Chapter 186: The Long-Sought One
Qi Xia sat in the hall on the first floor, feeling somewhat helpless.
Although he had laid out a strategy for the three of them to seize the initiative early on, things could change in an instant from that point forward. He had no idea what that madman would do, let alone how their "Echoes" would steer the competition.
Qi Xia had just closed his eyes when he heard the sound of soft footsteps outside the door.
He turned his head and saw Chu Tianqiu standing at the entrance, smiling at him.
Despite his confusion, Qi Xia didn't say a word. He simply closed his eyes again.
Chu Tianqiu walked into the room, dragged over a broken wooden crate from the side, and sat down in front of Qi Xia.
Qi Xia didn't open his eyes, but he furrowed his brow. He wasn't fond of someone suddenly getting this close.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Qi Xia, what do 'teammates' mean to you?" Chu Tianqiu asked.
Hearing this question, Qi Xia slowly opened his eyes.
"Teammates...?" Qi Xia pondered for a moment. "They are companions bound to me in life and death."
"Is that so?" Chu Tianqiu said with a smile. "Yun Yao said that every time you lose a teammate, you get a headache. So is that 'anguish and regret'?"
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Qi Xia asked.
"I suspect we're the same kind of person." Chu Tianqiu lightly brushed the dust off his clothes and continued, "When we don't have a clear goal, our teammates are everything. But once a clear goal appears, teammates become chess pieces."
Hearing this, Qi Xia slowly broke into a smile.
"Chu Tianqiu... you're a hard man to find."
"Haha!" Chu Tianqiu laughed. "Have I caused you trouble? My apologies."
Qi Xia slowly raised one finger and pointed at the ceiling. "There are three members of the 'Extreme Path' here. Do you think they'd want your head?"
"Don't be like that." Chu Tianqiu waved his hand casually, as if joking with a friend. "I really shouldn't be showing myself, but I genuinely wanted to see you. We finally have a chance to talk—you wouldn't go out of your way to find someone to disturb us, would you?"
"Then talk. I'm listening," Qi Xia replied.
"You and I are both cold-blooded animals without feelings. Everyone in the Land of the End is expendable, aren't they?" Chu Tianqiu asked.
Qi Xia didn't answer. He simply propped his chin on his hand.
"You knew full well that the 'Human Dragon' game was my trap, yet you still joined it. You even willingly sacrificed a teammate to get yourself out." Chu Tianqiu nodded with great satisfaction. "You really are a worthy opponent."
"Flattery," Qi Xia said.
"You've told many lies to survive and get out of here." Chu Tianqiu continued. "You even joined forces with that madwoman Lin Ju, plotting to kill her... Your ruthlessness and cunning far surpass mine."
"And so?" Qi Xia asked, expressionless.
"And so... I want to set myself on fire, to work with you." Chu Tianqiu said. "In the entire 'Land of the End', if anyone wants to get out, only the two of us working together could possibly make it happen. You should know—I'm even crazier than Lin Ju."
Qi Xia certainly knew how crazy Chu Tianqiu was.
Human lives were truly just chess pieces to him, ready to be discarded at any moment.
"I want to see that notebook," Qi Xia said.
Chu Tianqiu smiled, reached into his pocket, and pulled out an old, worn notebook. He casually tossed it to Qi Xia.
"Qi Xia, be careful. This is the core secret of 'Paradise Entrance.' Only a few members have ever seen it. Don't damage it."
Qi Xia took the notebook in silence and opened it to read.
It was a diary written in the first person.
At the very beginning, it said: "I" discovered that items in the Land of the End do not reset. So, if I write down notes and leave them on a path I'm certain to pass, I will never lose my memory.
Flipping further, the content was mostly about "my" gambling bouts with the "Zodiacs." Though it didn't specify which games were played, flipping through showed that every day, a "Zodiac" was gambled to death by "me."
At the end of the diary, "I" had gambled all the "Zodiacs" of the "Land of the End" to death. A gorgeously dressed goddess descended from the sky and declared that "I" was the strongest existence in the entire "Land of the End" and could now freely come and go from this place.
Thus, "I" left.
Qi Xia finished reading the notebook with a heavy expression, feeling like he had been played for a fool.
"Chu Tianqiu, you wrote this notebook yourself, didn't you?" he asked.
"Of course." Chu Tianqiu nodded seriously. "Qi Xia, you didn't seriously think some supremely powerful predecessor managed to gamble all the 'Zodiacs' to death through sheer time accumulation, did you? It's just a small ruse to guide the people of 'Paradise Entrance' to willingly walk to their deaths. Hahahaha."
Qi Xia let out a deep sigh. He had long suspected the notebook might be fake, but he hadn't expected it to be so blatantly fabricated.
Chu Tianqiu reached out, took back the notebook, and carefully slipped it into his pocket, afraid of damaging it. "Now I've told you the core secret of 'Paradise Entrance.' Don't you trust me yet?"
"How interesting. You offer me a 'scam' in exchange for my sincerity." Qi Xia let out a laugh. "Are you hoping to get another 'scam' in return?"
"Oh? Is that not allowed?" Chu Tianqiu put on an expression of regret. "Even if it's a 'scam,' it's still my secret."
"Since gambling all the 'Zodiacs' to death isn't feasible, and you've been sending the people of 'Paradise Entrance' to their doom one after another, what is your purpose?" Qi Xia asked.
"I need corpses." Chu Tianqiu answered without hesitation.
This answer once again caught Qi Xia off guard.
"You... are creating 'corpses'?"
"How should I put it... Qi Xia." Chu Tianqiu rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment. "If I tell you this, I'll have no secrets left at all."
"And do you want to tell me?" Qi Xia asked.
"Hehe..." A hint of mania crept into Chu Tianqiu's smile. "Of course. Why else would I risk my life to come here?"
"Then talk. I'm listening." Qi Xia nodded.
"Qi Xia..." Chu Tianqiu murmured. "When the 'Day of the End' comes, everyone who is still alive will turn into crimson powder and scatter with the wind."
"Oh? Is that so?" Qi Xia raised an eyebrow, not looking particularly surprised.
"Up there in that blue sky, the air is filled with people who lived until the tenth day. The sky itself has been stained dark red by their powdery remains." Chu Tianqiu gazed at the sky outside the door as if admiring a beautiful scene. "I don't know where my own remains from previous lives are floating, but they must be stinking up the air."
"That's truly pitiful," Qi Xia replied indifferently.
"But..." Chu Tianqiu withdrew his gaze and looked at Qi Xia. "Do you know? Only the living turn into powder. Those who die before the tenth day simply rot in the air."
Qi Xia frowned, finding this statement somewhat disturbing.
"So, only the 'living' are annihilated?" Qi Xia asked.
"Not 'the living' are annihilated." Chu Tianqiu shook his head. "It's 'the participants' who are annihilated."