“Win…” Qin Dingdong paused, “No one can guarantee that this rebellion will truly succeed… Chen Junnan, don’t stay here any longer. Find a ‘door’ and get off this train immediately. If things take a turn for the worse, remember to preserve your strength. Your ‘memory’ might just lead the next rebellion…”
“What the hell kind of talk is that?” Chen Junnan was momentarily stunned. “Sis Dong… What kind of mindset are you even in while carrying out this mission?”
“It’s… a long story…” Qin Dingdong reached out and grabbed Chen Junnan tightly, her fingers digging in, her emotions in turmoil. “Chen Junnan… Listen to me. Wei Yang doesn’t believe Qi Xia will ultimately lead us to escape… and neither do I.”
“Wha—” Chen Junnan cut in abruptly, “Sis Dong, tell me yourself—do you trust that old swindler or Old Qi?”
“It’s hard for me to trust either of them,” Qin Dingdong whispered. Then she stepped closer, pressing her lips to Chen Junnan’s ear. “Chen Junnan, Wei Yang deduced that Qi Xia plans to drive the ‘train’ to escape… but doesn’t that strike you as odd?”
“Wh-where’s the odd part?” Chen Junnan asked uncertainly.
“Wei Yang’s mission is odd,” Qin Dingdong said. “He received this task long ago—not only to infiltrate the ‘natives’ but also to lead them in destroying all the ‘doors’ on the ‘train.’ Now he’s given up, so I’ve taken over.”
“Huh…?”
Chen Junnan paused, as if suddenly grasping the source of Qin Dingdong’s confusion.
“Chen Junnan… You’re far more cunning than I am. Tell me—if we smash all the ‘doors,’ even if the ‘train’ reaches the next station… how are we supposed to leave?”
The question left Chen Junnan momentarily speechless.
“The ones trapped won’t just be the ‘Zodiacs’…” Qin Dingdong’s eyes darkened. “It’ll be every ‘participant’ in this rebellion. Once everything settles, none of us will be able to leave.”
“Sis… Sis Dong, aren’t you overthinking this?” Chen Junnan said. “Old Qi said before—”
“Chen Junnan… You can’t trust Qi Xia too much. You have to think for yourself,” Qin Dingdong insisted. “Even if this sounds like I’m sowing discord, there’s a contradiction in this plan… I don’t believe someone so brilliant would create a plan that contradicts itself.”
Chen Junnan hesitated, then quickly spotted another flaw: “But Sis Dong, you’re the one destroying the ‘doors’ right now… If you don’t believe in it, why go this far?”
“I have my own reasons,” Qin Dingdong replied. “I want to figure out who I am, and I owe Wei Yang one last favor. As much as he annoys me, in some ways, he saved me. So I had to come to the ‘train’ to finish this for him. Only by getting close to the core here could I possibly uncover the truth about myself.”
Chen Junnan thought for a moment before responding, “Sis Dong, I don’t know how to convince you, but I’ve doubted Old Qi before too. Yet time and again, he’s proven to be right.”
“But he approached you with an agenda,” Qin Dingdong countered. “When someone has an ulterior motive, you can’t take their words at face value. Every word they say, every action they take, is just a means to their end. You’re no fool—you understand this better than I do.”
Chen Junnan fell silent for a beat, then said, “Sis Dong, Old Qi’s ‘agenda’ transcends any selfish, petty motive you can imagine. If he truly has an ‘agenda,’ I don’t need to worry about it harming me. It won’t benefit him at my expense, nor will it cost me anything. Because what he’s trying to achieve is beyond my comprehension—it’s something grander, something that transcends human nature. It’s not my place to interfere, nor should I.”
Qin Dingdong stared into Chen Junnan’s eyes for a long moment before sighing. “Fine… Chen Junnan, even if I can’t grasp his ‘agenda,’ what about the issue with the ‘doors’? He hasn’t left a way out for any of the ‘participants.’ How do you explain that?”
“My only answer is that I trust Old Qi,” Chen Junnan said firmly. “If ‘destroying the doors’ is part of his plan, then I’ll help him see it through. I was worried earlier that I might be causing trouble, but your arrival has only strengthened my resolve.”
“You… Fine. You do you, and I’ll do me. Whether you trust him or not, I’ve still left a way out for everyone…” Qin Dingdong said. “I never intended to actually destroy all the ‘doors.’ That’s why we started with the ‘interview rooms,’ but left all the ‘work areas’ intact—”
Before she could finish, Qin Dingdong froze. She realized that all the nearby ‘doors’ in the ‘work areas’ had also been destroyed.
“You… Chen Junnan…” Qin Dingdong’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You destroyed the ‘work area’ doors?!”
“Yeah,” Chen Junnan admitted. “Didn’t think too much about it. If I felt it would help Old Qi, I just went for it.”
Qin Dingdong felt trapped in an impossible dilemma, unsure of what to do next.
Just then, Jin Yuanxun approached with Earth Ox, cautiously whispering, “Bro, sis… Are you done with your… private business?”
The question earned Jin Yuanxun an exaggerated eye-roll from Qin Dingdong. She turned to glare at him. “Kid, you look so honest, but your words are downright cringe. What do you mean ‘private business’?”
“Huh?” Jin Yuanxun blinked, confused.
Earth Ox couldn’t help but chuckle at the young man’s phrasing. “Who taught you Chinese like that?”
“I learned from—” Jin Yuanxun raised a finger, about to point at Chen Junnan, but was swiftly intercepted as Chen Junnan threw an arm around his shoulders.
“Hey, Xiao Jin! Your Chinese still needs work!” Chen Junnan laughed it off before turning to Earth Ox. “Sis Dong, introduce us. Who’s this…?”
“Someone I met along the way,” Qin Dingdong sighed. “Qi Xia didn’t just assign this task to Wei Yang—he also gave it to Earth Ox here. He wants all the ‘doors’ destroyed comprehensively, even believing that ordinary people’s efforts aren’t enough. He thinks an ‘Earth-level’ intervention is necessary. That’s why I’m so agitated.”
“An ‘Earth-level’ whose sole purpose is destroying ‘doors’…?” Chen Junnan studied Earth Ox.
Her frame was lean but muscular, the tailored short blazer hinting at the contours of her abs.
“Pleasure,” Earth Ox said. “No matter what doubts you have about this plan, I’m here to execute it unconditionally. To buy myself time, I even betrayed every ‘Earth-level’ involved in this operation, letting them stall the ‘Heaven-levels’ for me. I can’t afford delays.”
“You alone sold out all the rebelling ‘Earth-levels’?” Chen Junnan was taken aback. This Earth Ox was a ruthless one.
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