It's Time for Honest Cooperation

A deathly silence fell over Peach Blossom Paradise the moment those words were spoken.

Bai Wei's gaze flickered between Diana and Luo Qi, while Diana and Luo Qi's eyes were fixed directly on Bai Wei. Since they were all phantoms, their expressions were unclear, making it impossible to guess their thoughts… Oh, Luo Qi was an exception.

Even without seeing his face clearly, both Bai Wei and Diana could sense his current… shock from his subtle movements. This puzzled Diana, as she believed Luo Qi was one of the witnesses tonight, so why would he react like this?

Was he hiding his strength? But his act was far too clumsy.

However, Luo Qi wasn't faking it at all; his surprise stemmed from two points.

The first was that Tongue's death only happened tonight, and less than two hours ago at that. It was understandable that he, being a witness at the scene, knew first, but how did Old Asshole Ulu know?

Luo Qi had originally been contemplating what he could exchange for this firsthand information from Ulu, but this guy already knew. Did he happen to be at the scene too?

Still, with that eye of his, it wasn't particularly surprising that he could know even if he wasn't present.

But what was the deal with Right Eye killing Tongue? Wasn't Isaiah the one who killed Tongue?

What had he missed?

Luo Qi glanced at Bai Wei several times before forcing himself not to blurt out, "Why don't you just say it clearly?"

"Neither of you has questioned the authenticity of this news." Bai Wei nodded with a smile, as if he hadn't noticed Luo Qi's odd behavior. "This also demonstrates your abilities. If either of you had said, 'Why don't you just say it clearly,' I would have tried to distance myself from him… because I heard that intellectual disability is contagious."

Luo Qi's mouth twitched.

"Mr. Hand Eye, you don't seem worried at all." Under normal circumstances, Ring Finger would have enjoyed observing Luo Qi's reaction, but she was in no mood to waste time on an idiot now. After Right Eye killed Tongue and obtained four Corpse Pieces, he had clearly become the most troublesome enemy. At this point, the others in Peach Blossom Paradise would naturally form an alliance, and between Hand Eye and Thumb, Hand Eye was clearly the more suitable ally. "Can I interpret this as all of this being within your predictions?"

"Miss Ring Finger might be overestimating me," Bai Wei replied. "If I truly had the ability to control everything, then Tongue's Corpse Pieces wouldn't have fallen into Right Eye's hands. You should know which Corpse Piece Right Eye wants the most in this Peach Blossom Paradise, right?"

Naturally, it was Left Eye; even Luo Qi knew that.

And Luo Qi wasn't an idiot, at least not a complete one. By this point, he had also figured it out.

Damn it, Right Eye is Isaiah!

No wonder he could kill Tongue, no wonder he could unleash such power in the not-so-bright night sky, and no wonder he hid the three Corpse Pieces.

Because he was Right Eye!

Suddenly, everything made sense.

In an instant, Luo Qi felt a rush of clarity, like a long-standing constipation finally being cleared, but after the relief came a wave of dread.

Fuck, that guy already has four Corpse Pieces?!

And he had been so close to him tonight?! If Isaiah knew he was Thumb, wouldn't he become his next Corpse Piece?

Even though one couldn't sweat in Peach Blossom Paradise, Luo Qi felt a chill run down his spine, as if the clearing process had been a bit too aggressive.

"Right Eye's most desired piece is indeed the other eye," Diana nodded slightly. "But you have two Corpse Pieces and can refuse Peach Blossom Paradise's summons, so you don't need to worry too much about Right Eye coming after you immediately?"

"If someone else had gotten those three Corpse Pieces, I might have had a chance to mediate," Bai Wei shrugged. "But the fact that it was Right Eye who got them, then I can only say that I'm not far from death either."

Diana frowned, recalling their "deal" in Peach Blossom Paradise half a month ago, and immediately pressed, "What did you give him?!"

"My current location," Bai Wei said. "And I made a promise to Peach Blossom Paradise that I cannot leave this place within a month."

At this moment, even the calm Diana's expression turned grim.

Right Eye, having consumed Tongue's three Corpse Pieces, was already unrivaled. Furthermore, he knew Hand Eye's location.

This meant that whenever he pleased, he could consume Hand Eye!

Four Corpse Pieces against two, and the one with four Corpse Pieces was Isaiah, the number one under the gods. Diana couldn't fathom how Hand Eye could resist.

