Chapter 531: Wake Me Up

Qi Xia could only feel his tears streaming down endlessly. If this was a nightmare, why wouldn't it end?

"Mouse... you..." Qi Xia's pupils trembled slightly.

He recalled the first time he had met the child before him, when he had sworn and declared, "This time, I'm betting my life."

After winning that gamble, his head had ached unbearably.

"What am I even doing...?"

He desperately wanted to reach out and touch the mummified face, but the mummy flinched back in fright, stepping away.

Doors on both sides kept opening, and "Zodiacs" filed out one after another, nodding respectfully to Qi Xia before heading deeper into the corridor.

The sound of earth-shattering rumbles continued from afar, mixed with the footsteps of countless Zodiacs treading on the wooden floor. Qi Xia felt his mind in chaos, as if countless fragments of different lives were converging upon him.

"I want to go home..." Qi Xia finally snapped out of it, muttering tremulously, "I want to go back to my room... This place doesn't belong to me..."

He took a few steps forward but realized the door he had come through was gone.

Now, both in front and behind him stretched an infinitely deep corridor, with no end in sight.

"Big Brother Baiyang..." Qi Xia heard the mummified voice behind him call out again. He turned around, but found no one there.

"Big Brother Baiyang..."

No matter how Qi Xia turned, the voice always stayed behind him.

As if she were floating just behind him, following his every move, yet he could never see her.

"Stop calling me..." Qi Xia said, breaking down. "I'm sorry... Mouse... I'm so sorry..."

"Big Brother Baiyang..."

Qi Xia slowly closed his eyes and covered his ears.

Why wouldn't this dream end?

If this continued, he would truly go mad.

After an unknown amount of time, the mummy's voice seemed to vanish entirely. In the empty corridor, only Qi Xia's heartbeat and breathing could be heard, accompanied by the dim light, creating an eerily serene silence.

"Baiyang."

A strange voice sounded behind Qi Xia, blending both male and female tones, yet somehow familiar.

Even though Qi Xia had both hands firmly clamped over his ears, the voice still pierced through his palms and drilled clearly into his mind.

"You can't hear sounds in a dream..." Qi Xia said. "This isn't a dream... Where is this? What are you...?"

"Baiyang, you don't recognize me?" The androgynous voice spoke again at Qi Xia's ear. "Turn around. Look at me."

Qi Xia's entire body turned ice-cold. This voice was even more terrifying than what he had just experienced.

"I can't..." Qi Xia said. "I can't see what you look like..."

"Baiyang, turn around. Look at me." The voice carried a hint of oppressive authority that brooked no refusal.

"No..." Qi Xia suppressed his own emotions and whispered, "I can't look..."

"Giving up already?" The voice chuckled lightly. "I'm disappointed."

"I will never give up." Qi Xia answered without turning around. "The only reason I'm still standing here is to crush you. So as long as you're not dead, I won't give up."

"But how can I die?" The voice continued. "None of us can die. You know that, don't you?"

"You..."

"Qi Xia, you know—as long as you don't die, none of the people here can die either."

The voice sounded closer and closer. Every inch of Qi Xia's skin felt a biting chill. A thin layer of goosebumps spread across him like fish scales, and every hair on his body stood on end.

"Qi Xia, I see you," the person said. "If you won't turn around to look at me, then I'll come to you."

Although Qi Xia couldn't recall anything at all, his whole being was resisting. A voice inside told him he absolutely must not look at the person behind him.

But the footsteps grew nearer. That person was about to step in front of him.

"Wake me up..." Qi Xia said with his eyes closed. "I can't see him... I can't see him here..."

*Smack!*

A sharp crack rang out, and a searing pain exploded on Qi Xia's left cheek, jerking his head to one side.

He opened his eyes and looked around. No one was there.

"Old Qi!"

"Liar boy!"

Qi Xia's eyes slowly widened. "Chen Junnan... Fist... Wake me up..."

*Smack!*

Another loud slap. Qi Xia felt as if the scenery around him was shaking, on the verge of collapse.

"Not enough..." Qi Xia gritted his teeth. "Wake me up now..."

He lifted his head, as if speaking to someone across the void.

"Wake up!!"

"Hurry and wake me up!!"

*Smack!!*

A ferocious slap landed on Qi Xia's face. At the same moment, a sharp pain shot through his abdomen—someone had punched him in the gut. The blow was so heavy that not only did his internal organs churn, but the surrounding scenery instantly shattered under the force of the fist.

All the scenery around him, like thin sheets of paper, cracked and fell away, revealing a pitch-black void behind them.

Qi Xia looked out and saw behind the scenery was a vast expanse of starry sky.

Before he could react, the ground beneath his feet split apart, and he began to plummet downward at great speed.

"Ah!!"

Qi Xia's eyes snapped open. The stench of decay flooded his nostrils, and the dim light of the room filled his vision.

Before him were the faces of Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin, and not far away, Zheng Yingxiong and Qian Wu, Zhou Liu were watching him with concern.

"Damn, Old Qi, what's going on with you?" Chen Junnan breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Qi Xia awake. "No sickness, no trouble—how come you were lying in bed shouting like that?"

Seeing those familiar faces, although Qi Xia knew he was still in hell, at least he could let his guard down a little.

Everything he had just experienced was crystal clear in his memory. It certainly didn't feel like an ordinary dream.

Who was the one speaking?

What did Yu Nian'an's words mean?

And what about "Three thousand six hundred paths of Dao, each person grasps a different root"?

"Hey!" Qiao Jiajin gave an embarrassed laugh. "Junnan, I told you slapping doesn't work. It had to be my punch."

Qi Xia turned to take a careful look at his surroundings, realizing he had actually fallen asleep on the bed.

"Absurd..." Qi Xia's lips moved. "How could I be allowed to lie down?"

"Hm?" Chen Junnan was taken aback. "What do you mean, Old Qi? What's wrong with lying down?"

"I can't lie down..." Qi Xia said, somewhat dazed. "I can only sleep sitting up... Lying down makes me too relaxed..."

Qiao Jiajin looked at Qi Xia in confusion, then shook his head. "Liar boy... you passed out earlier. When someone faints, do you put them in a chair instead of a bed?"

Qi Xia felt it was strange too.

His subconscious kept telling him he absolutely must not lie down, must not let his guard down in the slightest—but even he didn't know the reason.