Chapter 756: The Shattered Room

“Yan Zhichun…” Yun Yao murmured the name. “Isn’t that the strange woman we met during the Earth Snake game with Chen Junnan?”

“Earth Snake game…?” Chen Junnan, standing nearby, froze. “Did we?”

“You…” Yun Yao gave him a complicated look, wanting to explain but feeling it would be pointless. She sighed. “Maybe it wasn’t you. It was definitely ‘Chen Junnan,’ though.”

“Yan Zhichun…” Chen Junnan scratched his head, feeling like he’d never heard the name before.

Not only was it absent from his own memories, but it wasn’t in the memories of the past seven-plus years either.

Yun Yao then turned to Qi Xia. “You said Wen Qiaoyun and Yan Zhichun are together…?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure…?” Yun Yao asked skeptically.

The group had only heard from Zhang Chenze that Qi Xia’s ability, “Endless Cycle,” allowed him to create a person, but they didn’t understand how he actually did it.

Could the created person appear anywhere?

But judging by Qi Xia’s reaction, he himself didn’t even know where Yan Zhichun was—so how could he have placed someone next to her?

As a fellow “Echoer,” Yun Yao couldn’t comprehend the mechanics of Qi Xia’s ability at all. She could only reluctantly accept that he’d somehow managed it.

“I’m sure. She’s there,” Qi Xia said with a nod. “You might as well go and see for yourselves.”

Yun Yao and Zhang Chenze glanced at the darkening sky, feeling that aimlessly searching outside at this hour wasn’t a good idea. They decided to note it down and wait until morning.

“We’ll go find her first thing tomorrow,” Yun Yao said before turning to Chu Tianqiu. “Sorry to ask, but… could we stay here for the night?”

Chu Tianqiu merely shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. ‘Paradise’ is gone. I’m not a leader anymore—this is just an abandoned school now.”

Yun Yao nodded. “Thanks.”

She turned and walked toward the school building, taking Zhang Chenze and Li Xiangling with her. After standing dazed for a moment, Tian Tian slowly followed.

“Oh, Yun Yao,” Qi Xia called after her.

“Hmm?”

“Lin Qin is with them too. Bring her back as well.”

Hearing Qi Xia issue such an unequivocal command without hesitation, Yun Yao felt the situation grow even stranger.

They had all seen Lin Qin get sliced in half by those black threads, dying right before their eyes.

Yet now Qi Xia was confidently stating that “Lin Qin is there too”—didn’t he fear the possibility of two Lin Qins appearing at once?

The mention of “two Lin Qins” reminded Yun Yao of the “two Chen Junnans” they’d encountered yesterday. Had that Chen Junnan been created by Qi Xia as well?

But no matter how she looked at it, Qi Xia couldn’t have known that “Chen Junnan was already dead” back then. The only person capable of such bizarre things was Chu Tianqiu.

Yun Yao was slowly realizing that the things these two were doing were beginning to exceed the limits of her imagination.

“So… Lin Qin is with Wen Qiaoyun?” she confirmed again.

“Yes,” Qi Xia nodded. “I agreed to let Wen Qiaoyun join, but Lin Qin and Yan Zhichun must come too. If you can’t convince the other two, I can’t guarantee Wen Qiaoyun’s inclusion.”

“But you know perfectly well…” Yun Yao lowered her voice. “I don’t care whether Wen Qiaoyun joins. I just care if she’s ‘here’ or not.”

“If Wen Qiaoyun is ‘here,’ she’ll join—after all, Chu Tianqiu is here,” Qi Xia replied. “But since I helped you without hesitation, you can’t let me walk away empty-handed.”

Yun Yao thought for a long moment before nodding slightly and following the others into the school building.

The sun had begun to set, and the group decided to spend the night at “Paradise.”

Qi Xia, Qiao Jiajin, and Chen Junnan settled into a classroom, lighting a fire in silence as they watched the eerie sun sink below the horizon.

Zheng Yingxiong had wandered off again, his whereabouts unknown.

“Day six,” Chen Junnan broke the silence. “After seven, eight, and nine, we’ll be saying goodbye again.”

Qi Xia tossed a piece of wood into the fire. “There’s no ‘goodbye.’ I told you—you two are no longer useful to me. From here on out, I don’t need your help, nor do I need you interfering.”

Chen Junnan looked up, irritated. “Hey, Qi, has anyone ever told you you’re kind of a jerk?”

“No,” Qi Xia replied flatly. “I rarely talk to strangers.”

“Always going on about how we’re ‘useless’… who even taught you that?” Chen Junnan grumbled under his breath.

“You *are* useless,” Qi Xia shot back. “I came here to see Chu Tianqiu. What exactly did you two contribute?”

The retort stung, and Chen Junnan shot to his feet. “You little—! Don’t you *dare* pull this crap with us! We’ve been risking our necks for you, and now you’re giving us this?!”

Qiao Jiajin frowned, feeling out of his depth in handling the tension. He stood up quickly. “Hey… Junnan, calm down—”

“Calm down my ass!” Chen Junnan jabbed a finger at Qi Xia. “If he said it once, I’d chalk it up to him being half-asleep. But now he’s wide awake and saying it again—does he really think we’re dead weight?!”

Qi Xia met his glare coolly. “Then tell me, Chen Junnan—what exactly have you done to help me?”

“Every damn time I went into a game, I was thinking about taking those bastards down *for you*! And now you’re telling me none of it mattered?!”

“I don’t need people gambling their lives for me in games,” Qi Xia said coldly. “You’re offering me something I never asked for.”

“You son of a—!”

Chen Junnan looked ready to throw a punch, forcing Qiao Jiajin to step in again.

“Fine. Fine!” Chen Junnan spat. “Qi, since we’re airing things out, let’s lay all the cards on the table.”

“Oh?” Qi Xia raised an eyebrow. “What else is there to ‘lay out’? I probably know you both better than you think.”

Chen Junnan scoffed. “Well, turns out I’ve had a chance to learn a thing or two about you these past couple days… Me and Qiao here—we’re not even supposed to be in this room, are we?”

Qiao Jiajin tugged at his sleeve nervously. “Junnan… is this really the place to talk about this?”

“Who gives a damn anymore?!” Chen Junnan snapped. “It’s not like I *chose* to be here! This has to be Qi’s doing! And now he’s ready to toss us aside like trash—why should I care about *his* safety?!”

Qi Xia picked up a stick and stirred the fire before nodding. “You’re right. Not just you two—everyone in this room was reassembled by me.”