Chapter 343: Jade

Qian Wu looked Li Jingguan in the eye and smiled faintly.

"It's getting late, we should rest."

Qi Xia called out to her, "Then... have you confirmed my 'Hui Xiang'?"

"Do I even need to confirm it?" Qian Wu shook her head. "Haven't you always been like this?"

She turned and resolutely pushed the door open to leave, with Zhou Liu following closely behind, leaving the others standing there stunned.

Song Qi said to the group, "Everyone, please follow me... I'll take you to your rooms. I should mention in advance that our 'Mao' rooms are all single-person cells, so I hope you don't mind."

Li Jingguan shook his head with a wry smile. "Who would have thought that one day I'd be sleeping in a cell?"

...

The group followed Song Qi to their respective cells, and Zheng Yingxiong insisted on staying in the same one as Qi Xia.

Just as Song Qi was about to leave, Qi Xia called him back, worried about Chen Junan.

That morning, Chen Junan had confidently set off alone for the Di She game, and by now, it should have concluded.

"Song Qi, could you go back to 'Tian Tang Kou' and check on things for me?" Qi Xia said. "I want to know if Chen Junan has returned."

"Chen Junan...?" Song Qi nodded. "Got it, I'll be back soon."

After everyone else had left, Qi Xia turned to look at Zheng Yingxiong.

This strange child always gave him a strong sense of unease.

"Yingxiong," Qi Xia called out.

"What's up, commoner?" Yingxiong replied.

Qi Xia sighed helplessly. "What is your 'Hui Xiang'?"

"'Hui Xiang'...?" Zheng Yingxiong seemed to consider the meaning of the words, then sniffed the air a few times and answered, "I'm 'Ling Xiu'."

"'Ling Xiu'...?" Qi Xia had never heard of such a strange 'Hui Xiang' before. "So, when you said you could smell the stench on the 'Sheng Xiao' and the scent of 'Hui Xiang', it's because of this 'Ling Xiu'?"

"That's right." Yingxiong nodded vigorously. "So, I'm different from all of you. I'm destined to be a lonely 'hero'."

Qi Xia felt something was off. "Then aren't you just like the 'Xian Shi Ping' and the 'Ju Zhong'? The only difference is that you 'smell' it..."

"No!!" Zheng Yingxiong said with a determined expression. "I'm way more powerful than that 'Xian Shi Ping'!"

"Oh?" Qi Xia's mouth curved upward as he slowly sat down on the bed. "Then tell me, how are you better than it?"

"I can detect the faintest scents, but the 'Xian Shi Ping' can't!" Zheng Yingxiong said, as if praising himself. "That dumb 'Xian Shi Ping' only displays 'Hui Xiang' based on the 'clock bells'. If someone's 'Hui Xiang' is activated very subtly, it won't trigger the bells, and the screen won't light up."

"Oh...?" Qi Xia felt like he had uncovered a clue. "In other words... if someone's 'Hui Xiang' is activated lightly, the 'clock' won't ring?"

"There's another situation!" Zheng Yingxiong's youthful voice echoed in the small cell. "That is, if someone has mastered their 'Hui Xiang' perfectly, they can activate it quickly and finish before the 'clock rings'."

Qi Xia slowly raised his eyebrows, feeling that this trip to 'Mao' had taught him a lot.

Was it really as Lin Geng had said, that the 'clock bells' could be controlled?

"You know about the clock's structure, right?"

"Of course I do," Qi Xia said.

"As long as you've looked up at the 'Ju Zhong' from underneath, you'd understand why some people can avoid ringing the bells."

Qi Xia thought for a moment and asked, "Are you saying that if a 'Hui Xiang' is activated quickly enough, the pendulum inside the 'Ju Zhong' won't have time to hit the bell, so it won't ring?"

"That's exactly what I mean." Zheng Yingxiong nodded vigorously.

Although Qi Xia understood what Zheng Yingxiong meant, another question arose in his mind.

If that's the case, then the 'Ju Zhong' has obvious flaws, so why did 'Zhong Yan Zhi Di' build it in the first place?

Since they could build the 'Ju Zhong', why not make it more perfect?

"Commoner, your scent is strange," Zheng Yingxiong said. "Aren't you a 'Qing Xiang Zhe'?"

"'Qing Xiang Zhe'...?"

"I—I mean 'Hui Xiang Zhe'..."

Qi Xia furrowed his brow. "How is my scent different from others?"

"Normally, ability users have a fresh scent, but yours is strange... it seems to be somewhere between 'Sheng Xiao' and 'Hui Xiang Zhe'."

"Is that so?"

Qi Xia lifted his arm and sniffed it lightly, but he didn't notice any scent.

After all, only Yingxiong could smell it.

"Yingxiong, how did you join 'Tian Tang Kou'?" Qi Xia changed the subject and asked.

"Me?" Zheng Yingxiong pulled out the newspaper shortsword from his waist, carefully wiped it, and then turned back to Qi Xia. "A very strong commoner invited me in."

"So, is this your first time joining 'Tian Tang Kou'?"

"Yes, I didn't even know this place was called 'Tian Tang Kou'."

"I'm a bit curious," Qi Xia asked. "Where were you before? Did you retain your memories?"

Zheng Yingxiong put the newspaper shortsword back at his waist and said, "To be honest, commoner, I come from another city."

"Another city?"

"That's right, our city is sick, fallen into decline." Zheng Yingxiong looked up at Qi Xia with a blank expression. "I never imagined there were so many active people here."

Qi Xia recalled the time he had gone with Xu Liunian in her taxi to the edge of the city, where he saw towering buildings and intersecting roads.

But even this small city had already worn him down with anxiety.

How big was this place? What lay outside the city? Where was the edge?

Where were the 'Sheng Xiao' distributed? How many participants were there?

"Fallen into decline...?" Qi Xia looked at the child with some doubt, feeling that his identity wasn't simple.

"Though I'm a 'hero', I couldn't organize the people of the entire city. Everyone just keeps cycling between life and death."

Zheng Yingxiong showed a look of disappointment, making Qi Xia feel like he was some kind of city leader.

"But it's strange..." Zheng Yingxiong blinked and said, "You mentioned collecting 'Dao' before—what is 'Dao'?"

This question stumped Qi Xia. He felt like someone had asked it before, but that person clearly had nothing to do with Zheng Yingxiong.

After all, that person was the White Tiger, and that strange withered old man had once asked Qi Xia with a puzzled expression, "What is 'Dao'?"

"Yingxiong, in your city, do people not need to collect 'Dao'?"

"I'm not sure if we're talking about the same thing. What does your 'Dao' do?"

Qi Xia thought for a moment and said, "It's the stake for participating in games."

Zheng Yingxiong pondered slightly, then pulled a small handful of emerald green stones from his pocket.

He laid them flat on his palm and held them out to Qi Xia.

"We use this for games." Zheng Yingxiong asked with a puzzled face, "Don't you use 'Yu'?"