“Hmm.” Chu Tianqiu nodded, deciding not to press further.
“Instead of dwelling on that, you should think about your own notes,” Qi Xia said. “You have your battlefield, and I have mine. We are both teammates and opponents.”
“My notes…”
“We share one thing in common,” Qi Xia continued. “We’ve always been trying to figure out what ‘ourselves’ want to do. The more we understand, the closer we get to the end.”
“But… this is truly an unimaginably strange situation,” Chu Tianqiu murmured, lowering his head in thought. “If you refuse to tell me anything, I can’t even discern which of these two notes came first and which came later.”
“Exactly. Swapping the preconditions leads to entirely different conclusions,” Qi Xia grinned. “But I genuinely don’t know the answer—after all, you never consulted me when you wrote those notes. So… did you want me to ‘Echo,’ or did you want to prevent it?”
Naturally, Chu Tianqiu had no answer.
Qi Xia shook his head. “No need to rush, though. It’s only the sixth day. You still have three days to wait for your memories to return. Maybe… you’ll remember by then?”
“Six days…” Chu Tianqiu gave a bitter smile and glanced at the sky. “Qi Xia, what an unbearably long six days it’s been.”
“Yeah, unbearably long,” Qi Xia sneered. “But the past seventy years were even longer.”
“You know time is running out for us,” Chu Tianqiu said. “If we don’t achieve our goals in the next three days, we might have to start all over again.”
“Oh?” Qi Xia shrugged. “Maybe we can beg ‘Tianlong’ and ‘Qinglong’ to give us another chance.”
“How would they ever let us reincarnate with our current memories intact? Even if ‘Qinglong’ doesn’t intervene, ‘Tianlong’ would never stand by and allow it.” Chu Tianqiu’s voice carried a hint of sorrow. “Time is so tight. Why don’t we just share the memories we’ve recovered and piece together the full past?”
“You can tell me everything you remember, and I promise I’ll devise a better plan,” Qi Xia said with a faint smile. “But sorry, I won’t share mine with you.”
“Is that so?” Chu Tianqiu tapped the notes in his breast pocket. “You won’t even tell me why I wrote these two things?”
“I’ve said it before—this is your own doing. I have no idea why you did it. Which note do you plan to follow?”
“I’ll try both,” Chu Tianqiu said. “Since you’ve already ‘Echoed,’ I’ve fulfilled the first note’s directive.”
“Oh?” Qi Xia nodded. “Then how do you plan to stop me from ‘Echoing’?”
“Qi Xia… I’m a ‘Madman,'” Chu Tianqiu smiled. “The only sane ‘Madman’ in all of ‘Terminus.’ I can selectively consume the eyes I want and gain the abilities of their owners.”
“Sounds impressive—almost like an ‘Omnipotent God.'”
“Stop playing dumb, Qi Xia.” Chu Tianqiu adjusted the coat draped over his shoulders. “What will you do if I break your ‘Law’?”
“What, you think I’m the one behind everyone reviving?” Qi Xia scoffed. “How is that possible? I’m just an ordinary ‘Echo.’ No matter how strong my conviction is, could I really pull off something so bizarre?”
“So you’re saying… this has nothing to do with you?”
“Who knows?” Qi Xia grinned. “If it really is my doing, the moment you break ‘Endless Cycle,’ both of us will die. Would you allow that?”
“Ha, you’re lying again.” Chu Tianqiu laughed, amused by Qi Xia’s words. “If I really dismantle ‘Endless Cycle,’ would we actually die…?”
“Hahaha.” Qi Xia couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t know.”
“I forgot you’re a con artist now,” Chu Tianqiu muttered irritably. “Who taught you these tricks…? Not planning to speak a single word of truth?”
“Depends on the situation.” Qi Xia replied. “Chu Tianqiu, what if reality isn’t what you think?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know ‘Tianshe’ is still around. He helped the upper echelons refine the abilities from ‘Echoers’ eyes, letting them permanently retain our ‘Echo.'” Qi Xia turned to face him. “What if one of them obtained ‘Endless Cycle’ and caused all this?”
“What nonsense are you spinning now…?” Chu Tianqiu frowned slightly. “In all these decades, I’ve never heard of ‘Endless Cycle.’ Tell me… who could’ve obtained an ‘Echoer’s’ eye before the ‘Echo’ even manifested and refined this ability in advance?”
“What if?” Qi Xia said. “Chu Tianqiu, now that you’ve found your ‘path’ and are nearing the end, you should be thinking more critically than me.”
“But Qi Xia, what is your ‘end’?” Chu Tianqiu asked.
“Haven’t I told you?” Qi Xia replied. “I want to leave. I want to find my… wife.”
“You still won’t change your answer?” Chu Tianqiu pressed. “After your whole spiel about ‘fear,’ that explanation is full of holes—utterly ridiculous.”
“No change.” Qi Xia said firmly. “The world I return to must have Yu Nian’an in it.”
“So in the end… it’s still me ‘ascending to godhood’ while you ‘escape,’ right?” Chu Tianqiu asked again.
“Exactly.” Qi Xia stared at him expressionlessly. “But right now, I need my memories.”
“But Wen Qiaoyun is dead.”
“Ha.” Qi Xia smirked. “That’s not a problem for me. Especially now that I have ‘Echo.'”
Hearing this, Chu Tianqiu’s smile faded. His voice grew low and heavy. “Qi Xia, what are you planning? To make Wen Qiaoyun suffer again?”
“How is it suffering?” Qi Xia shook his head. “When she revives, she’ll find that someone else has accomplished what she longed for. Whether it’s ‘ascension’ or ‘escape,’ it fulfills her wish, doesn’t it?”
“Qi Xia… are you sure you haven’t fully regained your memories?” Chu Tianqiu asked.
“No, key fragments are still missing.” He turned to glance at the sky. “Maybe my ‘memories’ are floating up there too?”
“You remember Wen Qiaoyun’s goal… but nothing else? Are you messing with me?”
“Messing with you…? Impossible.” Qi Xia said. “You don’t need my help to trap yourself.”
“What?”
As they spoke, a few figures appeared at the distant school gates.
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