The Old Man

"I..." Qi Xia took a violent step back, only to find that this scene seemed familiar.

"Damn it!"

Qiao Jia Jin was also startled, they had just arrived here less than a minute ago, where did this old man come from?

Why was he standing behind Qi Xia without a sound?

"Young man, the Heavenly Dragon really can't be provoked!" The old man revealed his last remaining tooth, stretching out his withered arm towards Qi Xia, "Gambling with life... even gambling with life may not work..."

Qiao Jia Jin was about to step forward to stop him, but Qi Xia pulled him back.

"Wait, I want to talk to him."

He pulled Qiao Jia Jin aside and also reached out to hold the old man.

The two were like friends who hadn't seen each other for a long time, supporting each other's arms.

"Old man, do you know me?" Qi Xia asked.

The old man was slightly stunned after hearing this, almost in tears.

He kept squeezing Qi Xia's hand, causing Qi Xia pain.

"You are willing to talk to me... that's great... I can wait..." the old man said shakily, "Even if everything starts over, I can wait... You can destroy this hellish place and free all of us..."

The old man seemed quite mad, and Qi Xia could only follow his words and ask further.

"Free everyone?" Qi Xia asked, "What does 'freedom' mean?"

"We are trapped here!" the old man wailed, "Someone lied... someone told a huge lie!! He fooled everyone!!"

"Old man, calm down first." Qi Xia let go of the old man's hand, grabbed his shoulder, and tried to stabilize his emotions, "Who fooled us? What lie did he tell?"

"It's..."

The old man was about to speak when a dull thunder suddenly sounded from the sky.

Qi Xia heard the thunder for the first time here, he suddenly raised his head and found that there was not a single cloud in the sky.

If there are no clouds, where does the thunder come from?

"I can't say..." the old man said in horror, lowering his head, his voice becoming very small, "I will die if I say it..."

Die?

"Okay, let's change the question." Qi Xia continued to ask, "You said we are trapped here, what does that mean?"

The old man raised his head, his face fearful but his tone serious, and said, "Young man, no one can get out... even if you die, you can't get out... born to die, die and be born..."

"Why can't we get out?" Qi Xia asked, "Even if we have collected enough 'Tao', we still can't get out?"

"'Tao'?" The old man was stunned, then looked up at Qi Xia in confusion and asked, "What is 'Tao'?"

What is 'Tao'?

Qi Xia had never thought that the old man would ask this question.

He kept shouting for Qi Xia to "gamble with life," but he didn't know what 'Tao' was?

"'Tao' is..." Qi Xia felt in his pocket and found that he had no 'Tao' on him, the four that Ren Long gave were all on Officer Li.

So he could only describe the appearance of 'Tao' and said, "It's a yellowish-white ball, the size of a walnut, shining. That thing is our 'chip' for participating in the game, it is said that if you collect three thousand six hundred, you can get out."

"Three thousand... six hundred 'Tao'?" The old man's expression gradually became puzzled, "I see... even if this place has become so unbearable, he still remembers what the master said..."

"'Master'?" Qi Xia was stunned, "Who is the 'master'?"

"I can't say." The old man replied resolutely, "The questions you ask me here will kill me."

Qi Xia felt that the old man in front of him was extraordinary.

He must have retained the memory from before.

His memory may be longer than anyone else's, which might be of great help at a critical moment.

"Old man, do you want to come with me?" Qi Xia asked again, "We have food there, are you hungry?"

The old man looked emaciated, and the skin on his face was also like the cracked bark of dead wood, he probably hadn't eaten for a long time.

"Eat... don't be silly, I don't need to eat at all." The old man's face darkened, and he looked very disappointed, "You actually invited me to eat... what a joke..."

"No need to eat?"

Qi Xia thought carefully and knew that the old man was right, even if they starved to death in the "Land of the End," it wouldn't matter, they naturally didn't need to eat.

Qiao Jia Jin looked at the old man for a long time and sighed helplessly.

"Liar, he's obviously crazy, and you can still chat for so long?"

Before Qi Xia could reply, the old man looked at Qiao Jia Jin.

He approached Qiao Jia Jin step by step, forcing him to retreat.

"Hey hey hey..." Qiao Jia Jin was obviously flustered, "I don't hit the old, the young, or women, don't mess with me..."

The old man ignored Qiao Jia Jin and grabbed his wrist.

"You..." Qiao Jia Jin tried to pull his hand back, but it didn't move at all, "Damn it... what kind of strength do you have? Are you a martial artist?"

"Qiao Jia Jin..." The old man said slowly while holding his hand, "Why don't you remember me? Qi Xia remembers, but you don't know me?"

Qi Xia slowly squinted his eyes, this old man indeed knew them.

"Huh?" Qiao Jia Jin was stunned, he had never dealt with a madman in his life, and he looked very nervous, "Why should I know you? Who are you?"

The old man didn't speak, grabbed Qiao Jia Jin's wrist and was silent for a while, nodding thoughtfully: "So that's it... you died before the 'echo' last time..."

"What's this echo..." Qiao Jia Jin said impolitely, "You're making my head buzz now, if you don't let go, I'm really going to fight!"

The old man suddenly let go, and Qiao Jia Jin suddenly lost his strength and took a step back.

"You have to protect Qi Xia." The old man said slowly, "If we want to free everyone, we still need to rely on your strength."

After the old man finished speaking, he fell silent and slowly lowered his head in thought.

Qi Xia took a step forward and said, "Old man, are you really not coming back with us? I have many things I want to ask you."

"No." The old man nodded, "You don't need to look for me, just wait for me to come to you."

"This..." Qi Xia looked at him with some difficulty, this old man seemed to be hiding some big secret in his heart, this secret made him look very painful, "Okay, can I know your name?"

The old man took a few steps back and said, "I don't have a name, but here, they all call me 'White Tiger'."

As soon as the words fell, the old man's body suddenly floated up and then disappeared in the air.

He didn't fly away like in martial arts movies, nor did he use magic like in fantasy movies, he just disappeared in the air.