Qi Xia

Biodata

Background / History

Qi Xia comes from Shandong and identifies his original year as 2022. He describes himself as a professional con artist. In his account during the opening game, he says he was carrying money when an earthquake trapped him beneath his collapsing porch 8 12 50.

He is married to Yu Nian’an, whom he credits with enduring hardship and suffering on his behalf. His determination to return to her drives his refusal to wait passively for death and his willingness to enter further games 24 30.

Personality

Qi Xia is guarded, analytical, and openly self-interested. He initially treats his assigned “Liar” role as a reason to prioritize his own survival over the other contestants. Even after repeatedly helping them, he warns that he would abandon them if survival required it 3 13 30.

His actions complicate that cold presentation. He catches Tiantian when she is about to fall, helps devise Han Yimo’s rescue, and volunteers to take the final life-threatening risk in his group’s proposed Dao-gathering strategy. He also tests his companions by proposing murder for Dao, then reveals that their willingness to accept such a plan would have made him abandon them 15 18 34.

He uses intimidation when persuasion fails, but does not treat every transaction as an opportunity to exploit someone. After receiving the agreed payment for saving Little Glasses and Old Lü, he returns Little Glasses’ share because he considers him decent 40 47 48.

Qi Xia rarely displays grief openly, making others suspicious of him. His emotional restraint does not mean he is unaffected: Human Rat’s death leaves his feelings tangled, and remarks implying that his wife must be disreputable provoke a rare flash of anger 24 27 33.

Abilities & Skills

Deduction and Rule Analysis

Qi Xia searches for contradictions between a game’s stated rules, its physical setting, and the host’s behavior 8 17.

• Questions why the opening “Liar” game appears overwhelmingly favorable to the designated liar, then examines its timing and room dimensions 8.
• Infers that “sheep” games involve deception while “dog” games emphasize cooperation; uses that interpretation to challenge the warning about the ceiling attack 17.
• Notices that Han Yimo named the Seven Black Sword despite its inscription facing away from him, suggesting prior recognition of the weapon 27 29.
• Acknowledges uncertainty: he presents the ceiling solution as a theory and later admits that his suspicions about an unfamiliar woman could be wrong 17 48.

Logic, Mathematics, and Pattern Recognition

He combines calculations, geography, language, and formal logic to solve survival puzzles 8 13 19.

• Spatial calculation: Uses the room’s grid and clock to investigate the opening game’s hidden mechanism 8.
• Geographic word puzzle: Maps the nine participants’ hometowns into strokes forming 右, meaning “right,” establishing the correct direction to rotate the table 12 13.
• Geometric defense: Interprets the bamboo-shoot clue and arranges nine triangular shields into a protective cone, discarding the misleading large piece 13.
• Self-referential questioning: Forces Human Snake’s truthful yes-or-no answers to commit him to pulling the rescue lever 18 19.

Deception and Psychological Manipulation

Qi Xia applies his experience as a con artist to reading reactions, exploiting ambiguity, and redirecting suspicion 3 28.

• Recognizes that a false name could satisfy the opening game’s requirement to lie without requiring a fabricated story 3.
• Uses Tiantian’s delivery and distressed response to judge that she has not prepared a deliberate deception 3.
• Fabricates an accusation that Doctor Zhao helped kill Han Yimo, then explicitly retracts it, demonstrating how easily suspicion can be planted 28.
• Applies the “80/20 rule” by coercing influential participants to bring the larger group under control 40.
• Accepts Tiantian’s openly transactional cooperation rather than demanding unconditional loyalty 35.

Tactical Improvisation

He repurposes available objects and coordinates stronger companions rather than relying on direct physical combat 17 40.

• Wedges handled tabletop pieces across ceiling openings, creating anchors when the floor collapses 17.
• Turns a heavy iron plate into a rolling shield; Qiao Jiajin braces it while Qi Xia watches the bear and guides him by pulling his clothes 40.
• Uses borrowed shoes to provoke the bear and redirect it, allowing Old Lü to return to the defensive formation 42.
• Uses chairs, surprise, and Zhang Shan’s existing injuries to attack a stronger opponent 45 46.
• Limits: His knot fails during Han Yimo’s rescue, his shield plan eventually breaks down, and his all-out attack cannot overcome Zhang Shan’s strength and training 15 43 46.

Cooking

• Frequently cooks at home. When preparing the donated bear arm, he scalds it, removes its fur and skin, and washes away the blood, treating it much like a chicken because he has never cooked bear before 49.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Dao — Small, golden-white beads used as game rewards and entry stakes. Qi Xia accepts the four rewards from the opening trials; after later earnings are pooled, each member of his exploration group receives twenty-four 20 49.
• Blood-drawn map — Given to him by Zhang Shan, marking the location of Zhang’s group’s base 48.
• Fishhook and fishing line — Purchased from the shop assistant for one Dao to assist with Han Yimo’s treatment 28.
• Improvised weapons — Threatens Little Glasses with broken lens shards and uses chairs against Zhang Shan 40 45 46.
• Temporary defensive tools — Tabletop shields, handled wooden boards, and the arena’s iron plate are adapted into protection or escape equipment 13 17 40.

