“Meh? Playing the hero?” Qiao Jiajin looked at Chen Junnan in confusion.

“Don’t the movies from your hometown always play out like this?” Chen Junnan wiped his nose and replied with a slight smile. “The girl knows she has a terminal illness and wants to break up with the boy. The boy knows he’s about to face danger, so he deliberately creates conflict with his brothers.”

“Ah, I know this one.” Qiao Jiajin nodded. “Very cliché oh, the eight o’clock dramas do this all the time.”

“Yes, yes, too fucking corny.” Chen Junnan chimed in from the side.

“Stop substituting concepts.” Qi Xia said in a deep voice. “You know I’m not that kind of person. When I said those words, my brain only had clear logic and meticulous judgment.”

After hearing this, Chen Junnan nodded: “Then this young master uses keen intuition and dislikes judgment.”

Qiao Jiajin also smiled: “Then what I might use is hard fists and no thinking.”

Qi Xia looked at the two before him with slight helplessness and said softly: “I’m being serious with you.”

“Is this young master not being serious?”

Qi Xia could only shake his head, not knowing how to persuade them.

“Old Qi, Old Qiao and I both have characteristics that you lack, so I think you still can’t do without us two.” Chen Junnan said. “You do everything relying on your strong rationality, but I only rely on intuition.”

“Does ‘intuition’ sound like some kind of reliable method?” Qi Xia asked with a frown.

“Right, unreliable.” Chen Junnan nodded. “But it is indeed a ‘method.’ This young master never looks at certainty when doing things, only at my intuition. Similarly, I judge people the same way.”

“How so?”

“Whether outside or here, this young master only relies on ‘intuition’ to make friends.” Chen Junnan continued explaining to Qi Xia. “Ninety-nine percent of people in this world, this young master doesn’t need to speak—just by locking eyes with them once, I can know if we’re the same kind of people. This method, though it seems simple and crude, is surprisingly effective for me.”

“And Old Qiao doesn’t even need intuition.” Chen Junnan continued. “He’s no different from a cleaver. Once he’s set his sights on someone, he’ll help them to the end, even if that person is scum. Do you think someone like this can be reasoned with and persuaded to quit?”

After hearing this, Qiao Jiajin patted Chen Junnan’s hand: “Junnan boy, saying it like that makes me seem a bit like an idiot.”

“Hey, what are you saying, Old Qiao!” Chen Junnan put his arm on Qiao Jiajin’s shoulder. “Don’t overthink it. What do you mean ‘seem like’?”

“Oh oh, that’s good then.” Qiao Jiajin nodded repeatedly.

Qi Xia raised his head and looked at the two again, feeling slightly helpless in his heart.

Perhaps, as Chen Junnan said, not everyone in this world does things relying on ‘rationality’—some people rely on ‘intuition’ and ‘faith.’

Chen Junnan threw the piece of waste wood in his hand into the bonfire, which happened to send sparks flying everywhere, making the swaying room suddenly brighten for an instant.

“At this point now.” Chen Junnan’s expression gradually became serious as he stared at Qi Xia and said, “Even if we two part ways with you here, would we have other paths to take? If either you or Chu Tianqiu prepares to wage war against ‘Heavenly-Dragon,’ the outcome will definitely be a complete reshuffle. It won’t matter where we go.”

“That’s somewhat one-sided.” Qi Xia replied. “If you’re only ‘accomplices,’ you might indeed be reshuffled, and at that time all people will lose their memories once again. But if you always stand by my side as my teammates, we few might be completely annihilated, and then there will be no hope at all.”

After hearing this, Chen Junnan swallowed and said: “Just how angry are you planning to make ‘Heavenly-Dragon’?”

“Not just ‘Heavenly-Dragon.'” Qi Xia said. “There’s also another…”

Speaking to this point, he reached up to touch his chin and swallowed those two words.

After all, “Qinglong” was the ears of the entire “Land of the End.” His name was not convenient to mention here.

Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin also seemed to think of something and just nodded.

“This young master just fucking felt something was strange.” Chen Junnan smiled. “From now on you should change your phrasing. It’s not that we’re useless, but that our ‘Echoes’ are useless, right?”

After hearing this, Qi Xia slowly frowned: “That’s the logic.”

“Meaning as long as we two don’t block bullets for you, it’s fine.” Chen Junnan suddenly grinned mischievously. “Then you just wait to die by yourself.”

Qi Xia also knew he completely couldn’t persuade these two people. He could only shake his head and stop talking, dragging a chair to sit by the window, looking at the gradually darkening sky outside.

After Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin exchanged glances, they also stood up, taking several tables and putting them together to form a bed that could barely be lain on.

“Old Qi, sleeping sitting up again tonight?”

Hearing this question, Qi Xia thoughtfully touched his chin.

Sleeping sitting up?

If what “Qinglong” said was true—that he had already made “Heavenly-Dragon” fall into a trap, that he had expended tremendous “faith” and even needed to delay his awakening time to recover—then theoretically tonight he could already sleep soundly without worry.

On the surface, this might be the only time in several years he could sleep soundly without worry.

If it were any other person revealing this information, Qi Xia would have some probability of believing it.

But the person saying this now happened to be “Qinglong,” so Qi Xia didn’t believe a single word.

“Yes, I’ll sleep sitting up. You two rest.” Qi Xia said.

After hearing this, the two also nodded and didn’t continue speaking.

The night gradually quieted down. The three people stayed in their own corners with their respective thoughts, only hearing the occasional crackling sounds of the swaying bonfire.

……

Zheng Yingxiong knocked on the classroom door with his hand. Several girls in the room all looked up at him.

“Little brother Yingxiong.” Tiantian smiled and walked to the door. “What’s wrong?”

“Sister, are you all going out together tomorrow to look for someone?” Zheng Yingxiong asked.

After hearing this, Tiantian looked back at Yun Yao, then nodded: “Yes, this place is so big, it’s not easy to find people. I’m planning to go with them—one more person means one more helping hand.”

“Can I go together?” Zheng Yingxiong asked.

“You want to come with us?” Yun Yao and Lawyer Zhang exchanged glances. They didn’t have a deep impression of this child and didn’t know his purpose.

“That’s right, I want to look around here.” Zheng Yingxiong nodded. He seemed to have something difficult to say, continuously pursing his lips.

Tiantian reached out to pat Zheng Yingxiong’s head: “I thought you would follow Qi Xia.”

“He’s only one of my targets.” Zheng Yingxiong looked up and said. “I want to find another person… but the city is so big, I have no idea where to look. I can only try my luck.”