“You’re getting more and more outrageous.” The middle-aged man said irritably, “Big Sister, we believed in you and followed you here, so why are you telling us all this nonsense?”

“Child, you still don’t understand.” Aunt Tong shook her head. “But that’s alright—Mother Goddess will forgive you.”

She extended her hands, making an embracing gesture. “Zhong Zhen, Mother Goddess will forgive your sins.”

“You…” The middle-aged man furrowed his brow, but his expression remained dubious.

Everyone here kept insisting they had met before, so it wasn’t surprising that she knew his name.

“Why does ‘God’ want us to die?” the refined-looking young man asked.

“Child, you’re mistaken.” Aunt Tong shook her head. “Think carefully—God hasn’t made us die; rather, we were supposed to die in the first place.”

“We were supposed to die?” The crowd still didn’t understand.

“You all must remember what happened before you came here—we all died.” Aunt Tong raised her head. “We were supposed to die, but ‘Mother Goddess’ resurrected us. She’s not slaughtering us; she’s nurturing us! No matter how many times we die, we will surely live on in a brand-new form! It is ‘Mother Goddess’ who has bestowed upon us another kind of life!”

Qi Xia felt a chill run down his spine.

What kind of twisted logic was this?

If this “Mother Goddess” truly existed, why would she have everyone resurrect here instead of in reality?

And after resurrection, why would she make her people die again?

“This is nothing but a cult,” Qi Xia sighed deeply. “Anyone who can make it alive to ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ is no fool. I doubt many would believe her.”

Just as Qi Xia predicted, none of those present responded. Everyone’s expressions looked uncomfortable.

They not only doubted Aunt Tong but even began to doubt the “Heaven’s Mouth” organization itself.

At this moment, a dark-skinned, thin girl raised her hand and asked, “Then why don’t we go to the underworld after death but end up here instead?”

“That’s precisely because we are sinful.” Aunt Tong explained. “Although I don’t know all of your pasts, I know you must all bear sins. We are all here to atone.”

Upon hearing this, some people slowly furrowed their brows.

“Are you saying we broke the law?” the middle-aged man named Zhong Zhen asked.

“No.” Aunt Tong shook her head. “Having a sinful life doesn’t necessarily mean you committed crimes, but ultimately, we all committed sins worthy of hell. Sowing discord is a sin, spreading rumors is a sin, abandoning those you love is a sin—even wasting food is a sin.”

“What this auntie is saying… I think I’ve heard of it…” Han Yimo said quietly to Qi Xia at this moment. “When I was researching material for my writing, I looked up information about the eighteen levels of hell. Many of those levels were established to punish seemingly trivial matters. The ‘wasting food,’ ‘sowing discord,’ and ‘spreading rumors’ she just mentioned are all among them.”

“Is that so?” Qi Xia looked at Han Yimo with puzzlement. This was the first time he’d heard of such knowledge.

“But isn’t ‘hell’ a Buddhist term?” the dark-skinned girl continued. “Auntie, with all these things you’re wearing, what exactly is your faith? Which religion does ‘Mother Goddess’ belong to?”

“Child, how could ‘Mother Goddess’ be a figure from any single religion?” Aunt Tong explained patiently. “She is ‘everything’! All the things I wear, all the religions in this world—they were all established by ‘Mother Goddess’! Only by believing in all the faiths she established can I try my best to understand Mother Goddess’s thoughts.”

“But Auntie, not a single religion in this world was established by ‘God.’ All religions were founded by humans—this can all be verified through history.” The dark-skinned girl said bluntly. “If you’re willing to check the sources, you can even trace the entire developmental history of any religion. Then you wouldn’t say such things.”

“Child, you will come to understand.” Aunt Tong continued smiling. “If you only believe in one religion in this world, you will always encounter things you cannot comprehend. But if you follow ‘Mother Goddess’s’ footsteps, everything in this world can be explained.”

Lin Qin gently nudged Qi Xia with her elbow and asked, “Don’t you find this strange?”

“Which aspect do you mean?” Qi Xia was somewhat puzzled, since there were so many strange things about this auntie.

“I mean, why would Chu Tianqiu bring her into ‘Heaven’s Mouth’?” Lin Qin pondered for a moment before asking. “Didn’t they say everyone here is supposed to be ‘exceptional’?”

After hearing this, Qi Xia furrowed his brow.

Lin Qin was right—what exceptional qualities did this auntie possess?

Could it be…

Did Chu Tianqiu agree with what she was saying?

CLANG!!

A massive bell sound rang out in the distance.

Qi Xia blinked slightly but still turned his attention back to the auntie.

Currently, none of the people he knew were participating in games. This “Echoer” most likely wasn’t one of his own.

“Now for the second subject of today’s lesson: What is an ‘Echo’?” Aunt Tong looked at everyone with a smile.

Those present could only patiently listen to hear what the content of this second subject would be.

Aunt Tong first gave a simple introduction about when the bell sound would ring. This was not much different from what Qi Xia already knew.

The only difference was that Aunt Tong claimed the “I” written on the screen was “Mother Goddess.”

“I” heard the “Echo.”

Which meant “Mother Goddess” heard the “Echo.”

It must be said, her explanation had no apparent flaws at the moment.

“When we experience an ‘Echo,’ we can temporarily borrow ‘Mother Goddess’s’ power. She will grant us infinite possibilities.”

Seeing that everyone didn’t believe her, Aunt Tong said, “There’s paper and pen in front of each of you. Please write down any sentence you like. I will prove to you the existence of ‘Mother Goddess.'”

After saying this, she turned around to face the blackboard.

The crowd whispered among themselves for a while before writing text on the paper with lingering doubts.

There was also a piece of paper in front of the four of them. After looking at each other, they passed the paper to Qi Xia.

It seemed none of them had anything they wanted to say.

A trace of sadness appeared on Qi Xia’s face. He took the pen and pondered for a long while before silently writing: “An, I really miss you so much.”

“Now, you may ask me anything.” Aunt Tong said with a smile. “I will know what everyone has written on their papers.”

“Nonsense.” Qi Xia was the first to raise his hand and asked, “Auntie, what did I write?”

After hearing this, Aunt Tong pondered slightly before saying, “What you wrote is nothing more than about someone important in your heart. If I’m not mistaken, it’s ‘An, I really want to see you.'”

“Ha.” Qi Xia let out a cold laugh. “The meaning is similar, but the content isn’t quite accurate. Your ‘Echo’ probably needs more refinement.”

Qi Xia picked up the paper from the table. Just as he was about to show it to everyone, he suddenly froze like he’d been struck by lightning, his eyes widening in shock.

The paper clearly read: “An, I really want to see you.”

These five characters were indeed in Qi Xia’s own handwriting, and the ink wasn’t even dry.

What was going on?

Had he just remembered it wrong?

“Liar boy… what are you doing?” Qiao Jiajin asked in confusion. “Didn’t the auntie guess correctly?”

“You… did you all not see what I just wrote?” Qi Xia asked with wide eyes.

“What you just wrote was exactly that sentence.” All three of them showed puzzled expressions simultaneously.