The haul

"What did you say?" Qi Xia's eyes widened. "You said you've seen... someone escape this place?"

"That's right." Zhang Shan nodded. "Though, to be precise... we only found that person's notes."

"That's..." Qi Xia felt something was off. "You only found their notes, and you decided they'd escaped?"

Zhang Shan smiled and nodded, then said to Qi Xia, "Buddy, let me make this clear first. If you join us, we can share this information with you. But right now... whether you believe me or not, that's all I'm saying."

Qi Xia more or less understood what Zhang Shan meant, but he really couldn't tell whether the man was telling the truth.

Just then, a slightly chubby young woman overheard Zhang Shan and came over. "Hey... are you still taking people? I can do anything..."

Zhang Shan looked at her and smiled. "Miss, it's not that I don't want to take you in, but our goal is to beat every game. Do you have the resolve to face the dangers ahead?"

The young woman silently lowered her head. After thinking for a while, she said, "I do."

"Ha!" Zhang Shan didn't seem to believe her. He slowly walked over and said, "Miss, don't push yourself. Just stay alive."

Having failed to convince Zhang Shan, her expression darkened.

Seeing that no one else in the room was speaking, Zhang Shan glanced at Qi Xia again. He fished a scrap of paper out of his pocket, dipped a finger in the blood on his body, and drew a rough map.

"This is where we're based." Zhang Shan handed the scrap to Qi Xia. "If you change your mind, come find us."

Qi Xia took the paper, still watching the three men warily. Zhang Shan paid that no mind. He put an arm around Little Glasses, picked up the two bear arms from the floor, and limped toward the door.

"Hey," Qi Xia called.

"Hm?"

Zhang Shan turned around, only to see something white flying toward his face. He hurriedly caught it.

It was a cloth bag.

"I've changed my mind this time. I'll only take half," Qi Xia said. "The guy with the glasses is all right. I won't take his Dao."

Zhang Shan looked at the bag in his hand and froze for a few seconds before bursting into hearty laughter. "Hahaha! Good man!"

Little Glasses stood beside him, utterly confused. "Huh? Why? I gave them willingly... You clearly said earlier..."

"I'm a liar," Qi Xia said coldly. "Don't believe anything I say."

"B-but, Mr. Liar..."

"My name is Qi Xia," he said. "Don't call me Mr. Liar. It sounds awful."

"Qi Xia..." Zhang Shan repeated the name. "Interesting. I'll remember you."

With that, he raised one of Black Bear's forearms and tossed it to the four of them.

"Shit!" Qiao Jiajin jumped in fright, but still caught the furry severed limb.

He found it exceptionally heavy, weighing at least twenty or thirty jin. Blood was pouring from it.

"The three of us can't eat all this, and it's heavy to carry," Zhang Shan said. "Do me a favor and throw it away."

"Throw it away?"

Zhang Shan waved and turned away.

The four of them stared at the bear arm, not knowing what to say, until Zhang Shan and the other two had left.

After a while, Earth Ox walked over and handed them four filthy cloth bags.

"Take them."

Only then did Qi Xia and the others snap out of their daze and accept their rewards.

This time, there was so much Dao that they felt a little at a loss. Thanks to Zhang Shan, they had also obtained food for the first time in ages.

The slightly chubby young woman looked at Qi Xia from a short distance away, then slowly approached and asked tentatively, "Can I... join you? All my teammates died in the Interview..."

Qi Xia seemed not to hear her. He merely hefted the cloth bag in his hand and told the other three, "Let's go."

With that, he turned and headed for the exit, leaving the girl standing there awkwardly.

Qiao Jiajin gave her a helpless shrug. "Don't be upset. He's always like that."

Seeing that Qiao Jiajin seemed approachable, the girl grabbed his arm and said nervously, "Please let me join you... I'm so scared right now..."

"Well..." Qiao Jiajin gave her an apologetic smile. "I guess that's fine... Pretty girl, why don't you come along for now..."

"Hey, Qiao Jiajin," Qi Xia called, turning back from farther away. "We're leaving."

Qiao Jiajin looked at Qi Xia and saw him give a slight frown.

"Oh, okay. Coming." Qiao Jiajin seemed to understand something. He nodded, then turned back to her. "Pretty girl, not this time. Maybe next time."

With that, he followed Qi Xia's example, paying the young woman no more attention as he headed for the exit.

When she saw Qiao Jiajin leave as well, the hurt expression on her face turned cold, gradually becoming vicious.

Only she and Earth Ox remained in the room. All the participants had left.

As Earth Ox straightened the chairs that had fallen to the floor, he looked up at her. After a while, he asked flatly, "Still up to your old tricks?"

"Yes." The young woman nodded. "What a shame. Our line of work is getting harder and harder."

"Why can't you be normal?" Earth Ox turned toward her. "Can't we just follow orders together?"

"Ha!" The young woman gave an angry laugh. She strode over, grabbed Earth Ox by the collar, and demanded fiercely, "What gives you the right to talk to me like that?! Speaking of normal, how are you Chinese Zodiac people any better than us?!"

Earth Ox turned his head aside and said quietly, "At least we're working toward the same goal..."

"Then let's each do our own thing and see who's right." The young woman released him and turned toward the exit. Before leaving, she added gravely, "Zhang Shan can't be allowed to stay. As for that Qi Xia... I'll think of something."

"Liar Boy..." After leaving, Qiao Jiajin cautiously glanced behind him, then asked in a low voice, "What's going on? Is there something wrong with that woman?"

"I'm not sure, but I'm almost certain," Qi Xia said. "It's better to be careful in a place like this."

"You can read faces too?" Qiao Jiajin chuckled. "She looked so kind and gentle. I couldn't see anything wrong with her."

"This has nothing to do with reading faces." Qi Xia shook his head. "First, she said all her teammates died in the Interview. If that's true, she must have resorted to something extreme. Otherwise, I find it hard to believe that out of nine people, only a frail young woman survived," Qi Xia said. "Second, she's survived on her own until now. Combined with the methods she used to stay alive in the game, that's enough to prove she's no ordinary person. There's a very good chance she approached us for our Dao."

Qiao Jiajin nodded in realization. "So that's it... Shit, I thought she was pitiful."

"Of course, everything I said could be wrong," Qi Xia said. "I just don't want to trust people too easily."

Then he turned back and asked the three of them, "By the way, let me use your Dao."