My Tactics

Qi Xia gripped his hair tightly, patiently waiting for the headache to pass.

About half a minute later, his breathing steadied. He slowly lowered his hands and stood up.

His expression was as though nothing had happened.

The headache was like a gust of wind sweeping past him. Fierce as its arrival was, it always faded quietly at some point.

Lin Qin glanced at Qi Xia and asked, "A-are you all right? Do you get headaches often?"

"No, this is only the second time I can remember." Qi Xia sighed and said, "It probably has something to do with this damned place."

Lin Qin wanted to ask more, but Qi Xia clearly did not want to dwell on the subject.

"We're short on time. Even if there were worms in my brain, I wouldn't get a diagnosis here." Qi Xia looked up at the dark red sky and continued, "Thanks to that little girl, we learned a lot of useful information."

"Did we?" Tiantian looked at Human Rat's body on the ground, her expression still sorrowful. "I feel like the only useful information was the rules about 'betting your life.' And that child died for it."

"Not just that," Qi Xia said. "I thought this was a land filled with chaos and madness, but now it seems this place has 'rules' of its own."

"'Rules'...?"

"That's right." Qi Xia nodded. "That man called 'Vermilion Bird' just now must be one of the administrators here."

"An administrator? You mean that 'birdman'?" Qiao Jiajin asked.

"Yes. He appeared to make sure the 'rules' weren't broken."

"But why wasn't an administrator wearing clothes...?" Tiantian sounded puzzled. "He was naked except for a cape. It looked so strange."

"Compared with all his other bizarre behavior, 'not wearing clothes' was the most normal thing about him." Qi Xia paused, then added, "These are only the clues we've seen. There might be others above the 'administrators.'"

Something seemed to occur to Lin Qin. "Right... that man called Vermilion Bird said something like, 'If the rules didn't stop me, I'd definitely kill you.'"

Qiao Jiajin nodded too. "If someone can keep a lunatic with superpowers like that in check, whoever's above him must be even scarier."

"'Superpowers'?" Qi Xia frowned. "I haven't heard that word in ages."

"Weren't those superpowers? Like the Terminator." Qiao Jiajin gestured as he spoke. "That guy was flying through the sky!"

All three of the others paused at his words.

"What does 'Terminator' mean?" Lin Qin looked at Qiao Jiajin curiously.

"You dress so trendy, but you're actually a country bumpkin?" Qiao Jiajin gave a guileless grin. "You haven't even seen The Terminator?"

"T-trendy?" Lin Qin opened her mouth awkwardly. Only the older generation used that word these days. Saying it at all was old-fashioned enough.

Yet someone like that was calling her uncool.

Qiao Jiajin nudged Qi Xia with his elbow and asked, "Hey, Liar Boy, you've seen it, right? Arnold Schwarzenegger. That guy's ridiculously cool!"

"Arnold Schwarzenegger...?" Lin Qin felt as though she had heard the name before, but also as though she hadn't.

"I don't care about the 'Terminator' or Schwarzenegger, and I don't care how unbelievable that birdman is." Qi Xia paused to collect himself, then said, "Right now, I only want to know how far the 'rules' extend and how much they govern."

The three of them exchanged glances, not understanding what Qi Xia meant.

"Liar Boy, what are you planning?"

Qi Xia slowly raised a hand and drew it across his neck, then told the three of them, "I want to know whether 'killing people for Dao' is actually an option."

At those words, Lin Qin and Tiantian each took a step back.

Only Qiao Jiajin stayed where he was.

"Kill people for 'Dao'?" Qiao Jiajin frowned, his expression deadly serious. "You mean... if you can't collect three thousand six hundred 'Dao' within ten days, you'll rob other people?"

"Yes. It's the most effective method I can think of," Qi Xia said. "We're a team now. If I'm going to do something that big, I'll need your help, so I'm telling you the plan now to hear what you think."

"I won't help you." Qiao Jiajin shook his head firmly. "Even if the sky comes crashing down here, I won't do anything unjust. The people who have 'Dao' probably went through hell to survive, just like us. What right do we have to kill them?"

"Is that so...?" Qi Xia nodded with a conflicted expression. "But if we want to escape this damned place, this is our only option. That's three thousand six hundred 'Dao'... Are you sure you don't want to try?"

"I refuse too," Lin Qin said. "I don't think this is a good idea. If we really kill someone, even if we get out of here, we'll never be able to live the way we did before."

Tiantian thought for a long while before saying, "Yes. If it means killing someone else, I'd rather die first."

Qi Xia looked into the eyes of all three of them and considered for a long while before the corners of his mouth finally lifted slightly.

"Good. Now I can tell you my real plan without worrying."

"What...?" Qiao Jiajin froze. "Damn, Liar Boy, you were testing us?!"

Qi Xia nodded and said, "If the three of you could accept a plan like 'killing people for Dao,' it would only prove we're not the same kind of people. I'd abandon you at any time."

"You..." Qiao Jiajin was nearly beside himself with anger at Qi Xia. "I thought you really were going to kill people."

"Logically, the 'rules' couldn't allow something like 'killing people for Dao,'" Qi Xia explained. "Although I don't know exactly what the rules here are, they seem to maintain a kind of 'bizarre fairness.' Those administrators are more like 'referees.' If they really are 'referees,' they're bound to ensure the participants' safety."

He paused, then added, "In other words... they want us to die in the games, not kill one another."

Everyone fell somewhat silent at Qi Xia's words.

After a while, Lin Qin came to her senses and asked, "In that case, what's your real plan?"

"My plan isn't complicated," Qi Xia replied. "Since these games won't kill us, we'll 'test' them one by one. You'll go first to figure out the rules and gather clues along the way. Once we're confident... I'll 'bet my life.' We'll split all the 'Dao' we win equally. Until we reach three thousand six hundred, we can keep using this tactic."