Chapter 557: Success or Failure

I reached out to knock on the door, but faint voices from inside reached my ears.

“An…?” It sounded like Qi Xia’s voice. “Yu Nian’an?”

“What ‘An’?” A girl’s voice responded from behind the door.

“An… Are you really here?”

The conversation left me utterly confused. Had Qi Xia actually seen Yu Nian’an inside?!

But I had just checked—there were only two people in the room!

Wait a second…

Then it hit me. If there were two people inside, who was the other one?

Li Xiangling…?

In a way, Li Xiangling’s “manifestation” had the same devastating effect on Qi Xia as my “shapeshifting.”

She could make Qi Xia see illusions of those he longed for, and now that the condition for her “Echo” had been met—”encountering battle”—she was actively “Echoing.”

“In that case…” I rubbed my forehead, deep in thought. Li Xiangling had unwittingly become an ally at this critical moment.

As long as her emotional turmoil was intense enough, she could keep manifesting illusions.

So then… how could I amplify her distress?

After a few seconds of contemplation, the answer became clear.

Yes. There was one perfect way to shatter Li Xiangling completely.

I could finally score a point in this “game.”

But earning this point wouldn’t be easy—Qi Xia had to die, and so did I.

At that moment, the door swung open, and Qi Xia peeked halfway out.

Seizing the opportunity, I grabbed him, shoved him back inside, and slammed the door shut.

From this moment on, no one was escaping.

“Qi Xia! Dang it! It’s too dangerous outside—be careful!” I turned and said.

Qi Xia was startled by my injuries. Honestly, even I hadn’t expected to appear so severely wounded.

Clearly, I still feared the “Cat’s” strength deep down.

With a few words, I calmed Qi Xia and convinced him that I was here to help him leave the room.

All the while, I kept glancing at Li Xiangling. There wasn’t a trace of suspicion in her eyes. If I could draw my knife first, I’d have the upper hand.

I wanted Qi Xia to fully grasp my capabilities—I could not only kill him but also force him to “Echo.”

Next time, he wouldn’t throw “thorns” at me. He’d offer a true “olive branch.”

But just three steps in, as I reached for my dagger, an unimaginable force struck my back.

A chair smashed into me, splintering into pieces on impact.

I had expected Qi Xia to doubt me, but not to strike so ruthlessly. Even if someone seemed 80% likely to be an imposter, a normal person wouldn’t immediately go for the kill.

Qi Xia pinned me down, hands around my throat—just like when he first saw me impersonating Chu Tianqiu.

“You have a death wish? Daring to impersonate Qiao Jiazhu—what did you do to him?”

Yes, he saw through me. My flaws were always glaring in his eyes.

If he could see through my impersonation of a stranger like Chu Tianqiu, Qiao Jiazhu was no challenge at all.

“Heh… hehe…” I forced a grin. After all, I still had my dagger in hand—this point was mine. “Doesn’t matter if you see through me, Qi Xia. I’ve found a way to prove myself…”

I pulled out the dagger. “My mind’s made up. Only by killing you here can I show you what I’m capable of.”

“Hey! I said enough—can’t you understand?!”

“I’m done pretending. I don’t want to be anyone’s pawn. I just want to be myself.”

After years of playing others, I’d never wanted to be myself this badly.

Let me disappear. Or let me return to my old life. Anything but this.

I flipped the blade, pointing it at my own heart. The mission had simplified.

Qi Xia, if you saw the “Black Tortoise” trying to kill you for no reason, would you just stand by?

Wouldn’t you resist?

But that’s exactly what the Black Tortoise wants—she’d relish your defiance before slowly torturing you to death.

And you wouldn’t ask Li Xiangling for help, would you?

You’d let her watch you die in silence.

At the moment of your death, her emotions would peak, manifesting the Yu Nian’an you’ve longed for.

This Yu Nian’an would be even deadlier than my impersonation—flawless, because she’d be exactly as you imagined.

Even fate was on my side.

“Near-death,” “Yu Nian’an”—both triggers I predicted were now in place.

All I had to do was plunge the dagger into my heart, and it would all be over.

Qi Xia never saw this coming. He couldn’t stop me in time.

Yes, today had thrown too much at you. How could you foresee everything?

Before you even figured out who the intruder was, I was already driving the blade into my own heart.

As searing pain shot through me, I saw confusion flash in Qi Xia’s eyes. Seizing the moment, I slipped a “Dao” into his pocket.

A wounded heart is agony. I felt my consciousness slipping away.

…

When I opened my eyes again, I was sitting beside Chu Tianqiu.

I’d been in this interview room countless times, yet no one ever realized I didn’t belong here.

Chu Tianqiu greeted me warmly, as if nothing had happened—but his eyes were crazier than before.

He seemed to have witnessed something fascinating and couldn’t wait to leave.

I glanced at Yun Yao beside me. Her gaze was equally complicated.

Ah, right. This was her first time seeing me in two years—though I’d seen her many times, always disguised as Chu Tianqiu.

“Yun Yao!” I called cheerfully. “Long time no see!”

She gave me a blank look and a perfunctory nod.

Now I understood. Chu Tianqiu had truly betrayed me.

And Yun Yao, cold-shouldering me, proved that in the “Land of Finality,” there was no real friendship.

We were all just chasing our own interests.

Like rereading a worn-out book, Chu Tianqiu led us effortlessly through the games of the Human Pig, Human Horse, and Human Ox before arriving at the alley.

After landing, he told us to head to “Paradise Port” first while he waited for Jin Yuanxun before rushing to where Qi Xia would appear.

It seemed Qi Xia had truly “Echoed.”