Chapter 350: Divergence
Seeing that everyone was at a loss for words, Chu Tianqiu turned his head to look at Old Lü and Little Glasses.
"What... what's wrong?" Old Lü sensed something was off. "I didn't say anything just now."
"Aren't you two supposed to be watching the gate? What if an outsider gets in?" Chu Tianqiu deliberately emphasized the word "outsider," as if implying something else.
The moment he finished speaking, a figure in a black leather jacket appeared at the classroom door.
"Too late. The 'outsider' is already in," Song Qi said.
"Oh..." Chu Tianqiu turned around with a flattering smile. "Isn't this the seventh of the 'Cat' family?"
Song Qi said nothing. After stepping inside, he merely swept his gaze around the room, but soon a puzzled expression appeared on his face.
Qi Xia had asked him to confirm whether Chen Junnan was safe, but in this room, there seemed to be a corpse of Chen Junnan, plus an unharmed Chen Junnan. Now, the unharmed Chen Junnan was holding the corpse of Chen Junnan, creating an indescribably eerie scene.
Did this count as "safe" or "not safe"?
Chu Tianqiu's eyes, however, were fixed on Song Qi's fully healed right hand, his expression tinged with hesitation.
"You..." Song Qi looked at the two Chen Junnans. "What are you now...?"
"Don't mess with me," Chen Junnan said blankly, then set down "his own" corpse, turned around, and walked up to Chu Tianqiu.
"What?" Chu Tianqiu asked.
"Xiao Chu... I don't know what you did, but I feel like you're up to no good," Chen Junnan said, narrowing his eyes. "I suggest you explain yourself now, or I swear I'll slap you right across the face."
"It might be hard for you to understand, but I really was trying to save you," Chu Tianqiu said seriously. "Step back and look at it. Just now, 'Chen Junnan' was about to die, so I found a way to let 'Chen Junnan' live. That's the whole story from start to finish."
Chen Junnan turned around, looking confused, and asked Yun Yao, "Big star, I'm really mixed up right now. Tell me, is that true?"
Yun Yao couldn't speak.
Chen Junnan then looked at Aunt Tong: "Auntie, is that true?"
Aunt Tong thought for a moment and nodded. "It's a bit hard to grasp, but looking at the final result, yes, that's the case."
Old Lü was taken aback. "No, no... that's not right...?"
"Nothing wrong," Little Glasses said from the side. "Like Chu Tianqiu said, we should step back and look at it."
Doctor Zhao had a different opinion. "It's indeed not right. It's not you who died, and not you who was copied—of course you can step back and look at it. But what about the person who was copied...?"
Everyone seemed to have different views, and no one could convince anyone else.
Chu Tianqiu ignored the crowd, pushed up his glasses, and asked softly, "Song Qi... what brings you here this time?"
"Entrusted by someone, faithful to that trust." After saying that, Song Qi came to Chen Junnan's side, looked at him for a few moments, then lowered his head and muttered to himself.
Prison.
Saturday arrived at the entrance of Qi Xia's cell and symbolically knocked on the iron door.
"What?" Qi Xia, sitting on the chair, turned his head slightly.
"Song Qi has something to tell you." Saturday walked in casually. "Is that convenient?"
Without waiting for Qi Xia to nod, Saturday began to speak on her own: "I'm at 'Heaven's Mouth' now. The situation here is complicated. I saw Chen Junnan holding Chen Junnan's corpse. The corpse still has warmth, obviously just died, but there's also an unharmed Chen Junnan here..."
"Huh...?"
Saturday ignored Qi Xia's confusion and continued relaying: "That's what I saw. On-site, someone said Chu Tianqiu used some special 'Echo' to copy a Chen Junnan, but how exactly... no one knows, not even Chu Tianqiu himself is willing to reveal it."
Qi Xia blinked slightly.
Copied a... Chen Junnan?
Why...?
After thinking for a few seconds, Qi Xia looked up and said, "Fake."
Without any nonsense, Saturday placed a finger beside her ear and whispered, "Distinguish the truth from falsehood."
Song Qi nodded upon hearing this, then lowered his head and said to Chen Junnan, "This morning, I brought a group of people to 'Heaven's Mouth'. At the entrance, I ran into you. What was the first thing you said to me?"
"How the hell would I remember..." Chen Junnan looked up at Song Qi, paused for half a second, and then said, "Probably... 'Xiao Song'...?"
Song Qi was taken aback. He found it strange.
What was strange wasn't Chen Junnan's attitude, but the fact that the first thing he had said that morning was indeed "Xiao Song."
"Anything else?" Chen Junnan asked, a little distracted. "My mind's a mess right now... You'd better not mess with me."
Hearing this, Song Qi took a step back and whispered, "Three parts false, seven parts true."
Saturday relayed Song Qi's words to Qi Xia without missing a single word.
Qi Xia frowned. "Seven parts true...?"
He couldn't quite understand what was going on at the scene. A person was either real or fake—how could there be seven parts true?
"Can I talk to him directly?" Qi Xia asked.
"No," Saturday shook her head. "Tsk, you big brain, don't get so many ideas. I've already gone out of my way to relay messages for you. If you're not satisfied, walk back and see for yourself."
Qi Xia didn't argue with her. Instead, he said, "Alright. Then tell him this: there's a kid named Zheng Yingxiong. Ask him, the first time we met Zheng Yingxiong, how many people were in the room?"
Saturday gave an impatient sigh but passed the question along.
Upon hearing the question, Chen Junnan slowly furrowed his brows. "Song Minghui... are you trying to give me trouble on purpose? How the hell would I remember how many people were there?"
Song Qi shrugged helplessly and relayed that back.
Qi Xia nodded. "It should be real."
Qi Xia understood Xu Liunian's personality. If this Chen Junnan was Xu Liunian in disguise, upon hearing the question, he would most likely guess a number based on the situation at the time. But if he couldn't even be bothered to guess, it was probably the real Chen Junnan.
But if Chen Junnan was fine... then what about the corpse Song Qi mentioned?
And what about the "copy"? How could Chu Tianqiu have such an ability?
That ability sounded almost like...
"Wait..."
Qi Xia felt something was off. Wasn't this the power of "Endless Life"?
How could Chu Tianqiu use "Endless Life"?
"Are you really striving toward 'Omnipotence'?" Qi Xia murmured blankly.
"Hey," Saturday called out. "Are you done asking? There's a corpse over there. Are you sure he's the real one?"
"I'm done." As the words left his mouth, Qi Xia felt a headache coming on. He could only hold his forehead and say, "Whether there's a corpse or not, as long as 'Chen Junnan' is fine, that's what matters."
Saturday looked at Qi Xia somewhat suspiciously, just clicked her tongue, said nothing more, and passed Qi Xia's words to Song Qi.
"Alright, I understand." Song Qi nodded. He was about to relay the message to Chen Junnan when he noticed Chen Junnan staring at him with curiosity.
"What?" Song Qi asked.
"Xiao Song... the state you were in just now... looks familiar to me." Chen Junnan put down "his own" corpse, stood up, and stared into Song Qi's eyes. "Are you having a long-distance conversation with someone?"
"Yes," Song Qi nodded.
"Weekend...?" Chen Junnan asked tentatively. "Or should I call her... Saturday?"
"You... you know her too?"
"So that's how it is..." Chen Junnan let out a bitter laugh, suddenly understanding everything. "Qian Wu, 'Cat,' Saturday... Hahaha... So that's it..."