Relationships

• Yu Nian’an — Wife and central reason for seeking escape. Qi Xia calls her everything he lives for and insists that he must return to her 24 26 30.
• Qiao Jiajin — Companion whose strength complements Qi Xia’s intelligence. Qi Xia initially rejects his alliance offer, but they develop a “brain and fist” partnership; Qiao repeatedly protects him despite his warnings about conditional loyalty 16 30 43 46.
• Lin Qin — Companion who trusts his deductions and remains interested in his thoughts. He questions her motives and suspects her unfamiliarity with everyday concepts, later learning that she comes from 2068 17 30 35 50.
• Tiantian / Zhang Lijuan — Fellow explorer whom he saves from falling. She defends his ownership of Dao but explicitly frames her continued cooperation as temporary and self-interested, terms he accepts 18 28 35.
• Li Shangwu / Officer Li — Initially skeptical fellow survivor who later defends Qi Xia’s right to the Dao. Qi Xia gives him one bead and shares a clue about Han Yimo’s death; Li proposes exchanging information from his convenience-store base 28 29.
• Han Yimo — Fellow contestant whose rescue Qi Xia helps plan. Han expresses trust in him, then calls his name while dying; Qi Xia investigates the significance of his final references to the Seven Black Sword 15 17 26 27.
• Human Rat — Teenage masked game host whose life becomes part of Qi Xia’s wager. After his victory, Vermilion Bird kills her for trying to escape; she gives Qi Xia her collected Dao before dying 32 33.
• Zhang Shan — Powerful participant who becomes a potential ally after a violent confrontation. He honors the thirty-eight-Dao debt, offers recruitment, and gives Qi Xia a map and bear meat 45 47 48.
• Vermilion Bird — Hostile administrator who recognizes Qi Xia by name. He claims the rules prevent him from killing Qi Xia directly, but declares that Qi Xia is destined to die there 33.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Opening Survival Trials

• Draws the “Liar” card and initially plans an inconspicuous false-name strategy. He instead identifies himself as a con artist, investigates the game, and publicly reveals his card 3 8.
• Finds the rotating table’s directional solution and organizes the cone-shaped shields that protect the group from harpoons 12 13.
• Rejects the apparent safety of the walls during the next trial and discovers how to use the ceiling openings and tabletop handles to survive the collapsing floor 17.
• Defeats Human Snake’s questioning game through a self-referential question, allowing the nine survivors to be lowered safely 18 19.

Entering the Ruined City

• Receives four Dao from Human Dragon and learns of the stated requirement to gather 3,600 Dao within ten days 20 21.
• Chooses exploration over waiting, forming a smaller group with Qiao Jiajin, Tiantian, and Lin Qin 24 25.
• Investigates Han Yimo’s murder, then leaves after a dispute over guilt and ownership of the remaining Dao. His statement “I killed him” is a provocative dismissal of the accusations, not an established solution to the murder 27 28.
• Examines the bronze bell and the vanished “Echo of Calamity Summoning” message without finding an explanation 29.

Life Wagers and Team Strategy

• Wagers his life against Human Rat and wins, only to discover that the wager also exposed her to death 32 33.
• Interprets Vermilion Bird’s intervention as evidence of enforced rules and possible higher authorities 34.
• Proposes testing games collectively, then personally making the life wager once enough information has been gathered, with winnings divided equally 34 35.

Earth Ox’s Arena

• Enters the twenty-person game despite its concealed rules. Random assignment places him with Qiao Jiajin and separates them from Lin Qin and Tiantian 36 37.
• Creates the “Hawk and Chicks” shield formation against a black bear and bargains for Little Glasses’ and Old Lü’s rewards in exchange for saving them 40 42 44.
• Survives with eight teammates; nineteen participants across both arenas clear the game, earning nineteen Dao each 44 45.
• Attacks Zhang Shan during the repayment confrontation, but is overpowered. After Earth Ox intervenes, Zhang honors the debt and challenges Qi Xia’s unsupported assumption that only one person can escape 45 46 47.
• Learns that Zhang’s escape claim rests on discovered notes rather than a directly witnessed departure 48.

Discovery of Different Eras

• Pools the group’s Dao and helps prepare bear-meat soup while remaining suspicious of Xiaoxiao’s convenient appearance 49.
• Learns that his companions come from 2006, 2019, and 2068, while he comes from 2022. Unable to explain their assembly across time, he prioritizes gathering Dao and escaping over investigating the cause 50.

Recurring Headaches

• Suffers a sudden severe headache after Han Yimo dies, then insists he is all right 26.
• Experiences another splitting headache after Human Rat’s death, crouching and clutching his head 33.
• Recovers after roughly half a minute and says this is only the second episode he can remember. He suspects a connection to the place they are trapped in, but no cause is established 34.

Notable Quotes

“My wife's name is Yu Nian'an. She's endured hardship for me and suffered on my behalf. She's everything I live for, so I have to go back to her.” 30

“The strongest relationship in this world is an employment relationship.” 35

“Of course, everything I said could be wrong. I just don't want to trust people too easily.” 48