Chapter 777: On Top of the Train
"Paradise Gate...?" Wei Yang asked.
"Yeah." Qi Xia nodded. "Talking to someone who can 'read minds' really saves a lot of trouble."
"There's a very spacious playground there..." Wei Yang slowly squeezed out a sinister smile. "Can I hear the 'Scarecrow's' song there?"
"That's a big project, but if you want to, of course you can." Qi Xia nodded. "There are plenty of corpses there now. There'll be even more later."
"You're a real freak," Wei Yang said. "You've been with me for so long, yet you haven't asked a single question."
"Maybe I can 'read minds' too," Qi Xia replied. "Let's meet at 'Paradise Gate.'"
Seeing Qi Xia about to just turn and leave, Wei Yang finally couldn't hold back.
He raised his hand, pointing at the black bead hovering above Qi Xia's head, and said, "Are you really going to run around the streets carrying that bead...?"
"Yeah." Qi Xia smiled. "This is the best 'lie detector' there is. Not even an 'Earthly Leveler can defy it. And on top of that, you personally demonstrated how to use it."
"You..." Wei Yang froze. "Are you f*cking telling me you're going to go question an 'Earthly Leveler' with the 'Heavenly Snake Moment' hanging over your head?!"
"Yeah, you said it yourself, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Qi Xia gave Wei Yang a cold smirk. "If I'm not mistaken, these 'Heavenly Level' moments are going to get more and more frequent from now on."
Wei Yang listened and nodded. "Even if you manage to figure out everything that's happening... there won't be many living people left here. What are you going to do then?"
"No one is going to die." A manic grin spread across his face, his eyes suddenly wide open. "Even if those Heavenly Levelers exhaust themselves to death, the people here won't be harmed."
"What exactly is your 'Endless Cycle'...?"
"I haven't tested its limits yet," Qi Xia said. "This is the perfect opportunity. So don't be afraid to die. Just become a corpse. No matter how gruesome the death looks, it doesn't matter."
Wei Yang paused for a few seconds, then asked, "What if your 'Echo' fails... what then?"
After hearing this, Qi Xia curled his lip and said softly to Wei Yang, "You should have asked me that question when you had that black bead dangling just now. I would have been dead for sure."
"So you don't even know the answer to that...?" Wei Yang asked, his face dark. "Aren't you afraid this place will spiral out of control because of your ability?"
"Let it spiral," Qi Xia said. "This place is just one good, complete breakdown away from being perfect."
"Qi Xia... just what are you..."
"Stop wasting my time. Either go back to your farm and wait to die, or go to 'Paradise Gate' and wait to die."
With that, Qi Xia pushed past Wei Yang and walked out the door.
Wei Yang stood in the room, staring blankly at Qi Xia's retreating back. He felt he had come here with all his convictions, only to have his pre-arranged plans completely disrupted by Qi Xia. Now he didn't know what to do.
Maybe he should never have partnered with such a dangerous person in the first place. All he had wanted was a simple one-plus-one-equals-two cooperation, but this guy was trying to use him to deduce the laws of the world.
Their levels were far apart from the very beginning.
"So you've finally gone mad... maybe that's a good thing... hehe..." Wei Yang bared his teeth and looked up. "Heavenly Snake... I'm going to 'Paradise Gate' right now... I'll know everyone's plan... you just watch."
...
Qi Xia stepped out onto the street. By now, all the black raindrops in the sky had fallen, presumably now hanging above the heads of every living person.
"There are far more survivors than I expected," Qi Xia muttered to himself, recalling the recent 'downpour.'
Was the lethality of the 'Heavenly Horse Moment' weaker, or were there simply too many living people here?
This place was as big as a whole city, yet the survivors were scattered everywhere, hiding. Finding them would have to rely on the 'Heavenly Level' moments.
With that, Qi Xia reached a hand up toward his own head, trying to touch the bead hovering above it.
But it seemed to have a life of its own. Every centimeter his hand got closer, the bead moved a centimeter further away, always maintaining its distance.
Qi Xia shook his head, got his bearings, and continued walking forward.
This pitch-black downpour had, for once, brought wind to the 'Land of the End.'
When that sticky, foul-smelling breeze swept across their faces, forcing their eyes shut, people finally understood that the gentle wind that could soothe the soul in the real world had become a blade scraping bone in the 'Land of the End.'
It would whip up scraps of clothing from the corpses on the ground, and also stir the crimson powder floating in the air, carrying these foul-smelling things up into the already foul-smelling sky, where they would circle for a long time before falling back down.
Wind? How could this be wind? This was the corpses of people from the past seventy years, the wails of countless souls denied eternal peace.
...
[The Train]
Qinglong walked through the train. On either side were sealed doors. He did not stop, walking forward all the way. Before long, the wooden doors on both sides gradually disappeared, leaving only endless walls.
He walked for a long time, finally reaching the very end of the entire 'train.'
At the end was a half-open iron door.
Qinglong gently pushed the door open and looked inside. The room contained a large, round table. A few people sat around it. Some were slumped over the table, others leaned back in their chairs, all of them fast asleep.
In the center of the round table stood an elaborately patterned mantel clock, ticking away.
Qinglong frowned, scanning the people for a moment, then glanced at the empty chairs. He found it a bit strange.
Where was the 'Heavenly Snake'?
He cleared his throat. Seeing that these people were all asleep and paying him no attention, he set his jaw, walked straight across the room, and came to another iron door opposite him.
This iron door was larger than the previous one, but it wasn't ajar; it was tightly shut.
Qinglong shifted his body toward the iron door. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from his spot and reappeared on the other side of the door.
What lay before him was an unusually vast, pure white room, like a throne hall that had lost all its color.
The first thing to catch his eye was an abrupt tree in the center of the hall. It looked to be several decades old, its lush green leaves clashing violently with the entire aesthetic of the 'Land of the End.'
Qinglong walked around the tree in front of him and took a few more steps forward. Ahead were tiers of ascending steps and, at the top, a left and right throne.
Tianlong was lounging lazily on the right throne, his body tilted slightly, eyes half-closed, one hand propping up his cheek. He was still asleep.
The vast room was as silent as if no living thing existed within it.
Qinglong stood at the foot of the steps, looking coldly at Tianlong.
The two had identical faces. The only difference was a small mark between their brows.
"Did you deliver the message to the 'Heavenly Snake'...?" Qinglong asked softly.