Chapter 978: Nightfall
"「Vermilion Bird」he..." Chen Junnan scratched his head after hearing that. "Damn... that's true too..."
"All of us have survived here long enough." Jiang Ruoxue said with her arms crossed. "We've seen these 「Divine Beasts」quite a few times already, right? 「Vermilion Bird」didn't even wear shoes. It's almost immediately obvious whether he has any extra 「eyes」on him. Does he look like he's been 「implanted」?"
Although Chen Junnan hadn't had many opportunities to see 「Vermilion Bird」, he also remembered that guy being completely naked, flipping up and down in the air like a bird.
"Tsk..." Zhou Liu thought for a few seconds, then spoke, "Could it be that he only has one 「Echo」?"
"How could that be possible..." Chen Junnan replied. "That exhibitionist has at least two 「Echoes」. He always appears suddenly and then floats in midair, which means he definitely has 「Space Leap」and 「Air Hover」. As for the others... it's really hard to say."
"Tsk, then where are his 「eyes」?" Zhou Liu said. "I mean... how are we supposed to kill him?"
Chen Junnan lowered his head, reached out and twisted a few strands of hair on his forehead, looking like he was actually thinking seriously.
"Hiss..." He slowly inhaled. "That bastard... could it be that he only has two 「Echoes」...?"
"Only two 「Echoes」...?" Jiang Ruoxue was taken aback. "Are you sure? That's a 「Divine Beast」, at least as famous as 「Azure Dragon」and 「Xuanwu」. No matter how you think about it, there's no way he only has two 「Echoes」, right?"
A few seconds later, Chen Junnan looked up and said, "This Young Master isn't Lao Qi. I can't come up with so many convoluted theories, but my feeling is... this kid has two 「Echoes」, and he happens to have two 「eyes」. Could it be..."
"...?"
After hearing that, Zhou Liu and Jiang Ruoxue made very interesting expressions.
After a moment, Jiang Ruoxue extended a slender finger and pointed at her own eyes. "Calabash Brother, Dumbfounded Little Master, you mean... 「Vermilion Bird」has one 「Echo」per eye, two eyes in total, so two 「Echoes」?"
"Ain't that it...?" Chen Junnan asked.
Jiang Ruoxue held back for a long time, but finally spat out one word: "Fine..."
"Don't be like that..." Chen Junnan gave a dry laugh. "Don't just say 'fine' to this Young Master... Don't you guys think so too? That exhibitionist's body is all slippery with no clothes on, and then we saw he has two 「Echoes」and two 「eyes」..."
"Fine, fine." Jiang Ruoxue said expressionlessly. "I'll just go talk to Zhou Mo now. Dumbfounded Little Master, step aside a bit."
The two completely ignored Chen Junnan and started chatting among themselves.
After a few words, Zhou Liu let out a deep sigh and said, "Tsk, if this is really true... no one should sleep tonight."
She turned her head to look at Yun Shijiu, and this young man who claimed to have seen "big scenes" was now too shocked to speak.
"Nineteen... tsk, later call Fifth Brother and all the brothers for a meeting." Zhou Liu said. "We'll have to treat what this big genius said as the truth for now and consider countermeasures... after all, success or failure hinges on this one move."
"Okay... I understand..." Yun Shijiu nodded.
He never expected that walking into the room so casually today would accidentally get him involved in a major event concerning the future of the entire "Cat."
"Then let me summarize again." Jiang Ruoxue said. "Zhou Mo, tomorrow morning we'll first gather all the personnel of the entire 「Extreme Path」. When everyone is here, keep in touch with us, and then return to the 'Cat' to carry out your mission."
"Mm." Zhou Liu nodded.
"We'll operate on two fronts. I'll go find Zhichun as soon as possible and have her lead the entire team to carry out the 「Extreme Path」mission. You'll act according to the situation."
"Okay."
"Thank you for your hard work." Jiang Ruoxue said. "I hope that after this cycle ends... everyone will have a good ending."
Even though she was saying encouraging words, neither Jiang Ruoxue nor Zhou Liu was happy.
Even if everyone's plans succeeded at dawn... the price paid would already be very heavy.
Every person here had struggled for decades. Even if they won, how happy could they be?
A stone that had been pressing down on them for decades, even if moved away, no one's back could straighten.
If all the plans went smoothly... 「Celestial Dragon」, 「Azure Dragon」, 「Divine Beasts」, 「Celestial」were all dead...
So what...? Would there be any substantive change here...?
Jiang Ruoxue and Zhou Liu had to stop their thoughts immediately, otherwise their belief to grit their teeth and persevere would completely collapse.
"Okay, let's proceed with this plan." Jiang Ruoxue said. "You first explain the situation to Qian Wu. We'll head back now."
"Wait... hold on..." Chen Junnan was stunned. "I don't hear this Young Master in this plan..."
Jiang Ruoxue glanced at him and replied, "You represent Qi Xia, right? Shouldn't you act according to his instructions?"
"Damn... This Young Master has no idea what Lao Qi wants to do. That means I'm completely useless, right?" Chen Junnan asked again.
"No..." Jiang Ruoxue shook her head. "Dumbfounded Little Master, there's something I need your help with. To put it small, it's a personal request from me; to put it big, it's begging for the sake of the entire 「Zhongyan Land」."
"What is it? That serious?"
"Tomorrow, Zhichun will also participate in the 「Earth Dragon」game. I want you to ensure she survives." Jiang Ruoxue said. "If she dies... although Qi Xia might still have a way to make up for it, I'm afraid the 'plan' will be affected."
"This..." Chen Junnan nodded after hearing that. "Alright... leave it to me."
Seeing Jiang Ruoxue stand up, Chen Junnan quickly stood up too. "Big Sister Jiang... you're going back in the night?"
"Yes." Jiang Ruoxue said. "Dumbfounded Little Master, I have to go accompany Zhichun. She tends to overthink when she's alone."
"Alright... fine..." Chen Junnan nodded. "Anyway, the bugs are on break tonight. Going back is fine. I have to go back and accompany Lao Qi too, even though he'll overthink whether I'm there or not."
Zhou Liu stood up and gave Yun Shijiu a look. Yun Shijiu then withdrew the aura that had been enveloping everyone.
"Eldest Sister Mo, I'll head back first." Chen Junnan said. "Although you're busy, don't forget to send a sound transmission to Lao Qi. Just in case that kid has something to tell you."
"Tsk, I know."
The three left through the door. Jiang Ruoxue and Chen Junnan rushed toward the direction of "Heaven's Gate" under the cover of night, while "Cat" immediately became turbulent. Many people, summoned by Qian Wu and Zhou Liu, headed to the meeting room with solemn faces, saying nothing.
Tonight was clearly a sleepless night for "Cat." A blazing stillness filled the entire prison.
(Brothers, sisters, family, friends, on April 19th at 7:30 PM, I have a live interview on my Douyin account. I will discuss future trends in online literature with professors from the Chinese departments of Peking University and Sun Yat-sen University, as well as the chief editor of Tomato. Interested friends can follow. I'll try not to be socially anxious, and everyone please show some support. Additionally, the ending time tomorrow might be after 9 PM. The update time is uncertain. Apologies.)