Seeing Qi Xia’s calm and composed expression, Earth-Snake’s face naturally didn’t look too good.

At this moment, seeing Qi Xia’s extended hand, he was obviously somewhat angered. “What trick did you just use?”

“I didn’t move at all,” Qi Xia said. “You do make me feel curious. Can you control emotions just by touching?”

Not to mention Qi Xia, even Earth-Snake felt something was off.

He had clearly made direct contact with Qi Xia, yet the remaining three people separated by Qi Xia’s palm were all affected, while Qi Xia himself was fine.

He should have felt sorrow surpassing the others.

Earth-Snake took a step forward and reached out to grasp Qi Xia’s hand.

The two of them, like businessmen who had successfully negotiated, held their hands together for a long time.

“Are you just forcing yourself to endure it?” Earth-Snake asked. “Hold on a bit longer, and you might sit on the ground and cry your heart out while slapping the floor. If you make a fool of yourself, I won’t care.”

“I actually would like to see myself looking like that,” Qi Xia said. “How long do I need to hold on?”

A few seconds later, Earth-Snake clearly sensed where the problem lay.

He felt as if he was holding a dead tree. Not only was there absolutely no way to transmit sorrow, he couldn’t even sense any emotions from the other party.

“What’s going on…?” Earth-Snake said incredulously. “You weren’t like this before…”

“Since ‘sorrow’ doesn’t work, how about trying ‘happiness’?” Qi Xia asked again.

After hearing this, Earth-Snake helplessly shook his head. “Unfortunately, I can only control grief.”

“That’s not right…” Earth-Snake said, murmuring to himself while holding Qi Xia’s hand. “If you can’t feel ‘sorrow,’ then how are you going to…”

Qi Xia was still waiting for the other party to speak, but Earth-Snake closed his mouth at that moment.

He withdrew his pure white, snake-skinned palm, thought for a while, then stepped forward and opened his arms, giving Qi Xia a big hug.

Qi Xia was obviously somewhat repulsed by this action. Before he could take a step back, he was controlled by the powerful force before him.

Before he could say anything, he suddenly felt a stabbing pain coming from deep within his brain. This stabbing pain was very familiar—he had experienced it countless times in this place.

Qi Xia slowly frowned. Although his head hurt badly, he still wasn’t sad.

After waiting for a long time, Earth-Snake slowly released his hands and looked at Qi Xia with an incredulous expression.

“If it were the old you, with me touching you over such a large area… you should be crying so hard right now that you’d be gasping for breath,” Earth-Snake said. “What’s going on with you?”

“I see,” Qi Xia nodded. “It seems you were very important to me before, since I did need sorrow.”

“Of course you need ‘sorrow’!!” After Earth-Snake finished speaking, he reached out to ruffle Qi Xia’s hair, then said, “What was that power that resisted me just now? What did you do to yourself?”

“Simply put, the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, and hypothalamus in my brain that control sad emotions all have varying degrees of lesions,” Qi Xia said. “These lesions happen to make me forget the emotion of ‘sorrow.’ Even if the most important person dies right before my eyes, I cannot possibly feel sad.”

“Lesions…?”

After this simple sentence was finished, everyone in the venue except Qi Xia became puzzled.

This place called the “Land of the End” was still very different from the real world. No matter how many years passed, healthy people who entered couldn’t get sick, and people who were already sick had no way to hope for a cure here.

The moment one entered this place, one was destined to remain in a permanent state while wandering here.

“How did you get sick?” Earth-Snake asked.

After hearing this question, Qi Xia smiled slightly. “Unfortunately, I’m in a bad mood and don’t want to tell you.”

“You…” Earth-Snake was obviously somewhat angry, but mixed in with his anger were some other emotions. “Qi Xia… you damn brat… you goddamn… how did you end up with this illness? How could you possibly get sick in this place?!”

“What about it?” Qi Xia asked. “Perhaps I also go with the flow and get sick when I want to.”

After thinking for a long time, Earth-Snake opened his mouth to answer, “Fine, then I won’t ask how you got sick. Without ‘sorrow,’ how will the ‘Giant Bell’ outside ring because of you?”

“No, you’re wrong,” Qi Xia said. “A person with strong conviction will definitely make the Giant Bell tremble for them, but there are many ways to make the Giant Bell move. I’ve blocked one path, but I can still take other paths.”

“What?”

“Don’t you have this feeling?” Qi Xia said. “Everyone here clearly wanted to go up the mountain to watch the sunrise, but they were all attracted by the small river at the bottom of the mountain, ultimately missing the time for sunrise. To climb to that mountaintop, I’ll spend decades draining the river to ensure I won’t be disturbed by anything. This way, as long as I want to see the ‘scenery,’ I can only go to the ‘mountaintop.'”

Although Qi Xia didn’t say it explicitly, Earth-Snake understood the meaning in Qi Xia’s words.

He had sealed his own “Echo” trigger to seek an even more powerful “Echo.”

“You goddamn brat…” Earth-Snake said. “Who told you the river water at the bottom of the mountain isn’t beautiful? That river is at the bottom of the mountain—many people can guarantee they see it every day. But how many people can see the sunrise on the mountain every day? Aren’t you abandoning what’s near for what’s far?! What if one day… you die on the road pursuing scenery?!”

“How can the feeling of watching a river at the bottom of the mountain compare to the magnificent grandeur of the mountaintop?” Qi Xia slowly stood up. “If I’m not mistaken, you’re the ‘ferryman’ in that river, aren’t you?”

“I…”

“For a very long time, you’ve been taking me directly to that river, and I have to admit you saved me a lot of trouble,” Qi Xia said. “But you’ve been away from the river too long. The river has been drained by me.”

“Then what do you mean, you goddamn brat?” Earth-Snake also stood up. “I know how to get you to that river at the fastest speed! I only need to touch you once and you can see the scenery! But you insist on climbing to the mountaintop. Do I have to become a ‘mountain porter’ from now on?!”

“No,” Qi Xia shook his head. “You did your job as a ‘ferryman’ very well. Next, I want to invite you to go up the mountain with me to see the scenery.”

Everyone was waiting for Earth-Snake to respond, but unexpectedly, Earth-Snake slowly turned around and picked up a rope beside him. “Sorry, my mood is a bit chaotic. I want to go hang myself first.”

“Go ahead!” Chen Junnan stood up with a whoosh. “Hanging is good! I can help you! How tiring to hang yourself alone!”

He looked afraid the other party would change his mind and directly grabbed his arm.

A few seconds later, Chen Junnan slowly turned his head back and said with tears, “I’m so useless…”

Qiao Jiajin immediately sensed something was wrong and hurried forward to pull Chen Junnan away. “Handsome boy! You’ve been hit! Don’t touch him!”

But before he could pull Chen Junnan away, he also slowly turned his head back and said, “I’ve failed Lord Guan…”

Seeing their appearance, both Qi Xia and Qin Dingdong revealed speechless expressions.