TDU Chapter 146: Two Swindlers?
Chapter 146 Two Swindlers?
{Probing Pocket} was {Probing Pocket}—no matter how fierce Officer Li’s conviction had been, he could never become the Creator.
Qi Xia reached down and picked up the {Dào} from the ground, but the moment his fingers made contact with it, a searing, indescribable pain surged through him, as if both his body and soul were being torn apart. His body buckled in agony, and the {Dào} slipped from his grasp, rolling away to rest on the cold floor.
"Swindler lad, you…" Qiao Jiajin rushed forward, his expression twisted with confusion and concern. He kneeled beside Qi Xia, offering his support as the latter trembled violently, his body curled up in an unnatural, almost fetal position.
Yun Yao seemed oblivious to Qi Xia’s distress, her gaze fixed instead on the two disfigured bodies lying beside Officer Li. The charred remains were barely recognizable, their hair and clothing burned away, yet the shapes of the two figures were unmistakable—too familiar to be ignored.
One appeared to be an adolescent, and the other had a very slender build.
"It couldn’t be...?" Yun Yao’s voice trembled, barely a whisper, her lips quivering with disbelief. "Were we really just killing each other all this time...?"
"Idol, don’t say anymore…" Qiao Jiajin muttered quietly.
"So Tian Tian… she bled herself dry... just to kill our own comrades?" Yun Yao's eyes widened, her mind in chaos, thoughts racing like a thousand frantic horses tearing through her consciousness. The truth of it was too monstrous to grasp, yet it gnawed at her from within.
"Enough... stop," Qiao Jiajin muttered, his voice tight with frustration and helplessness as he glanced between Qi Xia and Yun Yao, both teetering on the edge of collapse. "You all… calm down. Please."
"If {Dragon} is really this kind of game... how can we possibly lead anyone out?" Her voice faltered, each word a painful admission. "Chu Tianqiu never told me…"
Soon after, Qi Xia seemed to recover from the pounding headache that had seized him. He rose slowly, each movement deliberate, as though shaking off the remnants of his inner chaos. The expression on his face was now an unreadable mask, void of all emotion. Whatever turmoil had gripped him earlier had receded, leaving behind a chilling emptiness.
"Swindler lad... you..." Qiao Jiajin looked at Qi Xia, feeling as though there was an insurmountable distance between them. It no longer felt like they came from the same world.
"Qiao Jiajin, did you see it?" Qi Xia said. "Even if we don’t kill anyone, we’ll eventually be killed."
Qiao Jiajin’s gaze turned cold, and he said, "Swindler lad, I don’t understand those grand theories. I only know that you didn’t do anything wrong, and that’s enough."
"Do you think I didn’t do anything wrong...?" Qi Xia slowly picked up one {Dào} after another from the ground. "One day, Qiao Jiajin, you’ll regret this. You’ll regret choosing to stand by my side."
"No, I won’t..." Qiao Jiajin said. "Swindler lad, keep calm. This place is starting to get to you."
Qi Xia didn’t respond. He coldly pushed past the two Mortal Dragons and walked out of the building.
Qiao Jiajin, left with no choice, followed him without a word.
Yun Yao lingered for a long moment, her thoughts swirling in a chaotic storm, before she too made the decision to follow them, her steps heavy with doubt.
"Hey, you haven't taken your reward." The male Mortal Dragon smiled and tossed over a cloth bag. "Thirty {Dào}—you made a profit."
Qi Xia’s fingers closed around the cloth bag, but all he felt was an overwhelming sense of irony. A profit? Five lives traded away, and they weren’t even worth thirty {Dào}? Then how much would three thousand six hundred {Dào} be worth?
Qi Xia had long since lost any desire to continue playing this twisted game. After all, he had come to understand the true nature of {Dragon}—through the shattered lives of five people. But when he asked himself, did this feeling make him {sad}? No, he just felt an emptiness in his heart, but there was no sadness.
The trio returned to the {Passage to Heaven} carrying Tian Tian’s lifeless body.
Chu Tianqiu stood before the teaching building, his back straight, but as he noticed their approach towards the school gate, his expression shifted from indifference to shock. He hurried over to meet them.
"What happened?" he asked, frowning. "It’s only the first day, how come there’s already someone dead?"
Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin exchanged a fleeting glance, the weight of their shared knowledge passing between them in silence. Qiao Jiajin nodded solemnly and, without a word, handed Tian Tian’s cold, lifeless body to Qi Xia.
"Lan-joeng, come out," Qiao Jiajin waved his hand at Chu Tianqiu, then rolled up his sleeves.
"What are you doing...?" Chu Tianqiu slowly took a step back.
"I have something to ask you, come out here." Seeing that Chu Tianqiu still hadn't moved, Qiao Jiajin stepped forward.
"What exactly are you all trying to do?" Chu Tianqiu nervously glanced at Qiao Jiajin. "Are you planning to make a move here?"
Qiao Jiajin’s gaze locked onto his, unyielding. "Why did the map you gave us lead to {Mortal Dragon}?" he asked bluntly, each word like a hammer strike. "What’s your purpose?"
