"This..."
Qi Xia frowned in deep thought. Even though it was an Earth-tier game, it was still a cooperative type. As long as the four of them worked together of one mind, Qi Xia was confident they could win.
Thinking of this, he turned his head and looked seriously at Zhang Chenze and Old Lu.
"Can you guarantee that you will listen to my arrangements?"
"I can," Zhang Chenze nodded.
"I can," Old Lu agreed.
Hearing this, Qi Xia felt somewhat relieved.
"Great, someone is here!" a shout came from the direction of the Earth Dog.
"We can finally start now, right?"
Qi Xia turned to look and saw that the young people standing next to the Earth Dog were all looking in their direction.
"What is going on? I thought we needed a team of four?"
Qi Xia asked Old Lu in confusion.
"I have no idea either. That Dog told me this morning that we could only participate with a team of four."
Qi Xia walked up and observed the four people. There were three men and one woman. They all looked to be in their twenties.
One of the men and the woman had their arms around each other, appearing to be a couple. These people carried a ruffian-like air, and their hair was dyed in various bright colors. The first impression they gave Qi Xia was not very good.
If Qiao Jiajin gave the initial impression of a renowned enforcer among thugs, then these young people looked like nothing more than the lowest level street punks.
"Do you want to participate in my game?" the Earth Dog's deep voice suddenly echoed out.
"The entry fee is one Dao per person, and life or death will be left to fate. The losing team will be entirely eliminated. The surviving team will receive a reward of five Dao per person, as well as all the spoils from the eliminated team."
"Entirely eliminated?!"
Everyone was stunned.
"What are the rules?"
Qi Xia asked coldly.
"Pay the ticket, and you will know the rules."
"This again..."
Qi Xia shook his head helplessly. It had been the exact same way with the Earth Bull's game. Before paying the ticket, they would not even know what kind of situation they were walking into.
"Hey, are you guys going to do it or not?"
A punk with dyed green hair looked rather impatient.
"Are you scared before we even start playing?"
Qi Xia ignored the green-haired punk. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Earth Dog, does your game involve random team assignment?"
"Random team assignment..."
Old Lu and Lin Qin seemed to realize something. This was indeed a serious problem. If the Earth Dog decided to copy the Earth Bull and suddenly scrambled everyone's teams after they paid the ticket, the outcome of the game would be impossible to predict.
"It will not," the Earth Dog said.
"You will maintain your current teams from start to finish. Every effort you make will be to fight for the benefits of your own team."
Hearing these words, Qi Xia finally let out a slow sigh of relief. It seemed that this was a genuine teamwork-based game through and through. However, since there were two teams present, there was an eighty percent chance they would be pitted against each other.
Seeing that Qi Xia was still hesitating, Old Lu hurriedly pulled out four Dao and handed them over.
"Old Lu..."
Qi Xia frowned.
"What are you doing?"
"It is my treat this time," Old Lu gave a sly smile.
"If we end up winning, just give me a slightly larger share."
"I will not give you a larger share," Qi Xia stated.
"Any Dao we win will be split equally among all of us. Otherwise, I will leave right now."
"Well..."
Old Lu sighed, then nodded with clear displeasure.
"Ah, fine, fine... You really are stingy to the bone, kid."
Both teams proceeded to pay their tickets. What no one expected was that, right after they paid for their tickets, the Earth Dog's attitude took a sudden one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn. He practically danced with joy, waving them inside like a host graciously receiving guests, gesturing for all eight of them to enter the building.
"Please come in, everyone!" the Earth Dog said with a wide smile.
"Welcome to my game venue!"
Although everyone wore expressions of confusion, they had no choice but to awkwardly follow him inside. Upon entering the building, Qi Xia took a look around the dilapidated motel. The interior layout was rather simple.
There was a long corridor on both the left and the right, and each corridor had several rooms along it.
"I wonder if any of you enjoy watching spy thrillers?" the Earth Dog asked, rubbing his hands together.
Qi Xia noticed that the backs of the Earth Dog's hands were furry, as if he were wearing incredibly realistic gloves.
"Spy thrillers? Who watches that crap?" a blond punk shook his head.
"Cut the nonsense and just tell us what we are going to play."
"My, you are impatient..."
The Earth Dog pulled two stacks of cards from a drawer at the front desk. He handed them forward and said, "Although you are split into teams of four, every person within the team will have their own Identity Card. Now, please draw your identities."
Qi Xia looked at the stack of Identity Cards. They looked very much like the cards he had seen when he first met the goat-head man. The words Nuwa Game were written across the back of every card.
Lin Qin, who was standing at the front of the group, took their four cards. She turned her head and asked, "Who wants to draw first?"
"It is all the same. You just deal the cards," Zhang Chenze said.
Lin Qin nodded at that. She turned the cards face down, shuffled them, and then handed them out to the other three one by one. Qi Xia took his Identity Card and looked at it, an expression of sheer confusion appearing on his face.
Written on it was Sender.
"Do we need to keep these a secret?"
Old Lu asked cautiously, pressing his card tightly against his chest. Everyone looked toward the Earth Dog.
"There is no need for that," the Earth Dog said with a smile.
"Team members are allowed to check each other's identities. If you would prefer, you can even trade identities with one another."
Hearing this, the group gathered around Qi Xia, forming a tight circle. They flipped their cards over one by one. Every person's identity was different.
Qi Xia's identity was Sender. Lin Qin's identity was Receiver. Zhang Chenze's identity was Hostage.
"What about yours?"
Qi Xia looked at Old Lu, noticing that he was still refusing to reveal his card.
"Mine... This card of mine... How should I put this..."
Having run out of patience, Qi Xia did not bother asking again. He grabbed Old Lu's wrist directly and forcefully flipped the card over to reveal it. Written upon it was Spy.