Chapter 288: Don’t Say It

Qi Xia coldly stared at the tiger-headed man before him and asked in a low voice, “What do you mean by ‘the four of you’ all saw…?”

“What’s it to you?” Earth Tiger glanced at Qi Xia with disdain. “Are we that close?”

“No.” Qi Xia shook his head. “But we’re in a cooperative relationship now. To better find the person you mentioned, I need to gather as many clues as possible.”

Earth Tiger sighed quietly after hearing this and said, “The four of us… were all Brother Sheep’s students…”

Qi Xia’s eyes widened as if something in his mind had just collapsed with a deafening crash.

“Brother Sheep?!” He stepped forward slowly, his face filled with shock as he stared at Earth Tiger. “What do you mean by ‘Brother Sheep’?! Is Heavenly Sheep a man?!”

Earth Tiger looked at Qi Xia in confusion. “What do *you* mean? When did I ever say he was a woman?”

Qi Xia quickly ran through every interaction he’d had with Earth Tiger in his mind.

Yes, Earth Tiger had never once said that “Heavenly Sheep” was a woman.

This completely changed the nature of the whole situation… as if everything had reset to the beginning.

In other words, whether it was Heavenly Sheep or Earth Sheep, Yu Nian’an had never appeared within this scope.

Based on the process of elimination Qi Xia had previously conducted… she was most likely dead.

“Me… Little Rat… Dead Snake… Old Black…” Earth Tiger extended four fingers. “For seven years, Brother Sheep only had the four of us as his students…”

Qi Xia was momentarily distracted before turning back to Earth Tiger.

It seemed another thread was faintly connecting in his mind.

Seven years?

But was this idea too bold?

“I already know who you and ‘Little Rat’ are,” Qi Xia said. “But who are ‘Dead Snake’ and ‘Old Black’?”

“A frivolous and foolish snake, and that annoying sheep you met today,” Earth Tiger replied slowly, extending four fingers again. “The four of us, plus Brother Sheep, used to sit at the same table for meals.”

Qi Xia quickly pieced together the sequence of events, and in just over ten seconds, an unbelievable truth crashed into his consciousness.

“So the ‘Brother Sheep’ you mentioned… took seven years to ascend and become ‘Heavenly Sheep’?” Qi Xia asked.

“Exactly.” Earth Tiger nodded. “He arrived later than Old Black but rose much faster. Three years at the Human level, four at the Earth level—seven years total to ascend to ‘Heaven.’ If Old Black had even half of Brother Sheep’s ability… why would it have taken him thirteen years, and only with Brother Sheep’s help, to reach ‘Earth’?”

“You mean… not only did he rise rapidly himself, but he also helped all of you?” Qi Xia asked.

“Right. Brother Sheep was a born deceiver.” Earth Tiger nodded again. “But now Old Black swaggers around, sitting in Brother Sheep’s old seat, pretending to mentor dozens of ‘students.’ I wish he’d fail spectacularly… and then you showed up.”

Qi Xia lowered his head and examined his own palm carefully.

An eerie thought swirled in his mind.

Am I Heavenly Sheep?

In this “Land of the End,” forget “Beasts” and “Zodiacs”—even an ordinary “participant” with a knife could kill him.

What kind of Heavenly Sheep was that?

More like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

How was he any different from the lowest-tier “participant”?

“Could my reasoning still be wrong…?”

Qi Xia slowly furrowed his brow. If he *was* Heavenly Sheep, why would he be here?

Why *was* he here?

No sooner had this thought formed than Zhu Que’s words echoed in his ears once more.

“Qi Xia, why are you here?”

“You really don’t know why you’re here, do you? How pathetic.”

“Tell me, who exactly did I offend?”

“Offend? Isn’t offending Tianlong enough?”

Qi Xia narrowed his eyes slightly, finally piecing together these elusive clues.

During the “missing seven years,” he had always been a “Sheep”—starting as Human Sheep and climbing step by step to the very top.

But at the final moment, Tianlong had played a trick, casting an illusion.

Everyone thought he had become Heavenly Sheep, but the truth was that his memories had been wiped, and he had reverted to being a participant.

And for those seven years, for some reason, no one in the room had ever passed the interview.

Not until he returned did things finally take a turn.

Lin Qin’s words echoed in his ears again: “Qi Xia, for at least seven years, I’ve never heard of anyone like you in the Land of the End.”

Qi Xia glanced around in horror, taking in his surroundings and the ground beneath his feet.

This didn’t bode well.

Had he truly *never* experienced the things he was doing now… the things he was going through?

He had already been active in the “Land of the End” seven years ago!

And that was just the traceable time—could the actual span be even longer?!

In all those years, he had tried nearly every method, coming within a hair’s breadth of becoming “Heaven,” only to be reset in the end.

This was terrifying.

He was like a monkey in the “infinite monkey theorem,” randomly triggering countless possibilities across an endless timeline.

No… this wasn’t quite the same as the infinite monkey scenario.

Because there was one extra factor: Tianlong.

Just as the monkey was one letter away from completing Shakespeare’s works, *he* would reboot the monkey’s computer and start everything anew.

Why?

Chu Tianqiu had once said that this godforsaken place might not even have a true “Heaven-level”… Could it be that everyone who reached “Heaven-level” was reset, their memories wiped, and turned back into participants?

“That would explain the lack of loopholes… but something still feels off.” Qi Xia rubbed his chin, feeling stuck again.

Qiao Jiajin, who had been silent for a while, reached out and patted Qi Xia’s shoulder. “Liar, you okay?”

Qi Xia snapped out of it and nodded at Qiao Jiajin. “I’m fine. I think I’ve found ‘Heavenly Sheep.'”

“Eh?” Qiao Jiajin blinked. “You found him?”

Earth Tiger also looked up at Qi Xia. “You know where he is?!”

Instead of answering directly, Qi Xia asked, “Earth Tiger, I need to know if you really meant what you said… No matter whether he’s ‘Heaven,’ ‘Earth,’ or ‘Human’ Sheep—even if he’s no longer a ‘Sheep’ at all—do you still want to see him?”

Earth Tiger frowned, confused. “What do you mean, ‘no longer a Sheep’? Did Brother Sheep go through all that trouble just to become a damn ‘Dog’?”

“What if he became an ordinary person?” Qi Xia pressed.

The question sent a jolt through Earth Tiger.

“An… ordinary person?” Earth Tiger stared into Qi Xia’s eyes, as if something had suddenly clicked.

“Just a hypothetical,” Qi Xia said. “If he were just a regular participant, would you still want to meet him?”

“I…” Earth Tiger hesitated.

“I see.” Without waiting for an answer, Qi Xia grabbed Qiao Jiajin’s arm and turned to leave.

“Hey…” Earth Tiger called out, his voice trembling. “You…”

“Don’t say it.” Qi Xia cut him off coldly. “Not until I figure everything out.”