TDU Chapter 195
Chapter 195 Longing to Meet Celestial Goat
Slowly rising to his feet, Qi Xia turned his gaze toward the wooden door.
{Creak—}
With a faint sound of the door opening, Qiao Jiajin and Li Xiangling emerged.
"Damn…?" Qiao Jiajin let out a carefree laugh. "What a coincidence, Swindler lad and...what's your name again?"
Upon seeing Li Xiangling's wounds, Qi Xia’s face tightened, and he quickly stepped forward. "Are you alright?"
"I’m fine..." Li Xiangling smiled weakly. "I should be fine now."
Qi Xia assessed Li Xiangling's injuries; the wooden rod had punctured her arm but hadn’t damaged the bone. By all accounts, this wasn’t a life-threatening injury, but at {End Point}... the coming days would probably be excruciating for her.
"I’ve been stabbed before while practicing with my spear. It’ll heal in no time..." Li Xiangling said with a carefree smile.
Jiang Ruoxue folded her arms and stood up slowly. After a brief moment, she ran her fingers over her chin.
{Dong}!!
The distant toll of a bell made Qi Xia and the others freeze, startled.
Qi Xia turned around, his gaze cautious as he fixed his eyes on Jiang Ruoxue. "What are you planning to do?"
"Is that any of your business?" Jiang Ruoxue smiled, stepping forward to grasp Li Xiangling's arm gently. She spoke softly, "Xiao meimei, you need to understand the logical relation at play here."
"Lo—Logic?"
"This piece of wood hasn’t damaged your bones, just your flesh. Besides, you’ve had similar injuries before, and this one will heal just as quickly," Jiang Ruoxue said, gently patting Li Xiangling’s head. "So don’t worry, just take good care of your injury."
"Huh?" Li Xiangling slowly widened her eyes, feeling as if the pain in her right arm had suddenly lessened.
Taking advantage of the moment, Jiang Ruoxue placed her hand on the wooden stake and swiftly pulled it out. A trickle of blood ran down Li Xiangling's arm, but the wound wasn’t deep; it appeared to be a surface injury, one that would likely heal in a few days.
"You... aren’t you an {Adherent}?" Li Xiangling asked in confusion.
"Yeah," Jiang Ruoxue nodded.
"I don’t understand..." Li Xiangling glanced at Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin, then turned to Jiang Ruoxue. "Aren’t we supposed to be enemies? Why are you helping me?"
"You don’t need to understand," Jiang Ruoxue casually tossed the wooden stake aside, smiling lightly. "Since when have we {Judgment's Domain} needed to explain ourselves to you?"
At that moment, Qiao Jiajin also checked Li Xiangling's arm and saw that the injury had healed considerably.
"Hey you! You're pretty sharp!" Qiao Jiajin said with a cheerful grin.
Jiang Ruoxue sighed in exasperation. "Alright, looks like there’s no way I’m getting those three back. I’ll take my leave now. Nothing more for me to do here."
She stretched lazily once more, then turned to leave.
"Wait..." Qiao Jiajin said. "Buff mui and the leather-jacketed lad are probably beyond saving, but the Stone man backed out halfway through. You should still be able to find him."
"Stone man?" Jiang Ruoxue nodded in acknowledgment. "Got it." She turned away, gave a casual wave, and vanished down the street.
Qi Xia snapped back to reality and glanced at Qiao Jiajin and Li Xiangling. Both were covered in blood, clearly bearing more than a few superficial wounds.
"What’s the outcome? Did we win?" Qi Xia asked.
"Ah!" Qiao Jiajin suddenly shouted, "Thanks for reminding me! We're not done yet!"
He quickly turned around and helped Li Xiangling back to the elevator. "Buff luo is still up there waiting like an idiot. Kung Fu gal, follow me!"
...
Zhang Shan was sitting beside the blue flag, waiting with a look of deep concern on his face.
"Buff luo!" Qiao Jiajin called out happily as he exited the elevator, "I brought Kung Fu gal!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Shan quickly stood up. "That's great!"
Qi Xia also stepped out of the elevator, the game on the verge of conclusion, yet his mind was still occupied with lingering questions for Terrestrial Tiger.
Qiao Jiajin and Li Xiangling, following the rules, crossed the single-plank bridge one after the other and touched the flag together with Zhang Shan.
The game was over.
Terrestrial Tiger, who had been standing off to the side for quite a while, finally stirred. "The red team has all touched the blue team's flag, the game is over." He retrieved a cloth pouch from his pocket and tossed it toward them. "Take that person who hasn't paid the admission and get lost."
"Truly an off-putting attitude." Zhang Shan shook his head helplessly, then turned to Li Xiangling. "Xiao Li, how’s your injuries?"
"It's nothing serious." Li Xiangling smiled. "Speaking of which, it's truly unbelievable, but someone from {Judgment's Domain} helped us."
"Oh?"
Li Xiangling recounted everything that had happened with Jiang Ruoxue to Zhang Shan in detail.
Meanwhile, Qi Xia slowly approached Terrestrial Tiger.
"What do you want?" Terrestrial Tiger asked irritably.
"How can I meet her?"
"Who?"
"{Celestial Goat}."
"How would I know?!" Terrestrial Tiger shoved Qi Xia aside and started heading toward the elevator.
"Hey!" Qi Xia gripped Terrestrial Tiger's muscular arm, the sensation akin to holding a stone. "This information truly means a lot to me... I’m willing to trade anything in exchange..."
Terrestrial Tiger paused at the sound of those words, his steps slowing. He stared intently into Qi Xia’s eyes, wanting to curse at him, but the words Qi Xia had said before echoed in his mind.
There are many paths in this world, and everyone walks their own.
After a long silence, Terrestrial Tiger spoke. "I’ve heard that becoming a {Celestial-grade Earthly Branch} allows them to enter and exit {End Point} at will, so I have no idea where {Celestial Goat} is."
Qi Xia’s gaze gradually dimmed. “So it’s true… truly... she really deceived me…?”
"Hmph." Terrestrial Tiger let out a cold grunt. "You think I haven't been tricked either?!"
His massive claws slowly clenched into fists, muttering to himself, "We had clearly agreed on it... yet not a single thing was fulfilled... I really am an idiot for believing in a {Goat}..."
"What...?" Qi Xia blinked in surprise. "She deceived you too?"
"Hmph." Terrestrial Tiger snorted again, his voice thick with disdain. "Being deceived is my problem. What does it have to do with you?"
Qi Xia furrowed his brows, a sudden idea flashing through his mind.
"Look... since you've been deceived, and I've been deceived, so why not stand together?" Qi Xia felt a deep dissonance, as though he were losing himself—was he actually attempting to form an alliance with a tiger-headed man?
Terrestrial Tiger seized Qi Xia by the collar in an instant. "Who do you think you are?" He looked down on Qi Xia with a scornful sneer. "How could an ordinary person without {Reverberation} imagine standing shoulder to shoulder with {Terrestrial}? What makes you believe you have the right?!"
A suffocating wave of murderous intent surged from Terrestrial Tiger, his gaze sharp enough to rip Qi Xia apart.
"Okay…" Qi Xia cautiously reached out, attempting to steady Terrestrial Tiger’s emotions. "Let’s not get worked up—I got ahead of myself..."
Terrestrial Tiger’s gaze shifted, a sudden flicker of despondency clouding his eyes. He loosened his grip, turning away with deliberate slowness. In a deep voice, he spoke once more, "Get lost."
