Jiang Ruoxue and I sat quietly in the room, gazing at the bonfire before us, waiting for the sun to sink into the earth.

We were just like before, seemingly without any change at all.

“Zhichun…” Jiang Ruoxue slowly lifted her head to look at me.

“What is it?”

“Do you still remember what I told you before, about that girl whose beauty could collapse heaven and shatter earth?” she asked.

“I remember.” I nodded.

“She’s currently at ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ as well.” Jiang Ruoxue picked up an iron rod and poked at the bonfire. “I want to join ‘Heaven’s Mouth’.”

After hearing this, I paused slightly, then began to grow anxious.

I didn’t understand what this statement meant.

Was this about “quitting”?

I hurriedly lowered my head and also picked up a wooden stick from the ground, imitating her as I poked at the candlelight, trying my best to suppress my emotions.

The air was extremely quiet. Only the crackling sounds of the bonfire could be heard.

Was Ruoxue… going to quit?

“What do you think?” Jiang Ruoxue asked again.

My hand froze in midair for half a second, then I forced out a smile and said, “Ruoxue… you said it yourself—your original intention wasn’t to establish ‘Extreme Path,’ but to help me. Now that ‘Extreme Path’ has gotten on the right track, and Brother Yang is also steadily moving forward according to his own plan, everything seems to be getting better… so if you want to ‘quit’ now, it’s fine. Besides, ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ is indeed quite good. There’s enormous ‘goodness’ there, and you also said you really like that girl, so… so…”

Jiang Ruoxue blinked her eyes and looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Huh…?”

“What do you mean ‘getting better,’ what ‘quitting’? And bringing up some enormous ‘goodness’ with me… did you eat someone’s boogers or something…?”

“Wha—what?” I was also a bit confused. “Why would I eat someone else’s boogers?! Didn’t you just say you wanted to join ‘Heaven’s Mouth’…? Weren’t you bringing up ‘quitting’ with me?”

“You’re sick.” Jiang Ruoxue helplessly pursed her lips. “Does me joining ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ conflict with me being an ‘Extreme Path’ member? Which law here says that if I join ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ I must quit ‘Extreme Path’? Can’t I just go play around? You socially anxious child, why are you always thinking wild thoughts?”

“When did I! I…!”

“You what? Are you going to fire me?”

“Why would I fire you?!”

Good lord, I was really going to be driven to death by Jiang Ruoxue. She was definitely doing this on purpose!

“I don’t care, you definitely ate boogers.” Jiang Ruoxue said with a mischievous smile. “There’s a saying in my hometown—if you eat boogers, you’ll become stupid.”

“I really want to hit you…” I said with a completely helpless expression.

“Wrong, wrong.”

Jiang Ruoxue laughed with a “hehe,” then her expression gradually calmed down.

“Seriously though, Zhichun, that girl is the same type of person as Aunt Tong and me.”

Seeing her so serious, I couldn’t joke around anymore either. “The same type of person… meaning…?”

“Her ‘Echo’.” Jiang Ruoxue stared at the bonfire and said, “Based on my experience, there aren’t many ‘Echoes’ in the ‘Land of End’ that can change a person’s fate or circumstances. That girl just happens to have one of them.”

“She has?”

“‘Strong Luck’.” Jiang Ruoxue said. “It’s an ability that, just by hearing about it once, I know how incredibly powerful it is. Whether it’s me or Aunt Tong, our abilities both have obvious ‘drawbacks.’ After all, ’cause’ doesn’t necessarily lead to the ‘effect’ you want most, and karma doesn’t necessarily bestow blessings. But ‘Strong Luck’ is different. It will make its owner invincible in everything.”

I knew Jiang Ruoxue was right. Actually, it wasn’t just her and Aunt Tong’s ‘Echoes’ that had drawbacks—mine did too.

If I wanted to control someone, I had to make the same movements as them. Although this ability meant I wouldn’t fall into danger, it wasn’t absolutely safe either.

Moreover, if I wanted the other person to be controlled by me, they definitely had to hear my voice.

What if the other person was deaf?

“So your purpose in joining ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ is to recruit her?” I asked again.

“Yes.” Jiang Ruoxue nodded. “I want that girl to join ‘Extreme Path.’ But the situation actually isn’t optimistic, because ‘Extreme Path’s’ philosophy is completely opposite to ‘Heaven’s Mouth’s.’ We will do everything possible to protect the ‘Zodiacs,’ but ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ will spare no effort to bet their lives against the ‘Zodiacs.’ I have to say, Chu Tianqiu is more intelligent than Nie Bei. He’s constantly sending people to collect strategies for ‘Human-level’ games. When he feels the timing is about right, he’ll write down detailed betting methods for the participants in his organization, then dispatch a multi-person squad to bet their lives against killing the ‘Zodiac.’ After killing the ‘Zodiac,’ Chu Tianqiu will send people to take away the other party’s ‘Zodiac’ mask, eliminating the possibility of anyone else becoming a ‘Zodiac’.”

“Collecting ‘strategies’… I see.” I said. “But what about ‘Earth-level’ games? Even collecting strategies for this type of game will cause massive ‘casualties,’ not to mention betting lives.”

“He probably thought of that long ago.” Jiang Ruoxue said. “As far as I know, ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ hasn’t made a move against any ‘Earth-level Zodiac’ to this day. Their targets are only ‘Human-level’.”

Haven’t made a move against any “Earth-level Zodiac”…?

Then how did the Sheep die here?

My state of mind nearly became chaotic again… Could it be that the Sheep wasn’t killed by ‘Heaven’s Mouth,’ but rather by someone else…?

Or was it as I suspected… that there was never a person called Sheep in this world at all?

But I have to say… from a macro perspective… that man called Chu Tianqiu was indeed doing quite well.

The path he chose, to those unfamiliar with this place, seemed at first glance full of holes and completely useless, but as long as you had some understanding of the ‘Land of End,’ you’d discover this path was exceptionally reasonable.

Assuming there was an ideal situation… that all five cities adopted Chu Tianqiu’s method, only targeting ‘Human-level Zodiacs,’ steadily and unitedly killing all ‘Human-level’ Zodiacs and collecting their masks…

Then there would never again be new ‘Human-level Zodiacs’ appearing here.

Without ‘Human-level,’ it proved that the personnel transportation from the ‘Interview Room’ and ‘Earth-level’ would have problems.

The ‘Zodiacs’ would truly begin to decrease in the real sense.

At that point, each leader could organize elite powerhouses and direct their spearhead at ‘Earth-level.’ Kill one person and there would be one less.

Chu Tianqiu wasn’t bullying the weak and fearing the strong, specifically targeting ‘Human-level.’ Rather, he was cutting off the enemy’s troop supply from the bottom. Otherwise, he wouldn’t need to collect the masks either.

Unfortunately, his individual strength was far too insignificant.

He should also be hoping that other cities would have people with the same thinking as him making the same decisions, but he didn’t know that this was the only remaining healthy city.

His method was extremely perfect, but he used it at the wrong time, in the wrong place.

“What a pity…” I sighed and said. “They say the times create heroes, but this hero lost to the times.”