Chapter 767: The Method of Escape
"No... that's not it..." Xu Liunian bit her lip. "He's not what you think..."
"What difference does it make from the outcome?"
Chu Tianqiu let out a helpless bitter laugh, then pulled a gold ingot from his pocket and tossed it onto the ground in front of Xu Liunian.
"There's no need to speak of 'sin,'" Chu Tianqiu said, narrowing his eyes at Xu Liunian. "In my twenty-eight years of life, now long gone, I haven't even done a single wrong thing—and yet I've ended up like this. Tell me... who should I resent?"
"I really don't know..." Xu Liunian said. "The only thing I can be certain of is that there can't be any innocent people on the 'train'..."
"How can you be so dogmatic?" Chu Tianqiu pressed on. "You say we have 'sin,' but you don't know what 'sin' it is. Are you, as 'gods' who manage ghosts, so immune to needing evidence?"
"I already told you... none of this is my responsibility... I'm only in charge of 'escorting'..." Xu Liunian said. "Even if you ask me... I really..."
"Driving a blameless person insane—that's your specialty." Chu Tianqiu said in a low voice. "Tell me... what's so worthy of obeying about your 'superior's' orders?"
"Chu Tianqiu..." Xu Liunian had no idea how to explain. She could only speak with a pleading tone. "He really isn't what you think... he truly was giving everyone a chance..."
"Where is that chance?" Chu Tianqiu asked again. "When your 'superior' abandoned this place back then, had anyone already become a 'god'?"
"This..." Xu Liunian slowly lowered her head. "No..."
"He says he'll create a 'god,' so he creates a 'god'... he says he'll give up, so he gives up..." Chu Tianqiu laughed loudly. "Xu Liunian! On what grounds?! Are the tens of thousands of people here really all sinners?! What if there are many here like me, who never committed any wrong?! Do you even know what a terrible atrocity you've committed?!"
"Chu Tianqiu!" Xu Liunian interrupted him. "All the dead souls were taken directly from the road to hell—you were all meant to be annihilated!"
"Then you should have let us be annihilated back then!" Chu Tianqiu said. "What are we now?! Everyone says to 'survive,' but we died long ago. Everyone says to 'escape,' but where exactly are we supposed to 'escape' to? Everyone says to become a 'god,' but how are we supposed to fight against the two dragons who are already 'gods'?! When you think about it, it's truly ridiculous... Even without those two 'dragons,' our fate wouldn't change one bit."
"But the truth really isn't like that..." Xu Liunian's voice grew softer, as if even she was beginning to waver. "Back then, this space was just chaos... To give you all a sense of belonging, he specially built cities here and created the sky..."
"Ridiculous," Chu Tianqiu said. "Creating a comfortable environment for us, then making us witness it turn into a living hell—who came up with such a cruel punishment?"
Xu Liunian knew that her position and Chu Tianqiu's were completely opposed. She probably wouldn't be able to convince him.
After all, from Chu Tianqiu's perspective—or any "participant's"—this place was a living hell, bringing them nothing but seventy years of bitter suffering and endless despair.
"Chu Tianqiu... I understand how you feel," Xu Liunian said. "I can't convince you either. But since we can no longer find the 'mastermind' of this place, I can atone on his behalf."
"How will you atone?" Chu Tianqiu asked again. "Just as you said... to never appear in the next cycle—is that your 'atonement'?"
"That's the only way I can think of," Xu Liunian said. "I'm just an ordinary person after all. I can't do anything else."
"I want you to survive," Chu Tianqiu said. "I want you to go out and ask him why he did all this."
"What...?"
"Aren't you curious?" Chu Tianqiu said. "No matter how you look at it, this place must have taken tremendous effort to build. Why was it suddenly abandoned?"
"But Chu Tianqiu..." Xu Liunian took a step forward and said in a low voice, "Time here is frozen relative to the outside. No one knows how long it's been in here..."
"Doesn't that make it perfect?" Chu Tianqiu said. "That means if this place can really be escaped, your 'superior' should be standing just outside the door, having left less than two steps ago. We can ask him everything clearly."
Xu Liunian opened her mouth as if to argue, but she knew Chu Tianqiu was right.
"Chu Tianqiu..." Xu Liunian called softly. "To get out of here... you can only do it through the 'train.'"
"What...?" Chu Tianqiu was momentarily stunned. "You...?"
"This space is sealed," Xu Liunian continued. "Only the 'train' can travel back and forth. Back then, I drove it to break through space and enter here. Now, it can also drive away."
"Are you kidding me..." Chu Tianqiu was dumbfounded. "You've always known the way to escape here... and you never said a word?"
"Yes," Xu Liunian nodded. "There are many reasons for that... First, I shouldn't let anyone here go, because my 'superior's' order was to kill everyone. Second, the 'train' is now completely controlled by the 'Zodiacs,' and the ones at the front are the Twin Dragons. Third, the 'train' is heavily damaged and can't be started anymore. Fourth..."
"What's the fourth?" Chu Tianqiu narrowed his eyes.
"Fourth... I only know that the 'train' can leave this 'Land of Finality,' but I don't know where its next destination is," Xu Liunian said. "Even if we really manage to escape from here, we might enter another space... one that might not even have a city, only endless darkness."
Chu Tianqiu thought for a long while, then finally nodded. "So you're saying... even if we manage to fight the 'Zodiacs' to the bitter end, miraculously snatch the 'train' from the 'gods,' miraculously manage to start it, and miraculously escape with everyone—we might still plunge headlong into another 'Land of Finality.'"
"That's exactly it," Xu Liunian said. "That's why I've never told this to anyone until now."
"Heh..." Chu Tianqiu shook his head helplessly. "Do you think just because you didn't tell them, no one else could figure it out?"
"What...?"
"Just wait and see," Chu Tianqiu said. "I suspect someone has already figured out the answer."