Chapter 563: Monster

Qi Xia retracted his hand, covering his ears, feeling as though he had completely lost his mind.

“An… the one outside the door isn’t you… where are you really?”

But the voice in his ears gave him no answer, as if it couldn’t hear him at all. It only repeated the same phrase over and over.

“The one outside the door isn’t me… Xia, outside the door, it’s not me…”

“I know, I know…” Qi Xia pressed his hands harder against his ears, desperately trying to grasp the ghostly voice. His hands felt ice-cold, trembling uncontrollably. “An… where are you trapped? Where is the ‘door’?”

*Knock, knock, knock…*

The voice in his ears grew clearer. Qi Xia could sense that Yu Nian’an was trying to convey something to him, yet she couldn’t hear him.

“An, I’m here. Tell me where you are,” Qi Xia pleaded.

“Outside the door, it’s not me,” Yu Nian’an’s ethereal voice whispered, followed by another series of *knock, knock, knock*.

Under any other circumstances, anyone would have believed themselves utterly insane. Qi Xia felt as though his mind was on the verge of splitting apart.

Yet, vaguely, he felt he had grasped some elusive clue. There was a real “Yu Nian’an” somewhere in this world—not an echo, not the fake one in front of him played by Xu Liunian, but a real person.

Qi Xia recalled the first time Yu Nian’an had told him, *”The one outside the door isn’t me.”*

According to Xu Liunian, she had been impersonating Yu Nian’an at the time—likely the first time he had entered her taxi.

Had he not actually died then? Had he merely been on the brink of death, trapped in a dream?

In that dream, he and Yu Nian’an had returned to the real world, living their lives as before.

But Xu Liunian had been pretending to be Yu Nian’an, causing the “real” Yu Nian’an in his dream to reject the illusion, repeatedly warning him, *”The one outside the door isn’t me.”* She had said it again and again, but he hadn’t understood back then.

That Yu Nian’an had been desperate—so desperate that she had wept under the midnight moonlight.

“You’re trapped… aren’t you?” Qi Xia lowered his hands from his ears and looked up. “You need me to save you, don’t you?”

“Xia, as long as you remember, we will meet again.”

Hearing those words, Qi Xia slowly narrowed his eyes. His mind felt like a tunnel strewn with rubble, yet now, a sliver of light pierced through the cracks.

The air seemed to freeze in that moment.

Xu Liunian sensed something was wrong. The air, after freezing, began to tremble violently. She immediately rolled up the car windows.

*BANG!!!*

The moment the windows closed, a deafening explosion erupted.

Xu Liunian had never heard such a colossal sound before. It felt as though her soul had been shaken loose. The car itself trembled along with the ground.

Numerous “participants” sprinting through the streets were knocked down by the shockwave. Exhausted from running, few could stand back up. In an instant, black tendrils caught up to them, cleanly slicing them in half.

“Endless Rebirth” descended amidst the deathly aura of the fallen participants.

Qi Xia looked down at his body—outwardly unchanged, yet his mind felt different.

Xu Liunian knew her first lie had succeeded. Now was the time for the second.

Every step now was a gamble. If she chose to quit while ahead, her losses would be minimal. But if she doubled down, high rewards came with equally high risks.

Yet Xu Liunian was all in. She had no retreat.

“I’m sorry, Qi Xia. I lied to you,” she said.

“Lied…?” Qi Xia’s eyes had regained their icy calm. He sat motionless in the passenger seat, his presence as chilling as a deity descending from the heavens.

“Yu Nian’an exists,” Xu Liunian admitted with a bitter smile. “The reason I lied was to trigger your ‘Echo.’ Every time Yu Nian’an was mentioned, your emotions fluctuated the most.”

“Oh?” Qi Xia nodded, his sharp eyes locking onto Xu Liunian. If his usual gaze was unfathomable, now it was like staring into the vast cosmos—utterly inscrutable.

“So… where is the real Yu Nian’an?”

“In ‘Jade City,'” Xu Liunian answered swiftly, suppressing her fear. “Yu Nian’an was never from this city. That’s why you could never find her.”

“Jade City…?” Qi Xia frowned slightly.

“Exactly. Everyone there must collect ‘jade’ to escape this place.” Xu Liunian blinked, shedding Yu Nian’an’s appearance and reverting to her true form. “If you survive your next return, remember to visit Jade City. The real Yu Nian’an is there.”

“Is that so…” Qi Xia nodded ambiguously. “A city where people collect jade, huh…”

“So, Qi Xia, I’m truly happy,” Xu Liunian continued. “Having someone as powerful as you awaken your ‘Echo’ brings us all one step closer to escape. Whether it’s you or Wen Qiaoyun from Jade City…”

Qi Xia found this slightly odd. “Where exactly is Jade City?”

“It’s where we first met. Follow the highway for about ten kilometers, and you’ll reach another city.” Xu Liunian steadied herself, speaking calmly. “Everyone there is as strong as you. They’re on the verge of breaking all the rules of this place.”

“Everyone is strong…?” Qi Xia gazed at her with pity. “Is that how it is?”

“Yes,” Xu Liunian nodded. “And Wen Qiaoyun is the strongest leader in Jade City. Her power surpasses imagination.”

Qi Xia stroked his chin, then smirked.

“‘Information gap’ strategy, right?” he murmured.

“What…?”

“Xu Liunian, the only weapon you have to manipulate both me and Chu Tianqiu is the ‘information gap,'” Qi Xia said. “But that’s a double-edged sword. You think you hold enough information to control this place, yet you don’t realize everyone gathers information. I already know about your ‘Jade City’—it’s a place of utter madness.”

“You—”

“And in just two days this cycle, I’ve heard many people mention ‘Wen Qiaoyun.’ I have a bold hypothesis…” Qi Xia rolled down the window, letting the foul breeze flood the car.

“Are you systematically using me to create a woman named ‘Wen Qiaoyun’?”

With surgical precision, Qi Xia tore away all of Xu Liunian’s disguises—visible and invisible.

“What kind of monster are you?” Xu Liunian whispered, dazed. “You’re saying you *guessed* all this?! Just by *guessing*, you figured it out?!”