“Old… Old Qi?” Chen Junnan looked at Qi Xia and tentatively called out.
Qi Xia remained completely still, only shifting his pupils toward Chen Junnan before slowly tilting his head, as if scrutinizing him carefully.
“Hey, man…” Chen Junnan swallowed hard. “What’s wrong with you? Did you… sleep crooked or something?”
“No,” Qi Xia replied. “I’m fine now.”
As he spoke, the corners of his lips visibly lifted into a smile—one that didn’t belong to him.
Tian Tian and Qiao Jiajin exchanged glances, momentarily at a loss for words. Qi Xia didn’t seem unwell, but his demeanor was undeniably strange.
“You… as long as you’re okay now…” Chen Junnan forced a smile. “You really had us worried just now…”
“Yeah, liar…” Qiao Jiajin nodded. “Your eyes look kinda off… Are you really alright?”
“Ha…”
Qi Xia let out another soft chuckle. Seeing that smile, everyone finally understood the unsettling feeling.
Qi Xia didn’t seem sick—he seemed insane.
“I’m fine…?” Qi Xia stood up with a grin. “How I wish I were fine…”
With that, he began walking step by step toward them. Zheng Yingxiong, for some inexplicable reason, found himself backing away in sync with Qi Xia’s approach.
“How I wish I could live a peaceful life…” Qi Xia continued. “But who ever gave me the chance?”
“Liar, what are you talking about…” Qiao Jiajin blinked in confusion.
“I’ve been wounded, I’ve died, I’ve fled, I’ve begged the gods for mercy. I’ve struggled through mud soaked in blood and cycled through the depths of hell… Countless times, I’ve tried to end it all, but no one—no one—ever gave me even the slightest hope…”
Qi Xia slowly raised his hand, pinching his thumb and forefinger together. “Even this much hope… even just this much…”
“What do you mean, ‘no one gave you hope’…” Qiao Jiajin let out a bitter laugh. “Liar, aren’t we still here with you?”
“Yeah, Old Qi, you’re making us sound useless…”
“You’re useless now,” Qi Xia said. “Qiao Jiajin, Chen Junnan—you’re both useless. Go wherever you want.”
“……?”
Qiao Jiajin and Chen Junnan slowly widened their eyes, as if unsure whether they’d heard correctly.
“Liar, wh-what do you mean?”
Chen Junnan’s pupils flickered. “Old Qi… what the hell are you saying?”
“Are you deaf?” Qi Xia glared at Chen Junnan with his grayish-white eyes, enunciating each word. “I. Said. You. Are—”
Before he could finish, Chen Junnan lunged forward and punched Qi Xia square in the face. The force sent Qi Xia collapsing back onto the sofa, his head lolling to the side—yet his lips remained curled in that eerie smile.
“Old Qi, say that shit again!” Chen Junnan snarled, jabbing a finger at him.
Seeing things escalate, Qiao Jiajin quickly stepped in to restrain Chen Junnan. “Hey, Junan… calm down. Liar’s not in a good state right now…”
“Not in a good state doesn’t mean he gets to spout bullshit!” Chen Junnan’s voice trembled with rare fury, his usual smirk nowhere to be seen. “Old Qi, didn’t I fucking tell you?! I told you, didn’t I?! My worthless life is yours to use—I don’t care if I die a hundred times—but you fucking promised me you’d get Old Qiao out of here!”
Tian Tian, growing nervous, cautiously tugged at Chen Junnan’s sleeve. “Chen Junnan… take a deep breath first…”
“Deep breath my ass!” Chen Junnan roared. “Last time, I trusted him with everything—followed his damn orders and trapped you all in that room for seven years! Do you have any idea how I kept myself from going insane?! Do you know what kind of hell I went through?! And now he’s back, and I thought—I really thought—hope was back too! But he’s telling me it was all a lie?! None of it was real?!”
“Junan…” Qiao Jiajin’s heartbeat pounded in his chest, as if something inside him was fracturing. “We’re brothers. Whatever’s going on, let’s not resort to fists…”
“Yeah…” Tian Tian chimed in. “Everyone just… calm down…”
“Hahahaha!” Qi Xia clutched his forehead and burst into mad laughter. “So naive… Chen Junnan… How dare you trust me?”
“What the hell are you saying?”
“How could any of you dare to trust me?” Qi Xia rose to his feet, locking eyes with Chen Junnan. “I said we’d escape. I said I’d take Qiao Jiajin with me. But I’m a liar. You can only believe half of what I say.”
“Half…” Chen Junnan was shaking with rage. “So I should’ve believed the first half, huh?! You planned to escape alone—and the second half was a lie?!”
“No. ‘Escape’ was the lie.” Qi Xia shook his head. “Stop deluding yourselves. No one can escape this place. Give up.”
“What…?” Chen Junnan grabbed Qi Xia by the collar. “How the hell would you know if escape is possible or not?”
Qiao Jiajin hurriedly pulled him back. “Hey, Junan—”
“Because I’ve tried every path. They’re all dead ends.” Qi Xia shoved Chen Junnan’s hand away. “So stop wasting your effort. I’ll lead everyone to live well here.”
Chen Junnan felt a chill crawl down his spine at those words. “What do you mean… ‘lead us to live well here’…?”
Qiao Jiajin’s throat tightened. After a long pause, he managed, “Liar… are you still half-asleep…?”
“I’ve deciphered the answer to this world.” Qi Xia murmured, as if speaking to himself. “I wasn’t smart enough—it took me seventy years to figure it out… I thought my plan was flawless, but it seems I missed one thing.”
“Missed one thing…?”
Qi Xia slowly touched his forehead. “My memories are so fragmented… Has Wen Qiaoyun already died?”
At that name, confusion rippled across everyone’s faces.
“No matter… At least there are other ‘needles’… There’s still Yan Zhichun.” Qi Xia smirked. “I’ve planted a needle in every vital point of the ‘Land of Finality.’ Shouldn’t ‘Tianlong’ wake up soon?”
His words left everyone present utterly bewildered.
As the group stood frozen in shock, Zheng Yingxiong stepped forward. He removed his newspaper crown, held it before him, and knelt on one knee—bowing his head to Qi Xia.
He could smell it clearly—the fleeting scent of a “god.”
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