Dragon Tiger Daoist listened to Jiang Qiao.
His brows furrowed slightly.
He stared into Jiang Qiao's eyes for a long while, as though trying to judge how much truth there was in his words. After a brief silence, he spoke slowly:
"You mean finding a way to give up my status as a sacrificial offering?"
"Exactly." Jiang Qiao nodded. "You're trapped here because, to put it plainly, this square has identified you as a sacrificial offering."
"And if you're a sacrificial offering..."
"Then naturally, you can't leave the altar."
"Have you ever seen an offering of pork head meat sprout legs and run away?"
The corner of Dragon Tiger Daoist's mouth twitched.
The comparison was crude, but surprisingly apt.
"There's a problem."
Dragon Tiger Daoist said gravely, "According to you, I'm a sacrificial offering."
"If something goes wrong with an offering—say it spoils, starts stinking, or becomes unusable—then yes, it should be thrown away. But how can I be sure that the process of 'spoiling' won't kill me outright?"
He put it delicately.
But his meaning was clear.
If the offering spoiled, didn't that mean he would die?
"Under normal circumstances, yes." Jiang Qiao didn't deny it. "Right now, you're fresh stock. Spoiling would mean damaging yourself to the point where you could no longer be used."
"Generally speaking..."
"That really would be no different from suicide."
"But the situation here is a little different."
"How is it different?" Dragon Tiger Daoist asked.
"You can't leave the square."
Jiang Qiao pointed at the flagstones beneath his feet. "That Headless Corpse's killing rule is based on the condition that 'someone attempts to leave the square.'"
"It attacks you the moment you leave."
"In other words..."
"Its rule may only punish those who try to escape, without preserving the condition of the