# Chapter 515: Officer Li's Determination
Officer Li felt like he was playing house with a child. He closed his eyes and nodded, bringing the air in his hand to his mouth, then reached out to pretend to light it.
He clenched his right hand into a fist, brought it before his eyes, and gently wiggled his thumb.
Yes, he really wanted to smoke a cigarette.
It had already been four days. For a seasoned smoker, life without cigarettes got harder with each passing day. If he didn't have a smoke soon, even his craving would disappear.
Officer Li closed his eyes and waited quietly for a moment, as if waiting for the cigarette to light. A few seconds later, he skillfully put the "lighter" back into his pocket, then took a deep breath.
The moment he inhaled that breath, Officer Li felt something was off.
A rich, bitter, spicy smoke was pouring into his mouth. His eyes snapped open instantly, and then he exhaled a puff of pure white smoke in disbelief.
Only then did he realize that a cigarette was already dangling from his lips.
"Ah?!"
Officer Li shouted in surprise, nearly dropping the cigarette from his mouth.
He quickly caught it with his hand, then brought it before his eyes to examine it carefully. Sure enough, it was a brand-new cigarette—his usual brand, White General.
"This is incredible..." Officer Li muttered to himself, then turned his head back to look at Zhou Mo. "Miss, when did this cigarette appear in my mouth?"
Zhou Liu shook her head helplessly: "Tsk, looks like you really know nothing about 'Echo'. Let me put it this way—from my perspective, this cigarette has been in your mouth the whole time. It never actually disappeared."
That might be true, but Officer Li knew that wasn't how it really worked.
He had neither a cigarette pack nor a lighter on him, yet now a lit cigarette was dangling from his lips. No matter how you looked at it, it was too incredible. Was this the power of "Echo"?
"I think I get it..." Officer Li took the cigarette from his mouth, holding it between his index and middle fingers, and asked, "I just need to calm my mind... and try hard to imagine that I'm really smoking, and then I can produce a cigarette..."
The others in the distance heard the commotion behind them and turned back to look at Officer Li, only to find him standing in the middle of the road, smoking casually.
"Big Li," Chen Junnan said with a smile. "Our Sister Zhou here is pretty spicy. She's not your type, right?"
"No, no." Officer Li waved his hand while holding the cigarette. "This young lady is teaching me how to smoke. Ah, no... teaching me to get a cigarette... that's not right either..."
"Tsk, I'm teaching him 'Echo'," Zhou Liu said irritably, glaring at Chen Junnan as if she were furious. "Who the hell is 'spicy'?"
"My bad, my bad." Chen Junnan waved his hand and turned back around with the others to continue walking.
Seeing Zhou Liu so worked up, Officer Li tried to smooth things over: "Little sister, don't be mad. You know how Xiao Chen is—his heart's in the right place, but his mouth runs."
"Tsk, am I mad at him?" Zhou Liu furrowed her brow and shot Officer Li a cold look.
"Then...?"
"This is my fault." Zhou Liu let out a cold laugh. "If I had known that the only use of your 'Echo' was to get yourself a cigarette, tsk, I wouldn't have helped you no matter what."
"Huh?" Officer Li hadn't expected Zhou Liu to suddenly turn her mao tou on him and was momentarily at a loss. "Little sister... you're talking about me? I, actually, I didn't..."
"Tsk, don't bother explaining," Zhou Liu cut him off coldly. "I thought that since Fifth Brother gave you the number four position, you'd at least be someone reliable. But I guess I was wrong. If I had this 'Pocket Seize', I'd either take out a lot of 'Dao', or I'd try to get some food—anything to contribute to the team. The last thing I'd do is just think about smoking like you."
Hearing these words, Officer Li smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying nothing.
There was no point in getting angry over being misunderstood by someone who didn't know him.
He recalled his two experiences of death and now felt a bit of regret. If he had known the specific activation method of "Echo" earlier, he might have started practicing long ago.
Whether it was food or "Dao", as long as he could believe in it all, these things would appear in his hands.
Thinking this, Officer Li stretched out his palm to look at it again.
"If possible... could I even take an enemy's heart?" He slowly clenched his fist, knowing that even after all his years on the force, he had never held a human heart in his hand.
How heavy was a human heart?
Was it hard or soft in the hand? Cold or warm?
"Do I have to hold one myself to know...?" Officer Li's expression gradually darkened, a look of sorrow on his face, but he still murmured to himself, "Don't worry... I said it before... no one will be in danger. I'll make sure everyone escapes safely... I'll be the only one left here."
He knew that in this place, he was no stronger than anyone else. The only thing he had was more resilience. To achieve his goal, he could only make efforts that ordinary people would never be able to make.
Officer Li pulled himself together and followed the others as they continued forward.
...
Jiang Ruoxue was standing in a daze before the door of an abandoned warehouse.
In front of the door lay a small, blackened body, completely withered. In her arms was a dried, dead, dark red flower. Someone must have come to pay their respects.
Jiang Ruoxue crouched down, reaching out a slender finger to gently tidy the hair on the withered corpse, her eyes moistening despite herself.
Although she had long expected this day to come, it still felt heartbreaking.
The small corpse of Ren Shu lay quietly here, like the withered dead flower in her arms. Beautiful things would eventually die in this purgatory.
That flower was the same. Ren Shu was the same.
They were too beautiful. The foul air and the rotting flesh all around would corrode them until nothing was left. Death was their only ending—not even "Karma" could reverse it.
The muscular Xiaoxiao stretched lazily behind her, step by step approaching: "Ruo Xue, who is this? Do you know her?"
"This is the last bit of innocence I left behind in 'Zhongyan Land'." Jiang Ruoxue curled her fingers and dabbed at the corner of her eyes, then stood up with a smile on her face.
"You seem a little strange..." Xiaoxiao asked softly, her face full of concern. "In this place, can we still have 'innocence'?"
"That's right." Jiang Ruoxue nodded. "At the age of eighteen, I shouldn't have run out of the college entrance exam hall. Because the road ahead in life is just too hard to walk."
Xiaoxiao furrowed her brow upon hearing this and let out a deep sigh.
"Let's go," Jiang Ruoxue said. "'Heavenly Steed's Instant' is coming."
"Where to?"
"To inform our king," Jiang Ruoxue smiled. "Yan Zhichun should be at 'Heaven's Gate' right now."