Chapter 232: Junnan
"Oh?" Qi Xia raised an eyebrow. "Kill me... interesting. That's a very good idea."
"Yeah?" The pale-faced young man nodded. "Buddy, I think so too."
Qi Xia stared at the young man for a moment, curious about him.
His features were very delicate, and he looked harmless, yet there was always a ruthless edge between his brows and eyes.
"What's your name?" Qi Xia asked.
"Chen Junnan." The man paused, then continued, "And what might your name be, sir?"
"Qi Xia."
"Yeah... Qi Xia." Chen Junnan slowly bared his teeth. "How ridiculous..."
"Ridiculous?"
This person gave Qi Xia a very familiar feeling, but Qi Xia simply couldn't recall where he had seen him before.
"Qi Xia... why the hell is that?" Chen Junnan's manic grin soon twisted, yet just a few seconds later, his eyes were filled with tears. "Just why the hell are you here...?"
He seemed to be in a very complicated state of mind, as if teetering on the verge of collapse, or as if he had already collapsed long ago.
His words also irritated Qi Xia, because Zhuque had asked the same question.
"Why would you ask that?" Qi Xia said, perplexed. "What's your relationship with Zhuque?"
Chen Junnan helplessly lowered his head, asking in bewilderment, "Absurd... me and Zhuque? Qi Xia, did you come to save Old Qiao?"
"What?"
"You already escaped... so why did you come back?" Chen Junnan asked through gritted teeth. "Aren't you here to save Old Qiao, but instead came back specifically to let me fucking kill you?!"
This statement was shocking, yet still within Qi Xia's scope of acceptance.
It seemed that his earlier speculation was correct—he really had escaped from the "Land of the End." But why had he come back?
"So I really did escape...?" Qi Xia nodded. "Chen Junnan, how long have you been here?"
He felt that before Lin Qin arrived... or even earlier, Chen Junnan must have been his teammate.
It was just that he retained too many memories, so it was difficult for him to stay clear-headed now.
"How long have I been here...?" Chen Junnan said with a bitter smile. "What kind of question is that? Are all these stupid questions in fashion now?"
"What...?"
"Do you mean we didn't all come here at the same time?!" Chen Junnan slowly withdrew his bitter smile and said angrily. "Didn't we all come together?! This endless cycle of a godforsaken place... now we're making a distinction of who came first and who came last?!"
This person had far too many memories.
In his memory... did he remember the original appearance of the "Land of the End"?
Qi Xia thought for a moment and softened his tone. "Tell me what we went through?"
Chen Junnan's mental state was never really stable. At Qi Xia's question, his whole body trembled. "Qi Xia... back then, the three of us agreed that I would cover for you two to get out... but you abandoned Old Qiao and escaped on your own."
"Wh-what?" Qi Xia was taken aback.
"You've lost your memory, so you can't even defend yourself?" Chen Junnan sneered. "Seven years—seven whole years! Faced with Qiao Jiajin, who wanted to help you with all his heart... just how could you be so cruel-hearted? That's really low, Old Qi. Do you know how many times Old Qiao died alone in these seven years?"
"I..."
Some vague accusations were laid upon Qi Xia, making him feel very uncomfortable.
"Ask your own conscience properly..." Chen Junnan said. "How many times did Old Qiao die for you? No... let me rephrase that. When was Qiao Jiajin's death not because of you?"
Qi Xia was also a bit troubled after hearing this.
"Chen Junnan, although I don't know what happened before... but based on my understanding of myself, I couldn't have done something so heartless." Qi Xia looked up at the sky with a melancholic expression. "In this world, if someone offers me 'sincerity,' I won't repay them with 'deception.' The ones I want to deal with have always been those full of lies."
Chen Junnan fell silent.
After a long time, he slowly shook his head.
"Yeah, even with such a huge upheaval, you're still you." Chen Junnan grabbed his own hair. "Do you fucking know... for these seven years, not a single day went by that I didn't want to kill you... but when I actually saw you, I still hesitated. Old Qi, tell me, buddy—are you a villain who reaps what he sows, or a hope worth entrusting?"
Qi Xia had absolutely no idea what the answer to that question was.
"Before I answer you... I want to know what exactly happened between us back then?"
After hearing this, Chen Junnan slowly stood up and replied, "Old Qi, you clearly escaped seven years ago."
"But... how do you know I escaped?"
"You told me yourself. You said that after that day, you would succeed." Chen Junnan stared at him intently. "Did you not escape? Are you going to slap your own face now? I gave you my 'sincerity,' but at that time you repaid me with 'deception'?"
"You mean... I personally told you... that I was about to escape?" Qi Xia still felt it was strange. "It sounds like you and I had a pretty good relationship before. Why didn't I take you with me?"
"Because I said I didn't want to go." Chen Junnan's eyes turned cold again. "But I never expected you to leave Old Qiao behind either... After that time, you never showed up in the interview room again..."
"I see..." Qi Xia slowly nodded. "So you didn't see me leave with your own eyes... you just found that I was gone..."
"What do you mean?" Chen Junnan was a bit confused. "So you still lied to me?"
"No." Qi Xia shook his head. "Chen Junnan, is it possible that it wasn't me deceiving you, but rather me being deceived?"
"Are you kidding me?" Chen Junnan laughed bitterly in anger. "Old Qi, how many people in the 'Land of the End' can fool you?"
"Yu Nian'an is one of them," Qi Xia said.
"Who?" Chen Junnan was startled.
Seeing Chen Junnan's puzzled expression, Qi Xia still felt something was off. "You've never heard the name Yu Nian'an?"
"There are so many people in the 'Land of the End,' do I have to remember all their names?"
A strange thought began to circle in Qi Xia's mind.
"Chen Junnan... were you really that close to me before?" Qi Xia confirmed.
"How should I put it?" Chen Junnan hesitated. "You're not a very decent guy. I think I was closer to Old Qiao."
Qi Xia shook his head. "Fine, even if you only met me a few times, there's no way you've never heard the name 'Yu Nian'an,' right?"
The more Chen Junnan heard, the more confused he became. "What... I met you, so I have to know 'Yu Nian'an'? Is Yu Nian'an that girl who appeared in these three cycles? Even if she's good-looking and has a nice figure, I don't know her."
Qi Xia knew he was referring to Lin Qin.
"No, it's the girl who was standing with me all day today," Qi Xia said. "She is Yu Nian'an. She's my wife."
"Your what...?" Chen Junnan rubbed his chin. "Wife?"
This simple question threw Qi Xia's mind into chaos.
In other words, this original comrade-in-arms... this man named Chen Junnan, didn't even know he had a wife.
So it seemed... Yu Nian'an must have appeared within these seven years.