Chapter 340: Me and My Plan
Could it be that "Yu Nian'an" really doesn't exist...?
"She was a path I left for myself...?" Qi Xia crouched down, staring at the ground, running his hands through his hair over and over. He felt that something was terribly wrong.
His life had only been twenty-six years in total, and Yu Nian'an had occupied seven of them. This "escape route" was far too realistic!
Before Yu Nian'an existed, what reason did he have to want to escape?
Assuming he really had created Yu Nian'an, then which path had he left for himself?
Qi Xia felt as though he were communicating with the self from seven years ago, and the self from ten years ago, through some hidden thread.
But he also knew clearly that his own thoughts couldn't be so easily discerned.
What had his former self really wanted to express?
Had Yu Nian'an truly been created?
"Impossible... I don't believe it." Qi Xia shook his head and muttered to himself. "Even with 'Endless Life,' it's absolutely impossible to create a person who never existed..."
Qi Xia knew that for any ability in the "Land of the End" to be successfully activated, his subconscious mind had to believe the thing was real. If he had never met Yu Nian'an, how could he have created her?
Why would his subconscious think that a person who didn't exist was real?
And how could he be so certain of Yu Nian'an's personality and appearance?
Qiao Jiajin knew Qi Xia's temperament. Whenever he fell into deep thought, he always wore that self-absorbed expression. So Qiao Jiajin just watched him quietly from the side.
At that moment, Qian Wu picked up the bottle in front of Qiao Jiajin, poured himself half a glass, and then spoke. "But Qi Xia, I heard from Song Qi that you 'Echoed' this time. For some reason, the sound of your Echo was exceptionally loud—it startled all the 'Zodiacs' on the train."
Qi Xia interrupted his train of thought, slowly raised his head, and looked at Qian Wu. Another question arose in his mind. "Qian Wu, you said I 'Echoed.' But can a person... have two kinds of 'Echo' at the same time?"
Qian Wu took a shallow sip of wine, then shook his head. "I've never heard of such a case. I only know that someone at the level of a 'Divine Beast' can possess multiple skills similar to 'Echo' at once. But are you a Divine Beast?"
Qi Xia knew he was certainly not a Divine Beast. He wasn't even a "Zodiac" yet.
But then why was his Echo this time not an ordinary two-character Echo?
What was "Endless Life"?
Noticing Qi Xia's strange expression, Qian Wu pondered for a moment and then put down the glass he had been raising to his lips. "Qi Xia... could it be that you can create two Echoes? Is the Echo you made this time... different from before?"
Qi Xia knew Qian Wu was no ordinary person. There was no point in hiding the truth any longer, so he nodded to Qian Wu, who looked like a woman, and said, "That's right. My Echo this time is 'Endless Life.'"
The words were barely out of his mouth when he expected suspicion. But instead, Qian Wu nodded thoughtfully.
"It's just as I suspected..." Her lips moved slightly. "No wonder the entire 'Land of the End' has never heard such a sound. Four characters... Was this all planned by your former self?"
"Planned by my former self...?" Qi Xia found that explanation hard to accept.
Had he left himself different paths every time, with the ultimate goal of creating a four-character Echo?
But in the "Land of the End," no one had ever heard of or seen a four-character Echo. How could he have worked toward that goal?
As things stood now, his experiences in the Land of the End could be divided into four stages.
The first stage was roughly from the beginning to about ten years ago. He had an ordinary two-character Echo. He didn't know how long it lasted, but one day ten years ago, he launched a decisive battle against "Tianlong," leading ten thousand participants to a crushing defeat. After that, he lost that two-character Echo.
The second stage was roughly between ten years ago and seven years ago. During this period, although he had become a "Misfortunate," he frequently moved about the "Land of the End" with teammates like Qiao Jiajin and Chen Junnan. They defeated many "Zodiacs," and during this time he also formulated his next tactic: becoming a "Zodiac." Perhaps he was afraid of worrying Qiao Jiajin and Chen Junnan, or perhaps he had other ideas—he kept this fact hidden.
The third stage was roughly from seven years ago to more than thirty days ago. During this entire time, he was a "Sheep." But this path didn't let him escape; instead, it turned him back into his original form.
Now came the fourth stage.
If he had to say what was different about this experience from the previous ones, it would naturally be "Endless Life." This was a new situation that had never appeared in any other stage. Did all the paths lead here?
Officer Li saw that Qi Xia was still deep in thought, so he turned to Qiao Jiajin and asked, "Hoodlum, what ability is 'Endless Life'?"
Qiao Jiajin shrugged at the question and said, "Cop, I don't really know the details. But last time, the reason I could keep resurrecting and fight off all those 'Cats' was probably thanks to the con man's help."
"You mean that pile of your corpses on the ground...?"
Song Qi finally understood. "What?! You mean that time you kept coming back to life, you relied on this 'Endless Life'?"
"Yeah." Qiao Jiajin nodded blankly. "What else? Cloning machines?"
"Then what's your Echo?" Song Qi asked.
"I forgot the name." Qiao Jiajin shook his head, then said seriously, "It might be something like 'Hey you don't be a cheat' or something."
That one sentence stunned a few people.
Qian Wu smiled faintly. "Your Echo is called 'Breaker of All Laws.'"
"Oh?" Qiao Jiajin looked at Qian Wu. "You know mine too?"
"Of course." Qian Wu nodded. "Once your ability activates, every 'Echoer' in the entire 'Land of the End' has to bow their heads. It's just a pity that it can't counter 'Tianlong.'"
"Isn't that enough?" Qiao Jiajin stretched lazily. "Being able to protect my teammates from harm done by others is enough for me. As for that 'Tianlong' you guys keep talking about... I'll leave him to you to figure out."
"The way..."
Qian Wu cast another complicated glance at Qi Xia. If there really was a way to deal with Tianlong, it could only rely on the one and only four-character Echoer in the entire "Land of the End."
"I've thought it through..." Qi Xia said. "I'll figure out a way to gather all 3,600 'Daos' together and force 'Tianlong' to show himself."