“I owe you an apology, but Suzaku isn’t under my jurisdiction.” Qinglong glanced at me with an expressionless face. “Your rationality has been returned to you. Farewell.”
Naturally, I knew I couldn’t leave just yet.
Qinglong rarely appeared, yet here he was, standing at the city’s edge beside Qi Xia’s corpse.
What was he planning?
Seeing that I had no intention of leaving, Qinglong fell silent again. He turned back to Qi Xia, his expression shifting slightly before he reached out to touch Qi Xia’s neck.
“Not dead yet…?” he murmured softly.
“Qinglong… why are you really here?” I couldn’t hold back my confusion. After all, Qinglong was easier to approach than Tianlong—this was a rare opportunity.
“I—”
His androgynous voice resonated in his throat before trailing off into silence for a few seconds. Then, with a slight wave of his fingers, I felt us instantly enveloped in a strange forcefield, cutting off all surrounding sounds.
“Xu Liunian, do me a favor.”
“What…?”
He stood up and touched my forehead again. Instantly, the image of an unfamiliar woman flashed in my mind.
“Use your ‘Echo’ to take on her form,” Qinglong commanded without room for refusal. “This man isn’t dead yet. Show yourself to him.”
I recalled the woman’s features in my mind—her flawless face, sweet smile, and the pristine white dress she wore.
Qinglong seemed to have implanted many memories in me, making the transformation highly likely to succeed.
“But Qinglong… are you ordering me?”
“No.” Qinglong looked at me with sorrowful eyes. “The past years have been too quiet. I want to stir the waters. If you help me, it’ll benefit you too.”
I knew Qinglong had always been an anomaly here. In some ways, he was a lot like Qi Xia.
I could never grasp their motives.
“Time is running out,” Qinglong pressed. “If you don’t act soon, he’ll die.”
After weighing my options, I decided to take on the woman’s form—if only to repay Qinglong’s favor.
Since he had restored my rationality, I’d do this one thing for him.
Closing my eyes, I focused on the girl’s image. Qinglong had fed me so many memories that I felt as though I truly knew her.
She lived in my mind like a real friend.
A few seconds later, I opened my eyes, even feeling my height had changed.
This girl was beautiful. How wonderful it would be if I had been born looking like this.
“Come, Xu Liunian.” Qinglong gestured toward Qi Xia. “Over here.”
I lowered my head and slowly walked to his side, glancing at the white dress I now wore.
Yes, I’ve always loved wearing white dresses.
Now, I was Yu Nian’an.
As I crouched beside Qi Xia, Qinglong casually waved his hand, and Qi Xia’s eyes fluttered open.
But his gaze was vacant—no different from a dead man’s.
I watched as his dull pupils shifted slightly, moving from my left eye to my right.
Even in his final moments, his eyes brimmed with an unspeakable sorrow.
“What are you dreaming of?” I asked with a smile. “Am I in it?”
A tear gathered at the corner of his eye, yet it refused to fall.
So, was his dream sweet… or bitter?
“Don’t say more,” Qinglong interrupted. “I’m about to hear it.”
“Hear what?” I asked.
“His ‘Echo,'” Qinglong replied. “The frequency of his voice is bizarre. In decades, I’ve only heard it once.”
We waited in silence. I remained Yu Nian’an.
But the tolling of the bell we both anticipated never came. Qi Xia closed his eyes.
He was dead.
Having witnessed too many deaths here, I could only shake my head and say:
“Let’s hope he dreams well, forgets all this, and returns to this desolate place with renewed passion.”
“No…” Qinglong’s lips twisted into a grin, both his masculine and feminine voices laughing. “He ‘synchronized.’ I heard it.”
“‘Synchronized’?” I glanced at him curiously. “What does that mean?”
“Before he died, the sounds around him grew strange. He must have gained divine power, though…” Qinglong turned to gaze into the distance. “I wonder if the ‘Bell’ he built can capture such a high frequency. It’s beyond human hearing.”
He paused before adding, “Of course, there’s another possibility—that the fleeting sound never reached the Bell. Only I could hear it.”
I closed my eyes, reverting to my original form. “So, you were trying to make Qi Xia ‘echo’? But wasn’t he an ‘Unfortunate One’?”
“Oh? ‘Unfortunate One’?” Qinglong chuckled. “Do such people truly exist here? His voice’s frequency was extraordinarily high. Just watch—the ‘Peach Blossom Spring’ we speak of, the ‘Land of Finality’ they call it, is about to change.”
“What’s your real goal…?”
“I want to know who’s stronger—Qi Xia or Chu Tianqiu,” Qinglong mused. “How can I make them fight?”
His words gave me pause.
If possible, I wouldn’t return to Chu Tianqiu—he was too soft-hearted. He treated every ‘participant’ with kindness, and such benevolence made him unfit for what I envisioned as the one to destroy this place.
“Is that necessary?” I countered. “Chu Tianqiu runs a ‘shelter’ here, helping newcomers adjust, offering them supplies… How can he compare to Qi Xia, who once stood before you and Tianlong?”
Qinglong smirked. “And yet, do you think Chu Tianqiu will remain stagnant? The gears of fate have begun turning senselessly. The paths laid by others will reveal themselves now. Our ‘Peach Blossom Spring’ will become a grave, burying us all.”
His words sent a chill down my spine. As always, he spoke in riddles.
After a pause, he continued, “Though… I’m not sure if this time will end like before, with countless strong individuals falling. The sky here has already been dyed red with blood—how many more upheavals can it endure?”
“So… what do you want me to do?” I ventured.
“Anything,” Qinglong shrugged. “Drive a wedge between them, make them fight—by any means. For me, it’ll be a grand spectacle.”
He then looked at me. “For example… use your ‘Echo’ to impersonate Chu Tianqiu and turn them against each other.”
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage