Chapter 25: The Third Demise and a Glimmer of Hope

A wave of confusion rose within Qiao Xia. As the darkness before his eyes receded, he eagerly scanned his surroundings.

Indeed, he was still by the elevator doors on the first floor.

He leaned idly against the wall opposite the elevator, tapping his foot impatiently on the ground.

Every so often, he would glance up at the numbers displayed on the elevator screen.

“So much time has passed,” he muttered. “Why isn’t it coming down yet? Has something happened?”

Qiao Xia watched as the elevator screen remained stubbornly stuck on the twentieth floor, his mutterings growing more agitated.

His foot tapped faster, and a growing sense of anxiety began to churn within him.

Even as Qiao Xia’s body betrayed his impatience, his mind, no longer bound by the ten-minute premonition, began to ponder seriously.

Based on past experiences, danger was imminent.

Qiao Xia blindly guessed that the danger would emerge from the elevator.

In other words, an unforeseen incident was bound to occur when the police brought Liu Ge down.

Recalling Liu Ge’s ‘tiger’s claw to the heart’ and the ‘hammer blows to the head,’ Qiao Xia felt an agonizing pang of frustration.

He wondered what terrible karma he had accumulated in his previous life to encounter such dreadful circumstances.

Just as Qiao Xia was lost in these unpleasant memories, the numbers on the elevator screen finally shifted.

It began to descend rapidly from the twentieth floor.

Once it reached the first floor, a soft ‘ding’ echoed.

The elevator doors slowly parted.

Qiao Xia, who had been leaning against the wall, took a few excited steps forward.

As the doors opened, revealing Liu Ge standing before him, Qiao Xia’s gaze immediately fixed on the pocket containing the syringe.

Then, he furtively shifted his eyes to the two police officers, contemplating the best moment to snatch the item.

“Officers, you’ve truly worked hard!”

“It’s nothing, it’s all for the sake of public safety!” the talkative Plump Officer immediately responded, unable to resist.

“It’s just that Liu Dali is much harder to deal with than an ordinary person. I was careless for a moment and he threw me off. Now my left arm feels numb; it’s truly unbearable.”

The Square-jawed Officer standing nearby pulled out his phone.

He intended to call the police station in advance, instructing them to prepare the temporary holding area, just in case Liu Dali proved too difficult to contain.

The process of apprehending Liu Dali had indeed been unexpected.

It had also made the two officers realize just how much more dangerous Liu Dali was compared to others.

He had to be watched closely!

However, just as Qiao Xia was preparing to steal, the Plump Officer was about to vent his frustrations, and the Square-jawed Officer was making his call, Liu Ge, who had been silent until then, suddenly raised his bowed head.

His red eyes fixed directly on Qiao Xia, unblinking.

The next moment, Liu Ge’s rigid body moved.

He directly broke free from the Plump Officer’s grasp and lunged fiercely towards Qiao Xia.

****

[Simulation screen ended, returning to reality.]

Immediately, after Qiao Xia experienced the sensation of his carotid artery being severed, he returned to reality once more.

A fierce pain in his neck made Qiao Xia’s brows furrow tightly.

It was only after a long period of buffering that he recovered, drenched in cold sweat.

It proved that Qiao Xia’s speculation was not wrong.

They say third time’s the charm, but counting this instance, he had already been killed by Liu Ge three times.

If not for his golden finger, he would have long since departed for the Western Paradise.

However, after experiencing it firsthand, Qiao Xia discovered that Liu Ge’s strength was ridiculously immense.

He recalled that when they used to exercise together, he and Liu Ge had arm-wrestled.

While Liu Ge’s strength was considerable back then, it was nowhere near as exaggerated as it was now.

When Liu Ge’s hands clamped around his neck, Qiao Xia had no strength to resist.

His neck was instantly bitten through by Liu Ge, effectively signaling “GG” in a flash.

Now, to change the outcome of being bitten to death, Qiao Xia felt he had to take the initiative.

However…

The syringe in Liu Ge’s pocket was merely Qiao Xia’s own speculation—an auxiliary item he believed could control Liu Ge’s actions or suppress his violent urges.

Its effects had not been scientifically tested or confirmed.

Therefore, if he were to forcibly seize the syringe and inject Liu Ge, only for it to prove useless, he would still be doomed.

Of course, Qiao Xia could completely choose to leave this place right now.

He could find a safe spot to hide, guaranteeing his safety one hundred percent, where Liu Ge would be unable to harm him.

However, Qiao Xia was unwilling to give up.

After using his golden finger’s premonition ability, Qiao Xia felt that if he took no action, he would be betraying all the times he had ‘died.’

Moreover, just thinking about the three times Liu Ge had ‘killed’ him, Qiao Xia felt that waiting passively would likely lead to a fourth encounter.

‘Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.’

If he could thoroughly investigate Liu Ge’s condition, Qiao Xia would then have a clear direction for dealing with him.

He wouldn’t be completely in the dark, forced to choose only escape as a solution.

Thus, after a moment of contemplation, Qiao Xia decided to use his final ‘reverse outcome’ attempt for the day!

When unable to guarantee his own safety, entrusting everything to the golden finger was currently the least risky method.

Previously, at school, Qiao Xia had even managed to save Li Lin Guan after using the ‘reverse outcome’ ability.

After all, the steel rod that had fallen from the sky was impossibly fast.

If he could successfully evade even that, dealing with Liu Ge would be no issue.

Qiao Xia held immense trust in his golden finger’s reversal function.

Once Qiao Xia had made up his mind, the numbers on the elevator screen began to change.

It descended floor by floor from the twentieth, quickly reaching the first floor.

[Reverse Outcome function activated. Limited to three uses within 24 hours. Do you wish to use it?]

Just as the elevator doors were about to open, a strange voice sounded.

Qiao Xia calmly uttered, “Use.”

Immediately, a familiar darkness descended, enveloping Qiao Xia’s eyes in an endless void.

Concurrently, his control over his body was temporarily stripped away, leaving him with only his consciousness to continue thinking.

Later, when the darkness dissipated, Qiao Xia, whose bodily control had returned, felt a pang of pain in his right arm.

However, his gaze immediately darted to the other three individuals.

More precisely, he looked at Liu Ge.

At this moment, Liu Ge was extremely close to Qiao Xia, his expression akin to someone who had just woken up in the morning.

The intense redness in his eyes had receded considerably, making him appear relatively normal now.

The liquid within the syringe tightly gripped in Qiao Xia’s hand had vanished.

Observing Liu Ge’s recovered state, Qiao Xia knew his guess was correct: this injection truly worked!

“Liu Ge, what was the liquid in that syringe? Tell me quickly!”

Having experienced the previous premonition, Qiao Xia knew Liu Ge could speak; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been told to read the diary.

Thus, upon realizing the injection’s effect, Qiao Xia eagerly questioned him, desperate to know what precious liquid was contained within the syringe!

“This is… from… the hos… pi… tal…” Liu Ge stammered.

The recovered Liu Ge looked at Qiao Xia’s anxious expression.

He seemed quite confused, but still spoke, one word at a time.

Only…

“Get out of the way, fast! Liu Dali is extremely dangerous!”

Just as Qiao Xia was waiting with eager anticipation for Liu Ge to finish speaking, the Plump Officer’s anxious voice suddenly rang out.

Qiao Xia’s body was instantly knocked aside, and he watched helplessly as Liu Ge was directly pinned beneath the Plump Officer, his words abruptly cut off.

‘Damn it, finish your sentence!’