Chapter 1351: Farewell
On that morning, without any warning, Qi Xia once again recreated himself in this empty room.
He felt he had reached his optimal state, and now his heart was tied to everything in the "Land of the End."
He missed every single person here. He wanted to lead them all to escape.
He began to fully mobilize the "Endless Vitality" within him.
This was his final day.
Yet he was only one step away from completing a most magnificent rebirth—to wash away his "divinity" and reclaim all of his "humanity."
He lifted his head and looked at the other Qi Xia before him. That Qi Xia looked back at him. Both of their expressions were equally profound.
"The 'participants' here will return every ten days, including you," Qi Xia said, staring at the Qi Xia in front of him. "I have already experienced eternity. The rest is up to you."
"And... you?" the other Qi Xia asked.
"After I exhaust my 'faith,' I will fall into a deep slumber. You will need to kill me, or the next 'cycle' will go wrong," Qi Xia replied. "My memories will also scatter into the air, for you to gradually pick up one day."
"Truly... you've worked hard," the other Qi Xia murmured. "All this time... you've worked so hard."
"We've worked hard. Not me alone," Qi Xia shook his head expressionlessly. "After your rebirth, I will extensively delete your memories. To ensure we don't fail, everything I say from now on will become your subconscious, helping you steadily move forward before you recover all your memories."
"I'm in your debt," the other Qi Xia agreed, walking over to Qi Xia and slowly sitting down.
They sat across from each other at a round table, their eyes meeting.
It felt like a long-awaited reunion, yet also like they were brewing a despairing farewell.
"Qi Xia, I will dissolve the sins on Spring, Autumn, and Winter, so that they may develop self-doubt and awaken rebellious consciousness faster. In the future, you will more quickly recognize who are exceptional partners. These three will one day lead the 'Rebels,' 'Participants,' and 'Natives' to fight alongside you."
"Good," the other Qi Xia paused, then asked back, "And what about... ourselves...?"
"Ourselves..." Qi Xia fell silent, then spoke, "We are merely... a swindler who cheated two million."
The other Qi Xia's expression grew heavy, then he nodded: "Good... we are merely swindlers."
"I will slightly adjust the memories of everyone in the room, chaotically inserting the concept of 'two million,'" Qi Xia continued. "Others probably won't notice anything unusual, but you will certainly use this clue to gradually discover the existence of 'me.' At that time, the three of us—you, me, and Aries—will join forces to break through this place. The Heavenly Dragon will have nowhere to hide."
The other Qi Xia nodded, slowly closed his eyes, and engraved all the contents into his subconscious.
"Due to the influence of the subconscious, you will see a different 'reality,'" Qi Xia added. "After all, all 'reality' is but a dream. At first, you will deceive yourself, seeing a fake but real 'home' within the illusion. But as the number of returns to 'reality' increases, as your memories grow, you will gradually witness 'reality' collapsing in your dreams. A city of flesh will emerge in your dreams—this is the true form of your dreamscape. A complete city of flesh will grant you the deepest despair and the strongest 'Echo.'"
As Qi Xia spoke, his eyes even began to redden.
The other Qi Xia closed his eyes upon hearing this and sighed deeply: "I understand."
"If time is tight... then find a way to provoke the Heavenly Dragon into acting. He will help you see the true city of flesh," Qi Xia warned further. "But you must be careful. The city of flesh in our hearts is the most fragile dream. Everything in it, from the buildings to the passersby, is fake, so it is extremely prone to collapse. If possible, find a way to establish a 'Guardian' within the dream to protect against the invasion of the Heavenly Dragon and other 'dream-entering' entities."
His voice was very soft, as if he were speaking to his only family in the world.
"Okay," the other Qi Xia nodded again.
"I will copy Chu Tianqiu's terminal illness onto you," Qi Xia changed the subject. "This terminal illness will suppress your grief, making it easier for you to awaken 'Endless Vitality' rather than 'Spiritual Hearing.' However..."
"However, we ourselves won't be able to leave."
"Yes," Qi Xia said gravely. "What... do you think?"
"I think it's not suitable," the other Qi Xia replied.
"Not suitable?"
"Yes. Don't 'copy' it," the other Qi Xia said. "'Transfer' it to me. Chu Tianqiu has no reason to die here or outside. Let him live."
"Reasonable." Qi Xia nodded with a heavy expression after hearing this. "Although Chu Tianqiu remembers himself as terminally ill, that illness will be on you after you wake up."
"Good."
Qi Xia's expression gradually turned dejected: "Remember this: 'If you miss someone, you shall meet.'"
The other Qi Xia stared at him, moved, and asked: "Are you... okay...?"
Qi Xia didn't answer. He just shook his head and said: "On this path, I, Aries, and yourself have already arranged countless helpers. Countless people will join this operation. Even 'karma' and 'cause and effect' are helping you..."
"I will," the other Qi Xia nodded. "I will lead everyone to strike at the very apex of the entire 'End.'"
"Our original intention... has never changed, has it?"
"No."
"Promise me... you must take everyone away from here. Can you...?"
At some point, his address had changed from "we" to "you."
His voice choked slightly.
If the room hadn't been so quiet, the Heavenly Dragon might have thought he misheard.
A man as strong as Qi Xia was actually choking at this moment.
He had traversed eternity. He had experienced infinity.
He was all alone, without even finding a single person to talk to.