"What?" Chu Tianqiu froze in shock. "Mortal Dragon...?"
Qi Xia’s gaze sharpened, his eyes narrowing as he studied Chu Tianqiu. There were too many inconsistencies in his behavior, too many gaps in the man’s story that didn’t add up.
"The map I gave you was for {Tiger}," Chu Tianqiu stammered, his expression genuine with confusion. "How could there be a {Dragon}?!"
His voice wavered with shock, his surprise seemingly authentic; he looked genuinely surprised, as if he truly didn't know anything.
At that moment, Qi Xia turned around and saw four more people approaching: Lin Qin, Han Yimo, Ole Lu, and Zhang Shan. It seemed they were a team. From this, it could be inferred that the person who had died beside Officer Li was Lawyer Zhang.
The four individuals appeared to have also participated in the game, as they were returning with a cloth bag.
"Lin Qin, you're just in time," Qi Xia said. "Come help me determine if he’s lying."
"Who’s lying...?" Lin Qin’s words hung in the air, but her gaze immediately flickered to the lifeless body in Qi Xia’s arms. Her expression shifted from confusion to shock, and she rushed forward, her eyes widening as she took in the sight of Tian Tian’s corpse. The girl’s skin had turned a sickly, mottled purple, and her features had warped into something unrecognizable—no longer the face of a living person.
"What happened?"
Qi Xia’s tone was unnervingly calm, despite the horror unfolding before them. "Chu Tianqiu, that scoundrel, is pulling his usual tricks," he said, eyes narrowing with suspicion. "I suspect he’s been scheming from the very beginning. Can you help me determine if he’s lying?"
"Okay." Lin Qin nodded, standing up and walking over to stand beside Qiao Jiajin, facing Chu Tianqiu together.
Zhang Shan, sensing that the situation was off, strode up to stand next to Chu Tianqiu. "F*ck…I smell gunpowder all in the air... What's going on here?"
"Buff lou, I don't have time for games," Qiao Jiajin said, his tone cold. "Your boss got someone killed. I want an explanation from him."
"An explanation?" Zhang Shan frowned, then snorted coldly. "{Passage to Heaven}'s rule is to obey Chu Tianqiu's arrangements. Besides, people are bound to die in games. What’s there to explain?"
Qi Xia sighed and said, "Everyone dispatched to partake in games were set up by Chu Tianqiu. In this particular arrangement, he also got Specs and Kim Wonhun killed—on the very first day. Don't any of you have doubts about that?"
"Wh—?" Chu Tianqiu's expression faltered, his voice wavering with genuine surprise. "Specs and Kim Wonhun are dead?"
Zhang Shan, equally bewildered, turned to him, his confusion mirroring that of the others. Specs, a man from the same probation room as himself, had always been known for his integrity—kind, respectful, the very embodiment of principle. The idea of such a person perishing so suddenly seemed almost impossible.
Ole Lu, upon hearing this, dropped his jaw in disbelief. "Th’ hell you just say?! Who the hell killed Specs?!"
When they turned their gaze back to Chu Tianqiu, his face remained an expression of pure grievance.
Qi Xia’s gaze hardened, his voice turning as cold as ice. "What are you playing at?" he demanded, his words laced with suspicion. "Didn't I warn you to stop with your charades?"
"There's definitely some misunderstanding here!" Chu Tianqiu’s hands fluttered in a panicked gesture, his voice strained with desperation. "Both teams were given maps leading to {tigers}, there's no way they could have led to {dragons}. Think about it carefully—I had no reason to have Kim Wonhun and Specs killed."
Lin Qin fixed her gaze on Chu Tianqiu, her expression filled with doubt. He didn’t appear to be lying. This only left her with two possibilities: Either he truly didn’t know anything, or he had mastered the art of hiding deceit with a precision that came from intense micro-expression training.
His eyes, lips, nostrils, and even the subtle movements of his hands and feet seemed too synchronized to suggest dishonesty.
"Qi Xia, something feels off," Lin Qin said, her voice low. "It seems more probable that he’s being honest."
"Is that so?" Qi Xia nodded slightly. Chu Tianqiu was indeed no ordinary person.
Could it be that the map Chu Tianqiu provided had genuinely led to {tiger}-category games, but somehow, the {dragon} had infiltrated, seizing the {tiger}'s ground? If that was the case, why then would Officer Li's and Kim Wonhun’s team be cast into a death game, pitted against them?
Qi Xia fell into deep contemplation, the silence stretching on. Then, a strange thought flickered across his mind. He straightened, his expression growing more profound, as if a sudden realization was dawning.
‘Chu Tianqiu, could you be the same as me?’
‘Are you also a swindler?’
"I know you've always been suspicious of me," Chu Tianqiu said to Qi Xia. "But I assure you, I don't have any ill intentions. Our goal here is simple—escape. The more people we have working together, the better our chances. Kim Wonhun and Specs...they were both promising {Reverberatees}. Think carefully, Qi Xia. Before they triggered their {Reverberation}, what possible reason would I have had to send them to their deaths?"
