Chapter 566: The Joke
Qi Xia looked at Xu Liunian and noticed that her entire body was trembling.
Mortals were fleeing, while the gods were in pursuit.
Flee... but where to?
"Qi Xia...!" Xu Liunian's voice was trembling as well. "'Taoyuan' has a special magical enchantment that allows people inside to obtain 'divine power' under extreme emotions. This plan was originally called the 'Nuwa Game'! But the original 'judges' were all killed by 'Tianlong'! He replaced them with his own chosen people and completely took over this place!"
The moment they pulled out of the alley, Xu Liunian spun the car around and sped off toward the main road.
"Now, all the 'Zodiacs,' all the 'Divine Beasts,' are nothing but lies!! Not a single one of us can escape from here!!"
As soon as the words fell, the ground before them began to tremble, and a large number of huge rocks rose up from the earth, blocking all paths ahead.
Seeing the trouble, Xu Liunian shifted into reverse and turned around again.
The moment she turned back, she found the air suddenly still—Qinglong was already sitting in the back seat of the car.
The turbulent taxi was like a yacht that had dropped anchor amidst huge waves; now it slowly came to a stop, swaying in place.
Qi Xia saw the drastic change in Xu Liunian's expression and couldn't help but turn around as well, just in time to meet Qinglong's gaze.
"I believe I've said this before... I don't like it when 'pawns' have their own consciousness."
Qinglong's androgynous voice slowly sounded, making Qi Xia feel particularly familiar with it.
This voice was exactly the same as the one he had heard in his dreams, but strangely enough, when he heard it in the dream, it made his hair stand on end, and he couldn't even look at him.
But the man before him seemed a bit different.
"Qi Xia..." Xu Liunian looked at Qinglong for a long time before slowly speaking, "Let me introduce you... Tianlong's most capable assistant, Qinglong."
After hearing this, Qi Xia stared at Qinglong carefully, sizing him up.
Xu Liunian paused for a long time and then said, "I don't have much time left. Let me tell you my 'final hypothesis' now."
Qinglong did not stop her; he just quietly watched Xu Liunian, as if looking at a monkey jumping up and down.
"Go ahead," Qi Xia said in a deep voice.
"We are 'copies' born from your power. The real us already escaped this damn place long ago." She tried to organize her thoughts and spoke to Qi Xia slowly, word by word. "I suspect that we escape every ten days, but because of your stubborn 'Endless Rebirth,' there is always one copy left here to endure the torment of reincarnation!"
Hearing this, Qi Xia narrowed his eyes and then turned to look at Qinglong. He noticed Qinglong's smile growing even stronger, as if he truly regarded Xu Liunian as a clown.
"Are you done?" Qinglong asked.
"I..." Xu Liunian didn't understand Qinglong's intent, so she could only cast a pleading look at Qi Xia in the passenger seat.
But Qi Xia remained unmoved.
"Xu Liunian, you have truly disappointed me." Qinglong slowly reached out his hand and placed it on Xu Liunian's forehead. "It's only been a little over twenty days since I restored your sanity, and things are already spiraling out of control. Why should I keep you?"
Qi Xia saw Xu Liunian's body trembling uncontrollably, but in this situation, how could he possibly intervene?
When Xu Liunian decided to reveal these truths, whether her guess was right or wrong, she would completely infuriate Qinglong.
From this, it seemed that Xu Liunian had once taken orders from Qinglong. Many of her previous unexpected and unconventional strategies had most likely been guided by Qinglong.
This would make everything consistent.
Including Qinglong's appearance here now.
"Wait," he called out to stop Qinglong.
Qinglong paused slightly, turned to look at Qi Xia, and then slowly grinned. "You tell me... 'wait'?"
An extremely domineering pressure burst forth from Qinglong, causing Qi Xia to furrow his brows for a moment.
If he were still an ordinary person, he would probably have been forced back by Qinglong's aura, but now Qi Xia felt that he was no different from his opponent.
Since both of them possessed 'divine power,' that gave them bargaining chips.
"That's right, I'm telling you to wait," Qi Xia said coldly.
"Interesting... interesting..." Qinglong nodded, but did not withdraw his hand; instead, he stared at him with his dark green eyes. "What am I waiting for? And what are you going to do?"
"Qinglong... I am already 'Endless Rebirth.'" Qi Xia said. "You cannot kill Xu Liunian."
At these words, Qinglong's hand indeed ceased its motion.
"No matter what you intend to do..." Qi Xia added, "Xu Liunian is an ordinary 'participant.' She will be resurrected with 'Echo.' You cannot kill her."
"Ha... ha..." Qinglong withdrew his hand, his eyes full of madness. "It really is you... Seventy years ago it was you, seventy years later it's still you..."
"Me...?" Qi Xia felt somewhat puzzled.
"Qi Xia, I'm going to tell you two jokes now. This is the first one." Qinglong leaned forward, getting close to Qi Xia. "If you hadn't arrogantly spoken that sentence just now, Xu Liunian would have already been completely freed."
"What...?"
"Let me tell you the second joke."
Qinglong extended a finger and placed it on the center of Qi Xia's forehead, and Qi Xia did not dodge.
"Qi Xia, if you hadn't arrogantly made that big claim seventy years ago, none of these people would have to suffer the pains of this reincarnation."
The moment Qinglong touched Qi Xia's forehead, a strange memory suddenly exploded in Qi Xia's mind.
In the memory, Qi Xia stood covered in blood before a man whose face was blurred. Behind that man stood Qinglong, and behind Qi Xia were mountains of corpses—tens of thousands of people.
The sky at that time was an endless blue.
Qi Xia slowly lowered his head and said through gritted teeth, "'Tianlong'... we can't just die like this... I swear all the 'participants' will return, and the 'Echoers' will lead everyone forward with these painful memories... until you are completely defeated."
As soon as the words fell, Qinglong, who stood behind Tianlong, suddenly covered both ears, his expression extremely pained.
"What is it?" Tianlong turned around and asked.
After a long while, Qinglong's expression slowly eased. After thinking for a few seconds, he shook his head. "Nothing."
Qi Xia looked at Qinglong, then revealed a faint smile. He spat out a mouthful of blood and fell straight to the ground.
This memory abruptly ended.
Qi Xia slowly widened his eyes. He turned to look at Qinglong and asked through clenched teeth, "What kind of joke are you playing on me...? Are you saying all of this is because of me?"
"Isn't it so?" Qinglong laughed. "I heard it... The frequency of that sound was so high that even you couldn't hear it, but I did."
"Ridiculous." Qi Xia laughed angrily. "Even if it's because of me that they are caught in endless reincarnation, what's wrong with that? Are we, as 'humans,' supposed to just let you slaughter us all, without even the right to resist?"