Jubilation

Human Rat was still shaken. She glanced nervously at Vermilion Bird, as though seeking his permission.

"What? Do you need me to help you up?" Vermilion Bird asked with a smile.

"N-no..." Human Rat shakily got to her feet.

After a long pause, she finally said to Qi Xia, "Thank you! Thank you!"

Qi Xia shook his head. "You don't need to thank me. I just..."

Squish.

Before he could finish, Qi Xia saw a hand burst through Human Rat's abdomen.

Her body went rigid, and her voice cut off abruptly.

Warm, sticky blood splashed all over Qi Xia.

Vermilion Bird slowly embraced Human Rat from behind, as though holding a lover.

"This child has such good manners." Vermilion Bird closed his eyes and pressed his face against Human Rat's cheek, as though breathing in her scent. "Saying 'thank you' is a good habit. But you broke the rules and actually tried to run away. He let you go, but I won't."

With that, Vermilion Bird reached out with his other hand, removed Human Rat's mask, and tossed it onto the ground.

Face-to-face with Human Rat, Qi Xia could now see her clearly.

This "Human Rat" was nothing more than a teenage girl.

Her face still held the softness of childhood. Her tear-filled eyes were full of fear and despair, and she was coughing up blood.

"It... it hurts..." Human Rat spat out a large mouthful of blood.

"Be good... it won't hurt much longer..." Vermilion Bird rubbed his nose against Human Rat's hair. "You'll die very soon. Don't worry... don't worry... once you're dead, it'll all be over..."

"What kind of sick bastard are you?!" Qiao Jiajin couldn't bear to watch any longer. "She's just a kid! Fuck your mother... let her go!"

Vermilion Bird sneered, pulled out his blood-drenched hand, and shoved Human Rat forward.

Qi Xia instinctively caught the girl in his arms, his face filled with disbelief.

Yes, this was what it meant to "wager your life."

If he won, the other person would die.

Even if he didn't want her life, she would still have to die.

Qi Xia had forced this little girl called Human Rat straight into death's arms.

He had thought he was only wagering his own life. It had never occurred to him that the other side would put up the same stake.

But weren't they among the Organizers of the games?

Were the people wearing these animal masks also some kind of "participants"?

"Qi Xia, why are you here?" Vermilion Bird shook the blood from his hand and asked coldly.

"Wha..." Qi Xia froze, then looked up at him. "You know my name?"

The corners of Vermilion Bird's mouth rose slightly. Then he pointed at the four of them and named them in turn. "Qi Xia, Qiao Jiajin, Lin Qin, Zhang Lijuan. Why are you here?"

Tiantian froze as well. "Zhang Lijuan" was her real name, but she hadn't used it since she was fourteen.

"What do you mean, 'why are we here'?" Lin Qin asked. "If we aren't supposed to be here, where should we be?"

A knowing smile remained on Vermilion Bird's face. He slowly shook his head and said, "It seems you really don't know why you're here. How utterly pathetic."

"If you have something to say, say it. What's the point of being so cryptic?" Qi Xia held the dying Human Rat in his arms, his gaze icy. "Do you think keeping us guessing makes you seem profound?"

At those words, Vermilion Bird's eyes slowly hardened, and the ever-present smile vanished from his face.

"Qi Xia, I really can't stand you." Vermilion Bird looked at him with contempt. "You'll never escape. Just rot here."

"Oh?" At this point, Qi Xia had nothing left to fear. He pressed on aggressively. "You want me to rot here? Are you going to kill me now?"

In a flash, Vermilion Bird flew to Qi Xia's side, his feathered cloak billowing behind him.

He seized Qi Xia by the collar and snarled, "If the rules didn't stop me, I'd tear you to pieces right here!"

"So... according to the 'rules,' you can't kill me," Qi Xia replied.

"Heh..." Vermilion Bird finally smiled again. "Even if I don't kill you, you'll still die here."

Under everyone's wary gazes, Vermilion Bird slowly floated into the air like a god.

"Why do you think I'll die here?" Qi Xia looked up and asked.

"Because you're Qi Xia, you're destined to die here." Vermilion Bird snorted, then vanished without a trace.

He didn't fly away like an immortal in a television show, nor did he emit light as though casting a spell. His entire body simply disappeared in midair.

The sudden change left everyone bewildered.

Because I'm Qi Xia... I'll die here?

"Cough..." Human Rat coughed in Qi Xia's arms.

Qi Xia lowered his head and looked at her. The girl's face was so clean that she didn't seem to belong to this world.

His feelings were tangled. If he hadn't chosen to wager his life, this girl probably wouldn't have met such an end.

Thinking back carefully, she had never acted against Qi Xia from the start.

One "Dao" in exchange for one "Dao."

Perhaps she had been telling the truth: Qi Xia would never find another game this simple or this safe.

Human Rat reached into her pocket and slowly took out three "Dao." Then she said with difficulty, "What a shame... I waited here for so long. You were my first participants. I thought I'd finally earn some 'Dao'..."

She placed the "Dao" in Qi Xia's hand, then said haltingly, "One of these is your entry fee. The other three are my own 'Dao.' They're all yours now..."

The four of them looked at the girl before them, unsure what to say.

By their respective roles, they should have been enemies. Yet the girl's helplessness and despair struck deep inside them, stirring a resonance none of them could quite explain.

"Are you some kind of participant too?" Qi Xia asked coldly.

Instead, Human Rat smiled at his question. Blood began flowing from her mouth again. "Who here isn't a 'participant'...? Honestly... I'd rather be like you and never have put on the 'Rat' mask... even though none of us can get out..."

Her head slowly fell to one side, and her arm dropped to the ground.

The two women sighed beside her. Even Qiao Jiajin looked sorrowful.

But Qi Xia's expression remained as cold as ever.

He laid the girl flat on the ground and slowly stood up. No one knew what he was thinking.

"Qi Xia... are you okay?" Lin Qin asked.

"Me?" Qi Xia paused slightly. "Do I look... like something's wrong?"

"Because there's no expression on your face at all... that isn't normal."

"I..."

Before he could finish, a splitting pain suddenly tore through Qi Xia's head. He let out an agonized scream, clutched his head, and crouched down.

"Hey! You liar!" Qiao Jiajin could tell something was wrong with Qi Xia. He had suffered a headache that morning too, when Han Yimo died.

Qi Xia felt as though his head were about to split open. Something was throbbing deep inside his brain.