Chapter 288: Don't Say It
Qi Xia stared coldly at the Tiger-headed man before him and asked in a low voice, "What do you mean 'the four of you' all saw it...?"
"What business is it of yours?" Di Hu looked back coldly. "Are we that close?"
"No." Qi Xia shook his head. "It's just that we're cooperating now. To better find the person you mentioned, I need to gather as many clues as possible."
Di Hu sighed quietly after hearing this and said, "The four of us... are all Brother Yang's students..."
Qi Xia's eyes widened, feeling as if something had collapsed in his mind.
"Brother Yang?!" He slowly stepped forward, staring at Di Hu in disbelief. "What do you mean 'Brother Yang'?! Tian Yang is a man?!"
Di Hu looked at Qi Xia with confusion. "I was about to ask you the same thing. When did I ever say she was a woman?"
Qi Xia quickly recalled every detail of his encounter with Di Hu.
Yes, he had never said that "Tian Yang" was a woman.
This completely changed the nature of the entire matter... It seemed everything had returned to square one.
That was to say, whether it was Tian Yang or Di Yang, Yu Nian'an had never been within this scope.
According to the elimination method Qi Xia had previously used... she was most likely dead.
"I... Little Mouse... Dead Snake... Old Black..." Di Hu held up four fingers. "For seven years, Brother Yang only had the four of us as students..."
Qi Xia was somewhat distracted. After a moment, he turned to look at Di Hu.
It seemed another thread was vaguely connecting.
Seven years?
But wasn't this idea too bold?
"I already know who you and 'Little Mouse' are." Qi Xia asked. "But who are 'Dead Snake' and 'Old Black'?"
"A frivolous and foolish snake, and that annoying sheep you saw today." Di Hu slowly extended four fingers. "The four of us, plus Brother Yang, used to sit at the same table to eat."
Qi Xia quickly pondered the ins and outs of the whole matter. In just over ten seconds, an unbelievable truth abruptly appeared before him.
"That 'Brother Yang' you speak of... took seven years to ascend and become 'Tian Yang'?" Qi Xia asked.
"That's right." Di Hu nodded. "He came later than Old Black, but advanced faster. He spent three years at the Human level, four years at the Earth level, and in seven years ascended to 'Tian'. If Old Black had even half of Brother Yang's ability... why would it have taken him thirteen years, and only with Brother Yang's help, to become 'Di'?"
"You're saying... he not only advanced quickly himself... but even helped all of you?" Qi Xia asked.
"That's right. Brother Yang is a natural-born swindler." Di Hu nodded. "But now Old Black struts around sitting in Brother Yang's former seat, pretentiously taking in dozens of 'students'. I wish he would lose completely... Luckily you showed up."
Qi Xia lowered his head, stretched out his own palm, and looked at it carefully.
A strange thought kept swirling in his mind.
I am Tian Yang?
In this "End of the World," let alone "Divine Beasts" and "Zodiacs," even an ordinary "Participant" wielding a knife could kill him.
What kind of Tian Yang was this?
He was clearly more like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
What difference was there between himself and the lowest-level "Participant"?
"Could my thinking still be wrong...?"
Qi Xia slowly furrowed his brow. If he was Tian Yang, why was he here?
Why was he here...?
Just as this thought settled in his mind, Zhu Que's words echoed in his ears again.
"Qi Xia, why are you here?"
"It seems you really don't know why you're here. How pitiful."
"Tell me, who exactly have I offended?"
"Offended? Isn't offending Tian Long enough?"
Qi Xia slowly narrowed his eyes, finally connecting all these elusive clues together.
During the "Seven Lost Years," he had always been a "Sheep," and starting from Human Sheep, he had reached the peak step by step.
But at the final critical moment, Tian Long had used a trick of deception.
Everyone thought he had become Tian Yang, but the truth was that all his memories had been erased, and he had been turned back into a Participant.
And over these seven years, for some unknown reason, no one in the room had ever passed the interview.
It wasn't until he himself returned to the room that things finally took a turn.
Lin Qin's words echoed in his ears again: "Qi Xia, for at least seven years, I haven't heard of anyone named you in the 'End of the World.'"
Qi Xia looked around at his surroundings with some alarm, then at the ground beneath his feet.
Things seemed to be taking a bad turn.
Everything he was doing now... everything he had experienced... hadn't he experienced it all before?
He had been active in the "End of the World" for seven years already!
And that was just the traceable time... Could the actual time be even longer than seven years?!
In those years, he had tried almost every method, coming within a single step of becoming "Tian," only to be knocked back to square one in the end.
This was terrifying.
He was like a monkey from the "Infinite Monkey Theorem," randomly triggering countless possibilities across an infinite timeline.
No... there was still some difference from the "Infinite Monkey."
After all, there was an extra "Tian Long."
When a monkey was just one letter away from typing out the complete works of Shakespeare, he would restart the monkey's computer, making everything begin anew.
Why was this?
Chu Tianqiu had said that this damned place might not even have a "Tian level"... Could it be that everyone who became "Tian level" would be knocked back to square one, their memories erased, and turned back into Participants?
"This way, there really are no loopholes... but I still feel something's wrong..." Qi Xia stroked his chin, feeling his thoughts getting stuck again.
Qiao Jiajin, who had been standing nearby for a long time, saw that Qi Xia hadn't spoken for a while and reached out to pat him. "Scammer, you okay?"
Qi Xia snapped back to reality, nodded at Qiao Jiajin, and said, "I'm fine. I think I've found Tian Yang."
"Bah?" Qiao Jiajin was stunned. "You found him?"
Di Hu also looked up at Qi Xia. "You know where he is?!"
Qi Xia didn't answer directly but instead asked, "Di Hu, I want to know if what you said is true... No matter whether he's the Sheep of 'Tian, Di, or Ren' level, even if he's no longer a 'Sheep,' do you still want to see him?"
Di Hu felt he hadn't quite understood. "What do you mean, no longer a 'Sheep'? Did Brother Yang go through all that trouble just to become a damned 'Dog'?"
"What if he became an ordinary person?" Qi Xia asked.
This question startled Di Hu.
"Ordinary person?" Di Hu stared into Qi Xia's eyes, feeling as if some train of thought was finally clear.
"I'm just asking casually." Qi Xia said. "If he were an ordinary Participant, would you still want to see him?"
"I..." Di Hu hesitated.
"I understand." As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Xia took Qiao Jiajin and prepared to leave.
"Hey..." Di Hu called out, his voice trembling. "You..."
"Don't say it." Qi Xia said coldly. "Until I figure everything out, don't say anything."