Chapter 228: Mountain of Corpses
The ten of them slowly descended to the ground.
Before Ren She could say anything, Qi Xia grabbed Yu Nian'an and pushed open the wooden door, walking straight out.
"Hey?" Ren She was taken aback. "Qi Xia, I haven't said goodbye to you yet."
Qi Xia walked forward without looking back. This long corridor felt just like the one in his dream.
The others followed him out one after another.
"Hey, Liar Boy, why are you in such a hurry?" Qiao Jiajin called out from behind.
But Qi Xia paid no attention to anyone. He simply forged ahead with Yu Nian'an, moving as if he had a purpose.
When he reached Ren Long, the man was about to speak, but Qi Xia cut him off again.
"No need to explain," Qi Xia said. "Give the 'Tao' to the people behind me."
He pushed past Ren Long and walked out the door. Fortunately, someone was already waiting there.
The man had a face that looked exactly like Chu Tianqiu's.
The long-unseen Jin Yuanxun stood beside him, scanning their surroundings warily.
Seeing Qi Xia descend from nowhere with another strange woman, Chu Tianqiu paused for a brief moment. But he quickly composed his expression and stepped forward to greet them warmly.
"Qi Xia."
"Long time no see," Qi Xia said coldly, wrapping an arm around Yu Nian'an. "Which Chu Tianqiu are you? What's your story this time?"
"I am myself." Chu Tianqiu paused. "I came to find you this time specifically to congratulate you."
"Congratulate me?" Qi Xia replied with indifference. "For what?"
"You are the 'strongest' I have ever seen," Chu Tianqiu said. "A few days ago, the entire 'Land of Endings' trembled because of you."
"Is that so?" Qi Xia let out a cold smile. "So you staged a massacre all by yourself."
"That's right!" Chu Tianqiu laughed cheerfully. "Qi Xia, you know, even though I cooperated with you in this hellhole, we can kill each other at any time for our own ideas. That doesn't really change anything."
"You're right." Qi Xia nodded. "Thanks to you, I also found something incredible."
"Oh?" Chu Tianqiu turned to look at Yu Nian'an. "I heard from Aunt Tong about your situation... So..."
Chu Tianqiu was about to say something when he suddenly felt his train of thought stall.
Was this woman Qi Xia's "vanished wife"?
He had found his wife...?
Or was this a product of "Endless Life"?
But this time, Qi Xia hadn't "Echoed." How did this woman appear?
He took a breath and looked back at Qi Xia, noticing that the man's eyes seemed a little vacant.
He didn't seem to want to consider the question.
"About to go mad, after all?" Chu Tianqiu gave a wry smile. "Lucky for me, I found the answer before you lost your mind."
"Since you've finished congratulating me... what's next?" Qi Xia asked. "Are you here to invite us to 'Heaven's Gate'?"
"Of course!" Chu Tianqiu walked over with a smile and shook Qi Xia's hand. "You're my best partner in the 'Land of Endings'!"
The rest of Qi Xia's team slowly descended from the void as well. Officer Li still held four 'Tao' in his hand. They all spotted Chu Tianqiu at once.
"Oh, everyone's here?" Chu Tianqiu smiled, then counted—nine people.
He scanned the group. He recognized most of them, but the pale-faced young man was a stranger.
"Oh?" Chu Tianqiu quickly understood the reason and nodded. "You managed to escape from that place? Impressive."
The pale-faced man saw Chu Tianqiu and slowly withdrew his smile, a hint of contempt in his eyes.
"Hey, isn't that heartless Tianqiu?" Qiao Jiajin said with a forced smile. "Come to get people to fight for you again?"
"What are you saying? You flatter me." Chu Tianqiu's eyes curved into a smile. "Speaking of which, I have to thank you and Li Xiangling. You actually managed to hold on to 'Heaven's Gate.' That was unexpected..."
Those words stung Qiao Jiajin.
After Qi Xia had died, he and Li Xiangling had indeed held 'Heaven's Gate,' but the situation at the time was so bizarre that Qiao Jiajin thought he had gone mad.
"So, have you cleaned up your 'Heaven's Gate'?" Qiao Jiajin asked.
"I'm in the middle of cleaning it!" Chu Tianqiu replied. "If you don't mind, come along. I'll give you some food, and you can help me clean up too."
This tone, like commanding a dog, made everyone uncomfortable.
Qiao Jiajin said nothing, instead looking at Qi Xia.
Qi Xia thought for a moment, then smiled. "Sure, I'll join."
The two shook hands again.
Lin Qin and Qiao Jiajin didn't quite understand Qi Xia.
The Chu Tianqiu in front of them was obviously not a good person. He was dangerously insane. What was the point of joining him again?
...
The group followed Chu Tianqiu and Jin Yuanxun all the way to 'Heaven's Gate.' Along the way, they explained the situation to Lawyer Zhang and Tian Tian.
The two still looked utterly incredulous.
Lin Qin asked for the name of the 'Tenth Man.' He seemed able to communicate with anyone without any barriers.
He stared at the dark red sky of the 'Land of Endings,' his smile gradually fading, as if he were coming to terms with some difficult truth.
"My name is Chen Junnan," he said.
"Chen Junnan?" Lin Qin paused, then asked, "Have you seen me before?"
"Yes, this is the third time," the young man said with a smile.
"Only three times?"
"Yes, only three."
Seeing that she couldn't get anything else out of him, Lin Qin let it go. This man kept dying over and over in the interview room—the chances of him being a 'Extreme Daoist' were too slim.
Qi Xia turned to look at Qiao Jiajin. One question bothered him.
"Fist, you held 'Heaven's Gate'?"
"Yeah," Qiao Jiajin nodded.
That sounded highly improbable.
Even if Qiao Jiajin and Li Xiangling were skilled fighters, how could they defeat a group of fully armed 'Echo-users'?
"Did you 'Echo' back then?" Qi Xia asked.
"No," Qiao Jiajin shook his head. "Liar Boy, you'll find out soon enough. If I haven't gone crazy... then the situation was really too strange."
As they spoke, they arrived at the school gate.
As soon as they got close, a fresh stench of decay hit their noses.
The smell of bodies that had just begun to rot was overwhelming. This kind of odor would persist for about ten days or so.
At that moment, Li Xiangling was moving bodies in the schoolyard. She spotted the group approaching at once.
"Brother Qiao!!" Li Xiangling quickly waved, nearly dropping the corpse in her arms.
"Kung Fu Gal!" Qiao Jiajin waved back. "Wait, I'll come help!"
Qi Xia looked out. The corpse Li Xiangling was carrying looked familiar.
A second later, his eyes slowly widened.
Everyone behind him was also stunned.
Li Xiangling was carrying a body—one that looked exactly like Qiao Jiajin—and moving it slowly. Looking across the entire playground, seven or eight bodies that resembled Qiao Jiajin were neatly stacked together.
Some were wounded by explosions, some by slashes, and some were impaled by wooden spikes—each had died differently.
He turned his head. On the other side, there was a pile of Li Xiangling's bodies.
At least twenty or thirty of them, forming a small mountain of corpses.
"Whew... Brother Qiao, I just finished moving my own bodies... I'm exhausted..."
"It's fine. I'll move mine now." Qiao Jiajin smiled.