Chapter 409: The Former King
"Even if he becomes a 'God,' he can't leave...?" Yun Yao confirmed.
White Tiger nodded. "The day Qi Xia becomes a 'God,' the Four Divine Beasts will lead all the 'Zodiacs' and every 'participant' here to embrace destruction together. That has always been our destined fate."
"Then aren't you being far too selfish...?" Zhang Chenze said. "All of us are scrambling here. You let us come when you want, and you let us be destroyed when you want... Isn't that unfair to Qi Xia? He also desperately wants to return to the real world, yet you're forcing him to become a 'God' against his will?"
"We let you come...? We're selfish...?" White Tiger sneered. "I'm kindly reminding you to forget all this voluntarily, aren't I? You mere mortals... how could you possibly understand our feelings? How could Qi Xia's own obsession ever compare to ours?"
Zhang Chenze found this statement utterly ridiculous. Everyone had their own obsessions, yet these high-ranking figures only cared about their own feelings.
"You think we'll just give up like this?" Yun Yao said, frowning. "You're in league with the 'Zodiacs.' Everything you're saying now is from their perspective. The more we forget, the more chances the 'Zodiacs' have to kill us. So I can't trust you."
White Tiger nodded. "What you say makes sense too."
"So we'll continue," Yun Yao said. "I'll keep killing every 'Zodiac' and completely paralyze this damn place. When you can't even create a 'God,' what meaning does this place have for you anymore?"
White Tiger sighed deeply after hearing this and said, "It's been a long time since I've communicated with a 'participant'... I didn't expect you all to be so radical now... Your current state reminds me a bit of that woman from years ago..."
"What?"
"What was her name again...?" White Tiger rubbed his chin. "She caused quite a commotion here a long time ago, and eventually received her due punishment. What was it called..."
Everyone waited for a long time before White Tiger slowly spoke the name.
"I think it was something like Qiaoyun..." After saying this, he slapped his own forehead. "Ah... it's been far too long. How many years has it been... You can go see for yourselves."
"Go see for ourselves...?"
White Tiger then extended a finger, pointing toward a street not far away. "There's a convenience store down that street. Push the door open and you'll see the once-brilliant 'Leader.' She now lives a fate worse than death, surrounded by rotting food and her own excrement, like a walking corpse."
"What...?" Lin Qin was momentarily stunned.
"Such a perfect example," White Tiger said. "You are all mere mortals, yet you foolishly try to defy gods with your mortal bodies. Isn't it better to just live here obediently? Wasn't that woman named Qiaoyun your pioneer? She killed 'Zodiacs,' became a 'Zodiac,' and ended up like this... It proves that every path leads nowhere."
The group silently watched White Tiger, saying nothing, but their minds were already in turmoil.
"I feel like Qi Xia is walking the same path Qiaoyun once walked..." White Tiger said with emotion. "In every generation, a 'Leader' awakens among you. Qi Xia disappeared for a few years; I believe he's already passed through the second stage... Now he's about to find his own end..."
After speaking, White Tiger looked at them again. "So... all you can do is wait. If you keep taking risks, every walking corpse here will be your example."
As soon as the words faded, White Tiger's entire body slowly floated into the air, then suddenly vanished.
That's how the End Land had always been.
These people came and went as they pleased, killed when they wanted, and saved when they wanted.
Qin Dingdong had been crushed to death in Heavenly Serpent's hand for the most absurd reasons. Whatever unfinished business she might have had, she would just have to wait for her next rebirth.
Zhang Chenze also felt something was off. Two teammates had died one after another, yet as long as she remembered they could be resurrected, she wasn't worried at all. This mentality was clearly somewhat pathological.
If everyone ever returned to reality with this mindset, they would subconsciously believe that "death can solve all problems."
Unfortunately, humans were never computers waiting to be rebooted. Death solved nothing.
"What do we do now...?" Li Xiangling asked quietly from behind.
"Xiangling..." Yun Yao turned to look at her. "First take Lin Qin to get her injuries treated. Have Tiantian and Lawyer Zhang go with you. I want to go see that female shopkeeper."
"No... I want to see that female shopkeeper too," Lin Qin said. "Take me with you... Even if these injuries aren't treated, it doesn't matter. I don't have many days left to live anyway."
Yun Yao hesitated for a moment after hearing this, then nodded. She led the group toward the convenience store.
The giant bell was very close to the convenience store. Even with Lin Qin's difficulty walking, they reached the entrance in just a few minutes.
Before even entering, the stench of rot and decay wafted out, making everyone wrinkle their brows at the first whiff.
Lin Qin's mind flashed back to her first day teaming up with Qi Xia, when they had stumbled upon this convenience store and seen that person boiling her own child.
"I should have realized it sooner..." Lin Qin murmured. "Back then, she pulled Qi Xia into the room, and three grown men couldn't stop her... Her body had been enhanced..."
"Has your team encountered her before?" Yun Yao asked, then looked at Zhang Chenze and Tiantian.
"I don't remember," Tiantian shook her head.
"Me neither..." Zhang Chenze sighed.
Yun Yao didn't press further and pushed the door open. The four women behind her cautiously peeked inside.
No one was in the main room, but the smell was especially strong.
A dried, blackened corpse lay on the floor, covered in crawling maggots.
"Is anyone here...?" Yun Yao called out, mustering her courage.
Soon, a rustling sound came from inside. Within a few seconds, an extremely emaciated woman pushed open the inner door and walked out.
She appeared severely malnourished, with deeply sunken cheeks and skin as shriveled as old tree bark.
"Hm...?" She stared blankly at them, then squeezed out a faint smile, revealing yellowed, blackened teeth. "Welcome... please feel free to browse..."
Yun Yao looked around the room, blinked helplessly, and walked straight toward the shopkeeper.
"Qiaoyun...?" Yun Yao called out.
The shopkeeper showed no reaction to these two words at all. She just stared blankly and then said, "Please select your own goods."
"We're not looking for goods. We're looking for Qiaoyun. Are you Qiaoyun?" Yun Yao asked.
She had interacted with locals before. Many of them could remember their own names, but this woman seemed to have been insane for too long, showing no response to the name "Qiaoyun."
Or perhaps... White Tiger was just making it all up?
"We don't have anything called Qiaoyun here..." The female shopkeeper opened her mouth. "The goods are all on the shelves. If you can't find what you want, you can check other stores..."