“I…”

Han Yimo was dumbfounded by this sudden emotional scene.

“Chen Junnan… before, I only knew you were always causing trouble, but I never thought that in your heart…”

“Those are all things of the past. But now my good brother tells me you’re a mole… what do you want me to do?” Chen Junnan asked in a heavy voice again. “What can I possibly do?”

At this moment, Han Yimo felt like he had seen a similar plot in some movie, but he couldn’t remember the next lines.

“How could I not want to defect to the other side?” Chen Junnan continued. “It’s just that he’s my sworn brother, I can’t leave. Even if the path he’s walking is wrong, I’ll still accompany him all the way.”

“I… I think I’m starting to understand.” Han Yimo scratched his head. “So you also…”

“So this matter can only be entrusted to you…” Chen Junnan shook his head, interrupting Han Yimo’s words. “I have no way to help you, and no way to help him eliminate you, because one side is my brother, and the other side is the ‘light of justice’ in the ‘Land of Finality.’ Not helping either side is already my best choice.”

Han Yimo stood there in a daze for a long time, finally squeezing out three words: “Thank you…”

“No need.” Chen Junnan waved his hand. “The few words Old Qi whispered to me just now were: ‘Han Yimo is a mole sent by the other side. Interrogate him properly here, and if necessary, you can beat him up.'”

“Ah…?”

Han Yimo hadn’t expected that he had already been exposed. Fortunately, Qi Xia was just like the villains in books—after discovering the truth, they would let their subordinates handle it. This was how people with a protagonist’s halo could escape death.

“You know I can’t bring myself to do it.” Chen Junnan turned around, his expression especially sorrowful. “But if when he comes back… he doesn’t find any traces of severe torture, your situation will be even more dangerous.”

After hearing this, Han Yimo swallowed and said: “Chen Junnan, it’s okay. Just knowing your feelings is enough for me.”

“Sigh…” Chen Junnan said. “So even though I can’t bring myself to do it… I still have to put on a show for Qi Xia. You should understand, right?”

“Then… excuse me?”

“Come on.”

Han Yimo never expected Chen Junnan to strike so heavily. After knocking him down with one punch, he began kicking him viciously.

However, since it was just for show… getting hurt a bit was reasonable.

But while Chen Junnan kicked him, he kept muttering things like “this is for being a fucking mole,” “this is for spreading fucking yellow rumors,” “this is for murdering someone’s entire family,” “you’re a fucking jinx.” It sounded like he was acting a bit too convincingly.

Although one should commit fully to acting… was it really necessary to be this thorough? There was clearly no one else here who could hear.

“Ow… that’s… that’s enough…” Han Yimo said while blocking Chen Junnan’s attacks. “Is it necessary to act this realistically?”

After hearing this, Chen Junnan quickly crouched down and helped Han Yimo up, saying with a worried expression: “Sorry… did I hit too hard just now?”

“Whether it was hard or not is one thing…” Han Yimo said, rubbing his arm. “Those words you were muttering… why does it feel like you really wanted to beat me up…?”

“You’re wrong…” Chen Junnan said. “It’s precisely because I can’t bring myself to do it that I must shout some slogans to give myself motivation. Just like shouting ‘one-two’ during a tug-of-war, they’re just slogans with no real meaning.”

“Is that so…” Han Yimo stood up and moved his aching limbs, saying, “We’ve hit and interrogated… Qi Xia shouldn’t be suspicious now, right?”

“You can rest assured about that.” Chen Junnan nodded. “Don’t forget, I’m now on your side too. If Qi Xia really becomes suspicious, I’ll definitely help speak up for you from the side.”

“Phew, that’s great.” Han Yimo said. “I was worrying about how to dismantle Qi Xia’s team from the inside. Now with your help… it’s like adding wings to a tiger.”

Han Yimo felt the current plot was very reasonable. Many times the protagonist alone had no way to complete such a difficult task, but they would definitely encounter like-minded teammates on their journey. It seemed everything was developing in a good direction.

Chen Junnan was his first teammate. As the saying goes, enemies who fight become friends. The various moments with Chen Junnan from before floated to the surface, piecing together into a crude emotional drama in Han Yimo’s mind.

However, after hearing this, Chen Junnan felt he had kicked too lightly. Han Yimo actually wanted to dismantle Qi Xia’s team from the inside…?

Didn’t that mean he wanted everyone in the whole team to die?

But whatever, Chen Junnan knew that Qi Xia leaving Han Yimo in the preparation area should have two meanings.

First was to prevent the news of Qiao Jiajin’s severe injury and unconsciousness from leaking out. Second was to find a way to use “Inviting Disaster” to achieve victory in the competition.

As he said before… when Qi Xia laid out his plans, he didn’t need Han Yimo’s personal consent at all. His “Echo” effect had already been used as a weapon.

“Wait a minute…” Chen Junnan suddenly froze, feeling like he had discovered a strange problem. “Can Han Yimo’s ‘Echo’… be used here?”

……

Qi Xia arrived at the rightmost room. Although this room was already at the edge of the entire map, it still had four “doors.”

However, the “door” on the rightmost wall was black. Before the game started, Earth-Dragon had said that going out through these “doors” represented “desertion.”

At this moment, Tiantian was standing in this room with her eyes closed, recuperating, not knowing what she was thinking about.

“Tiantian.” Qi Xia called out softly.

After hearing this, Tiantian immediately turned around, her gaze meeting Qi Xia’s.

“Why did you come out of the ‘Preparation Area’…?” A trace of caution flashed in Tiantian’s eyes.

“I need to go to the other side of the river, and happened to pass by here.” Qi Xia replied. “I don’t know how your progress is, so I came to check.”

“It doesn’t seem to be working…” After hearing this, Tiantian relaxed, but still shook her head. “It’s too difficult to ‘Echo’ here.”

“Is that so…?” After hearing this, Qi Xia nodded and said, “But we can’t hear the ‘bell’ here. Maybe you’ve already ‘Echoed’?”

“Huh?” Tiantian was startled. “Could that be possible…?”

“Try it.” Qi Xia said. “You still have your ‘character’ on you, right?”

“Yes…” Tiantian nodded and took out her “Scholar.”

Qi Xia nodded and pulled out a bunch of chains from his pocket, handing them to Tiantian.

“What’s this for?”

“Use these extra chains to reshape the ‘character’ on you.” Qi Xia said. “If it works, maybe you’ve already ‘Echoed.'”

“But I don’t know the structure of those ‘characters’…” Tiantian said.

“Try it. You won’t lose anything anyway.” Qi Xia said. “Besides, I said before that the ultimate goal isn’t for you to forge ‘characters,’ so even if you fail, it doesn’t matter.”

After hearing this, Tiantian nodded and placed the chains on the ground, then closed her eyes.

Qi Xia slowly bent down.

He picked up that pile of chains from the ground, then set down the “Scholar” piece he had taken from Qiao Jiajin.