Chapter 688: Half
"L-Lao Qi...?" Chen Junnan called out tentatively, testing the waters.
Qi Xia remained completely motionless, only shifting his pupils toward Chen Junnan's direction. Then he slowly tilted his head, seemingly observing him closely.
"Buddy..." Chen Junnan swallowed hard. "What's wrong with you? Did you... sleep wrong just now?"
"No." Qi Xia answered. "I'm doing great now."
After saying this, he clearly curled his lips into a smile that didn't belong to him.
Tiantian and Qiao Jiajin exchanged a look. For a moment, neither knew what to say. Qi Xia really didn't seem like anything was wrong, but his state was far too bizarre.
"You... as long as you're fine..." Chen Junnan forced a smile along with Qi Xia. "You had us worried sick just now..."
"Yeah, Scammer Boy..." Qiao Jiajin nodded too. "Your eyes look really weird... Are you sure nothing's wrong?"
"Ha..."
Qi Xia let out another light laugh. When they saw that smile, everyone finally understood what this feeling was.
Qi Xia didn't seem sick. He seemed more like he'd gone mad.
"Am I fine...?" Qi Xia stood up, still smiling. "How I wish I were unbothered."
After speaking, he walked toward them step by step. For some reason, Zheng Yingxiong kept backing away in sync with Qi Xia's advance.
"How I wished I could live this life peacefully..." Qi Xia continued. "But who ever gave me that chance?"
"What are you talking about, Scammer Boy..." Qiao Jiajin blinked.
"I've been wounded. Died. Fled. Begged the gods for mercy. Struggled in mud soaked with blood. And cycled through the endless hells... Countless times I wanted to put an end to all this, but not a single person ever gave me a shred of hope..."
Qi Xia slowly raised his hand and pinched his thumb and index finger together. "Not even this much hope. Not even a sliver..."
"What do you mean 'no one gave you hope'..." Qiao Jiajin gave a bitter smile. "Scammer Boy, aren't we still here?"
"Yeah, Lao Qi. You're making us speechless here, bro..."
"You two are useless now." Qi Xia said. "Qiao Jiajin, Chen Junnan. You're both useless now. Go wherever you want."
"...?"
Qiao Jiajin and Chen Junnan slowly opened their eyes wide at those words, as if checking whether they'd heard wrong.
"S-Scammer Boy... what the hell do you mean?"
Chen Junnan's pupils flickered slightly. "Lao Qi... what the fuck did you just say?"
"Are you deaf?" Qi Xia stared at Chen Junnan with his gray-white eyes. Then he enunciated each word: "I. Said. The. Two. Of. You—"
Before he could finish, Chen Junnan charged forward and punched him square in the face. Qi Xia took the blow hard, stumbling back onto the sofa. His head twisted to the side, but the grin on his face remained.
"Say that again, Lao Qi, and I'll fucking kill you!" Chen Junnan pointed at Qi Xia viciously.
Seeing things turning ugly, Qiao Jiajin immediately stepped forward to hold Chen Junnan back. "Jun Nan Zi... calm down... Scammer Boy's not in a good state right now..."
"Not in a good state doesn't mean he gets to talk bullshit!" Chen Junnan's emotions were clearly fraying. The usually joking man's voice trembled. "Lao Qi, I told you, didn't I? I fucking told you! You can use this worthless life of mine however you want. I don't care if I die a thousand times! But you promised me you'd get Lao Qiao out of here!"
Tiantian, seeing this, got nervous and stepped forward to gently tug at him. "Chen Junnan... calm down first..."
"Calm down my ass!" Chen Junnan roared. "Last time I believed in him with my whole heart. I trapped you all in that room for seven years just like he told me to. Do you know how I kept myself from going crazy?! Do you know what kind of hell I went through?! Now he's back, and I thought all hope was back too! But he tells me everything was fake?! Was all of that fucking fake?!"
"Jun Nan Zi..." Qiao Jiajin felt his own heart racing. Something seemed to be cracking slowly inside him. "We're all brothers... Let's not resort to fists first..."
"Yeah..." Tiantian chimed in beside him too. "You both need to calm down..."
"Ha ha ha ha!" Qi Xia sat on the couch, propping his forehead with one hand, then burst into wild laughter. "So naive... Chen Junnan... How could you ever believe me?"
"What did you say?!"
"How could any of you ever believe me?" Qi Xia stood up again and glared straight at Chen Junnan. "I said I'd escape. I said I'd take Qiao Jiajin out. But I'm a liar. You can only believe half of what I say."
"Half..." Chen Junnan was clearly seething, trembling all over. "So I'm supposed to believe the first half? You want to escape by yourself? The second half was a lie?!"
"No, 'escape' is the lie." Qi Xia shook his head. "Don't be foolish. No one can escape from this place. Give up."
"What...?" Chen Junnan stepped forward again and grabbed Qi Xia by the collar. "How the hell would you know if anyone can escape from here?"
Qiao Jiajin hurried forward to pull him off again. "Hey, Jun Nan Zi..."
"Because I've tried every path. They all lead to dead ends." Qi Xia shoved Chen Junnan's hand away forcefully. "So you don't need to waste your efforts either. I'll lead everyone to live well here."
Hearing this, Chen Junnan felt a chill run down his spine. "What do you mean... 'lead us to live well here'...?"
Qiao Jiajin's throat tightened too. After holding it in for a long while, he finally spoke. "Scammer Boy... did you just wake up a little disoriented..."
"I've seen through the answer of this world." Qi Xia said, almost talking to himself. "I still wasn't smart enough. It took me seventy years to figure it out... I thought my plan was flawless, but it still seems I'm missing one link."
"Missing one link...?"
Qi Xia slowly reached up and touched his forehead. "My memory is so fragmented... Could Wen Qiaoyun be dead already?"
Hearing that name, everyone's faces showed confusion.
"Doesn't matter... Luckily there are other 'needles'... Yan Zhichun is still here." Qi Xia curled his lips into a smile. "I've stuck a needle into every vital point of 'The Land of End,' it's time for the 'Heavenly Dragon' to awaken, isn't it?"
Qi Xia's words left everyone present completely baffled.
As they stood stunned, Zheng Yingxiong slowly walked forward. He took off the newspaper crown he'd folded and placed it in front of himself, then knelt down on one knee, lowering his head toward Qi Xia.
He could clearly smell that scent—a fleeting scent of a 'god.'