She could already envision Diana's two Corpse Pieces being added to Isaiah's collection.

At this moment, Luo Qi caught up with their line of thought and his eyes widened abruptly, "Then why the hell aren't you running?!"

"With Peach Blossom Paradise's restrictions, how can I run?" Bai Wei said. "Do you think I'm Visas?"

"But what will you do if you don't run?!"

"That depends on what you guys do."

"Us?"

"Yes." Bai Wei spread his hands. "My expectation was that the three of you would fight amongst yourselves over the spoils of war when you tried to kill Tongue, allowing me to pick up the leftovers. I never expected Right Eye to be able to defeat Tongue single-handedly. And now, this is the worst possible situation for me. If he comes for me, I will have no room to fight back."

"Then why are you still so relaxed?"

"Because if I die, you guys won't be able to escape either," Bai Wei said with a smile. "Even if I go to hell first, you'll soon follow to keep me company. Since I can't change my own fate, seeing you fail along with me will at least make me feel a little better."

Luo Qi stared blankly for a long moment before slamming his hand on the table, "You motherf..."

"Alright." Diana stopped Luo Qi's outburst and then looked at Bai Wei. "Mr. Hand Eye, since it has come to this, there's no need for any more probing. The number of Corpse Pieces among the three of us combined can only match Right Eye. If we don't cooperate sincerely at this point, none of us will escape death, so let's stop with the meaningless talk."

"Tsk, I was just afraid of being stabbed in the back," Bai Wei said with a smile. "If everyone here was as sensible as Miss Ring Finger, I wouldn't need to remind them in such a roundabout way."

Who the hell are you subtly referring to!

Luo Qi really wanted to explode, but he managed to restrain himself.

With the conversation reaching this point, Luo Qi understood why Hand Eye had called for a Corpse Friends meeting of Peach Blossom Paradise so promptly. After all, if he waited any longer, he would also become a corpse.

Although Luo Qi really wanted to see Old Asshole Ulu get into trouble, at this moment, even he had to hold his nose and pray that Ulu wouldn't die.

"The first priority now is to ensure your life, Mr. Hand Eye," Diana said, thinking as she asked, "What level of restriction does Peach Blossom Paradise impose? Is there really no way for you to leave the agreed-upon location? Is it primarily based on subjective will or actual actions?"

"Subjective will," Bai Wei replied. "As long as I have the thought in my heart that 'I have violated the agreement of Peach Blossom Paradise,' then I have broken the contract, and Peach Blossom Paradise's punishment will follow."

Diana frowned slightly.

From this perspective, the constraints of Peach Blossom Paradise are very similar to those of Contract Land. It's highly likely that the latter was derived from the former.

Luo Qi asked, "What if someone knocks you out and carries you away? Is there any such loophole? That way, you wouldn't be leaving subjectively, right?"

"Mr. Thumb always comes up with suggestions that make my head spin."

"Stop being so passive-aggressive! Just say yes or no!" Luo Qi lost his temper.

"It won't work," Bai Wei hadn't even had a chance to answer before Diana shook her head first and said, "As long as his heart believes it to be a breach of contract, he cannot escape it."

Luo Qi subconsciously said, "Then what if he doesn't think that way?"

Diana began to regret engaging with Luo Qi.

"In short, I can't leave this place," Bai Wei said. "I also don't want to experience Peach Blossom Paradise's punishment, so let's think of another way."

"Then shall I send people to protect you?" Luo Qi asked again. Seeing them both look at him, he immediately realized his statement was a bit off and quickly tried to fix it. "I have a friend who has a bit of influence, not me, I don't have any influence..."

Is that the main point?

Diana couldn't help but sigh, feeling a headache for having such an ally.

"Thank you very much for Mr. Thumb's kind offer," Bai Wei said with a smile. "But I don't want to reveal my location for now. After all, it makes no difference to me whether the one looking for me is Right Eye or someone else, does it?"

"You actually think I'm trying to pocket your Corpse Pieces for myself?!"

"I have to take precautions."

Damn it, I've been seen through.

Luo Qi said calmly, "If you are so narrow-minded, then there's nothing I can do."

"If there's nothing you can do, then so be it," Bai Wei said slowly. "After all, if I get killed, you won't escape either."

Luo Qi gritted his teeth, cursing internally how Rhine could produce a scoundrel like Ulu!

