Chu Tianqiu had several people disperse to act separately. The current top priority was to have Yan Zhichun obtain “Echo.”

He deduced that Jin Yuanxun would soon lose his “character,” and when that time came, if Yan Zhichun could activate her ability, everything would still be in time.

“Also…” He finally called out to Wen Qiaoyun, “If the situation permits, go check on Zhang Shan’s condition.”

“Go check on his condition now…?”

“If Zhang Shan still has consciousness, tell him the method for ‘Echo.'” Chu Tianqiu continued, “His ‘Echo’ has a certain self-healing ability—perhaps he can stand up again.”

After hearing this, Wen Qiaoyun paused and said: “What if he can’t hear these words anymore?”

“Then I can only say it’s too unfortunate.” Chu Tianqiu said, “He’s already done his best.”

After hearing this, Wen Qiaoyun nodded and turned to leave the “Reserve Zone” without another word.

Chu Tianqiu watched her departing figure with a slight sense of trance. It seemed like just recently, Yun Yao had shown an expression similar to Wen Qiaoyun’s before parting ways with him.

As for the flash of emotion that passed through Chu Tianqiu’s heart at this moment… he knew it was neither sadness nor reluctance.

Rather, it was an inexplicable loneliness that permeated his entire being.

Whether it was Yun Yao or Wen Qiaoyun, they had both once been his most trusted companions. They had experienced countless life-and-death situations together and had created different glories.

But now Chu Tianqiu had awakened. He had awakened among a group of normal people, making himself appear exceptionally abnormal.

How difficult was it to completely liberate the entire “Land of the End”?

He was walking a path that no one understood. Never mind that Zhang Shan had died in the “River Path”—even if he himself died in the “River Path,” Chu Tianqiu could only mock himself with “I did my best.”

For Chu Tianqiu, winning or losing this game was not important at all. Rather than calling it a contest, it was more like a performance.

He had to perform his strength as much as possible for Qinglong to see, and also for Qi Xia to see.

If he became careless at this moment due to acting on impulse, then there would be no seat for him on this vehicle.

Qinglong had once stood on the rooftop of “Heaven’s Mouth” and told Qi Xia and Chu Tianqiu that only one of the two could reach the pinnacle.

When Qinglong said those words… did he place himself and Qi Xia on an equal level for comparison?

But fortunately, Wen Qiaoyun was not Yun Yao.

Chu Tianqiu understood Wen Qiaoyun. She was a strong person who had grown up in an emotional environment. Unlike Yun Yao… she could distinguish the situation before her even in extremely painful circumstances, thus making the most correct choice.

Then Chu Tianqiu came back to his senses and instructed Xu Liunian that since she couldn’t change back, the best plan was to continue disrupting things under the identity of “Chen Junnan.”

Since she had failed before, she could work hard to find the reasons for failure and reduce the failure rate in the time ahead. No matter how many times she failed, as long as she could reach the opponent’s “Reserve Zone” once or trick them out of one “character,” it would still be worth it.

As for Doctor Zhao, Chu Tianqiu only told him to “adapt to circumstances” and didn’t say much else.

Doctor Zhao couldn’t help but feel puzzled. In this game, as one of the most powerful “Echoers,” as long as he was close enough to the enemy, he could find a way to destroy those “characters.” Yet Chu Tianqiu seemed to have never wanted to make full use of him.

But at this point, Chu Tianqiu hadn’t said anything, and Doctor Zhao didn’t explain anything either. He just nodded and left the room together with Wen Qiaoyun.

Meanwhile, Chu Tianqiu continued to study on the screen which “characters” could be formed next.

Before long, he discovered that for their side to win this match… there were two characters they had to obtain.

Those were “Bing” (soldier) and “Xiang” (elephant/minister).

It was known that Chen Junnan had “Bao” (wrap) and “Jin” (cloth). So who had “Bing” and “Xiang”?

Just as Chu Tianqiu was hesitating, Jin Yuanxun also walked in from outside.

“Bro…”

Chu Tianqiu saw Jin Yuanxun holding a “Bao” in his hand and couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

“What’s this?”

“Chu-ge, I won.” Jin Yuanxun said, “Although it was a bit lucky… I got a ‘character’ from Chen Junnan.”

Looking at Jin Yuanxun’s face full of smiles, Chu Tianqiu didn’t speak for several seconds.

Lucky?

Jin Yuanxun had won against Chen Junnan in a “Cunning” or “Question and Answer” game.

With his current level of Chinese proficiency… just how lucky would he have to be to accomplish this?

“What about your own ‘character’?” Chu Tianqiu asked again.

Jin Yuanxun was stunned for a moment, then pulled out a chain from his pocket—it was “Zu” (pawn) hanging in three parts.

“Right here, bro.”

Only after seeing the “Zu” character did Chu Tianqiu relax slightly and said: “Well done, Jin Yuanxun.”

“Don’t mention it, bro. It really was just luck.”

Chu Tianqiu nodded, then said: “Jin Yuanxun, you weren’t here just now, but I heard a bell sound.”

“Bell sound…?” Jin Yuanxun was startled.

“Yes.” Chu Tianqiu nodded, “Considering that just now only you and Chen Junnan were in the game, I suspect you’ve obtained ‘Echo.'”

Jin Yuanxun always felt this explanation was a bit off. If a bell had just rung, why hadn’t he heard it?

Didn’t the game room lead directly outside?

“Bro… I was just in the game together with Chen Junnan…” Jin Yuanxun asked tentatively, “Even if there really was a bell sound… why wouldn’t it be his?”

“Because he lost.” Chu Tianqiu said, “With your understanding of Chen Junnan, if he had his abilities plus ‘Echo,’ how would you win?”

“I guess that’s true…”

Jin Yuanxun nodded. However, he didn’t remember what Chen Junnan’s “Echo” was. He just felt that this person had only recently started being active in the “Land of the End” yet was already shining brightly. His previous disappearance must have been because he hadn’t obtained a stable “Echo.”

“So try it now.” Chu Tianqiu patted Jin Yuanxun’s shoulder, “I’ve heard your ‘Echo’ many times. That bell sound sounded very much like yours.”

“You can even tell from that…?”

Jin Yuanxun muttered to himself, then slowly narrowed his eyes looking behind Chu Tianqiu. Following his heart’s will, in the blink of an eye he had disappeared from before Chu Tianqiu’s eyes and was standing in front of the display screen.

“Huh?” Jin Yuanxun said with a face full of joy, “Bro… it seems like it really works…”

Seeing this scene, Chu Tianqiu also nodded. It seemed Xu Liunian had truly found the method to “Echo” in this place. For these people who had already mastered “Echo,” adding one more layer of psychological preparation wasn’t difficult.

“Good, Jin Yuanxun.” Chu Tianqiu said, “Keep ‘Zu’ with you for now. Next, you need to protect this ‘character’ with your life.”

“With my life…” After hearing this, Jin Yuanxun paused, then suddenly thought of something, “Bro… when I was just at the game venue, that ‘Zodiac’ asked me to give you a message…”