“Here you go again…” Yan Zhichun said. “Are you going to deduce the ’cause’ from the ‘effect’ again?”

“That’s right. Aren’t you curious?” Jiang Ruoxue said. “A legend that once disappeared is now standing alive right in front of you, as if everything is starting over again. I really want to know what its ’cause’ is.”

“But she’s our number one enemy,” Yan Zhichun said. “You also know what the three words ‘Wen Qiaoyun’ represent to the ‘Extreme Path.'”

“Yes, she represents getting infinitely close to destroying this place,” Jiang Ruoxue said. “It’s just that we weren’t active in the same era as her.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Now is our era,” Jiang Ruoxue said. “Rather than thinking about how to make this Wen Qiaoyun unable to function, we should think about how to grant her a new identity.”

Yan Zhichun was slightly stunned after hearing this. “You mean make her an ‘Extreme Path’ member?”

“Yes.” Jiang Ruoxue nodded. “I rarely actively manipulate ’causes,’ but Wen Qiaoyun is truly different. I need this ‘effect’ to be under our control.”

“Are you sure it’ll work?” Yan Zhichun said. “Wen Qiaoyun is no ordinary person. Will common rhetoric work on her?”

“Then just tell her the truth about the world directly,” Jiang Ruoxue said. “If she knows the truth about everything here, knows the result of collecting three thousand six hundred ‘Dao,’ even if she’s not part of the ‘Extreme Path,’ she’ll gradually and imperceptibly do the same things as the ‘Extreme Path.'”

“But where should I start?” Yan Zhichun asked.

“Start from when you encountered that Baiyang,” Jiang Ruoxue answered.

Yan Zhichun nodded after hearing this, knowing this was the only way.

Ever since meeting that Baiyang, her life had completely changed.

“By the way,” she changed the subject and looked at Jiang Ruoxue, “there’s also that other woman from earlier.”

Yan Zhichun thought for a moment and said, “She said she’s ‘Extreme Path.'”

“Oh?” Jiang Ruoxue raised an eyebrow. “What I find strange is that I once exposed my identity in front of her, but she had no reaction at all. Could it be that she just joined recently?”

“That’s exactly where the problem lies,” Yan Zhichun said. “Let’s walk and talk. Hearing you say this, I’ve suddenly become interested in Wen Qiaoyun too.”

The two walked out of the building one after another, following Lin Qin and Wen Qiaoyun from a distance.

The current “Land of the End” seemed even filthier than it had been in recent days. Those executed during the last “Heavenly Horse Moment” were now beginning to leak corpse fluid. The roads reeked of decay, and the blood of numerous people had begun to spread across the ground, incredibly sticky underfoot.

On the wide roads, every so often they would see those people who had been split in half from between their eyebrows by black lines. Like compasses, their legs were spread wide apart to the left and right, as if taking larger steps could help them escape this place of utter suffering.

Unfortunately, their steps were too large—even their own faces had been split in half.

“You just said… where’s the problem?” Jiang Ruoxue asked again. “She’s just an ordinary ‘Extreme Path’ member. There are countless ‘Extreme Path’ members we don’t know. This force you organized might be even larger than you imagine.”

“No… I often encounter ordinary ‘Extreme Path’ members,” Yan Zhichun replied. “But she claims she joined seven years ago. Isn’t that ridiculous?”

“Seven years…?” Jiang Ruoxue frowned after hearing this. “Wouldn’t that make it the same as you?”

“Although I’ve never admitted it, you also know…” Yan Zhichun said, “the ‘Extreme Path’ members were organized with me taking the lead. I even came up with the name.”

“Yes.”

“She’s been a member for the same length of time as me, yet we’ve never met each other all this time,” Yan Zhichun asked. “What do you think the probability of that is?”

“The probability is ‘zero,'” Jiang Ruoxue answered. “So you think her identity is questionable, and she might even have been sent by someone else to disintegrate our ‘Extreme Path.'”

“Right.” Yan Zhichun nodded. “But I can’t figure out what the reason for doing this would be. The ‘Extreme Path’ doesn’t have a good reputation to begin with, and there aren’t even any teammates who can help each other. I simply can’t understand the significance of impersonating the ‘Extreme Path.'”

“That’s right.” Jiang Ruoxue said with a smile. “Zhichun, you’re still being conservative. What do you mean the ‘Extreme Path’ doesn’t have a good reputation? Just saying you’re an ‘Extreme Path’ member will get you collectively targeted in most situations, so now even ‘Extreme Path’ members have to hide.”

“But she doesn’t seem to be hiding at all.”

“Does she look like she’s lying to you?” Jiang Ruoxue asked again.

“Honestly… no,” Yan Zhichun said with a bitter smile. “She can even argue with me over the two words ‘Extreme Path’ on principle. I’ve never seen this kind of situation even among real ‘Extreme Path’ members.”

“When all impossibilities are eliminated, whatever remains is the truth. Could there be such a possibility…” Jiang Ruoxue thought for a moment and said, “You think you’re the ’cause’ of the ‘Extreme Path,’ and she should be an ‘effect’ produced because of you, but the actual situation is exactly the opposite.”

“Hmm…?”

“You two are both ’causes,'” Jiang Ruoxue said. “It’s just that she’s on a different causal line from you.”

“I don’t understand,” Yan Zhichun said. “Say it more simply.”

“I’m saying… did that Baiyang seven years ago really only affect you?” Jiang Ruoxue asked. “Could it be that he laid down a second line himself?”

Yan Zhichun instantly understood what Jiang Ruoxue meant.

“You’re saying… that woman called Lin Qin and I are on the same level?” Yan Zhichun reached up to stroke the long hair by her face, then tucked it behind her ear with two fingers. “She’s the same as me… truly one of the ‘Extreme Path’ founders?”

“I’m just proposing a hypothesis,” Jiang Ruoxue said. “After all, even that Baiyang wasn’t sure whether you could truly create an organization that affects everyone, right?”

“No… something’s still not right,” Yan Zhichun said. “Even if it’s really as you say… she should understand her own identity, shouldn’t she? Moreover, the name ‘Extreme Path’ was coined by me, and the ‘Extreme Path stance’ she mentioned is exactly the same as the one I established. If she’s really one of the founders… it couldn’t be such a coincidence, could it?”

“Even the ‘stance’ she mentioned is exactly the same as ours?” Jiang Ruoxue asked.

“Yes.” Yan Zhichun nodded. “That’s exactly what I find unreasonable.”

The two looked at the two people in the distance, both falling into contemplation.

“It seems she’s also a strange ‘effect,'” Jiang Ruoxue said with a smile. “I keep feeling that something unusual is about to happen. When this place is covered with strange ‘effects’… does it mean that enormous ’cause’ is already very close to us?”