Chapter 411: The King of the Virtuous
"Chu Tianqiu has gone completely mad...?" Yun Yao retorted. "Just as I thought, no matter how many years a good reputation lasts, it can all collapse in a single moment of madness. He brought this upon himself."
"Isn't that the case?" Zhang Chenze glanced at Lin Qin.
"What you know is only the current Chu Tianqiu..." Yun Yao said with a melancholy tone. "Believe it or not, in the years when Qi Xia wasn't around, Chu Tianqiu was always the King of the Virtuous. He did more for all the Participants than you could ever imagine."
Lin Qin had heard of Chu Tianqiu's reputation before, but ever since meeting him, she found that he was completely different from what she had imagined.
Thinking about it, if Chu Tianqiu had been this insane from the very beginning, how could he have become the King of the Virtuous?
Why would so many people in Heaven's Gate support him?
Zhang Chenze paused after hearing this. "Are you saying that Chu Tianqiu had a child in Zhongyan Land... but that child was devoured by her own mother... and that incident drove him to such madness?"
"That's just my speculation..." Yun Yao sighed. "I don't want to guess that way either, but if you think about it carefully, once this reason holds true, all of Chu Tianqiu's motives become logical."
Everyone fell silent after hearing this.
When one's only hope collapses in Zhongyan Land, who wouldn't go mad?
But was that child really Chu Tianqiu's hope?
"Back when I saw Qi Xia with his headaches... I really wanted to bring this up," Yun Yao said to the group. "Chu Tianqiu also has a problem with headaches. That problem gives him no reason to leave."
"What?" Lin Qin raised an eyebrow. "He had headaches too?"
"Yes, Chen Junnan probably knows about this too." Yun Yao nodded, speaking slowly and deliberately. "Chu Tianqiu has brain cancer."
"What...?"
Only then did the group remember that when Chen Junnan had held a knife to Chu Tianqiu's neck, he had tapped his own temple and asked him, 'Does it still hurt here?'
"Chu Tianqiu never had a reason to leave in the first place," Yun Yao said. "He has only two months left to live in the real world. Zhongyan Land is his only final destination. The fact that he was willing to do so much for the Virtuous is already selfless. Logically speaking... no one has the right to blame him. For a long time, he collected food himself and distributed it to everyone, and selflessly shared game strategies, just to increase everyone's chances of survival here."
"But according to what you're saying..." Lin Qin said, "you had no reason to leave that place. Was there anyone in Zhongyan Land more reliable than him?"
Yun Yao paused, then continued, "My dissatisfaction with him stems from the fact that he was toying with the lives of everyone in Heaven's Gate. We trusted him so much, yet he manipulated us like pawns. That is betrayal. He could have told us the truth, and we would have chosen our own endings. Instead, he let us die with blind trust."
Everyone could understand the bitterness in Yun Yao's heart right now. Being betrayed is not scary; what's scary is being betrayed by the one you trust most.
Now Yun Yao was more and more convinced that when Chu Tianqiu learned that the woman named Qiaoyun had devoured the child, he began to go mad.
When he activated that strange copying ability, he also pulled out a piece of flesh and stuffed it into his mouth. Was he imitating Qiaoyun's cannibalism?
"Who exactly is this Chu Tianqiu you're talking about...?" The store clerk's voice grew more trembling. It seemed she had thought of something, but no matter what, she couldn't summon her sanity back.
"Do you remember Chu Tianqiu?" Yun Yao asked. "He was the one who 'delivered' to you. His smile was beautiful, and his voice was pleasant."
The clerk blinked. She felt some ethereal memories awakening in her mind, but how old were those memories?
Decades, perhaps.
"Xiao Wen, we are going to lead everyone out. We are going to destroy this place."
"Xiao Wen, you are our only hope. But if you don't find me after you get out... it might be because I don't want to see you."
"Xiao Wen, the path you're walking now is very dangerous..."
"Xiao Wen, where have you been all these years? Don't you even remember me?"
"I am Xiao Wen...?" The clerk's eyes flickered continuously, as if tears were about to fall. She muttered dazedly, "I am Wen Qiaoyun...?"
Seeing her like this, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Was she recovering her sanity?
But a few seconds later, Wen Qiaoyun's expression dimmed, and her eyes returned to their vacant state. It was as if the memories were just a stone thrown into a lake—the ripples would eventually fade.
"Please feel free to browse..." She slowly lowered her head. "Please choose your goods yourself... Please..."
Just like all the Natives they had seen before, they would initially show some past memories, but once pressed further, those ancient memories would slowly be forgotten.
"So..." Zhang Chenze looked at Yun Yao and Lin Qin and asked, "If someone becomes a Native, can they never return to normal?"
Lin Qin nodded. "Yes, I have never seen a Native regain consciousness."
Yun Yao was about to nod in agreement, but the words stuck in her throat.
"No..." Yun Yao said with a heavy expression. "I now have reservations about that... Natives might actually be able to regain consciousness..."
"What?" Lin Qin frowned at her. She had never heard of such a thing.
"Xiao Nian..." Yun Yao said to Lin Qin. "Do you remember that person...? Her name is Xu Liunian. Qi Xia said she once became a Native, but now she's back in Heaven's Gate. Not only has she fully regained her sanity, but she can even activate an Echo."
"Regained her sanity...?"
"But it's still very strange..." Yun Yao said. "Xu Liunian didn't return to the Interview Room... She seemed to have escaped Annihilation, only wandering around here all day."
Upon hearing this, Lin Qin was completely stunned.
"That can't be right... Does such a person really exist?" She frowned. "If she can escape Annihilation, it means she has no chance of returning to the real world. Even we can go back every ten days, but she can't. What is she now? A Participant or a Native?"
"I don't know..." Yun Yao said. "I asked her privately once, and she just said that she woke up from a sleep and regained her sanity, then returned to Heaven's Gate. Chu Tianqiao temporarily ordered her to play his role... You know the rest."
"Since there's a precedent... it means this is possible..." Lin Qin's eyes slowly widened. "If she doesn't face Annihilation, it means her memory will never be lost. If we can find the right method, we could completely free everyone in Zhongyan Land from this curse. Then we will reach a new peak..."
"But there's one more question I can't figure out..." Yun Yao changed the subject. "If she doesn't return to the Interview Room, it means she doesn't resurrect when she dies... But this time, she clearly resurrected. Where did she resurrect? And why did she resurrect?"