Chapter 258 The Remaining Sorrow
But if there were fifty-one participants...why would {Terrestrial Goat} need to control the number of people?
There’s one dangerous and thrilling conclusion—the first batch of fans wasn't distributed among the fifty people with a total of 150 fans, nor was it 153 fans for fifty-one participants.
Because if one included Terrestrial Goat, there were fifty-two people standing on the scene, all of whom received fans.
So theoretically, the first round of fans should have been 156.
But even 156 wasn't the total number of fans handed out in the first round.
Before the game began, when Terrestrial Goat demonstrated to everyone, he had publicly placed four fans into the {Pairing Machine}.
Only after including those four did the game officially begin.
The first round of fans totaled 160, with each color having 40 fans.
He was clearly one of the participants.
After all, the {Pairing Machine} had shown Terrestrial Goat’s photo from the very beginning, indicating that he was officially recorded.
To put it another way, the rules do not restrict participants from killing each other. This makes things even more precarious, as Terrestrial Goat, being a participant, holds the same unrestricted right to kill.
Yet his strength was unparalleled—when it came to taking lives, not a single person present could oppose him.
And naturally, as long as Terrestrial Goat was a participant, even if the remaining 51 people stood as one, it would change nothing.
He would directly start a massacre.
This turned the idea of teaming up in this game into a joke.
Qi Xia shook his head, silently thinking to himself, ‘Terrestrial Goat, oh Terrestrial Goat... you’re quite the interesting opponent.’
To personally experience the game of deception, do you always voluntarily throw yourself into it each time?
Qi Xia’s gaze slowly became hesitant...
He originally thought his opponents were fifty regular people. At worst, there might be a few {Reverberatees}, but who would have thought that he would directly face Terrestrial Goat himself here?
He would kill other participants based on his own needs and preferences.
This massive casino... it was practically his slaughterhouse.
Yet something felt off—if he could easily slaughter everyone here, why would he permit anyone to flee?
‘Could it be that what you want is a relatively fair game...? You killed a violent person because you don’t endorse this way of winning?’
Qi Xia once again glanced at the black goat-headed figure in the center of the field. As if sensing his gaze, Terrestrial Goat turned his head, and their eyes locked.
After some time, Terrestrial Goat turned his head away, his eyes fixed forward as though nothing had ever happened.
Qi Xia also snapped out of his thoughts, walking over to the dead old man and pulling the dagger out of his chest. He then carried the sharp blade to the body of the burly man killed by Terrestrial Goat.
The burly man had died standing, his head twisted a full 360 degrees, leaving his neck a grotesque, torn mass of flesh and sinew.
His fans had already been {confiscated} by Terrestrial Goat, and because of this, no one came to check on his body.
Qi Xia raised the sharp knife again and glanced at the {rich individual} who had been stabbed in the ribs by the burly man. He searched through his pockets but found not a single {Sorrow} fan.
"Hey!" Terrestrial Goat called out from a distance. "Fans of those who have already escaped cannot be taken."
"Cannot be taken?" Qi Xia turned back, confused, unsure whether this statement was true or false.
"That's right," Terrestrial Goat replied. "Originally, he should have used these fans to exchange for {Dào}, but since he’s dead, the fans are invalid."
"Invalid...?" Qi Xia asked.
"Yes," Terrestrial Goat nodded.
Qi Xia smiled faintly, then picked up all of the deceased rich man's fans and began tearing them apart one by one, shredding them into pieces. "Since they're invalid..." he said, "...then there's no reason to leave them here, lest the game become unfair."
Terrestrial Goat opened his mouth but remained silent.
After shredding the fans, Qi Xia mixed the fragments together, ensuring they were completely unusable before taking up his dagger and leaving.
Qi Xia's actions drew the attention of everyone around. Killing was no longer allowed in the arena, so why was someone still wielding a knife?
And it was clear he was provoking Terrestrial Goat...
Was this person not afraid of dying?
Qi Xia walked to a corner of the venue and slowly sat down.
The next step was just waiting.
Waiting for the {Sorrow} in the arena to be consumed.
There were forty {Sorrow} fans distributed in the first round. So, how many would remain by the end?
Terrestrial Goat consumed one while demonstrating, and two pairs escaped, consuming two more.
Qi Xia had three fans on hand, meaning there should have been a maximum of thirty-four {Sorrow} left circulating on the {market} at that point...
So...how many fans did Terrestrial Goat replenish earlier?
After all, he had promised that {everyone here will have the opportunity to replenish their fans}, which meant that the number of fans he added in the second round was equal to the number of participants, which was fifty-two. This ensured that everyone had the chance to replenish their fans.
Fifty-two could be evenly divided by four, with thirteen fans of each suit.
The only good news was that all thirteen of those replenished {Sorrow} fans had been taken by that {rich individual}.
So, all the other fans had been replenished with thirteen each, except for the number of {Sorrow} fans, which remained unchanged and continued to decrease.
These three {rich individuals} not only took away thirteen {Sorrow} fans but also consumed three {Sorrow} fans to escape, leaving only thirty-one {Sorrow} remaining.
Before leaving, Qin Dingdong also took another {Sorrow} fan for himself, further reducing the number of {Sorrow} in circulation on the {market}.
Now, there were at most thirty {Sorrow} fans circulating in the {market}, assuming that {all the escapees had only consumed one Sorrow}.
‘Wait a minute…’ Qi Xia suddenly realized. Qin Dingdong’s original lineup was {Joy, Anger, Sorrow}.
She had taken an additional {Sorrow} fan with her.
So, there were only twenty-nine {Sorrow} fans remaining in the arena.
If Qin Dingdong’s situation wasn’t an exception… it meant that the final number of remaining {Sorrow} fans should be less than twenty-nine, and it might even approach twenty.
So… can the number of {Sorrow} fans really fall below twenty?
Forty people need to escape, which theoretically requires the consumption of twenty {Sorrow}. Can he really hold on until the last moment?
Will everyone escape first, or will the {Sorrow} be consumed first?
It became clear to Qi Xia that this strange game had no {Nash equilibrium}, and remaining passive would only result in his demise.
To ensure the plan's success... a significant amount of {Sorrow} must be consumed.
But how could he expend the {Sorrow} in the hands of others?
After thinking for a while, Qi Xia couldn’t help but smile.
Was there still any need to think?
Just use Qin Dingdong’s method: throw a flurry of random punches to kill the seasoned master[1].
He could actively pair up with others, and the knife in his hand could play the role of the enforcer.
Qi Xia looked up, and saw three pairs of escapees, the number reduced by six again, leaving thirty-four people.
The number of {Sorrow} fans decreased by three, leaving a maximum of twenty-six.
Just as Qi Xia was about to locate his target, the square-faced man from earlier approached with a wide grin, calling out to him. "Hey, xiōngdì! Xiōngdì!"
Qi Xia turned to look at him, perplexed.
He thought their negotiation had already fallen apart.
"Xiōngdì…I'll gie ye ma word!" the square-faced man said, his voice tinged with nervousness
"I’ll gie ye an extra fan, pair up wi’ me!"
Qi Xia glanced down at the square-faced man's bulging pockets, a thought crossing his mind.
"Alright!" Qi Xia nodded. "Give me a fan first, and I'll pair up with you."
"Nae problem!" The man looked a bit anxious and immediately pulled a fan from his pocket, handing it to Qi Xia.
Qi Xia looked down and opened it. It was {Joy}.