And now, he was about to leave without anyone knowing.
When he woke up tomorrow, everyone in the room would have forgotten this. Whether it was the brand new Qi Xia or the already mad Goat, they would only have a faint residual subconsciousness, proving that something had happened here.
"Really... thank you for everything along the way," the other Qi Xia said, trembling slightly. "I will make sure everyone escapes here. I promise you."
"I'm very tired. I want to sleep for a while," Qi Xia said with a bitter smile, his choking becoming more pronounced. "Before I leave... can you... say goodbye to me...?"
A hint of sadness flickered in the other Qi Xia's expression. He walked over, slowly raised a hand, and placed it on Qi Xia's shoulder, saying softly:
"Qi Xia, good night."
Hearing these words, a single tear finally slid from Qi Xia's eyes.
He lowered his head, grabbed his hair, and cried out in pain, but he had no idea what he was feeling.
Bone-deep loneliness and endless pain erupted within him at this moment, drenching his iron heart that had turned to lead.
How long had this road been...?
How distant was the end...?
"You must take them home..." Qi Xia sobbed, his head bowed. "I've already walked the hardest roads... You... you must..."
Watching Qi Xia bend over, wailing loudly, the Heavenly Dragon suddenly remembered that Qi Xia was just an ordinary person.
From beginning to end, none of the paths he had walked were meant to become a "god."
Yet he had achieved it, in this eternal solitude.
He had so many things he wanted to say, so many things he wanted to do.
But he was tired.
A few calls flashed through his mind—
"Liar boy!"
"Old Qi!"
"Brother Goat!"
"Brother Aries!"
He wanted so badly to answer, to say "Don't worry, I'm here," to say "I've been trying all along." But he was just so tired.
He had walked the longest road of his life and seen the most distant scenery.
At this final moment of solitude, he could only say goodbye to himself in this empty room.
He told himself he had worked hard, and thanked himself.
Was that... enough...?
Thousands of words were pressed against his chest. Humanity burst through the endless divinity at this moment, emanating from Qi Xia with a dazzling radiance the Heavenly Dragon had never seen before.
But in the end, Qi Xia only reddened his eyes, lifted his head, and within that immense radiance, with a smile, he whispered to himself—
"Good night... Qi Xia..."
That day, the sky over the "Land of the End" changed.
A powerful "Endless Vitality" carrying the purest radiance of humanity erupted from the "Train."
The gods know joy and sorrow, parting and reunion; the gods also lament the suffering of sentient beings.
The multitudes returned to this place in the same postures they had held seven years ago.
The "Natives" began to wander the streets, the "Zodiacs" woke up on the "Train," and the "Ants" and "Divine Beasts" all took their positions.
Even the Twin Dragons appeared at the "Locomotive."
And all the "Participants" gathered once again in the interview room. Everything started anew from the empty room.
The old man beside the giant clock went completely mad from that moment on. He hadn't experienced "eternity," only a lonely hundred years in the "Land of the End."
In everyone's eyes, he had simply aged overnight.
In a place like "Peach Blossom Spring," there were many ways to make a person age overnight, so in the end, no one bothered to investigate.
But he had personally seen everyone "disintegrate" at the hands of the Heavenly Dragon, and he had personally witnessed this place return to prosperity. He had wandered alone for a hundred years.
He had seen faceless people running through the streets, and he had seen someone slaughtering those monsters.
But he couldn't understand.
The only explanation for all this was that the Heavenly Dragon had become a "god," right?
If everyone who died a hundred years ago could still return, wouldn't this place forever cause people to lose their way?
And so he began to wander near the giant clock, muttering the same sentence to everyone he met—
"We can't defeat him... We're lost here forever... No wonder the 'Zodiacs' came back... No wonder even the 'Zodiacs' came back..."
He felt that the Heavenly Dragon had told a colossal lie. Since he had already become a "god," why didn't he let these people leave...?
What more was he pursuing...?
He would still need seven years to gradually regain his sanity. People only saw him as a commonplace mad old man in the "Land of the End," and no one paid him any attention.
It was also that day.
A lonely Goat stood in front of a building with a despairing, icy gaze. A girl dressed in white walked toward him.
"Brother Goat?" she called softly.
Hearing the call, the Goat looked at her, scrutinizing her from head to toe. A few seconds later, he lowered his head again, as if he hadn't seen anything.
Who was this...?
He seemed to have seen her before, but then again, maybe not.
Meeting after an "eternity" apart, there was a vast blankness in his mind. No matter how familiar a person was, they became strange at this moment.
There were too many memories. There was no way to extract her name from that long stretch of time.
She might have been just a flash of an illusion, or a substitute among a million faceless people.
"Aries...?" The girl took a few more steps forward and called again.
This time, the Goat finally reacted, as if confirming that someone was calling him.
So he lifted his head and looked at the girl once more, then asked coldly—
"Something?"
From this moment on, the predetermined gears began to turn relentlessly.
Like a train that could not stop, it charged forward, carrying with it the faith of everyone.
It was also that day. The Black Tortoise looked up—
She couldn't help but press her palms together, bowing her head humbly in reverence, and silently murmured, "Compassion."
The gods lament the suffering of sentient beings; the gods themselves also suffer.
And then, the wails of countless people, intertwined with a thread of hidden hope, echoed once again through the "Land of the End."