“Enough.” Qi Xia interrupted Officer Li’s speech. “Officer Li, why do you insist on saving everyone? For strangers you barely know, are you really willing to die over and over again?”
Officer Li smiled faintly, lit another cigarette, and shook his head.
“That’s not the right way to put it,” he replied. “I’m a criminal investigator—how could I only help people I know? Every victim in this world is a stranger to me, but I’ll still risk my life to protect them. That’s just how it is.”
“I still don’t agree,” Qi Xia said firmly. “Your ‘Echo’ ability is just my speculation. We have no idea if you can really conjure items at will. What if all you can summon are lighters and cigarettes?”
“Then we lose nothing,” Officer Li countered. “It’s worth a try. Who knows? Maybe your guess is right, and I really can effortlessly get everyone out of here.”
“But if you trade your life for 3,600 ‘Dao,’ and we escape, what happens to you?” Qi Xia frowned. “By that logic, the moment you gather 3,600 ‘Dao,’ you die—you wouldn’t even have the right to leave!”
“Isn’t that perfect?” Officer Li laughed heartily. “Qi Xia, the best ending for me would be dying here while saving everyone.”
“Don’t say such ominous things,” Qi Xia replied with concern. “Until we fully understand the situation, you can’t decide your fate like that.”
He knew Officer Li meant every word—dying here would be the best outcome for him.
“But Zhang Huanan…” Officer Li muttered under his breath. “With him around, I can’t go back.”
“Officer Li, you’re from 2010, right?” Qi Xia asked.
“Yes.”
“Then let me give you a way to contact me in the real world—reach out to the ‘me’ of that time,” Qi Xia said. “I’ll help you deal with Zhang Huanan.”
“Contact the ‘you’ of that time…?” Officer Li blinked. “Qi Xia, what year are you from? How old are you now?”
“I’m from 2022. I’m twenty-six.”
Officer Li lowered his head in thought before looking up again. “In 2010, you’d only be fourteen. Do you even know what kind of person Zhang Huanan is?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Qi Xia shook his head. “He’s no match for fourteen-year-old me.”
“You…” Officer Li found himself utterly unable to read the man before him. Could a fourteen-year-old boy really stand against a ruthless conman?
Then it struck him—Qi Xia was also a conman.
But his eyes were unlike any criminal Officer Li had ever met. There was no “malice” in them—only “despair.”
“Qi Xia, are you really a conman?” Officer Li asked quietly. “How many times have you deceived others? Who have you tricked?”
“That has nothing to do with escaping this place,” Qi Xia turned away. “All you need to know is that I won’t harm innocent people.”
“So… you lied in your first story too,” Officer Li pressed.
“That’s irrelevant. Just remember—I’ll help you, and in return, promise me you won’t throw your life away for others so easily.”
Officer Li carefully considered Qi Xia’s words and found no grounds to argue.
“I promise,” he nodded. “But if I ‘die by accident’ in one of the games, I’ll still test this ability no matter what.”
“Fine.”
Though Officer Li hadn’t given up, his new plan was at least better than the last.
“Qi Xia, what’s your ‘Echo’?” Officer Li suddenly asked.
Qi Xia scratched his head. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” Officer Li was taken aback. “That complicates things… Does that mean you might not retain your memories next time?”
“Exactly,” Qi Xia nodded. “But you’re different, Officer Li. Unless your head is blown off, you’ll always remember. In a way, our hope of escaping rests entirely on you.”
“But what can I do alone?” Officer Li frowned. “If all of you forget, how could I possibly succeed?”
Qi Xia knew the situation was indeed tricky. To truly escape this bizarre place, the more people who retained their memories, the better.
As the games continued, the cycle would start over and over, meaning the number of “Echoers” should naturally increase.
In other words—keeping memories intact couldn’t be hidden forever. So, what was the meaning behind the warning from the Sheep?
Who should they be wary of?
The “Zodiacs”? The “Extremists”? Or the other participants?
After a moment of serious contemplation, Qi Xia turned to Officer Li. “Officer Li, if I forget everything next time, just say one thing to me.”
“One thing?”
“Mm.” Qi Xia nodded. “Just tell me, ‘Yu Nian’an says: Knock, knock, knock.’ I’ll understand everything. It’s a secret only she and I know.”
Whenever Qi Xia zoned out while with Yu Nian’an, she would say, “Knock, knock, knock.”
Hearing those words, Qi Xia would snap back to reality and ask with a smile, “Who’s at the door?”
“Ah, so Qi Xia *is* home,” Yu Nian’an would tease. “You ignored me for so long I thought you weren’t here.”
They had played this silly game dozens of times—an intimate ritual that became Yu Nian’an’s distinctive mark in Qi Xia’s memories.
“That’s all it takes?” Officer Li asked. “Would you really trust me?”
“At a place like this, is there anything left *not* to trust?” Qi Xia sighed wearily. “I *have* to get out of here. But before that, I need to take back what belongs to me from the ‘Land of the End.'”
“What belongs to you…?” Officer Li blinked, clearly confused.
Qi Xia didn’t dwell on the question. Instead, he remembered something else.
He pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket—the “Zodiac Ascension Wager Contract” he had taken from the Sheep.
With outsiders around earlier, he hadn’t had the chance to read this bizarre document.
If there were any hidden secrets about this place, this contract would undoubtedly hold clues.
Officer Li leaned in as well.
Each holding one side of the paper, they read through the contract under the dim light of the surrounding school building.
By the end, Officer Li’s expression was a mix of disbelief—he felt like he was losing his mind.
Could a sane person have written something like this?
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage