Chapter 939: Everyone, Sit Down
Wen Qiaoyun nodded blankly after hearing this.
And at this moment, the man in front of her once again shed tears while wearing a smile.
It was as if his expression had been twisted many years ago and only now revealed itself.
Wen Qiaoyun felt that their encounter was strange, like a reunion yet also like a farewell.
Countless thoughts tangled in her heart, along with fragmented images that flashed through her mind from time to time, left her dazed and uncertain what to do.
Perhaps, as the man before her had said, her return itself was a mistake.
"If I propose a 'life gamble' with the 'Referee' in the game, will I die?" Wen Qiaoyun asked again.
"Yes." Chu Tianqiu nodded. "Because it's very difficult for you to win."
"But what about you?" Wen Qiaoyun asked again. "Although it's hard for me to win, I'm not the only one participating in tomorrow's game, am I?"
"Yes, I'll also go. But I've hardly ever participated in any games," Chu Tianqiu said bluntly. "So no one knows what will happen tomorrow, but the probability of death for the 'life gamblers' is extremely high."
"Alright..." Wen Qiaoyun nodded.
"Qiaoyun..." Chu Tianqiu said, "You don't really want to die, do you?"
Wen Qiaoyun paused for a moment upon hearing this, then asked, "How could that be... You probably don't understand me, I..."
"I understand you too well," Chu Tianqiu said. "Once you have a strong 'self-sacrificial' emotion..."
He slowly pointed his hand toward the window: "The four giant bells will ring because of you."
"Giant bells..." Wen Qiaoyun followed Chu Tianqiu's finger to look out the window. Her memories of this place were fragmented, and there was still much she needed to understand.
"Qiaoyun, if your subconscious tells you that you can't die yet, then don't act tough and leave here immediately," Chu Tianqiu said. "A storm is about to descend. If your sacrifice is not voluntary, then what comes next will also be meaningless."
"Storm...?" Wen Qiaoyun thought quickly after hearing this. "But aren't you leaving... Knowing a storm is coming, you insist on staying?"
"I am an epiphyllum in the storm," Chu Tianqiu said. "I am part of this storm. This may be the best opportunity in seventy years, so I cannot leave."
"Seventy years..."
After saying this, Chu Tianqiu slowly turned around and walked to the door of the room. With his back to her, he said in a low voice, "Qiaoyun, I cannot explain to you all the things that have happened in these seventy years in just one night. But once you die... everything will begin."
"But you've been crying all along," Wen Qiaoyun said. "Are you speaking from your heart?"
Chu Tianqiu's figure stood frozen for a long time, then slowly said, "Yes."
With the soft sound of the door closing, Chu Tianqiu's figure disappeared from the room, leaving only the silent Wen Qiaoyun.
Night had officially begun to fall, and the entire city had become utterly silent.
Within the vast "Land of Endings," four silent ghost cities surrounded the faintly flickering "Dao City" like a whirlpool, devouring the last starlight.
Countless people fell silent, with only countless threads of thought drifting in the air.
On this silent night, the "Train" seemed somewhat noisy.
Qinglong brought a chair and sat at the door of a certain carriage. He gently crossed his legs, propped his cheek on his hand, blocking the path of all the "Heavenly Levels" inside.
"Qing... Qinglong, what is this?" A dried-up-looking old man slowly stood up, seemingly not understanding the other's intention.
"Sit down, Heavenly Rat." Qinglong propped his cheek and said expressionlessly. "All of you rest today. No one is leaving here."
A pair of teenagers who looked around seventeen or eighteen revealed troubled expressions. They exchanged glances and asked in unison, "Why?"
"No reason. I missed you all," Qinglong said with a light laugh. "This is a great opportunity to sit, chat, and strengthen our bonds, isn't it?"
The boy and girl were silent for a few seconds before saying in unison again, "We've always been sitting in this room. We don't need to strengthen our bonds."
The clock at the center of the round table ticked, and the atmosphere began to tense slightly.
Among the ten "Heavenly Levels" in the room, eight looked at Qinglong with puzzled expressions, while the remaining two were sitting back in their chairs, snoring loudly.
"Does that mean my words don't count?" Qinglong said. "Why is it so hard for me to strengthen our bonds with you?"
The boy was silent for a moment, then raised his wrist to look at it. There was a children's watch with a funny pattern on it.
It was almost seven o'clock.
"Qinglong," the boy said, "let me go out for a while. I'll be back in ten minutes, okay?"
After hearing this, Qinglong slowly uncrossed his legs and then crossed them the other way, but his body still didn't move, blocking the door: "What do you think?"
"What's the meaning of this?" the boy asked. "You clearly know that 'Tianlong' gave us a task, yet you insist on trapping us here... Isn't this putting us in a dilemma?"
"Heavenly Rooster..." Qinglong called out. "That's not how it is. Tianlong gave you a task but didn't tell me, so I know nothing about it. I just happened to delay you."
The boy called Heavenly Rooster gritted his teeth, then together with the girl beside him, they pointed at Qinglong and said in unison, "Don't go too far!"
"Interesting." Qinglong smiled. "Heavenly Monkey, Heavenly Rooster, you two seem to have a closer bond. Have you merged yin and yang yet? Are you really ready to follow the path Tianlong has set for you?"
Qinglong's tone sounded like he was chatting with younger generations, but the girl called Heavenly Monkey clearly didn't share that sentiment.
"Stop wasting time," the girl said. "Heavenly Rooster's hour is about to pass. If you can't start the full confrontation, are you going to let Heavenly Rooster be punished?"
After hearing this, Qinglong thought for a moment, then said, "In that case, I'm also in a difficult position. After all, I have reasons for not letting you leave. From now on, I declare that all 'Heavenly Level Hours' tonight are canceled. Just sit quietly."
This single sentence caused all the conscious "Heavenly Levels" in the room to change their expressions.
In their memories, they had always followed Tianlong's orders, but they had never imagined that one day Qinglong would give instructions completely opposite to Tianlong's.
As the two supreme leaders of the "Land of Endings," they had no possibility of fighting each other, so those caught in the middle—the "Heavenly Levels"—would be the ones affected.
Heavenly Horse quietly stroked Heavenly Tiger's head on the side, not speaking. After all, "Heavenly Horse's hour" had already ended, and Heavenly Tiger's hour was from 3 to 5 AM, so the two were safe for now.
Now they could only see how to deal with the soon-to-expire "Heavenly Rooster's hour."
"Th-Th-Then..." Heavenly Snake in the corner suddenly stammered, "Excuse me... I mean... can you tell us the reason?"