Chapter 1148: Fate Sealed
Qi Xia, Qiao Jiajin, and Chen Junnan led Tian Tian and Lawyer Zhang as they walked down the street without looking back.
At this moment, everyone on the street was panicking, rushing aimlessly through various buildings, spreading the news of the major event that had just occurred in the entire "Land of the End" to every person on the street.
As the word spread, only one phrase remained on everyone's lips:
"The giant bell and the display screens have collapsed."
The giant bells and display screens across all locations had collapsed and shattered at almost the same moment. All the "participants" had lost their trump cards.
From this moment on, they no longer knew if they could "Echo," nor did they know what the future held.
Some said that rebels had appeared in this place, and that the ultimate goal of these rebels was to prevent all "participants" from escaping. Thus, they had angered the "Zodiacs," betrayed the "Tianlong," and destroyed the giant bells.
Qi Xia and his group walked against the tide of the crowd like a boat sailing upstream, while the crowd was like a rushing river.
They all ran past, utterly frantic. Some had despair in their eyes, abandoning the last glimmer of hope in their hearts. Others burned with hatred, vowing to kill all the rebels.
Some even proposed a pause in the "Zodiac" games, telling the "Zodiacs" to temporarily set aside their grudges and unite against their common enemy.
How laughable was that?
Looking at all the emotions on the street, not a trace of hatred toward the "Zodiacs" could be found. Only overwhelming, boundless hatred for the "rebels" remained.
But wasn't that a good thing?
At least everyone had finally taken action.
They were no longer coasting through life waiting to die, no longer living in constant fear, and no longer divided among themselves. They were willing to unite with everyone they saw—even the "Zodiacs" who had tried to kill them just moments before—setting aside their differences to cooperate.
Making everyone hate the "Tianlong" and the "Qinglong" at the same time and rise up against them was nearly impossible at any time.
But ironically, once the target of hostility was shifted to "participants" like themselves, an unmistakable surge of anger visibly clouded everyone's minds.
"Old Qi..." Chen Junnan said with a heavy expression as he walked behind Qi Xia. "Where exactly are you taking us?"
"To take shelter," Qi Xia replied. "Haven't you noticed the sky is about to fall here?"
"Let's not talk about the sky falling just yet," Chen Junnan said, frowning as he looked at the numerous "participants" coming and going on the street. "It looks like the giant clock has fallen, and everyone's in chaos now."
"Exactly," Qi Xia nodded. "They've completed their first task, and now they're running for their lives."
"Are we really not going to help?" Chen Junnan asked.
Qiao Jiajin also nodded after hearing this. "Boss conman... I don't really see the need for 'taking shelter,' do I? There are still people fighting the 'Divine Beasts' right now, right? I could go help."
"You can't help," Qi Xia said. "In this turmoil, everyone has their own fate. This whole thing is a massive 'cause and effect.' You can't interfere with anything. Just let everything take its course."
"What do you mean...?"
"Those who are meant to die will die, and those who are meant to live will live," Qi Xia said. "Whether you do nothing now or risk your lives to intervene, the final outcome will be the same."
"So we're just going to run away like this...?" Chen Junnan still asked incredulously. "Little Ye always felt that 'Cat' wouldn't have an easy time dealing with Xuanwu... After all, the plan had a flaw... This isn't what I agreed with them last night..."
"But that's not your problem," Qi Xia said. "Xuanwu will die at their hands."
"You..." Chen Junnan frowned again. "Old Qi, you seem to have a lot of confidence in 'Cat'... Where does that confidence come from?"
"Because I have no choice but to believe," Qi Xia said. "If even I don't believe in them, then they'll have no one to lean on."
Chen Junnan slowly lowered his head after hearing this.
Although Qi Xia was right, he still felt uneasy.
Xuanwu had now transformed into a monstrous creature with black skin. She had no physical body and no weaknesses. How could "Cat" possibly manage to kill Xuanwu with their strength alone?
No, compared to "Extreme Path," "Cat" was already decent.
Now "Extreme Path" was out in the open, while "Cat" remained in the shadows.
Throughout the city, people were shouting slogans like "Kill the rebels" and converging on the square, making it extremely difficult for "Extreme Path" to escape.
It seemed that everyone who had dismantled the giant bells had become the embodiment of their hatred. They didn't mind venting all their resentment toward the "Land of the End" and the "Zodiacs" onto those who had destroyed the bells.
"Everyone from 'Extreme Path' will die," Chen Junnan said. "Yan Zhichun and Jiang Ruoxue, Lin Qin and Zhou Mo—can they fight their way out of the crowd alive? Even though the people from 'Heaven's Gate' went to help, at most there are only twenty-something reinforcements... Do you know how many angry 'participants' there are now?"
"What good would the few of us do if we went?" Qi Xia looked up at the distant sky. "Whether 'Extreme Path' and 'Heaven's Gate' can escape or not depends on whether the 'true Sheep' makes a move."
"The true Sheep...?"
"As long as he's willing to act, he can ensure the safety of 'Extreme Path' and 'Heaven's Gate,'" Qi Xia said. "But that's difficult. He may have read my mind, so the 'cause and effect' of the situation could change because of that."
With that, he turned to look at the group and said, "There's no need to worry about others now. I have other things to ask of you. In other words... we have more important tasks to handle."
"What tasks...?"
"I need to go to White Sheep's old game venue," Qi Xia said. "The safety room there contains the final weapon White Sheep left behind."
"Huh...?" The group was stunned for a moment.
"By 'final weapon,' do you mean..."
"I'm not sure," Qi Xia said. "White Sheep may have deceived me with memories, so I can't make a judgment until I confirm the situation at that venue."
As they were talking, they saw a noisy group of people running toward them from a distance.
Looking closely, it was a team of about a dozen people being chased by a crowd, with Old Lü and Aunt Tong at the forefront.
"Damn it!!" Old Lü shouted as he ran. "Xiao Chan, who exactly did you offend?!"
"Old Lü! Don't get involved in this! Get out of here!"
Before the entire team could reach Qi Xia's eyesight, they were blocked by a group of "participants" who had rushed over to Qi Xia and the others.
When these people heard that the team before them was the "rebel" squad, their eyes turned bloodshot with fury, and killing intent radiated from them.
"Oh no... Qi boy...?" Old Lü was taken aback.