“Chen Junnan,” Qi Xia called out, walking over and sitting between him and Qin Dingdong.
Qin Dingdong didn’t look very happy, though it was unclear what the two had just been discussing.
“Old Qi… got something to ask me?” Chen Junnan inquired. “I’m in a good mood today—ask away, and I’ll answer anything.”
Qi Xia didn’t hold back either, nodding as he said, “Chen Junnan, have you ever seen a ‘Celestial’?”
“Of course,” Chen Junnan replied. “Not just me—you, Winter here beside you, Old Qiao—we’ve all seen them.”
The moment the words “Celestial” left his lips, Qin Dingdong’s face turned ice-cold, as if recalling something deeply terrifying.
“But I don’t remember,” Qi Xia admitted. “If only I could… at least then I’d know how to deal with them.”
Qin Dingdong sighed. “Qi Xia, of course you don’t remember.”
“Huh…?” Qi Xia frowned, turning to look at her.
“What I always look forward to the most… is being able to tease you every time I show up,” Qin Dingdong said with a bitter smile. “Qi Xia, we’ve met dozens of times now, and you’re always so adorable.”
There was something unsettlingly eerie about her words.
“Dozens of times…?” Qi Xia turned back to Chen Junnan. “What does that mean?”
Chen Junnan sighed softly. “Old Qi, you were always one of the ‘Unfortunates’ before. Every time, we had to reintroduce ourselves to you.”
“Unfortunates…?” Qi Xia stiffened slightly.
Qin Dingdong chimed in, “People who could never achieve ‘Echoes.’ There are quite a few of them in the ‘Land of Finality.'”
“But this time, you’ve been acting really strange…” Chen Junnan and Qin Dingdong both stared at him. “I’d actually like to ask you… Old Qi, have you ever had an ‘Echo’?”
“Yes,” Qi Xia answered.
That single word made both of them furrow their brows.
“You actually *Echoed*?!” Chen Junnan stood up in disbelief. “No wonder something felt off this whole time… Old Qi, what’s your ‘Echo’?”
“Probably called ‘Endless Cycle,'” Qi Xia replied with a nod.
Chen Junnan and Qin Dingdong exchanged a horrified glance.
“What did you say?” Chen Junnan dug a finger into his ear. “My earwax must be clogging things up—say it again.”
“Endless Cycle,” Qi Xia repeated.
“You messing with me?” Chen Junnan sighed and sat back down. “Endless Cycle… You couldn’t even come up with a better lie?”
“What?” Qi Xia frowned at them. “What’s wrong with ‘Endless Cycle’?”
“Nobody’s ‘Echo’ is a whole damn idiom,” Chen Junnan muttered, shaking his head. “That’s just absurd. Four words? You could probably shatter glass with—”
Before he could finish, their expressions shifted.
The person Celestial Horse and Celestial Tiger were looking for… had been found.
“Old Qi… you’re the one behind that ‘massive Echo’…” Chen Junnan stared at him in shock. “You’re saying yours is… ‘Endless Cycle’? What the hell does that even do?”
Qi Xia recalled Chu Tianqiu’s words. “I don’t fully understand it myself—I was unconscious when it happened. But from what Chu Tianqiu said… it’s probably something like making people ‘stay alive.'”
“Make people… stay alive?” Chen Junnan mulled it over. “You mean, like, make them immortal?”
“No…” Qi Xia shook his head. “From what I gather, it’s literal. Even if they die… they still have to live.”
Chen Junnan and Qin Dingdong both turned to look at the field.
There, a mountain of pitch-black corpses stood, among which at least thirty belonged to Qiao Jiajin and Li Xiangling.
“Even if they die… they still have to live…” Chen Junnan swallowed hard, then let out a bitter chuckle. “Old Qi, with a power like that… seems like you don’t need me anymore.”
Before Qi Xia could respond, a sharp pain lanced through his skull. It took a few seconds for him to adjust.
“Chen Junnan… I have a question for you too,” Qi Xia said, pressing a hand to his forehead. “What exactly is your ability? What does ‘Scapegoat’ do?”
Chen Junnan grinned. “Simple, Old Qi. Within my line of sight, if I want to, then the unlucky bastard is *me*.”
“That doesn’t sound like a useful ‘Echo,'” Qi Xia remarked. “You’ve made it this far just with that?”
“I’m… useless?” A flicker of hurt crossed Chen Junnan’s face. “If you really are ‘Endless Cycle,’ then yeah, I guess I *am* useless…”
“Qi Xia,” Qin Dingdong cut in, “as much of a scumbag as this bastard is, *you* of all people can’t call him useless.”
“Oh?” Qi Xia turned to her. “So you know a lot about what happened before too?”
“Yep,” Qin Dingdong said. “This idiot’s been dying in your and Ah Jin’s places over and over. So anyone else in the world can call him useless—just not you two.”
“Is that so…” Qi Xia nodded slightly, as if piecing together the reason for his headache. But he quickly shook it off and turned back. “Chen Junnan, I want to know—how capable are you?”
“Capable…?” Chen Junnan blinked.
“I want to know how you perform in games,” Qi Xia clarified. “And how much I can trust you going forward.”
The question seemed to stump Chen Junnan.
Qin Dingdong smirked. “To put it bluntly, Qi Xia, this scumbag isn’t as smart as you or as strong as Ah Jin.”
Chen Junnan visibly bristled at that.
“Winter, that’s harsh.”
“Am I wrong?”
“Let me rephrase,” Chen Junnan said, turning back to Qi Xia. “Old Qi, here’s the thing—I’m stronger than you and smarter than Old Qiao.”
Qin Dingdong rolled her eyes so hard they nearly disappeared into her skull.
“Oh…?” Qi Xia smirked. “Really?”
“Yeah, I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve,” Chen Junnan said confidently. “Don’t believe me?”
“I do,” Qi Xia said. “But I need you to prove it.”
“Fine. How?”
Qi Xia thought back to what Earth Tiger had said earlier and slowly replied, “Chen Junnan, come with me tomorrow. I need you to join me in a game.”
“Join you in a game?” Chen Junnan mulled it over before shaking his head. “Old Qi, no need. I’ll go alone.”
“You… alone?”
Qin Dingdong frowned. “Hey, asshole, you’re not forgetting the *real* issue, are you? Those two Celestials—”
“Winter, not now,” Chen Junnan cut her off with a grin. “I’m letting Old Qi get to know me again. Whatever it is, it can wait till I get back from Earth Snake’s place.”
“Earth Snake…?” Qin Dingdong stiffened. “I *told* you—Earth Snake isn’t worth—”
“No. He messed with you. Picked the wrong guy.”
Qi Xia nodded. “Chen Junnan, you sure you don’t want a teammate?”
“Old Qi, let me reintroduce myself,” Chen Junnan said with a wry smile. “Teaming up with others is *way* too dangerous for me. I’m too damn soft—some idiot’s gonna get me killed. The moment I don’t want someone to die, *I* die instead.”
Qi Xia nodded again. “So… you’re really going alone?”
“Yep,” Chen Junnan confirmed. “Old Qi, try not to wander off tomorrow morning. I’ll go find Earth Snake by myself.”
His gaze lingered on Qi Xia meaningfully.
Chen Junnan had never imagined a place like this could house something like ‘Endless Cycle.’
With this… the entire ‘Land of Finality’ was about to be turned upside down.
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