“Oh?” Chu Tianqiu feigned surprise and raised his eyebrows. “Someone excavated Qi Xia’s brain? Could it have been rats?”

“Rats…? Are there any other living creatures here besides us?”

“Then who do you think excavated Qi Xia’s brain?” Chu Tianqiu slowly approached Doctor Zhao. “Tell me, who exactly… cut open Qi Xia’s brain, then dug out a piece, fried it in a frying pan, and finally swallowed it down?”

Chu Tianqiu’s words made Doctor Zhao’s entire body turn cold.

“And you can see it too, can’t you?” Chu Tianqiu walked forward step by step, forcing Doctor Zhao to retreat again and again. “What he’s missing isn’t just a piece of brain. I tried everything that could be swallowed down—I even gouged out his eyes.”

“So what exactly are you doing…” Doctor Zhao asked with furrowed brows. “Your cellar is filled with food… You shouldn’t be so desperate as to resort to cannibalism, right?”

“That’s right.” Chu Tianqiu nodded, a profound smile appearing on his face. “In this place… some people eat people to keep themselves alive, to continue being human. But some people consume others precisely so they can stop being human.”

“Stop being human…” Doctor Zhao looked into Chu Tianqiu’s eyes and slowly drew in a breath. He had a growing feeling that joining ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ had been somewhat inconsiderate of him.

“Doctor Zhao, as I said, as long as you help me accomplish this task, I’ll make you a deputy leader.” Chu Tianqiu reached out and patted Doctor Zhao’s shoulder. “Now you and Zhang Shan are my right and left hands. This is a great honor—you must cherish it well.”

Upon hearing these words, Doctor Zhao’s face showed no expression whatsoever. He only nodded blankly, then turned and walked out the door.

“By the way…” Chu Tianqiu called out to stop him. “Doctor Zhao, don’t go back to your room later. Call Zhang Shan, and the three of us will go to the sports field for a meeting.”

“What?”

……

When the black threads approached the Earth-Snake’s game venue, Li Xiangling was the first to discover something wrong.

From the sky outside came a very unusual sound. It sounded both like a large flock of birds sweeping across the sky and like a pattering drizzle beginning to fall.

Lin Qin, who was resting nearby, frowned when she heard the three words “it’s raining,” and her expression clearly changed.

At any other time in the ‘Land of Finality,’ the sky was extremely quiet. But whenever something fell from the sky, it was invariably extremely deadly.

“Noon…?” Lin Qin calculated the current time and felt that something was very wrong. “Everyone get out immediately!!”

“What?” Zhang Chenze was taken aback.

It sounded like it was raining outside right now. Would a normal person choose to run directly out onto the street?

“Although I’m not entirely certain what exactly will happen…” Lin Qin said, “any calamity triggered at ‘noon’ definitely requires fleeing for one’s life! If everyone stays inside the building, they’ll die!”

Zhang Chenze looked down at Lin Qin’s fractured right leg, which had only just been fixed in place with a wooden board by Li Xiangling. If they needed to flee for their lives, then what was she supposed to do?

“Don’t worry about me.” Lin Qin knew what everyone was thinking and hastily shook her head. “No matter what disaster descends, there’s no way I can escape.”

“But we…”

“Don’t hesitate!! Go!!” Lin Qin shouted. “Every extra day you can live is another day. Don’t forget the plan you all established. If you’re fortunate enough to meet Qi Xia, you must tell him about Wen Qiaoyun!”

Yun Yao, Tiantian, Li Xiangling, and Zhang Chenze, who were standing nearby, exchanged solemn glances after hearing these words, then nodded.

Yun Yao knew that Lin Qin had retained memories even longer than her own. For her to show such a panicked expression meant that something truly terrible must have occurred.

Moreover, at this very moment, they had already completely united their front. Lin Qin had no need to deceive her. She could only grab a few personal belongings, pull Tiantian along, and run toward the main entrance.

Before they could even finish running, a subtle sound was heard.

Various windows throughout the building were suddenly pierced with multiple small holes at this very moment. Some strange black threads drifted in through the small holes and now hovered before everyone’s eyes.

Fortunately, those black threads weren’t moving very fast, drifting like catkins squirming in midair.

“Don’t touch them…” Lin Qin said to everyone. “While you still can, hurry out the door and flee for your lives.”

After hearing this, everyone circled around the strange black threads and walked one after another to the doorway, then turned back to look in Lin Qin’s direction.

Lin Qin sat in the innermost position of the building, as if she had already been surrounded by a mass of black threads.

“Everyone, ‘noon’ should be the time of the ‘Heavenly Horse.'” Lin Qin said with a calm expression. “This will be a two-hour desperate flight for survival. I’m guessing that besides speed… you’ll also need exceptional stamina.”

“We understand…” Yun Yao nodded, her expression growing somber as she said, “You take care too. We’ll see each other next time.”

After hearing this, Lin Qin relaxed and leaned back, trying her best to choose a comfortable position to welcome death.

“Goodbye.” Lin Qin said.

Yun Yao nodded. Before leaving, she said one more thing: “Lin Qin, you’ve truly changed my view of the ‘Extreme Path.'”

“It doesn’t matter what ‘change of view’ you have.” Lin Qin replied. “The ‘Extreme Path’ has always been this way.”

Yun Yao saw that at this moment, a black thread was slowly drifting toward Lin Qin’s face, gently pointing at the space between her eyebrows.

Lin Qin didn’t even try to dodge. She allowed that thread to pierce into the space between her eyebrows like a toothpick inserting into tofu, and then her eyes lost all signs of life.

Yun Yao’s pupils constricted slightly. Before she could even react, that black thread suddenly swung downward, splitting Lin Qin’s body neatly in half from the center of her brow. A large pool of fresh blood gushed out like floodwater, spreading into a puddle.

At this moment, Lin Qin’s corpse looked like a piece of rotting banana peel casually discarded on the ground. Aside from the skull remaining connected, the torso was split into two masses on the left and right sides.

This horrifying scene made everyone’s eyes instantly widen, and they all ran out the door.

Fortunately, those black threads weren’t moving very fast. An ordinary person jogging slowly would be enough to escape. It was just that after they went outside, they discovered these black threads were beginning to pursue them from different directions. After a brief exchange of glances, the four people immediately determined their tactics. At this point, they could only scatter and flee in different directions.

“If we survive… we’ll return to this place.” Yun Yao said.

After hearing this, everyone nodded.

“Tiantian, you need to be careful.” Yun Yao added.

Tiantian nodded expressionlessly after hearing this, but Yun Yao could still see what was in her heart.

“Try to survive just this once.” Yun Yao pressed her lips together. “There will definitely be someone waiting for you at the finish line.”

“Yes.” Zhang Chenze also nodded at everyone with tears in her eyes. “We’ve endured more hardships than others. We should rightfully have a better future.”

The four people confirmed their directions and began fleeing in four different directions while being pursued by the strange black silk threads.

As Yun Yao ran, she raised her head to look at the sun in the sky. Behind that sun, countless black threads were emanating outward, dancing toward various parts of the city.