The three of them arrived at the center of the sports field. Officer Li lit cigarettes for both Qi Xia and himself.

Han Yimo smiled awkwardly, then placed the cigarette between his lips and asked, “How am I supposed to learn this?”

Officer Li reached out and directly removed the cigarette from his mouth, putting it back in the pack. “Learn my ass. Do you know how much I envy people who don’t smoke right now? This thing has a hundred harms and not a single benefit. It’s best if you don’t know how—whatever you do, don’t learn.”

“Huh?” Han Yimo couldn’t quite understand. “Officer Li, but you just said…”

Qi Xia waved his hand, interrupting Han Yimo’s words, then asked, “Han Yimo, what is the ‘Seven Black Sword’?”

“Ah…?” Han Yimo’s expression froze.

If Qi Xia hadn’t mentioned it, he would have almost forgotten about that bizarre encounter.

During the previous cycle, he had been pierced through the belly by the ‘Seven Black Sword.’

Han Yimo paced back and forth several times before raising his head to speak to the two of them:

“Sixty years ago, in the jianghu, there was a world-renowned ‘Punisher of Evil’ called ‘Chu Qi.’ He wielded a heavy greatsword, and combined with his unpredictable lightness skill, he roamed the jianghu ‘rewarding good and punishing evil’ according to his own preferences. Those he deemed ‘good’ received a reward of one tael and seven qian of silver. Those he judged ‘evil’ were certain to have their dantian pierced by his greatsword. For a time, this threw the world into panic, with everyone uncertain whether they themselves were good or evil.”

“And the greatsword he wielded—because its blade, tip, spine, edge, hilt, tassel, and scabbard were all pitch-black in color—was named the ‘Seven Black Sword.'”

Officer Li listened in bewilderment. He stepped forward and knocked Han Yimo on the head.

“Hey!” Han Yimo jumped in fright. “Officer Li, what are you doing? I’m in the middle of recalling…”

“Do you think this is my first time interrogating someone, kid?” Officer Li shook his head helplessly. “Just from looking at your eyes, I can tell all of this is made up. Tell me the truth.”

“This stuff was originally made up by me!” Han Yimo said somewhat anxiously. “To create all this, I put in tremendous effort…”

“This is your novel?” Qi Xia suddenly asked.

“Yes.” Han Yimo nodded. “In my writing, this hero named ‘Chu Qi’ was harmed by treacherous people. Everyone thought the jianghu would return to peace, but unexpectedly, the ‘Seven Black Sword’ did not vanish from the jianghu. It continued to mysteriously ‘reward good and punish evil,’ except the person wielding the sword could never be seen again. It was as if the sword had gained a life of its own, always piercing through people’s dantians at dawn…”

Officer Li tried hard to accept this premise, then asked, “What does this have to do with you being killed?”

“I can only blame my imagination being too vivid…” Han Yimo lowered his head somewhat embarrassed. “Have you ever had this feeling? The sensation of having ‘nowhere to place your imagination’?”

Qi Xia shook his head after hearing this. “That’s a bit abstract.”

“Simply put, there are too many things in my mind.” Han Yimo pointed at his brow. “I always feel… if I can’t find an outlet to channel the things in my mind, I’ll suffocate to death. So I’ve tried many avenues. At first, it was drawing, but I never went through systematic training, so my brush couldn’t carry my imagination. Thus, I chose writing.”

Officer Li took a deep drag of his cigarette and smiled. “I’ve heard that many people exhaust everything they have trying to become writers without success, yet you were ‘forced into it with no choice’?”

“Pretty much.” Han Yimo nodded. “There’s a world in my brain that’s always waiting to pour out, so I can’t stay in enclosed environments. Otherwise, my brain will uncontrollably run wild with thoughts.”

Qi Xia seemed to catch onto something important and asked, “Are you saying… this sword is a product of your ‘wild thoughts’?”

“It can only be that.” Han Yimo turned back around and said very seriously, “During that pitch-black dawn, I was trembling the entire time. I’m terrified of dark environments, so I worried I would die there. Later, my thoughts leaped ahead, and I actually began to worry that the ‘Seven Black Sword’ would pierce my dantian just like it’s recorded in the story.”

Qi Xia felt a slight shock—this situation seemed familiar.

In the interview room, Han Yimo had also worried that the harpoon would pierce through his body. If Qiao Jiajin hadn’t intervened at the time, his ‘dream would have come true’ by now.

“And then I really was pierced through…” Han Yimo gave a bitter smile. “This place is really something. I recommend all writers come here for a visit. Just spend one day here, and you’ll absolutely never run out of inspiration.”

“No, that’s not the issue here, is it?” Officer Li thought carefully for a moment before realizing just how unreasonable this matter was. “According to what you’re saying… the ‘Seven Black Sword’ shouldn’t exist in this world at all. It’s just something you imagined. So why did it pierce through you?”

“I don’t know.” Han Yimo shook his head. “That feeling was truly marvelous… When I saw the ‘Seven Black Sword,’ I was both somewhat happy and somewhat afraid. Every writer hopes the world they’ve written about becomes real, but when you truly see something from your book become reality, anyone would be frightened, right?”

Yes, this feeling was extremely strange.

Qi Xia touched his chin and began sorting through the logic of it all.

Han Yimo had a premonition that the harpoon would pierce through him, so he trembled and felt afraid—this situation was still within the realm of understanding.

But what was the deal with the ‘Seven Black Sword’?

Could it be that he foresaw in advance that the ‘Seven Black Sword’ would pierce through him, which is why he spent the entire night in fear?

But theoretically, this sword shouldn’t have appeared at all. What was he afraid of?

‘Inviting Disaster’…

Qi Xia’s eyes slowly widened.

Wait a moment…

If Han Yimo could foresee danger in advance, then this ‘Echo’ shouldn’t be called ‘Inviting Disaster’ at all—it should be called something like ‘Avoiding Danger’ or ‘Premonition’…

Why is it called ‘Inviting Disaster’?!

Qi Xia was instantly struck as if by five thunderbolts. All of his previous deductions had been completely backwards.

The harpoon was never going to pierce through Han Yimo!

The ‘Seven Black Sword’ was never going to kill him either!

All of this was because of Han Yimo’s ‘summoning’!

He believed the harpoon would pierce through him, so that harpoon would overcome all obstacles to pierce through him.

He believed he would die beneath the ‘Seven Black Sword,’ so even if this world had to conjure the ‘Seven Black Sword’ out of thin air, it would pierce through his dantian.

As long as Han Yimo believed this disaster would occur, then it would definitely occur.

This was what it meant to ‘Invite Disaster’!

Qi Xia slowly took a step backward. The young writer before him made him feel extremely dangerous.

He had thought that keeping him close by would allow them to avoid disasters, but his very existence was itself a living, breathing disaster!

The second bell had still not rung to this day—Han Yimo was still ‘inviting disaster.’