Chapter 396: Hidden Purpose
Qi Xia felt like his thoughts were being blocked.
This reason sounded absurd, but if it came from Chen Junnan's mouth, everything seemed perfectly natural.
"I..." Qi Xia helplessly covered his forehead. "I didn't expect Tiantian to be the third member of 'Cat,' but is her ability really that strong? Enough to be ranked 'Three'...?"
"What does that have to do with ability? We're not heroes of Mount Liang. I just thought Zhang San sounded smooth." Chen Junnan explained. "Zhang Si, Zhang Wu, Zhang Six—they're all awkward, aren't they?"
Qi Xia felt like he sometimes overthought things.
"And then...?" He sighed and asked again.
"Then it gets a bit hard to describe..." Chen Junnan turned to look at Qiao Jiajin. "Lao Qiao and I had a huge fight. The kid even hit me."
"Huh?" Qiao Jiajin was stunned. He held back for a long time before squeezing out three words, "Who won?"
"You still have the nerve to ask..." Chen Junnan reached out and punched Qiao Jiajin's chest. "Damn it, in this cursed place, only that old guy Zhang Shan can go toe-to-toe with you. The rest of us get crushed."
Still feeling aggrieved, he turned back and patted Qi Xia. "Lao Qi, you remember this. This kid even hits his own people when he's angry."
This time Qi Xia couldn't listen anymore. "I know what kind of person Qiao Jiajin is... If even he got angry, it must have been something serious."
"It wasn't that big a deal..." Chen Junnan pouted. "I just cursed you out in front of him."
"Cursed me?"
"Yeah. You ditched us brothers and ran off on your own. If you're not a bastard, you're close enough. I told Lao Qiao to give up and stop waiting for you." Chen Junnan shrugged and gave a helpless expression. "But I didn't expect Lao Qiao to have such a temper. He went his own way and split from me."
Qi Xia knew Chen Junnan was just putting up a front. If he hadn't shared the same idea of waiting for him, he wouldn't have established that organization that was both laughable and melancholy—"The Seven Calabash Brothers."
Six people insisting on calling themselves "Seven Brothers." Who was the seventh spot reserved for?
"Split from me means..." Qi Xia asked again.
"The kid quit. That's what he said at the time..." Chen Junnan cleared his throat and mimicked Qiao Jiajin's non-standard Mandarin. "If dis organ-ization ain't waitin' for Liar Boy to come back, den I ain't stayin'."
Hearing this, Qiao Jiajin showed a look of disdain. "Do I really talk like that?"
"Pretty much," Chen Junnan said.
Hearing this, Qi Xia felt a headache coming on again.
What exactly had happened back then?
If he was leading a large group of "participants" with "Echoes," why would he choose to take the risk and become a "Zodiac"?
"If this kid hadn't gone off to get himself killed..." Chen Junnan said through gritted teeth. "Right now I'd probably still be 'Chen Number One,' still here as the boss."
Qiao Jiajin gave an awkward smile. "That... that doesn't have much to do with me, right?"
"Lao Qi, if you say this kid has no brains, he still plans things pretty well." Chen Junnan put his arm around Qiao Jiajin's shoulder. "He seemed to go do something himself. The bell ringing did get more frequent back then, but I kept receiving news of his death."
"My death...?"
"Yeah." Chen Junnan nodded. "That kid Chu Tianqiu kept coming to me, complaining that you were impulsive again, dead again... Speaking of which, what exactly were you doing back then?"
"Chu Tianqiu..." Qi Xia frowned.
Hearing Chen Junnan's question, Qiao Jiajin could only shake his head helplessly. His memories simply hadn't been retained.
"I thought he'd give up after a while..." Chen Junnan came back to himself and continued. "But I didn't expect that even without an 'Echo,' he'd go participate in Earth-rank games until all his memories were washed away."
Qi Xia knew that even if he hadn't experienced the situation firsthand, given Qiao Jiajin's character, he would definitely have done that.
"Since Lao Qiao lost his memory, he'd start charging to his death with renewed enthusiasm..." Chen Junnan stared at Qi Xia, a hint of reproach in his eyes. "Even though this brat beat me up, we still have a bond forged through life and death, so I couldn't let him die horribly again."
Chen Junnan returned to the room.
Under his "relentless efforts," everyone would just have their heads cleanly smashed by the Human Sheep, lose their memories, and endlessly repeat the same day.
"Han Yimo, that kid, caught some kind of problem... He also lost his memory." Chen Junnan added. "I haven't had much contact with him in a long time. Every time I leave the room, I just walk away. I don't know from which time on, that kid lost his memory. I didn't realize it back then. The only person in the entire room who still retained their memory was me."
Qi Xia deduced Han Yimo's situation on his own. The condition for his "Echo" was most likely "fear." If he lost his memory, it must have been because he found a decent "backer" that made him temporarily forget his fear, but then he accidentally got himself killed.
This was probably "thrive in adversity, perish in comfort."
"So you, single-handedly..." Qi Xia said, "made the whole room 'stuck' for seven years..."
"Yeah." Chen Junnan nodded, then lazily slumped into his chair. "Young Master didn't want everyone to rack their brains and then die tragically."
After Chen Junnan said this, Qi Xia frowned.
"How strange..." Qi Xia rubbed his chin, his eyes cold as he looked at Chen Junnan. "For everyone who lost their memory... every time they die, it's their first death. What's the point of you 'saving' these people? They won't be troubled by constant death, nor will they be happy about your salvation."
"I..." Chen Junnan frowned, his expression darkening.
"You clearly had a better way..." Qi Xia said. "That's seven whole years... In seven years... did you never think about having Qiao Jiajin rejoin your organization? Did you never consider leading everyone to fight one more time?"
Qiao Jiajin and Zheng Yingxiong both looked at Chen Junnan. Unexpectedly, he fell silent. He didn't say a word, just staring into Qi Xia's eyes.
After a few seconds, Qi Xia seemed to understand. He could only nod and say, "Maybe I'm overthinking. Go on."
Hearing this, Chen Junnan also breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "You all know what happened next... Lin Qin came to our room, but I couldn't control my 'faith.' I died for Lin Qin twice in a row. But I guess it was a blessing in disguise. Now Xiao Ran is gone, and our room is in a state of 'all members are Echoers.'"
Qi Xia nodded gravely.
"However... speaking of which..." Chen Junnan lowered his voice and asked again. "Even though I can sit here and chat with you now, I'm not sure if 'I' am still 'me.'"
Qi Xia came back to his senses and looked Chen Junnan over. He had interacted with Chen Junnan before. To be honest, the auras of the two were identical, even the micro-expressions and small gestures when speaking were exactly the same.
Their memories were the same, their forms were the same—how could one deny that the Chen Junnan before him was not Chen Junnan?
This was still the "Watch Theorem."
When you discover you have two watches showing different times, just smash one, and the other's time will be correct.