Chapter 541: The Tattoo
Could a simple door really block those black threads?
Or perhaps... was this a move made by the "Extreme Path"?
"You can escape the pursuit of those black threads?" Qi Xia asked again.
"Don't even mention it..." Old Sun shook his head. "Little brother, if it weren't for you, we could have rested here for ten minutes. Your arrival disrupted our plans."
After he finished speaking, he looked at the fat middle-aged man: "Old Deng, are you done?"
Fat Deng closed his eyes and chanted for a while longer, then opened his eyes and said, "Almost... it should have been transferred over."
Qi Xia listened intently and heard a faint *plop* from outside, as if someone had fallen.
"What did you do?"
The girl in white saw Qi Xia's expression but did not answer his question. Instead, she slowly folded her arms across her chest and asked softly, "What's your name?"
"Qi Xia."
"Qi Xia... do you recognize me?" the girl in white asked again.
"If you haven't heard of my name, then we probably don't know each other." Qi Xia's brow was furrowed. "But your aura feels familiar."
"Your aura feels familiar too." The girl in white gave a cold smile. "Those eyes of yours always remind me of something from the past."
The girl's words made Qi Xia feel once again that things were not simple. Had he really seen her before?
But she clearly appeared to be extremely sophisticated, with members of the "Extreme Path" standing on both sides of her, indicating her high status within the organization.
Could he really have had any dealings with these lunatics?
"My name is Yan Zhichun," the girl said.
"One swallow heralds the spring." Qi Xia nodded. "A good name."
"Thanks to me, you can rest here for a few minutes." Yan Zhichun turned back, picked up a bottle of water from the table, and handed it to Qi Xia. "There's a back door over there. You can escape from it later. We've met by chance—I've given you my name and a bottle of water. I've done my part."
Qi Xia still didn't fully understand the situation. Even Chen Junnan and Qian Wu had never mentioned that this game had a "rest period."
"Did you happen to have a 'Resonance' that can counter the 'Pegasus Moment'?"
Hearing this, the three of them exchanged glances. Yan Zhichun stepped forward, walked up to Qi Xia, and said slowly, "You seem a bit too clever. In a place like this, being too clever without hiding it will put you in danger."
"Oh?" Qi Xia felt a hint of threat in her words, but he was not affected. "Have I seen through your secret? Are you going to kill me now?"
"Interesting." Yan Zhichun nodded. "I really like meeting clever people, especially someone as untamed and arrogant as you."
"I only like meeting genuine people," Qi Xia replied.
"So, do you want to leave an address? We can keep in close contact in the future."
"With you and the 'Extreme Path'?" Qi Xia immediately thought of the scene where Qiao Jiajin and Tiantian were killed by the "Extreme Path." His face turned cold. "No need. I just have a few questions to ask you."
"Questions?"
Qi Xia also stepped forward, staring intently at the girl before him. When they were two steps apart, he caught the scent of her.
The smell of laundry detergent with pine wood fragrance, mixed with the lily of the valley scent of her shampoo—all caught by Qi Xia at once.
At that moment, he felt his mind completely scrambled, as if he had lost the ability to think.
Wasn't this exactly the scent of Yu Nian'an?
"Why...?" Qi Xia asked in a daze. "Why are there so many coincidences?"
Yan Zhichun didn't understand what Qi Xia meant. She just stared coldly at the man. Though he seemed smart enough, he always gave off a feeling of madness.
"What coincidences? What are you trying to say?"
Qi Xia closed his eyes, feeling as if Yu Nian'an was standing right in front of him. But the moment this woman opened her mouth, his illusion shattered—their voices were completely different.
"Yan Zhichun, where is your hometown?" Qi Xia asked.
"Cangzhou, Hebei."
"Hebei..." Hearing this answer, Qi Xia was clearly disappointed. They were two completely different people.
But how could there be such a coincidence in the world?
Their clothes, their silhouettes, their figures, even the scent on them—all identical.
Not to mention in this limited-population "Land of the End," even in the real world, what was the probability of meeting someone like this?
"What did you do before you came here?" Qi Xia asked again.
Two consecutive questions seemed to make Yan Zhichun's expression darken. As one of the top figures in the "Extreme Path," her code of conduct was always concealment and deception. Yet this man kept probing into her past.
"Is that any of your business?" Yan Zhichun frowned and retorted. "You said you had questions to ask me—are these the questions?"
"Can I consider it as a favor I owe you?" Qi Xia said. "I really want to know the answer."
Seeing a trace of pleading in Qi Xia's icy eyes, Yan Zhichun's heart softened slightly. Almost involuntarily, she said, "I'm just an English major college student, looking for an internship this year. Is this question that important to you?"
"These aren't important questions..." Qi Xia shook his head. "My most important question is... have you ever heard the name 'Yu Nian'an'?"
Yan Zhichun thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Never heard of it. Which room is she from?"
Qi Xia felt that the girl wasn't lying—at least her expression didn't suggest deception. He could only turn over the current situation again and again in his mind.
The paths he had previously deduced were no longer worth deducing—they would only lead to wrong answers.
Now that he had met this girl Yan Zhichun, it seemed he had opened a new path.
If his memory could be tampered with by himself, then was there a possibility...
That the Yu Nian'an in his memories and dreams was not her true appearance?
For some unknown reason, he had changed Yu Nian'an's appearance... perhaps for disguise, or perhaps to escape something?
Qi Xia felt he had definitely seen Yan Zhichun before. But their personalities seemed incompatible, and the chance of Qi Xia keeping her in his heart was almost zero.
But what exactly had happened back then... that caused him to borrow Yan Zhichun's body and place Yu Nian'an's soul inside?
"Any more questions?" Yan Zhichun asked.
"No more." Qi Xia shook his head. "In the morning I hear the Way, in the evening I may die content."
"Then do you want to come with us?" Yan Zhichun stared at Qi Xia. "Old Deng's 'Resonance' won't last long. The black threads outside will kill the 'puppet' and then come for you."
"Puppet..." Qi Xia seemed to understand something and nodded. "I've rested enough. Let's part ways here."
He knew that the most important thing now was not to dwell on the "body" before him, but to find Yu Nian'an's "soul."
"Where is the back door?" Qi Xia asked.
Yan Zhichun turned around and pointed in a direction.
But as she extended her finger, Qi Xia's eyes widened instantly, and a ringing started in his ears.
On the side of Yan Zhichun's index finger was tattooed three letters:
**YNA.**