Chapter 1147: Fingers

“Alright!” Qiu Shiliu nodded. “With Ninth Sister here, I feel at ease. But you just mentioned… where did I make a mistake?”

“It should be the ‘direction of movement’ that’s the issue, not ‘please bring the most important door closer to me’…” Bai Jiu pondered. “That phrasing is too vague. I suspect it might reveal the ‘final secret’ of the Endgame to you, but that’s not what we need right now.”

“Final secret…?”

“Yes. Only the ‘final secret’ is the most crucial thing for everyone. But right now, we’re trying to kill the Black Tortoise or find its weakness.”

“So, what you mean is…”

“I think…” Bai Jiu answered gravely, “it should be, ‘please bring the door most important to the Black Tortoise closer to me.'”

“I see…”

Qiu Shiliu’s lips twisted in Jiang Shi’s eye, but soon, she thought of a troubling question.

“Ninth Sister…”

“What?”

“I want to ask you something.” Qiu Shiliu’s ethereal voice drifted hesitantly.

“Why so polite? Just say it.” Bai Jiu frowned in confusion.

“You know… from your perspective, I appeared strangely in Jiang Shi’s eye. But from my perspective, you all suddenly appeared inside the Black Tortoise’s body…”

“That’s right.” Bai Jiu nodded.

Though the situation was abstract from both sides, it had indeed happened.

“I want to confirm… am I actually insane?” Qiu Shiliu’s voice trembled. “How do I know that what I see through this hole isn’t just an illusion conjured by the Black Tortoise to deceive me?”

Silence fell between Bai Jiu and Jiang Shi for a few seconds.

Yes, how could they prove that what they were seeing wasn’t an illusion under these circumstances?

“Your doubt is valid,” Bai Jiu said after a pause. “From your perspective, we might indeed be illusions.”

“Right now, even breathing feels like it’s being held up by sheer willpower,” Qiu Shiliu continued. “In this state, it’s easy for me to lose my mind. So I really hope you’re real… I need real teammates to strengthen my resolve…”

“I have a way,” Bai Jiu said.

“What…?”

“Theoretically, you can touch me.” Bai Jiu extended a finger. “If I’m not mistaken, your finger can reach out from little Jiang Shi’s eye.”

“Wait?!” Jiang Shi stiffened. “No—hold on, warrior lady, slow down!!”

Qiu Shiliu thought it made sense. Though the image might be slightly horrifying, it was the only way to confirm Bai Jiu and the others weren’t illusions.

With that in mind, she slowly reached out toward the floating hole. Her fingers vanished into the air, as if passing into another space—cold, almost like dipping into water.

Bai Jiu admitted the sight before her was indeed unsettling.

On Jiang Shi’s helpless face, one eye still held a teardrop, while the other now had a slender finger protruding from its socket.

The finger wriggled slightly, like a worm, twisting on Jiang Shi’s face.

Bai Jiu thought it was fortunate this was happening to a “Cat.” If it were any other “Participant” without memories, they’d probably have gone insane by now.

“N-Ninth Sister…”

“Little Jiang Shi, does it hurt…?” Bai Jiu asked worriedly.

“N-No, not really…” Jiang Shi replied. “But this is terrifying! My right eye can see a finger sticking out of my left eye!!”

“Shh, just close your eyes.”

Bai Jiu stepped forward, gently touching Qiu Shiliu’s finger before scooping up a pinch of sand. She liquefied it and let a drop fall onto Qiu Shiliu’s fingertip.

“Shiliu, not only did I touch you, but I also left a mark only I could leave,” Bai Jiu said. “Don’t worry, we’re not illusions.”

Whether Qiu Shiliu heard her or not, her finger twitched before slowly retracting.

Soon after, her eye reappeared, the fear in her gaze slightly diminished.

“Little Shiliu, go ahead. Maybe killing the Black Tortoise really does depend on you this time,” Bai Jiu said.

“Wait… Ninth Sister, there’s still something I don’t quite understand…”

“What?”

“If I switch to another door… how will I communicate with you?” Qiu Shiliu hesitated. “I’ll be in a different place—won’t I lose you?”

Bai Jiu thought for a moment. It was indeed a problem.

Next, Qiu Shiliu would be heading to “the door most important to the Black Tortoise.” Such a command would surely take her elsewhere.

What would happen then? Would she still need Bai Jiu’s guidance?

In such uncertainty, even if Qiu Shiliu found the Black Tortoise’s most crucial element, how would she proceed?

“This…”

“How about this…” Qiu Shiliu pondered. “Ninth Sister, like Sister Shan did, could you predict a few possible scenarios for me in advance? I’ll handle them myself when the time comes.”

“No…”

After a long silence, a strange idea popped into Bai Jiu’s mind—

“Shiliu, can you take this ‘door’ with you?” she asked.

“Eh…?” Qiu Shiliu was taken aback.

“I mean the light ring in front of you…” Bai Jiu elaborated. “Can you move it?”

Qiu Shiliu realized Bai Jiu had raised a question she’d never considered before—could these strange doors be moved?

“W-Wait a second.”

Qiu Shiliu shrank back slightly before extending her hand again.

From Bai Jiu’s perspective, Jiang Shi’s eye no longer displayed strange patterns—only darkness.

A moment later, something fleshy covered Jiang Shi’s eye before vanishing into blackness again.

“Wow! Ninth Sister, you’re a genius!” Qiu Shiliu’s intermittent voice came through. “This thing can actually be taken away…”

“I thought so too…” Bai Jiu nodded. “No doubt, someone here must have used these traversable doors to build something. So they must be movable.”

“Now it’s settled!” Qiu Shiliu’s voice grew clearer. “It’s like holding a phone for a video call with you.”

Jiang Shi blinked in confusion. “What’s a video call?”

“Don’t ask, kid.” Bai Jiu patted his shoulder before looking back into his eye.

Jiang Shi’s eye now reflected Qiu Shiliu’s face—just as she’d said, like a video call display.

By focusing, Bai Jiu could clearly see Qiu Shiliu’s figure.

“Ninth Sister, I’m off. Let’s work together—inside and out—to see what the Black Tortoise really is.”