“Xu Liunian… I’m deeply troubled right now.” Qinglong slowly raised his glowing eyes under the night sky.
“What’s troubling you…?”
“I’m considering whether or not to shatter the four giant bells here,” Qinglong said.
“You want to destroy the bells…?” I asked tentatively. “Why?”
“Xu Liunian… You died back then, so you don’t know the origin of the ‘Bells,’ do you?”
“No, I don’t,” I shook my head. “But you once said Qi Xia built them.”
“To be precise… Qi Xia led a group of ‘Participants’ in constructing them,” Qinglong explained. “He’s an extremely meticulous man. He actually thought of erecting four giant bells across the city to vastly increase the visibility of everyone’s ‘Echoes.'”
“So…?” I felt his words were somewhat contradictory. “If that’s the case, shouldn’t you be preserving these four bells? That way, the ‘Participants’ might one day stand before you again. Eventually, they’ll find a way to kill you and ‘Tianlong,’ completely freeing this place.”
“From a certain perspective, you’re not wrong,” Qinglong conceded with a nod. “Thanks to these four bells, this city remains the last one not entirely lost to madness. But precisely because of that, all the attention of the ‘Zodiacs’ is now focused on this ‘City of Dao.’ However…”
Qinglong gave me a meaningful look before shaking his head. “Never mind. I don’t want to shatter everyone’s hope.”
Though he didn’t elaborate, I could roughly guess—
If Tianlong and Qinglong were truly killed, would this place really be liberated?
If it’s truly ‘Endless Rebirth,’ how can we ever break free?
“I just want to destroy those four bells,” Qinglong spoke again. “Though it would put all ‘Participants’ in danger, it would preserve ‘Endless Rebirth.’ He is the key to our liberation.”
“But I still think that’s… too reckless,” I said. “Even if Qi Xia really is ‘Endless Rebirth,’ how well has he mastered this ability? He’s only retained his memories once. What level of ‘Echo’ can you realistically expect from him? He’s not mad enough yet.”
“I…”
Qinglong fell silent at my question. After all, he could hear every move Qi Xia made—he knew Qi Xia was still relatively sane.
“Qinglong, if you destroy all the ‘Bells,’ this ‘City of Dao’ will soon become like the neighboring ‘City of Jade.’ Everyone will wander the streets like headless flies. You’ll be the only one who can hear the ‘Divine Power’ of the masses. Whether Qi Xia can rise above or not, the rest will surely lose their way.”
After a moment’s thought, Qinglong spoke slowly, “To be honest, the ‘City of Jade’ is on the verge of collapse.”
“By ‘collapse,’ you mean…?”
“Less than one in ten remains sane. ‘Tianlong’ is preparing for a massacre. Ninety percent of the ‘Participants’ will vanish instantly, and the survivors will never escape the Interview Rooms. Four of the five cities will fall—this place will be the last hope for all ‘Participants.'”
“Wha—” My eyes widened. “The ‘City of Vortex’ fell within these two years as well?”
“Correct. Once ‘Tianlong’ shifts his focus from the ‘City of Jade’ to the ‘City of Dao,’ he’ll realize Qi Xia is the greatest threat. By then, no one will be able to protect him.”
Qinglong’s words made me slowly press a hand to my forehead. Time wasn’t endlessly looping—it was moving forward.
We thought we had all the time in the world. We thought time was always repeating… But now, ‘Tianlong’ is about to win.
If he succeeds in wiping out all the ‘Participants,’ he truly wins.
Regardless of whether he ascends as a ‘god,’ this ‘Peach Blossom Spring’ will belong to him alone.
“So there’s really no way out…?” I murmured. “If you shatter the four ‘Bells,’ it’s equivalent to forcing all ‘Participants’ into a life-or-death gamble with ‘Tianlong’ without their knowledge. What are our odds?”
Qinglong turned away, clasping his hands behind his back as he stood atop the ‘Paradise’s Edge,’ gazing into the distance.
“Xu Liunian… Perhaps there is one last way,” he said quietly.
“Go on.”
“Your words just now enlightened me…” he mused. “Since this is a war initiated by Qi Xia against ‘Tianlong,’ we can’t let everyone remain ignorant.”
“So?”
“So you can play your hand openly,” Qinglong chuckled. “Leave the four bells standing proudly where they are. The moment their toll resounds, it will be the war horn.”
I took a deep breath. Though I opposed destroying the ‘Bells,’ Qinglong’s idea was audacious.
“Awaken Qi Xia…” Qinglong slowly wore a twisted grin. “Let the bells roar! Let the four giant bells sway across the ‘Land of Finality!’ Let the clash of metal sing for me—sing for ‘Tianlong!'”
Before I could respond, he suddenly turned, eyes wild with excitement. “You’re right, Xu Liunian! The reason I’ve been so lonely these seventy years… is because I was the only one who heard the thunderous toll back then. That’s wrong… You should all hear it! Let every ‘Participant’ hear it! Let ‘Heaven, Earth, and Man’ hear it! Let the ‘Four Divine Beasts’ hear it! Only then will it be just!”
“Hold on…” I swallowed hard. “Qinglong, even if you truly want us to go all-in against ‘Tianlong’… how do we make Qi Xia obtain ‘Divine Power’? Will the war bells really toll so easily?”
“Let’s try!!” Qinglong roared, his eyes spiraling into madness. “First, we test whether the bells can receive such high-frequency sound! Humans can’t perceive it… I’m not sure if Qi Xia foresaw this when he built them.”
“Then… how do we make him ‘Echo’?”
“You’re here for that!” Qinglong declared. “Xu Liunian, aren’t you still part of my plan? Let’s make another deal. If you fail to make Qi Xia ‘Echo’ this time, in the next cycle, I won’t grant you the status of a ‘Participant.’ Your life and death will be left to fate. How’s that?”
“What…? You—”
I had unwittingly boarded a madman’s ship.
This wasn’t a deal—it was outright blackmail.
“You want me… to find a way to make Qi Xia ‘Echo’ on my own?”
“Exactly. You’ve succeeded once before.” Qinglong tapped his temple with a finger. “Use this—use his deepest ‘Obsession’ to trigger his ‘Echo.’ Wouldn’t that be fascinating?”
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