Ten Day Ultimatum

The dust-tinted sun emerged again in the crimson sky on the third day, heralding yet another stretch of foul stench and eerie tranquility. Yet inside the massage parlor, Lin Qin and Zhang Chenze were in a state of panic—Qi Xia had vanished. They searched every corner of the establishment, the remnants of Qi Xia's chilled blood still on the bed, yet his presence had completely disappeared.
At the end of the corridor, the indigenous inhabitant continued to massage the lifeless body, an unsettling sight that only deepened their unease.

"He's gone..." Zhang Chenze murmured, staring toward the door, his eyes clouded with a forlorn yearning. "Just like he said—he was tired and chose to give up."
"No, that’s impossible!" Lin Qin protested, disbelief etched across her face. "He might have been too worried about us and decided to enter a game on his own..."
"All twenty {Dào} are right here." Zhang Chenze picked up the small cloth pouch from the bed and waved it in front of Lin Qin. "Qi Xia didn’t take a single {Dào} with him. How could he join a game?"

Lin Qin fell silent, momentarily speechless.
Where could Qi Xia possibly be? In his current state—injured and without any {Dào}—what could he even accomplish, dragging around that wounded body?
"Lawyer Zhang, would you be willing to join me in a game?" Lin Qin steadied herself and spoke slowly.

"Just the two of us?" Zhang Chenze looked slightly taken aback. "Are you certain we can handle it?"
"I’m definitely not as strong as Qi Xia," she admitted, "so we should only attempt {Mortal-grade} games. If we win, we gain something; if we lose, at least we won’t die. If Qi Xia comes back one day, we’ll have enough {Dào} to welcome him."
Zhang Chenze thought it over for a moment, then nodded.

Could Qi Xia really return?
There were only seven days left until annihilation, and Qi Xia's injuries would only worsen. Recovery seemed impossible.
Could he truly make it back?

The two packed their belongings and stepped out of the massage parlor, facing the harsh glare of a new sun.
…
Qi Xia staggered down the street, clutching a map drawn in blood. He hadn’t expected blood loss to leave his limbs so sluggish; after just over an hour of walking, he was already drenched in sweat. Glancing at the map in his hand, he realized this was his final hope.

{Passage to Heaven}.
After three days of exploration, Qi Xia had come to understand the situation here. Collecting three thousand six hundred {Dào} from the games was akin to ascending to heaven—it felt utterly impossible. The rewards from each game were meager. While one could increase returns in {Mortal-grade} games by staking their life against the Earthly Branches, {Terrestrial-grade} games left no such room. They were simply deadly. In both cases, substantial rewards required gambling one's life.
The most dangerous game Qi Xia had faced so far was Terrestrial Ox’s hunt of the black bear. Without Qiao Jiajin and Zhang Shan, it would have meant certain death. Yet even in such a perilous game, each participant could earn at most twenty {Dào}.

If Qi Xia intended to earn {Dào} through games, he would need to survive 180 rounds, each as dangerous as Terrestrial Ox’s trial, and achieve {perfect victory} every time. The death toll would be staggering, the injuries countless. What chance did he have of lasting to the end?
Even after a night of exhausting calculations, he couldn’t figure out a viable path to survival. The more he thought, the clearer it became: {Passage to Heaven} was his only option. Zhang Shan had mentioned someone who had escaped this place—and that they'd found the diary of this {escapee}, now in the hands of their leader, Chu Tianqiu.
Following the map Zhang Shan had left behind, Qi Xia pressed on and finally arrived at {Passage to Heaven} headquarters at noon. It was an abandoned school. The signboard was too decayed to tell if it had once been an elementary or a middle school. All he could see were the buildings and the basketball court.
An adolescent stood at the gate, scanning the surroundings. He wore an athletic jersey and had braided hair, looking no older than sixteen.

Qi Xia tightened the bandage on his shoulder and approached. As he neared, the youth became visibly more alert and asked, “Common person?”
“Common person?” Qi Xia found the accent odd but nodded. “I am a common person.”
“Do you… need help nayang?” The boy’s speech was not only accented but oddly phrased.

“I…” Qi Xia hesitated before answering, “I want to see Chu Tianqiu.”
“You want to see Chu ge?…” The youth furrowed his brow. “May I ask your name?”
“Qi Xia.”

After a moment’s thought, the youth nodded and said, “Please wait here, ge.” He stepped inside the gate, locked it behind him, and headed quickly toward one of the buildings.
Inside a classroom at the southernmost end of the first floor, a man in a black shirt and glasses was writing something on the blackboard. /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ Nearby, a stunningly beautiful woman was applying nail polish.
“Chu ge! Yun Yao jie!” called the youth from the door.
“Come in,” Yun Yao replied without looking up, her tone indifferent.

The youth pushed the door open, glanced at the two, then bowed slightly toward the man. “Chu ge, there’s someone outside who wants to see you nayang.”
Chu Tianqiu continued writing as he asked casually, “What’s their name?”
“Qi Xia.”

“Qi Xia?” Chu Tianqiu paused and stepped left, scanning the dense scrawl on the board.
Soon, he found the entry: {Serial Number 87; Liar, Bamboo Shoots After Rain, Collapse of Heaven, Deceitful Snake.}
He drew a horizontal line under it and fell into thought.

“What’s wrong?” Yun Yao asked, finally glancing over. “Have you heard that name before?”
“He’s quite a figure,” Chu Tianqiu replied with a faint smile. “The three Earthly Branches overseeing probation 87 are all approaching the {Terrestrial} threshold. Imagine the kind of games they devised.”
Yun Yao blinked. “Then that round must’ve been a massacre?”

“Wrong,” Chu Tianqiu shook his head. “Thanks to {Qi Xia}, all nine probationers survived.”
“Everyone? That’s even possible?” Yun Yao stared. Then a thought struck her. “{Qi Xia}… Isn’t he the one Specs keeps raving about?”
The braided youth seemed to catch on and nodded. “Chu ge, I’ll bring him in now nayang.”

“No—” Chu Tianqiu raised a hand. “Kim Wonhun, ask him a question for me.”
“A question?”
Chu Tianqiu nodded. “Ask Qi Xia: {When did you arrive?}”

“But ge, what if he doesn’t understand, nayang?”
“That’s fine. Use it as a chance to practice your Chinese,” Chu Tianqiu said with a smile.
Though Kim Wonhun was unsure, he knew Chu Tianqiu never acted without reason. He nodded and stepped back outside.

“I don’t get it,” Yun Yao said, blowing on her fingernails. “You just said Qi Xia is a formidable figure—yet you’re not recruiting him?”
Chu Tianqiu gave a faint smile. “Yun Yao, that’s what we mean when we say, kings’ paths never cross.”