Chapter 396: Hidden Purpose

Qi Xia felt his thoughts were somewhat blocked.

The reason sounded absurd, but coming from Chen Junnan, it all seemed so natural.

“I…” Qi Xia helplessly rubbed his forehead, “I didn’t expect Tian Tian to be the third member of ‘Cat’… But is her ability really that strong? Strong enough to rank as ‘three’…?”

“What does that have to do with ability? We’re not the heroes of Mount Liang. I just thought ‘Zhang San’ rolled off the tongue,” Chen Junnan explained. “‘Zhang Si,’ ‘Zhang Wu,’ ‘Zhang Liu’—they all sound awkward, don’t they?”

Qi Xia sometimes felt he really overthought things.

“What happened after that…?” he sighed and asked.

“After that, it’s a bit hard to describe…” Chen Junnan turned to look at Qiao Jiajin. “Old Qiao and I had a huge fight. This guy even punched me.”

“Huh?” Qiao Jiajin froze, struggling for a long moment before squeezing out three words: “Who won?”

“You even dare to ask…” Chen Junnan punched Qiao Jiajin’s chest. “Damn it, in this godforsaken place, only that old bastard Zhang Shan could go toe-to-toe with you. Everyone else would get crushed.”

Still fuming, he turned and patted Qi Xia. “Old Qi, remember this—this guy loses his temper and even beats up his own people.”

This time, Qi Xia couldn’t stay silent. “I know what kind of person Qiao Jiajin is… If even he lost his temper, it must’ve been serious, right?”

“Well, it wasn’t *that* big of a deal…” Chen Junnan shrugged. “I just tore into you in front of him.”

“Tore into me?”

“Yeah. You ran off and left the two of us behind. Even if you’re not a complete bastard, you’re close. I told Old Qiao to give up on waiting for you.” Chen Junnan shrugged again, looking helpless. “But I didn’t expect this guy to have such a temper. He just up and split from me.”

Qi Xia knew Chen Junnan was just putting on a tough front. If he hadn’t secretly held onto the hope of Qi Xia’s return, he wouldn’t have created that bittersweet organization, “The Seven Calabash Brothers.”

Only six people, yet stubbornly named “Seven Brothers”—who was the seventh spot reserved for?

“‘Split from you’ means…?” Qi Xia pressed.

“This guy quit. He said it like this…” Chen Junnan cleared his throat, mimicking Qiao Jiajin’s heavily accented Mandarin. “If dis orginizashun isn’ for waitin’ for liar-bro to come back, den I ain’ stayin’ no more.”

Qiao Jiajin listened, his face twisting in disgust. “Do I really talk like that?”

“Pretty much,” Chen Junnan said.

Hearing this, Qi Xia felt another headache coming on.

Just what had happened back then?

If he had been leading a large group of “participants” with “Echoes,” why would he have chosen to take the risk and become a “Zodiac”?

“If this guy hadn’t gone off to get himself killed…” Chen Junnan gritted his teeth, “I’d probably still be ‘Chen Da Wa,’ sitting here as the boss.”

Qiao Jiajin gave an awkward laugh. “Th-That’s got nothin’ to do with me, right?”

“Old Qi, say what you will about this guy’s lack of brains, but he’s got a plan when he does things.” Chen Junnan slung an arm over Qiao Jiajin’s shoulder. “Seems like he went off to do something on his own. The Bell tolled more frequently back then, but I kept getting news of his death.”

“News of *my* death…?”

“Yeah.” Chen Junnan nodded. “Chu Tianqiu kept coming to me, complaining about how reckless you were, how you died again… What the hell were you even doing back then?”

“Chu Tianqiu…” Qi Xia frowned.

Hearing the question, Qiao Jiajin could only shake his head helplessly—his memory simply didn’t retain any of it.

“I thought he’d give up after a while…” Chen Junnan said, snapping back to reality, “but I didn’t expect him to keep throwing himself into Earth-level games even after losing his ‘Echo,’ until he wiped all his memories away.”

Qi Xia knew that even without firsthand experience, judging by Qiao Jiajin’s character, he would’ve done exactly that.

“Since Old Qiao lost his memories, he’d just keep charging in with that same reckless passion…” Chen Junnan glared at Qi Xia, a hint of resentment in his eyes. “Even though this bastard punched me, he and I have been through life and death. I couldn’t let him keep dying like that.”

Chen Junnan returned to the room.

Through his “relentless efforts,” everyone would simply have their heads smashed by the Sheep, lose their memories, and relive the same day in an endless loop.

“Han Yimo, that idiot, somehow lost his memories too…” Chen Junnan added. “I hadn’t interacted with him in ages. Every time I left the room, I’d just walk away. At some point, he lost his memories, and I didn’t even realize that I was the only one left in the room who still remembered.”

Qi Xia pieced together Han Yimo’s situation. His “Echo” condition was likely “fear.” If he lost his memories, it was probably because he’d found some kind of “safe haven,” making him forget his fear—only to die carelessly.

Truly, “prosperity destroys fools, and adversity makes men wise.”

“So you single-handedly…” Qi Xia said, “kept the entire room ‘stuck’ for seven years…”

“Yep.” Chen Junnan nodded, then lazily slumped into his chair. “I didn’t want everyone running out there, racking their brains, only to die horribly.”

After hearing this, Qi Xia frowned.

“That’s strange…” Qi Xia stroked his chin, his gaze icy as he studied Chen Junnan. “For those who lost their memories… every death was their first. What’s the point of ‘saving’ them? They wouldn’t suffer from repeated deaths, nor would they appreciate your efforts.”

“I…” Chen Junnan’s expression darkened.

“You had better options…” Qi Xia continued. “Seven whole years… In all that time, did you never think to bring Qiao Jiajin back into your group? Did you never consider rallying everyone for one last fight?”

Qiao Jiajin and Zheng Yingxiong both turned to Chen Junnan, but to their surprise, he remained silent, staring wordlessly into Qi Xia’s eyes.

A few seconds later, Qi Xia seemed to realize something and nodded. “Maybe I’m overthinking it. Go on.”

Hearing this, Chen Junnan relaxed slightly and continued. “You know the rest… Lin Qin came to our room, but I couldn’t control my ‘belief’ and ended up dying twice in her place. Still, every cloud has a silver lining—Xiao Ran’s gone now, and our room is in an ‘all-Echoers’ state.”

Qi Xia nodded solemnly.

“Though… now that I think about it…” Chen Junnan lowered his voice again, “Even though I’m sitting here chatting with you all, I’m not sure if ‘I’ am still ‘me.'”

Qi Xia studied Chen Junnan carefully. He’d interacted with him before, and honestly, their mannerisms were identical—down to the micro-expressions and subconscious gestures.

They shared the same memories, the same form. How could anyone deny that this Chen Junnan wasn’t Chen Junnan?

It was still the “Watch Paradox.”

When you have two watches showing different times, just smash one—then the other will always be right.