Chapter 520: Irrefutable Proof?
"I..." Qi Xia blinked, feeling his brain swell. "I, I used the experience I've gained from navigating society..."
"Does that include that Le-something theory?" Qiao Jiajing asked from the side. "Swindler, was your society back then already teaching that stuff?"
"The Leidenfrost effect..." Qi Xia blurted out, but immediately even he found it strange.
Where did all this knowledge come from...?
Whenever he needed to use it, it would come out naturally, as casually as using his own right hand.
"I... I just read a lot of books..." Qi Xia said uncertainly. "I just read a few more books than the average person..."
As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized how flimsy that excuse was. His home was completely empty—not just lacking a single book, but not even a single sheet of paper.
Why had he never considered these questions?
Where had he read those books?
What books had he read?
Qi Xia always vaguely remembered flipping through pages in the corner of a dark room—The Prisoner's Dilemma, Murphy's Law, The Art of War, The Thirty-Six Stratagems...
He had recorded every single word from those books, page by page, but he couldn't recall where he had actually seen them.
Yet those pieces of knowledge had truly become part of his flesh and blood, fused together with him.
"Old Qi... if it were you..." Chen Junnan also furrowed his brow and asked, "Would you rather believe you're a swindler... or believe you have a master's degree in psychology?"
A master's degree in psychology... such a fitting degree for manipulating people's hearts.
Qi Xia's expression slowly darkened. After a long silence, he finally spat out a few words:
"I don't believe either."
"You..."
Chen Junnan could never guess what Qi Xia was thinking. At a time like this, he refused to believe either?
Why did seven years spent as a "Zodiac" make him forget even his own life?
Was this a side effect of becoming a "Zodiac"?
"Swindler, is he actually a really cultured guy?" Qiao Jiajing whispered to Chen Junnan.
"Old Qiao... are you saying he isn't?" Chen Junnan was a bit stunned by the question. "Do you really believe what he says—that he's a swindler prowling the dark alleys of society? That someone like him would risk everything for two million... even become a criminal? Do you believe a man with his brains would be this broke?"
Qi Xia heard their whispers, and his eyes grew complicated.
Yes... the truth was actually very simple.
If he could just admit that Yu Nian'an didn't exist, everything would fall into place.
He was twenty-six years old, likely just graduating with a master's degree, about to step into society.
Why was everything so coincidental?
Had he really met Yu Nian'an the year after high school graduation, starting that bleak and absurd life... or, as Chen Junnan said, had he continued his education, only graduating right before coming here?
Qi Xia frowned, suddenly feeling like he had figured something out.
"Yu Nian'an cannot not exist..." he muttered under his breath.
"What...?" Chen Junnan saw that Qi Xia still didn't believe him, his face showing a troubled expression. "Old Qi, I don't want to bring you down, but you've never mentioned Yu—"
"Yu Nian'an cannot NOT exist!" Qi Xia raised his voice stubbornly, cutting off Chen Junnan.
"You—"
"Didn't you all say..." Qi Xia grabbed Chen Junnan's forearm, and at that moment Chen Junnan felt the slight chill of Qi Xia's fingertips.
"Chen Junnan, didn't you all say that everyone who comes to the 'Land of the End' is guilty?!" Qi Xia's eyes were wide, his expression dazed. "I've finally found irrefutable proof that Yu Nian'an exists!!"
"What do you mean...?"
"The only reason I committed a crime is because Yu Nian'an exists!" Qi Xia showed an eerie smile. "If Yu Nian'an didn't exist, I would have no reason to swindle that two million... I would be an 'innocent person'! I would have no reason to be here... Great... I finally found a logical loophole... Even the 'Heavenly Dragon' can't fool me..."
Qi Xia's unstable emotions made Chen Junnan, who was usually all smiles, immediately furrow his brow.
He felt Qi Xia was sick, very sick.
"Old Qi..." Chen Junnan placed both hands on Qi Xia's shoulders, looking at him with concern. "I might have to disappoint you again... We discussed this a long time ago, and even back then we found that there are indeed rare 'innocent people' in the 'Land of the End.' As far as I know, you, Chu Tianqiu, and Qin Dingdong are all 'innocent people.' Before you came to the 'Land of the End,' you hadn't just committed no crimes—you didn't even have any major mistakes."
"What...?" The belief Qi Xia had just built up was on the verge of crumbling. "All three of us are 'innocent people'...?"
"Yes..." Chen Junnan nodded. "Maybe you're just hearing this now, but for us... this hasn't been news for a long time."
Qi Xia remembered that Song Qi had also told him before that not only was this place full of people who had done wrong, but there were even some who couldn't recall what wrong they had done at all.
If that was the case... didn't that mean this damned place wasn't built for "atonement" at all?!
What was the real purpose of its existence?!
Why had he been brought to this damned place in the first place?!
Qi Xia's mind was spinning at full speed. He felt that so many things were becoming strange.
"You're saying that lunatic Chu Tianqiu never did anything wrong...?" Qi Xia said incredulously. "You're saying that liar Qin Dingdong never did anything wrong...? What a joke..."
Qi Xia felt like Chen Junnan had just told him a fairy tale. How could those two be "innocent people"?!
"It's not that 'Yu Nian'an not existing would be reasonable'..." Qi Xia bit his lip, trembling all over. "It's that her existing is what's reasonable! As long as she exists, I am a sinner... I should be caught and brought here... I should escape... I will have all the motivation I need. Yes, this is too reasonable... Yu Nian'an must exist..."
Qi Xia was like he was hypnotizing himself, repeating these words over and over, making the two tough men beside him feel a pang of sympathy.
Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajing exchanged glances, neither knowing what to do.
Qiao Jiajing just shook his head, unfazed. He knew Qi Xia's emotions had always been unstable, especially whenever the name "Yu Nian'an" was mentioned. This state had appeared many times before.
Chen Junnan, however, was genuinely startled. During those seven years, Qi Xia had never come so close to breaking down. If this damned place could drive even Qi Xia mad, who else had the psychological fortitude to survive it?
"Great..." Qi Xia said with a dazed look. "Yu Nian'an exists... Let's set off quickly... I want to find her as soon as possible..."