Chapter 212 Clash of Wisdoms
At this moment, a grim expression darkened the faces of everyone in {Passage to Heaven}.
An unsettling sense of wrongness permeated the air.
Chu Tianqiu, as the leader of their group, had quietly infiltrated the sickroom in the dead of night, where Li Xiangling—the most gravely wounded—lay. What could his true intentions be?
"Would you mind if we examined the syringe in your hand?" Qi Xia inquired.
The expressions of Zhang Shan and Yun Yao turned grim.
When Han Yimo and Lin Qin first approached them, neither had given any credence to their words. The notion that {Chu Tianqiu would kill someone tonight} seemed completely preposterous, no matter how it was considered.
Yet, despite their initial disbelief, each of them found themselves drawn to investigate.
The seeds of suspicion had been sown in their hearts, but none could have anticipated how swiftly they would blossom into a glaring truth tonight.
His gaze fell on {Chu Tianqiu}, and for a moment, a hint of disappointment flickered across his face.
This problem... seemed far beyond Xu Liunian’s capabilities.
At this juncture, her only recourse was to reveal her true identity and confess to everyone that she was but an imposter. Such a revelation would not only protect the honor of {Passage to Heaven}, but also shield the reputation of {Chu Tianqiu}. Otherwise, with the next cycle, everything would inevitably spiral into chaos.
Whether it was the real Chu Tianqiu or the imposter, both would lose their authority tonight, and {Passage to Heaven} would inevitably crumble as a result.
‘Xu Liunian…’ Qi Xia thought to himself, ‘Will you sever your own arm and abandon the rook to protect the king?’
Yun Yao also climbed through the window, her expression frosty as she demanded, "Chu Tianqiu, what exactly are you doing here in the dead of night?"
Chu Tianqiu lifted his gaze, looking at Yun Yao and Qi Xia, then turned his eyes to the side where Li Xiangling lay, silent and unyielding.
"Could it really be true, as Qi Xia said... that you intend to kill her?" Zhang Shan's voice rang out from outside the window, his face etched with disbelief.
As more and more people gathered around, a barely perceptible smile crept across Chu Tianqiu’s face.
Qi Xia, ever attentive, caught the fleeting expression and raised an eyebrow. Could there be a twist in the story after all?
"I’ve said it before..." Chu Tianqiu said with a smile, "I have antibiotics here, I intended to inject Li Xiangling with them."
He tossed the syringe over to Doctor Zhao, who stood nearby. "Though there's no issue with you checking, can an ordinary person tell the difference between cyanide and antibiotics?"
Doctor Zhao caught the syringe and examined it carefully, noting that the liquid inside was a murky white. It was clear that some form of medication had been mixed into what appeared to be ordinary saline solution.
The substance inside the syringe, as Chu Tianqiu had suggested, could indeed be cyanide, capable of causing death, or it could be a cephalosporin antibiotic, intended for injection.
"Well?" Qi Xia asked, his brow furrowed as he turned to Doctor Zhao.
Doctor Zhao hesitated for a moment, then slowly pressed the plunger of the syringe, wiping a single drop of liquid from the needle with his pinky finger. He carefully brought it to his nose and sniffed.
Immediately, his brow furrowed deeply.
"It reeks of penicillin..." Doctor Zhao muttered, shaking his head. "If it were cyanide, it would have the unmistakable scent of bitter almonds."
Upon hearing this, Chu Tianqiu gave a slight nod of approval. "I take back what I said earlier. You're no ordinary person."
"So, the syringe really is just antibiotics?" Zhang Shan asked, still confused.
"But I still don’t understand..." Yun Yao frowned as she questioned. "If you were just going to give Li Xiangling an antibiotic injection, why sneak in the middle of the night to do it? That doesn't make any sense."
Chu Tianqiu offered a faint smile. "Since everyone’s here, there’s nothing left for me to conceal..." He moved slowly to the side and seated himself, continuing, "As you all know, the resources at {Passage to Heaven} are painfully scarce. With injuries piling up each day, there’s no reason for me to waste such valuable antibiotics... Doing so would invite fierce opposition from many. So, after much contemplation, I realized the only way to save Li Xiangling was to secretly administer the antibiotics to her. That way, no one would suspect a thing. Even if she made a full recovery, you'd all simply believe it was due to her robust constitution."
Qi Xia, listening intently to his words, slowly stroked his chin.
It seemed that Xu Liunian had suddenly gotten clever.
Yet, something about this situation felt amiss.
The news of {Zhang Shan's inexplicable death} had reached him on the second day, courtesy of Ole Lu, who had departed {Passage to Heaven} and, in a chance encounter, inadvertently shared the information with Qi Xia during the last cycle. Their meeting had been entirely by coincidence, and after revealing this to him, Ole Lu had met his end that very day.
This suggested that, in Chu Tianqiu's view, Qi Xia should have remained unaware of Zhang Shan’s death in the previous cycle. If that were true, how had he predicted that Qi Xia would lead everyone here tonight?
He had clearly intended to kill, yet here he was, in the dead of night, carrying antibiotics. When had this plan begun to take shape in his mind?
"Everyone, I understand your skepticism," Chu Tianqiu said with a resigned shake of his head. "Doctor, may I have the syringe back?"
Upon hearing this, Doctor Zhao glanced at Qi Xia, who silently nodded.
With that, he handed the syringe back to Chu Tianqiu.
Chu Tianqiu took the syringe, removed the needle cap, then rolled up his sleeve and injected a third of the dose into himself.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he pulled the syringe out and said, "There are plenty of capable people here," he said, looking at them calmly, "You all should know… if this were cyanide, I’d be dead by now." He extracted the syringe and placed it on the adjacent table, subsequently addressing the assembled individuals with a composed demeanor. "In the end... tonight's events constitute nothing more than a farce. However, albeit a farce, it reveals a multitude of pertinent issues..."
With deliberate movements, Chu Tianqiu rose to his feet, retrieved a lighter, and gathered a few scraps of paper. He carefully reignited the campfire, the flickering flames casting shadows across his solemn expression. "Our group, {Passage to Heaven}, is deeply fractured at this moment," he began, his voice heavy with gravity. "This division stems from someone working to undermine us from within. I, Chu Tianqiu, have never been intimidated by the deranged souls roaming {End Point}. What truly unsettles me… are the little rats who thrive on sowing discord. Recently, an individual joined {Passage to Heaven}, and in a remarkably short span of time, their actions have left me profoundly disheartened and disappointed…"
Hearing this, Qi Xia's expression shifted with a trace of confusion.
Was Chu Tianqiu really trying to pin this on him (QX)?
That wasn’t exactly a smart move. The people present weren’t all on his side. If this turned into a confrontation, it would only harm him. Even if Chu Tianqiu managed to weather this storm, there would undoubtedly be some who would leave {Passage to Heaven}.