“You’re right…”

Pei Qianhu shook his head, ultimately still unable to comprehend the meaning of White Sheep’s plan.

“Let’s leave it at that for tonight…” Earth-Mouse said again, “Dog Leader, please don’t spread what I’ve told you… After all, we need hotheads.”

“I understand.” Pei Qianhu nodded, stood up, opened the door, and left.

……

“Big Guy!”

Earth-Pig pulled the tall Earth-Rabbit into his room and called out excitedly: “You’re really ‘Long-Range Transmission’?!”

After hearing this, Earth-Rabbit squinted at Earth-Pig, then gave a bitter laugh and said: “What ‘Long-Range Transmission’… I don’t quite understand. You are…”

“It’s me!” Earth-Pig looked extremely happy, but clearly had something difficult to say. He could only think for a long time before gesturing and saying, “I’m… ‘Spiritual Touch’! Although I’m not anymore…”

“What…!”

Earth-Rabbit was stunned. His red eyes flickered for a long time before he seemed to remember something. He hurriedly turned around to close the door, then pulled Earth-Pig into a corner of the room.

“You little brat…” Earth-Rabbit said trembling, “It’s really you… You’ve been a ‘Zodiac’ all along too…?”

“Haha!” Earth-Pig laughed loudly, but as he laughed, tears flowed out, “This is great… This is really great…”

“What on earth is going on?!” Earth-Rabbit said, “Back then, you were the first to disappear from the room… No one knew where you went… We all thought you’d become a ‘native’!”

“I…” Earth-Pig’s smile gradually cooled, then he lowered his head: “Big Guy… This is something I can’t talk about.”

After hearing this, Earth-Rabbit thought for a few seconds and felt that what Earth-Rabbit said indeed made sense. Only then did he hesitantly begin to speak:

“Big Guy… I was the first person to explore the ‘Zodiac Path’ for Brother Xia, so I left the room many years before all of you.”

“Ah…? Explore the ‘Zodiac Path’?”

“Yes, this was my agreement with Brother Xia.”

After hearing this, Earth-Rabbit scratched his head, feeling that many things could now be connected together.

But why did Qi Xia choose him, Earth-Pig, the youngest, to explore the ‘Zodiac Path’ back then?

“But for a very long time… I never saw any of you.” Earth-Pig said with his head down, “I thought Brother Xia had sold me out. A few days ago, I actually saw him… I was very angry… and said some unkind words.”

“Don’t overthink it…” Earth-Rabbit’s voice gradually became softer. He could understand Earth-Pig’s feelings very well, because for a very long time, he also felt isolated and helpless.

After the two were silent for a few seconds, Earth-Pig spoke: “Big Guy, could it be that all eight of us… are now ‘Zodiacs’…?”

After hearing this, Earth-Rabbit stared at Earth-Pig, then said: “To be honest… aside from you, the seven of us were indeed given instructions. He prepared seven rooms for us… and inside my room was a rabbit mask and a message.”

“What message…?”

“He told me to activate my ‘echo,’ then put on the mask and hide my identity as much as possible.” Earth-Rabbit said again, “Although I don’t know what meaning there is in doing this, thinking it was Qi Xia’s arrangement, I could only comply.”

After hearing this, Earth-Pig paused slightly, and his eyes immediately lit up: “Big Guy! Are the others the same?”

“I don’t know… I don’t know if the others’ rooms also had the same things… In other words, I don’t know if the others became ‘Zodiacs’ together with me. Even if they really put on masks like me… but the city is so big, the ‘train’ is so long, we can neither reveal our names nor display our ‘echoes,’ and everyone has to go through so many stages like ‘Man-level,’ ‘interview room,’ ‘Earth-level’… How could we possibly recognize each other?”

“This…” The hope that had just ignited in Earth-Pig quickly cooled down again, “Could it be that in all this time… no ‘Zodiac’ has tried to find teammates?”

“There was…” Earth-Rabbit said, “The only person I confirmed became a ‘Zodiac’ and who revealed her own identity is already dead.”

After hearing this, Earth-Pig’s whole body froze: “Already dead…? Who was it?”

“It was Sister Zhuang.” Earth-Rabbit said, “The eldest sister in our room who most liked to smoke.”

“Auntie Zhuang…?”

“She was a previous Earth-Dog.” Earth-Rabbit said, “In the third year after becoming ‘Earth-level’… ‘isolation and helplessness’ drove her insane.”

Earth-Pig fell silent after hearing this.

Earth-Rabbit sighed and said again: “She was originally the eldest sister in our room who most advocated ‘unity of heart,’ yet she lived to experience the taste of falling apart. She suffered alone for so many years—not going insane would have been too difficult.”

“You’re kidding… Auntie Zhuang not only became a ‘Zodiac’… she even rose all the way to Earth-Dog, yet I had no idea…” The more Earth-Pig spoke, the more unbelievable he found it, “You’re saying she went insane…?”

“Yes, and it was thanks to her shouting and revealing her identity in the corridor that one time…” Earth-Rabbit sighed deeply and said, “I witnessed firsthand what the consequences of ‘not being able to hold on’ would be. Although I didn’t acknowledge her, she truly helped me and sobered me up quite a bit.”

“Then what is she now…?” Earth-Pig asked again.

“This…”

Both naturally knew the answer, but neither could speak it aloud.

Their once most trusted teammate had now become an ‘ant,’ being raised like livestock every day.

“Little Pig.” Earth-Rabbit called out, “I’m also going insane…”

“You?”

“Don’t you also feel that today’s Earth-Chicken and Earth-Ox look very familiar…” Earth-Rabbit said again, “I originally wanted to reveal my own ability to verify their identities…”

“That won’t do!” Earth-Pig immediately stepped forward and grabbed Earth-Rabbit, “Big Guy, we finally recognized each other with great difficulty. Don’t easily expose your identity! Although… although those two people…”

Earth-Pig was at a loss for words for a moment. He also felt that the figures of Earth-Chicken and Earth-Ox overlapped with two people in his memory.

“I’m preparing to test it for you.” Earth-Rabbit said, “I suspect the plan Earth-Ox stated today is fake. Her main objective is to have us recognize each other.”

“What…?”

“Because Qi Xia once said we can’t expose ourselves, yet Earth-Ox today said she hopes everyone will reveal the ‘echoes’ they carry…” Earth-Rabbit said, “No matter how you think about it, not many people know about this. And aside from you, the seven of us most likely all became ‘Zodiacs’ carrying ‘echoes’…”

“But that’s not right…” Earth-Pig said, “What if the number of deaths is even more than you imagine…? What if Brother Xia’s teammates—only the two of us are left—what should we do then?”