Chapter 171: A Resonance That Is Hard to Trigger
Chu Tianqiu sat in the dimly lit room eating breakfast when he suddenly heard a faint knock on the door.
"What is it?" he asked.
"He has a question... wants to ask you," said the voice from outside.
"Let me guess..." Chu Tianqiu slowly stroked his chin. "Could it be... he wants to ask how long I've been here?"
"Exactly." The shadow outside the door nodded.
"How interesting." Chu Tianqiu revealed a meaningful smile. "Qi Xia, this is how it should be..."
"It's all my fault..." The voice outside sounded hesitant. "I didn't expect Qi Xia to see through the flaw."
"It has nothing to do with you." Chu Tianqiu shook his head. "Even if we could fool everyone else, there's no way to fool Qi Xia. He would have discovered it sooner or later—just earlier than I anticipated."
"So how should we answer this question?" The voice outside sounded troubled. "He said if you answer wrong, he'll make sure you're completely 'out.'"
"Is that so?" Chu Tianqiu nodded slightly and walked over to the table to sit down. There was a notebook on it.
The notebook was filled with many incomprehensible words.
There were emotions like "Anger," "Despair," "Fear," "Reluctance," "Longing," "Pride," "Sadness," "Regret," and many others, filling an entire page. But oddly, many of the words had been crossed out.
"Has Qi Xia not resonated yet?" Chu Tianqiu asked.
"No," the voice outside replied.
Chu Tianqiu's expression darkened. He picked up the pen and crossed out "Regret" as well.
Now only one word remained on the notebook: "Sadness."
He put the cap back on the pen and tapped the word "Sadness" lightly with his finger. "I might have found the answer."
"Is that so?" The shadow outside fell into thought. "But could it be... that the 'regret' we gave Qi Xia simply wasn't enough?"
"Oh?" Chu Tianqiu thought for a moment. "You mean... he doesn't care at all about his teammates' lives?"
"I can't say," the voice answered. "I can't read anything from his expression."
"Interesting." Chu Tianqiu nodded. "So he walked into the trap deliberately... Knowing it was futile, he still went ahead, even at the cost of his teammates, just to lure me out."
"At the cost of his teammates..." The voice hesitated. "Tianqiu, we also lost two teammates. Is this man named Qi Xia really that important? More important than Jin Yuanxun?"
Chu Tianqiu didn't answer that question. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Has Lin Qin joined 'Tiantang Kou'?"
"Yes."
"A truly rare sight..." Chu Tianqiu tapped the table. "I plan to meet her."
"B-But she's a 'Jidao'!" The voice outside sounded a bit flustered.
"Jidao members with that much seniority are hard to come by." Chu Tianqiu slowly stood up. "She's different from those newly-risen lunatics."
The voice was silent for a long time before saying, "I understand."
Chu Tianqiu smiled faintly. "Is your mouth still hurting from where Qi Xia hit you?"
The voice didn't reply. After a while, it slowly asked, "How are you going to answer Qi Xia's question?"
"That's easy. Tell him, 'I never left.'"
...
Qiao Jiajin was carrying a cloth bag, his mood exceptionally bright.
"Psychiatrist, Writer Boy, you two are pretty smart too."
He opened the bag and counted. From this "Human Dog" game, they had earned six Dao.
He just wondered if six Dao was enough to buy some alcohol.
Lin Qin furrowed her brows slightly. She reached out and took the cloth bag, accidentally brushing against Qiao Jiajin's fingers again.
Qiao Jiajin didn't mind. Seeing the bag taken, he put his hands in his pockets.
Lin Qin let out a soft sigh and asked, "Qiao Jiajin, what are you thinking about?"
"What am I thinking about?" Qiao Jiajin blinked. "Why so direct?"
He wanted to use the Dao to buy alcohol, but he couldn't say that outright.
"I..." Lin Qin felt that something was off about Qiao Jiajin.
Like Qi Xia, no matter how she touched him, there was no sign of Resonance at all.
Lin Qin felt that to fully awaken Qiao Jiajin's ability, she would have to unleash her own full Resonance. But that would trigger the bell, making things troublesome.
"Are you suppressing your true feelings?" Lin Qin asked.
"Huh?" Qiao Jiajin was taken aback. "Why would I suppress my true feelings?"
Although Qiao Jiajin denied it, Lin Qin could still see the clues.
She felt that the Qiao Jiajin before her wasn't the real Qiao Jiajin—or rather, he wasn't being himself.
"Qiao Jiajin, think about who you are," Lin Qin said. "Don't suppress what's in your heart."
"Myself...?" Qiao Jiajin's gaze gradually turned cold.
"Who are you? Before you came here, was there any unfinished wish?"
"I..."
Faint bells seemed to sound in Qiao Jiajin's ears.
Without the facade, the taste of memory was bitterly harsh.
"This is who I am." Qiao Jiajin cut off his train of thought, forcing a smile as he turned his head. "Psychiatrist, I don't have money for an appointment, so you don't need to treat me."
He lazily stretched his arm and then walked straight ahead.
Lin Qin knew that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing that Qiao Jiajin's Resonance was hard to trigger.
It meant his Resonance was extremely powerful.
Lin Qin turned her head and glanced helplessly at Han Yimo, muttering to herself, "At least it's much stronger than 'Calamity.'"
The three of them wandered aimlessly through the city, about to head to the next game when they suddenly heard a loud bell.
"What?" Lin Qin was slightly startled. The bell sounded very close.
Who had resonated?
Was it one of their own?
"Let's go check it out." Lin Qin pointed in the direction of the bell. The three changed course.
But just as they reached the giant display screen, a deafening bell rang out again.
The Resonance had ended.
Only a single line of text was left on the screen, looking strangely isolated.
"I heard the Resonance of Calamity."
"That was a dying person resonating just now?" Lin Qin murmured to herself.
Qiao Jiajin stared at the screen for a moment, then asked, "Whose Resonance is 'Calamity'? Why is it always here?"
"It's..." Lin Qin glanced at Han Yimo. Seeing no reaction from him, she could only say reluctantly, "I don't know."
The three waited by the screen for a while but found nothing else. Just as they were about to leave, the screen began to refresh with several lines of text in quick succession.
Then came a huge, unceasing series of bells. The three standing in front of the giant clock could barely keep their footing from the vibrations.
"I heard the Resonance of Misdirection."
"I heard the Resonance of Karma."
"I heard the Resonance of Originality."
Adding the earlier "Calamity," four lines were now flashing on the screen simultaneously, looking utterly terrifying.
"Wh-What's going on?" Han Yimo stood frozen in place.