"Acting...?" Chu Tianqiu struggled to force a smile. "Are you saying that I'm acting?"

"I don't care if you're the leader of the 'Gateway to Heaven' or the ruling deity here, why did you provoke me?" Qi Xia said coldly.

"I..." Chu Tianqiu's expression was obviously a bit strange, no matter how he thought, he couldn't imagine that Qi Xia would have such a personality. "How did I provoke you...?"

"Last time I came to find you, you deliberately delayed me for half an hour. Do you know how important that half hour was to me at the time? Why not just say it directly?" Qi Xia turned his head and picked up a brick-sized stone from the ground. "This time, I trusted you and brought everyone here, and you didn't hesitate to tie up my teammate. Chu Tianqiu, why did you provoke me?"

Qi Xia weighed the stone in his hand, feeling that it was enough to make someone's head burst open.

"You, wait..." Chu Tianqiu was indeed a little scared, and he quickly waved his hand. "Listen to me, I have a reason for doing this!"

"Unfortunately, you didn't tell me the reason in advance," Qi Xia said expressionlessly. "The thing I hate most in my life is things that exceed my expectations. You may think that being mysterious will make you look powerful, but in my eyes, it's very childish. No matter how shocking the 'truth' you say next, I'm prepared to smash your head open."

"Q-Qi Xia... wait!" Yun Yao hurriedly ran over and grabbed Qi Xia's hand. "What are you going to do? You can't kill Chu Tianqiu here!"

"Then where can I kill him?" Qi Xia asked. "Do I need to specially move him to the corridor?"

"You..." Yun Yao's face was uncertain, looking very flustered. "Qi Xia, I apologize for Chu Tianqiu... but if you kill him now, we will have no hope of getting out..."

"It doesn't matter, we can still live even if we die." Qi Xia sneered. "This time, I'll smash your head to make you remember in the 'next life' not to provoke me again."

"Don't..." Chu Tianqiu's eyes widened instantly. "I can't die now..."

Qi Xia's eyes were extremely cold, and he definitely didn't seem to be bluffing.

Under the panic of Chu Tianqiu and Yun Yao, Qi Xia raised the stone high and then smashed it down fiercely.

A huge sound suddenly rang out, and dust flew up from the ground.

Yun Yao quickly closed her eyes and turned her head to the side.

But the scene of brain matter splattering everywhere did not appear as expected. The stone fell on the ground next to Chu Tianqiu.

Looking at Chu Tianqiu's panicked expression, Qi Xia asked slowly, "Do you remember what I said?"

"I r-remember..." Chu Tianqiu stammered in response.

"What do you remember?"

"N-not to provoke you..."

"Very good." Qi Xia clapped his hands, stood up, and then found a chair to sit down, asking, "Why did you tie up Qiao Jiajin?"

The still-shaken Yun Yao hurried to help Chu Tianqiu up.

Chu Tianqiu smiled awkwardly, picked up his glasses that had been knocked off the ground, and put them on slowly.

"You really are a formidable person..." Chu Tianqiu said with an ugly smile. "I thought I could give you a 'demonstration' today, but I almost got trampled by your horse."

"Chu Tianqiu, if you want me to be a reliable teammate, then put away your 'tricks' and be sincere with me." Qi Xia replied coldly. "I'm not an ordinary person. If you keep playing tricks on me, it will only anger me."

"Alright, I understand now." Chu Tianqiu spat out a mouthful of blood and found a seat to sit down, looking much more honest. "Just now, when I saw the look in your eyes, I thought you were really going to kill me..."

"But I'm a liar," Qi Xia said. "You can only believe half of what I say."

The three of them sat in different directions, and the atmosphere was somewhat silent.

"You still haven't answered me," Qi Xia said. "Why did you tie up Qiao Jiajin? What about the others?"

"Qi Xia, your situation is very dangerous." Chu Tianqiu focused his mind and looked up. "There's a serious problem with your team."

"A serious problem?" Qi Xia frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The number of people is wrong," Chu Tianqiu said bluntly. "The ratio of men to women coming out of your room is off."

"Oh?" Qi Xia looked at the refined man in front of him. "The ratio of men to women is off?"

"That's right." Chu Tianqiu nodded seriously. "To tell you the truth, the people who came out of your room should be 'six men and three women', but now it's 'five men and four women'."

"Okay." Qi Xia nodded and said, "I understand. What's next?"

"A-and then?" Chu Tianqiu was stunned. "Qi Xia, don't you understand what I mean? There's a high possibility that a 'gangster' has infiltrated your team. I'm not sure how many intruders there are, so I've controlled everyone."

"I said I understand." Qi Xia spoke. "Do you have any other reasons?"

"I..." Chu Tianqiu completely didn't expect Qi Xia's attitude, and his eyes widened instantly. "So... you're really terrifying... Did you already know about this?"

Qi Xia nodded silently. "I've long suspected that there's a high probability of a 'gangster' in my team, but this person is very strange. I've teamed up with most of them and exposed myself in front of many people without any precautions, but no one has hurt me or tried to steal the 'Dao', so I've been considering whether to spend a few days dealing with this issue."Qi Xia was well aware that the only woman in the team he had never partnered with was Xiao Ran.

But was she a member of the "Extreme Path"?

Judging by her behavior, it was almost as if the words "suspicious" were etched on her face.

Would the "Extreme Path" really plant someone so foolish as an undercover agent in the team?

"Since no one harbors any ill intentions, how do you know there's a member of the 'Extreme Path' in the team?" Yun Yao asked from the side.

"It's a simple yet bizarre logic," Qi Xia scratched his head and said, "If I'm not mistaken, the initial interview room you were in had 'nine people', right?"

"Yes," Yun Yao nodded in agreement, "Aren't you also 'nine people'?"

To read the uncut version, go to [p𝘢wread.com].

"No, there were 'ten people' in our room."

Qi Xia's words left both of them momentarily stunned.

"Ten people?!"