“Bang!!!”
Qiao Jiajin began ramming the door.
This was all too bizarre.
He could clearly hear Qixia and Li Xiangling’s voices, yet no one came to open the door for him.
“Liar! Kung Fu Girl!!” Qiao Jiajin shouted, sweat pouring down his face. “What the hell’s going on?! Open the damn door!!”
By now, the members of “Cat” had heard the commotion and were gathering from the first floor, slowly encircling Qiao Jiajin.
Song Qi pushed through the crowd and stepped forward. He recognized this tattooed man.
Earlier, despite only appearing briefly, he had snapped the arms of six people.
What was even more terrifying—he wasn’t a “Resonator.”
“Brother,” Song Qi called out. “Give us your name.”
Qiao Jiajin slowly turned his head, his gaze icy as he surveyed the group. “Give you my name?”
“Yeah. We’ve killed plenty, but I’d like to know yours.”
“Ah Jin from Portland Street.” Qiao Jiajin smirked. “Call me ‘Brother Qiao’ or ‘Big Boss.’”
“Interesting.” Song Qi glanced at the door behind Qiao Jiajin. “Anyone else inside?”
Instead of answering, Qiao Jiajin shot back, “Why don’t you go check somewhere else? If you insist on this door, half your boys will die.”
“Yeah, I believe you can do it.” Song Qi nodded. “But even if we all die, this mission has to be completed.”
“So no room for negotiation?” Qiao Jiajin cracked his neck. “Who’s going first?”
Several men in black adjusted their stance and stepped forward.
Qiao Jiajin knew what these men were capable of. Earlier, while observing from the shadows, he’d noticed that every intruder was a “Resonator”—and all of them, like Luo Shiyi, possessed combat-oriented resonances.
On top of that, every single one of them had undergone formal combat training, their moves precise and disciplined.
“This is such a pain…” Qiao Jiajin’s mind felt scrambled.
Why were people in this place so unreasonable?
Back in the streets, he’d never encountered anything like this—where a single disagreement could lead to outright slaughter.
He tried summoning the “miracle” he’d used earlier that day, but whether from exhaustion or mental chaos, he couldn’t grasp even a trace of it.
“Liar… I’ve only got one last fight in me…”
……
Qixia stood frozen in place, surrounded by scattered organs and severed fingers at his feet.
He felt like half his weight had vanished, his consciousness fading.
But he wasn’t dead.
His heart and brain were still intact, so death wouldn’t come just yet.
“Kill me…” Qixia murmured. “Just do it…”
“Huh…?” Xuanwu’s face twisted into exaggerated confusion. “Weren’t you trying to kill me? Now you’re asking me to kill you?”
“Stop tormenting me…” Qixia’s voice was hollow with despair. “I surrender…”
“No!!” Xuanwu shrieked, springing to her feet. “You can’t give up now!”
“Please…” Qixia’s mind was slipping. Every inch of his body screamed in agony.
The excised organs had ceased functioning, leaving wounds pulsing inside him.
He knew he wouldn’t survive—but he hadn’t expected death to be this hard to grasp.
“Brother Qi…” Li Xiangling stood helplessly nearby, utterly lost.
Xuanwu’s body was riddled with stab wounds, yet she remained lively, like a hedgehog stripped of its spines.
“Just kill me…” Qixia’s eyes were dead. “I’m so tired…”
He slowly lifted his head—and saw Yu Nian’an standing behind Xuanwu.
“An…” A faint smile touched his lips.
With his unnaturally light body, he staggered toward her.
“Xia!” Yu Nian’an looked at him with concern. “What’s wrong? You look exhausted. Was work tough this time?”
Qixia laughed—then burst into tears.
“Yeah… This time was especially hard…” His voice cracked. “I’m so tired… I thought I’d never see you again… An…”
Since arriving in “Terminus,” Qixia had remained cold and detached.
Like a machine, he meticulously avoided every misstep, carefully navigating the optimal path.
Every part of him was wound tight, terrified of making a mistake.
Yet now, this man—who had never faltered—was sobbing uncontrollably.
“An… Where are you…?”
“Xia, I’m at home.” Yu Nian’an’s voice was gentle. “I bought your favorite peanuts. Come home—I’m waiting for you.”
“Home…?”
“Xia, let’s go home.”
“Okay…” Qixia wept. “An… Take me home… Take me away…”
Xuanwu frowned, glancing behind her in confusion.
Then, suddenly, the room trembled.
Li Xiangling felt it too—something immense stirring.
Before either could react, a deafening bell toll shattered the air. The shockwave threw them both to the ground—only Qixia remained standing.
The room’s windows rattled violently, on the verge of shattering.
Outside, the fighting crowd staggered under the bell’s force, not a single person able to stay upright.
It took Li Xiangling a long moment to recover. Seeing Xuanwu still incapacitated, she rushed to check on Qixia—only to find him standing there, breathless.
……
Chu Tianqiu and Yun Yao stood before the screen, watching the rapid-fire “resonances” flashing like subtitles. Neither spoke.
After a long silence, Chu Tianqiu finally said, “Yun Yao, let’s make a bet.”
“You want to bet whether Qixia will ‘resonate’?”
“No.” Chu Tianqiu shook his head. “I want to bet on how many words Qixia’s ‘resonance’ will have.”
“Words…?”
“I bet three.” Chu Tianqiu said. “Qixia is absolutely one of Terminus’s rare talents… My past deductions can’t be wrong.”
The moment he finished speaking, the giant bell began to tremble.
A smile slowly spread across Chu Tianqiu’s face—then froze.
The bell’s movement was terrifying!
“No—no good…” He grabbed Yun Yao. “Quick! Get in the car!”
They sprinted inside and shut all the windows. Just as Chu Tianqiu shifted into reverse to back away, the bell’s toll exploded.
They clamped their hands over their ears, but the entire ground shook. The car’s windshield cracked under the violent vibrations.
Chu Tianqiu strained to look at the screen—where an enormous line of text now dominated, obscuring all other resonances.
Seconds later, a second toll resounded, and the words vanished.
As the echoes faded, the two finally recovered.
After a stunned pause, Chu Tianqiu asked, voice trembling, “What the hell was that just now?”
Yun Yao looked equally shaken.
“Yun Yao, I must be insane—why would the screen display that?!” Chu Tianqiu forced a grim smile. “Thank God you’re here. Tell me, what did you see?!”
Yun Yao swallowed hard. She, too, thought she’d lost her mind.
Chu Tianqiu had just bet on how many words Qixia’s “resonance” would have—but was that phrase even a resonance?
Thankfully, they’d both witnessed it. Otherwise, no one would believe that the screen—which for years had only displayed resonances—had just shown:
**”I saw the surge of ‘Endless Life’!”**
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