Chapter 735: The Purpose of Killing
"Qi Xia...?" Dr. Zhao frowned slightly. "Have you forgotten? We've already joined 'Heaven's Gate,' and our leader now is Chu Tianqiu."
"But in this world full of deception and treachery, who can say for sure?"
Zhang Shan walked forward step by step, now less than ten paces away from the two.
Dr. Zhao quickly thought through their options and soon realized the situation was grim.
Zhang Shan didn't seem to be here for negotiations—he looked more like he was here to pass judgment.
"Han Yimo... I don't think it's going to work..." he whispered, turning his head. "I'll have to make a move when he's not paying attention..."
"You..." Han Yimo looked helplessly at Dr. Zhao. "Are you messing with me...?"
"Huh?"
"I barely managed to summon the 'Seven Black Sword'... and you shattered it, only to tell me to summon another one..." Han Yimo said, dazed. "Do you think I'm a weapons factory or something?"
"This..." Dr. Zhao was momentarily speechless. "I—I wasn't thinking clearly at that moment... I..."
With only a few steps remaining, Zhang Shan overheard their whispered conversation. He turned back with a hint of helplessness and glanced at the young man with glasses. "These two really don't seem to have much of a brain. What do you think?"
The young man adjusted his glasses and said softly, "If this was their own plan, framed against Chu Tianqiu, I definitely wouldn't believe it. After all, they're not that clever. But if it's the scheme of that young man named Qi Xia, I also don't buy it. I heard he's already left 'Heaven's Gate'—arranging two old subordinates to kill people here would serve no purpose."
"Oh...?" Zhang Shan quickly seized on the key point from the young man's words. "So you're saying... this really was arranged by Chu Tianqiu?"
"Zhang Shan," the young man said seriously. "You trust Chu Tianqiu, and the two of us trust you. It's because you think he's reliable that we followed you without hesitation to join this place. But that doesn't mean we've opened our hearts to him as well. So I'll judge this matter from a completely objective standpoint—Chu Tianqiu has the biggest suspicion."
"But..." Zhang Shan lowered his head in thought, seeming unsure how to respond.
"That's why I wanted to ask you before," the young man said. "Why do you trust Chu Tianqiu so much? You clearly don't retain your memories, yet according to what you've said, every time you bring us to this 'Heaven's Gate'..."
"I have a secret," Zhang Shan said. "A secret buried in my heart for many years—one I haven't even told my closest people."
"Does Chu Tianqiu know that secret?" the young man asked.
"Yes," Zhang Shan nodded. "Every time we leave the interview room, Chu Tianqiu pulls me aside and whispers to me. He tells me secrets that only I should know, and quickly explains this world's situation to me. That forces me to trust him."
"Can you tell that secret to the two of us?" the young man pointed to himself and Old Lv.
"Sorry, no."
The young man nodded solemnly, then shifted his tone. "So... not even a bond forged through life-and-death trials can break that silence. That secret must really matter to you."
"Yes. It's the thing I regret most in my life," Zhang Shan said. "That's why I can't tell anyone... but Chu Tianqiu knows it."
The young man gave Zhang Shan a penetrating look. "But... people aren't set in stone, are they?"
"What?"
"Everyone says Chu Tianqiu has retained his memories for at least two years... but what if it's been longer?" the young man asked. "What if, when you first met, you liked him enough to think he was worth befriending, told him your secret out of goodwill, but his real motive was to gain that secret so he could have you work for him life after life?"
Zhang Shan paused, the forward motion of his steps coming to a halt.
"Young Glasses..." he said, his expression darkening as he turned around. "I'm a rough man, I don't do roundabout talk... What are you trying to say?"
"Actually, I've been pretty direct," the young man said. "Zhang Shan, you might have been tricked. Chu Tianqiu might not even need you to tell him your secret in person—he could use some 'Echo' to extract your memories. What if your secret wasn't something you told him yourself?"
"Enough." Zhang Shan cut him off. "I don't believe it..."
Sigh. The young man shook his head helplessly. "Zhang Shan, last time you retained your memories, right? Based on that and this time... is Chu Tianqiu really someone worth dying for?"
As he listened, Zhang Shan's once-steady expression began to waver.
He paused for a moment, then said, "Anyway, what needs to be dealt with now isn't Chu Tianqiu, but these two here."
Han Yimo and Dr. Zhao, who had just relaxed their guard, tensed up again at those words.
"Han Yimo!" Dr. Zhao shouted. "Summon the 'Seven Black Sword' now!
"I—I'm trying..." Han Yimo squeezed his eyes shut, sensing they were in extreme danger.
Chu Tianqiu had told him that his 'Echo' was called 'Disaster Magnet.'
When he learned what it was, he was suddenly so nervous he could barely speak.
Normally, the disasters he summoned would affect everyone within range one hundred percent, but the 'Seven Black Sword' was the exception—he had only a fifty percent chance of dying from it himself, and when combined with Dr. Zhao, his 'Seven Black Sword' was relatively safe, only attacking the opponent.
But faced with a menacing 'Tianxingjian' approaching, his subconscious couldn't calmly summon the 'Seven Black Sword' anymore.
Han Yimo tried hard to control his thoughts, forcing himself to abandon all sense of crisis. Otherwise, if he felt like he was 'about to die,' he might collapse before Zhang Shan even laid a hand on him.
"Kid, since I don't believe what you two said, I'm going to have to put you on hold." Zhang Shan cracked his knuckles. "I'll beat you two to death first, then when I see Chu Tianqiu, I'll ask him myself."
"H-Han Yimo..." Dr. Zhao called out. "Are you ready...?"
"Just... give me a little more time..." Han Yimo's cold sweat dripped down his cheeks. He felt dizzy, but he had no idea if the 'Seven Black Sword' had actually arrived.
"Damn it... Chu Tianqiu was here just a moment ago, and he had to vanish at the critical moment..."
Dr. Zhao muttered, then took a step back. Only one thought remained in his mind—escape.
"What, was Chu Tianqiu here just now?" Zhang Shan asked again.
"Yes..." Dr. Zhao nodded. "After we killed the first batch, he came over... to take something."
"If he was the one who ordered you to do it, why didn't he stay to watch?" Zhang Shan pressed.
"Because he said he didn't want his hands stained with blood..." Dr. Zhao answered truthfully. "But he..."
Zhang Shan saw the unnatural look on Dr. Zhao's face and turned to examine the bodies on the ground.
With them so close now, he could make out each corpse's features—all of them were 'Heaven's Gate' members, indeed.
But every single corpse had its eyes gouged out.