“Ah…?” Chen Junnan was momentarily stunned but quickly snapped back to reality. “Old Qi, what are you talking about? You never used to say things like this before.”
“Before…?” Qi Xia turned his head coldly to look at Chen Junnan. “Then what was my reason for wanting to escape before?”
“You…” Chen Junnan thought carefully. “If I remember correctly… you wanted to lead those who followed you out. You said that if someone gave you their sincerity, you couldn’t let them be deceived.”
“Ha…” Qi Xia grinned, his eyelids drooping slightly. “But now I feel so empty… Everyone places their hopes on me, but where is *my* hope?”
“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?” Chen Junnan had a nagging feeling that Qi Xia had been influenced by Wei Yang. Ever since meeting that middle-aged man, he’d started acting strangely. “Old Qi, listen to me first… That conman barely speaks the truth. If you take his words to heart, you’ll fall right into his trap sooner or later.”
Chen Junnan did his best to comfort Qi Xia, but he never imagined that Qi Xia’s thoughts ran far deeper than his own. He had already considered countless possibilities, and Wei Yang’s tricks couldn’t possibly shake his resolve.
“At least one thing Wei Yang said wasn’t a lie…” Qi Xia turned back to the two of them. “Even though I have a master’s degree in psychology, I couldn’t possibly memorize the ‘Leidenfrost effect’—it’s not a subject I studied. That means it’s not knowledge I learned in the real world, but somewhere else…”
“Ah?” Chen Junnan was also taken aback. “You mean…”
“Have you ever had that feeling before?” Qi Xia clutched his head as another wave of pain shot through his brain, his expression twisting in agony. “Strange memories, strange dreams… they drift into your mind like they actually happened, but you have no idea where or when.”
Chen Junnan slowly furrowed his brow. He hadn’t experienced that sensation deeply himself—perhaps only those who had lost their memories multiple times could truly understand it.
“And besides those memories and dreams…” Qi Xia closed his eyes, waiting for the headache to pass. “There’s our minds and bodies… We’re stronger than we think we are. Have you ever felt that?”
“I have…” Qiao Jiajin spoke up. “No offense, Cheat, but I feel like in the real world… I wasn’t as strong as I am now.”
Qi Xia turned to look at Qiao Jiajin, knowing his guess was likely spot-on.
“My body seems stronger than what I remember…” Qiao Jiajin flexed his fist, then chuckled. “Except this time—this time, I switched bodies.”
Chen Junnan frowned as he listened to their exchange, feeling like he was starting to understand.
“So you’re saying… the ‘experience’ we gain… is *real* experience?” he ventured cautiously. “Some things can be carried over through each cycle?”
“Rather than ‘experience,’ I’d call it ‘subconscious,'” Qi Xia explained. “Everything we’ve talked about… is determined by our subconscious. As long as we etch something deeply enough into our minds, it might just persist in the days to come, becoming part of our very flesh and blood.”
The two of them widened their eyes. What Qi Xia was saying sounded fantastical, but upon closer thought, it didn’t seem to have any obvious flaws.
“I should’ve noticed this a long time ago…” Qi Xia felt the headache easing slightly, his expression softening. “So I used my expertise… to brainwash and hypnotize myself. I fabricated memories… like… like ‘con artist’ or whatever…”
When Chen Junnan heard Qi Xia finally say the words “con artist,” he shook his head helplessly. After a long pause, he managed to say, “Old Qi… don’t you think it’s time to admit it?”
“Admit what…?” Qi Xia asked coldly.
“Seven years ago… you never mentioned having a ‘wife.'” Chen Junnan’s expression darkened with sorrow. “If ‘con artist’ is something you made up… then what about *her*?”
“She… she’s…” The headache that had just subsided suddenly flared up again, nearly knocking Qi Xia to his knees. “She… she’s real…”
The moment Qi Xia uttered those four words—”she’s real”—an excruciating pain tore through his mind, and something deep inside him shattered violently.
*She’s real?*
*Where’s the proof?*
This was all so ridiculous.
If there was no one waiting for him outside, if the real world was just as lonely as this place… then why had he spent decades paving this “path”?
For the sake of complete strangers in the “Land of the End,” he’d risked his life hundreds, even thousands of times?
*What was the point?*
*Yu Nian’an…*
Qi Xia felt his mind and heart rip apart simultaneously. Then, his vision darkened, and he collapsed straight to the ground.
“Hey!!”
Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin had never expected Qi Xia’s headache to be severe enough to knock him unconscious. They rushed over to check on him.
They turned him onto his back and saw that Qi Xia was still frowning tightly, veins pulsing faintly on his forehead, his face drenched in cold sweat.
“Bloody hell… what’s going on?” Qiao Jiajin nervously touched Qi Xia’s forehead. “Cheat, are you sick?”
“What do we do?” Chen Junnan said anxiously. “Was it my fault? Should I not have said that woman doesn’t exist?”
“Junnan…” Qiao Jiajin asked, “Does Qi Xia really have a wife or not?”
“How should I know?” Chen Junnan felt a bit wronged. “He always said he was single before.”
Qiao Jiajin suddenly had an idea. “Cheat, you said he always claimed to be single before, but now, seven years later, he suddenly has a wife. Is it possible… he got married *here*, in the ‘Land of the End’?”
“Get outta here!” Chen Junnan was stunned by the suggestion. “Yeah, this place is red as hell, but that doesn’t make it festive! Try getting married here and see how that goes!”
Qiao Jiajin shrugged helplessly.
“He looks exhausted,” Chen Junnan said, patting Qi Xia’s cheek. “Old Qi, wake up—dinner’s ready!”
But Qi Xia remained motionless on the ground, eyes shut tight, as if he’d just finished an exhausting day’s work and had finally fallen asleep.
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