"You can't leave, and I can't protect you," Diana said softly. "Then there's only one way... stall Right Eye, so he doesn't have time to find you."

Luo Qi looked at Diana in confusion. "Who has the ability to stall Right Eye? He already has four Corpse Pieces."

"It's not about stalling through combat," Diana said calmly. "It's about using other means. Right Eye's identity is known now, and he wouldn't dare expose that he has four Corpse Pieces. Since that's the case, there's still a lot of room for us to maneuver."

Luo Qi also understood Diana's meaning.

"Leave this matter to me," Diana said to Bai Wei. "I can make it so he can't find you."

Bai Wei asked, "Can you really do it?"

Diana replied concisely, "No problem."

This answer made Luo Qi glance at Diana more closely, then ponder in his heart what her real identity might be.

To this day, although they haven't fully revealed their hands, they can roughly guess each other's identities. After all, they all learned of Isaiah killing Tongue at the first opportunity. Therefore, pretending to be innocent bystanders at this point would be meaningless. It would be better to show their worth.

Understanding this, Luo Qi cleared his throat. "Ahem, I will also try to stop him."

Diana glanced at Luo Qi without saying anything more.

Bai Wei just smiled. "Then I'll be counting on both of you."

"It's just a matter of banding together," Diana said, looking at Bai Wei again. "And this is not without cost. It's like a transaction; if I help you, you should help us too."

"Yes, yes," Luo Qi quickly chimed in. "You can't just watch and then run off when the time comes, leaving us with only one Corpse Piece."

"Don't worry, we're all in the same boat now, none of us can escape," Bai Wei said with a smile. "If we don't work together to deal with him, we'll all die."

"Including you?"

"Of course, including me," Bai Wei said. "Of course, you might think I have two Corpse Pieces and can refuse Peach Blossom Paradise, but he has four Corpse Pieces. Do you know what four Corpse Pieces can do?"

Luo Qi immediately became nervous. "What can they do?"

"I don't know."

Luo Qi was stunned, then angered again. "You damn..."

"I don't have four Corpse Pieces, so how would I know? But people are alive, and things we don't know can be inferred from patterns," Bai Wei interrupted Luo Qi's impending outburst of profanity. "Take Tongue as an example. Tongue had three Corpse Pieces."

"So what?"

"Let me put it more clearly," Bai Wei said, crossing his hands and resting his chin on them, scanning the two of them. "Have you both dealt with Tongue? Then have you ever thought about how he found you?"

The two of them immediately became serious.

Yes, they seemed to have overlooked something.

That was, Tongue seemed to be the only one present who had interacted with every person from Peach Blossom Paradise in the real world.

He fought Hand Eye, battled Luo Qi, and was finally killed by Right Eye.

During this time, he also had dealings with Diana.

This meant that Tongue knew everyone's identity.

... Was this really a coincidence?

"It seems you understand what I mean," Bai Wei said. "Tongue has interacted with all of us in reality. Can this be understood as him having three Corpse Pieces? Two Corpse Pieces can open Peach Blossom Paradise, so do three Corpse Pieces still only open Peach Blossom Paradise?"

"You think three Corpse Pieces gave Tongue some new ability from Peach Blossom Paradise that transcends the rules of Corpse Pieces?" Diana said. "And it's with this ability that he's been able to contact each of us on the physical plane?"

"Don't you think that possibility is quite high?"

"Then why did he still lose to Right Eye?"

"Probably because this ability can only be used to find people," Bai Wei shrugged. "As for whether he can win after finding them, that's another matter."

Bai Wei's words made Diana and Luo Qi's hearts grow heavy.

If Tongue could find Right Eye with three Corpse Pieces, then Right Eye could naturally find them with four Corpse Pieces.

"Is this really possible?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Bai Wei said. "Haven't you noticed that Right Eye hasn't opened Peach Blossom Paradise to summon you two until now?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's just a guess, not necessarily correct," Bai Wei said slowly. "Tongue has three Corpse Pieces, and three Corpse Pieces allow him to more easily contact or sense other Corpse Piece holders. But he doesn't know what specific pieces they have, so he also needs to use Peach Blossom Paradise to gather intelligence for himself and to evade my pursuit. But Right Eye is different. Four Corpse Pieces give him higher authority, so is there a possibility..."

Bai Wei paused.

"That he no longer needs to rely on Peach Blossom Paradise to find each of us?"