“What can I do?!”
Xu Liunian’s emotions spiraled out of control. She recalled that in the decades she had spent in the “Land of the End,” she had never once cried—but this time was different.
She was preparing to bid farewell to this world.
But she knew she wasn’t returning in triumph. Instead, she had been utterly defeated by the “Land of the End,” forced to flee in disgrace with her tail between her legs.
“Tell me what you know,” Qi Xia said softly. “Hand over your ‘weapon’ to me. Let it become mine.”
Xu Liunian stared at Qi Xia with tear-reddened eyes. She understood better than anyone that her only weapon was “information.”
Qi Xia had already come this far relying solely on conjecture. If he knew more, could he forge an entirely new path?
“Qi Xia… do you really think we still have hope?” Xu Liunian’s voice trembled as she asked. “Can we break free from this bizarre cycle and stand beneath the sunlight?”
Qi Xia didn’t answer directly. Instead, he countered, “Xu Liunian, after walking the ‘Land of the End’ for so many years, if you had to name one truth you’ve learned, what would it be?”
“I…” Xu Liunian raised a hand to wipe away her tears, pausing in thought before answering. “Maybe… ‘No one here deserves to live.'”
Qi Xia nodded slowly. “That is indeed one of the laws of the ‘Land of the End,’ but it’s not the ultimate truth I’ve come to realize.”
Xu Liunian frowned slightly, hesitating as she looked at him. “Then… what do you believe we should have learned?”
“‘As long as you remember, you will meet again,'” Qi Xia said.
“What…?” Xu Liunian had never heard this before—yet it was the ultimate truth Qi Xia had discerned about the “Land of the End”?
“This place is built upon ‘belief.’ Every person’s ‘echo’ is a manifestation of their own conviction,” Qi Xia explained solemnly. “Under such rules, we must never admit that we are already dead.”
“You mean… ‘I think, therefore I am’?”
“The literal meaning is correct,” Qi Xia affirmed. “You asked me if we still have hope. My answer is this: As long as your belief is strong, we can live eternally here. But the moment you believe you’re dead, you truly die. So what we lose is never our bodies—only our faith.”
Qi Xia’s words elevated Xu Liunian’s mind to a level she had never before reached.
“Qi Xia… when did you come to understand this?”
“Just now.” Qi Xia sighed, his gaze steady on her. “Most only see the suffering of endless cycles here, but they fail to recognize the hope this place grants us.”
“So you think… our ‘belief’ is our hope?”
“Isn’t it?” Qi Xia countered. “Even you are the same, aren’t you? You think, so you can become someone else. Once we leave the ‘Land of the End’ and return to the real world, who could ever wield power through ‘belief’ alone?”
Xu Liunian lowered her head in silence, as if finally grasping the meaning behind his words.
“So don’t give up,” Qi Xia urged. “Our journey is long. We can be defeated by this place, but we must never flee.”
Hearing the faint encouragement in his voice, Xu Liunian nodded solemnly.
“Then give me your strength,” Qi Xia said. “I’ll fight to the very end with it—until we’re both battered, broken, and scattered to the winds. Can you accept that fate?”
Tears still in her eyes, Xu Liunian forced a faint smile.
“I always intended to vanish into nothingness within this cycle…” Her smile was brittle, her gaze lifeless. “I have no retreat, no path forward…”
“But I refuse to believe you came from hell,” Qi Xia said firmly.
“What… You—”
Xu Liunian knew these words had shattered her last hope.
Now, even “true death” was nothing but a delusion.
“I absolutely refuse to believe you’re from hell,” Qi Xia repeated. “To me, you’ve always been just another ‘participant.'”
“Qi Xia… in the end, you’ve thrown me a thorn-covered vine,” Xu Liunian murmured, her face hidden.
“I am already wrapped in thorns,” Qi Xia replied. “So now—will you give it to me? Your ‘weapon.'”
The air between them grew still.
After a long silence, Xu Liunian finally nodded and spoke slowly. “Qi Xia… what I’m about to say may enrage the ‘upper echelon.’ Before I begin, you must understand the consequences.”
“Are they not furious enough already?” Qi Xia smirked. “Begin.”
Xu Liunian restarted the car, shifting gears with a sharp motion. “Very well. I’ll join this doomed journey.”
She slammed the accelerator, shifting up to fourth gear within mere meters as the car roared down the dilapidated road—
As if fleeing something unseen.
“Qi Xia, I was never human. I come from the ‘Soul Management Bureau,’ tasked with escorting the dead!”
The moment the words left her lips, a figure materialized dozens of meters ahead.
A man with waist-length hair, a faint smile, and a green mark between his brows stared knowingly at Xu Liunian.
The sight of him made Qi Xia’s eyes widen in shock. Though he had no memory, something about that gaze sent chills down his spine.
“Xu Liunian!” Qi Xia barked.
She didn’t stop. Swerving violently, she veered into a narrow side road, tires screeching against the pavement.
Gritting her teeth, she continued:
“Seventy years ago, I escorted fifty thousand souls here. This place is called ‘Peach Blossom Spring’—a realm beyond mortal reach, created by the ‘gods’ for one purpose: ‘to forge Nuwa!'”
The car raced on, kicking up gravel in its wake. Yet the green-marked man—Qinglong—reappeared at the road’s end.
“But ‘Tianlong’ betrayed the gods!!” Xu Liunian slammed the brakes before swerving right again, her entire body trembling as if fighting against the world itself.
Qi Xia’s mind raced alongside the speeding car. Every word from Xu Liunian defied his imagination. He could never have fathomed that gods truly existed.
“Tianlong never intended to create ‘Nuwa’—because in his mind, he alone was worthy of becoming her!!”
The car plowed through obstacles, its front crumpling, but Xu Liunian couldn’t stop—not even for a second.
The moment Qinglong manifested ahead, she swerved again.
“As long as Tianlong killed everyone here, his treachery would remain hidden! But your arrival ruined his plans. You made us immortal!! Even Tianlong is now trapped here!!”
No sooner had she spoken than Qinglong materialized once more—this time directly in front of the taxi.
Without hesitation, Xu Liunian braked hard, shifted gears, and yanked the wheel, reversing at breakneck speed.
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