“Win…” Qin Dingdong paused. “No one can guarantee that this rebellion will really win… Chen Junnan, you shouldn’t stay here anymore. Hurry and find a ‘door’ to get off the train. If the situation takes a turn for the worse, remember to preserve your strength. Your ‘memory’ might be able to lead the next rebellion…”
“What the hell kind of talk is that?” Chen Junnan was somewhat stunned after hearing this. “Sister Dong… What kind of mindset are you holding while executing this task?”
“I… It’s a long story…” Qin Dingdong reached out and grabbed Chen Junnan with one hand. Her fingers were very forceful, and her emotions were extremely complicated. “Chen Junnan… Listen to me. Wei Yang doesn’t believe that Qi Xia will ultimately lead us to escape… I don’t believe it either.”
“Wha…” Chen Junnan paused and hurriedly interrupted. “Sister Dong, you tell me yourself—do you trust that old liar or do you trust Old Qi?”
“It’s very difficult for me to trust either of them.” Qin Dingdong said in a low voice. Then she took a step forward, pressing close to Chen Junnan’s ear and saying softly, “Chen Junnan, Wei Yang deduced that Qi Xia wants to pilot the ‘Train’ to escape… But don’t you think it’s strange…”
“Wh-where’s it strange?” Chen Junnan asked somewhat uncertainly.
“Wei Yang’s task is very strange.” Qin Dingdong said. “He received the task a very long time ago. Besides infiltrating the ‘Natives’ internally, he was also to lead them in destroying all the ‘doors’ on the ‘Train.’ Now he’s given up, so I’ve taken over this task.”
“Huh…?”
Chen Junnan paused, seeming to know where Qin Dingdong’s doubt was coming from.
“Chen Junnan… You have way more street smarts than me. Tell me, if we smash all the ‘doors,’ even if the ‘Train’ drives to the next station… How are we supposed to leave?”
Qin Dingdong’s question left Chen Junnan momentarily speechless.
“It’s not just all the Zodiacs who will be trapped to death…” Qin Dingdong’s eyes dimmed. “But also all the Participants involved in this rebellion. Once all the dust settles, none of us will be able to leave.”
“S-Sister Dong… Are you overthinking this?” Chen Junnan said. “After all, Old Qi said before…”
“Chen Junnan… You can’t trust Qi Xia too much. You need to think more for yourself.” Qin Dingdong said. “Although saying this makes it seem like I’m sowing discord, this plan really does have contradictory aspects… I don’t believe that such a smart person would make a contradictory plan.”
After hearing this, Chen Junnan paused, and soon discovered another suspicious point: “But Sister Dong, you’re destroying the ‘doors’ right now… If you don’t believe it, why would you go this far?”
After hearing this, Chen Junnan thought for a while and said: “Sister Dong, I don’t know how to convince you. In the past, I also doubted Old Qi, but countless experiences have proven he was right.”
“But he approached you with a purpose.” Qin Dingdong said. “Once someone approaches you with a purpose, you can’t trust what they say, because every sentence they speak and every action they take is to achieve their own purpose. You’re not a fool—you understand this principle better than I do.”
Chen Junnan was silent for a while, then said: “Sister Dong, Old Qi’s ‘purpose’ has already transcended worldly notions of selfishness. In other words, if he really has some ‘purpose,’ I don’t need to worry at all that this ‘purpose’ will bring me harm. This ‘purpose’ won’t bring him personal benefit, nor will it bring me loss. Because what he wants to do exceeds my cognitive scope—it’s a more macro, transcendent-of-human-nature kind of coordination. This doesn’t need to be, and shouldn’t be, interfered with by me.”
After hearing this, Qin Dingdong stared into Chen Junnan’s eyes for a long time, and finally sighed and said: “Fine… Chen Junnan, even if I can’t fathom his ‘purpose,’ how do you view the problem of these ‘doors’? He hasn’t left any Participants a way to survive—what do you say about this?”
“My only answer is that I trust Old Qi.” Chen Junnan said. “Since ‘destroying the doors’ was part of his plan to begin with, then I’ll help him complete this plan. Before, I was still worried whether doing this would cause a bit of chaos. Now your appearance has made me even more firm in this idea.”
“You… Fine, you are you, and I am me. Regardless of whether you believe him or not, I still left everyone a way out…” Qin Dingdong said. “I didn’t plan to truly destroy these ‘doors,’ so we started destroying from the rooms in the ‘Interview Area,’ but left all the ‘Work Area’ ones…”
Before she could finish speaking, Qin Dingdong froze, because she discovered that all the nearby ‘doors’ seemed to have been destroyed as well.
“You… Chen Junnan…” Qin Dingdong’s eyes slowly widened. “You destroyed the ‘doors’ in the ‘Work Area’?!”
“Yeah.” Chen Junnan said. “This young master didn’t think that much. As long as I felt I could help Old Qi, then I gave it a try.”
Qin Dingdong felt like she had entered a dilemma, not knowing what to do for the moment.
At this time, seeing the two finish their conversation, Jin Yuanxun walked over with Earth-Ox, cautiously asking in a low voice: “Bro, sis, are you done with your private communication?”
Jin Yuanxun’s single sentence made Qin Dingdong roll her eyes dramatically. She turned her head to look over: “You kid look pretty honest—how come when you open your mouth it’s so cringe? What do you mean ‘done with private communication’?”
“Huh?” Jin Yuanxun didn’t understand what this sentence meant.
Earth-Ox was also amused by this young fellow and could only shake her head: “Who did you learn Chinese from?”
“I learned from…” Jin Yuanxun held up one finger. Before he could point at Chen Junnan, Chen Junnan rushed over and put his arm around his shoulder.
“Hey! Little Jin! Your Chinese still needs refining!” Chen Junnan laughed it off, then looked toward Earth-Ox. “Sister Dong, quickly introduce her—this is…”
“I ran into her on the road.” Qin Dingdong sighed. “Qi Xia not only assigned this task to Wei Yang, but also assigned it to this Earth-Ox. He wants to comprehensively damage all the ‘doors’—he even thinks that the power of ordinary people alone isn’t enough and needs ‘Earth-level’ intervention. This is also why I’m so agitated.”
“An ‘Earth-level’ specifically responsible for destroying ‘doors’…?” Chen Junnan looked at the Earth-Ox before him.
Her physique was lean and strong, with faintly visible abs showing through her tailored short suit jacket.
“Pleased to meet you.” Earth-Ox said. “No matter what issues you have with this plan, I need to execute it unconditionally. In order to buy time for myself, I even sold out all the ‘Earth-level’ ones participating in this operation, having them delay the ‘Heaven-level’ ones for me, so I can’t afford any delays.”
“You single-handedly sold out all the rebelling ‘Earth-level’ ones?” Chen Junnan felt that the Earth-Ox before him was also a ruthless person.