“What did you say…?” Qi Xia slowly stood up, looking very agitated. “Don’t spout nonsense to me… Other people’s lingering thoughts may be stray thoughts, but my lingering thought is my everything…!”

“Hey… Liar boy, calm down…” Qiao Jiajin reached out and tugged at Qi Xia. “What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

Lin Qin also noticed this. Qi Xia was very strange.

His emotions were unstable.

His mental state was always painful, depressed, and anxious.

“My wife is called Yu Nian’an.” Qi Xia said to the auntie. “This time when I returned home, she had disappeared.”

After hearing this, Aunt Tong pondered briefly before asking, “Child, what do you mean by ‘disappeared’?”

“The traces of her existence were erased.” Qi Xia said. “This method is indeed very much like that perverted ‘Mother Goddess’ you mentioned. If you can sense her, can you let me speak with her directly? I have many things I want to ask her clearly.”

Aunt Tong shook her head slightly. “Child, although your situation is pitiful, even I cannot converse with ‘Mother Goddess.’ How could I help you establish contact? Moreover… this is also the first time I’ve heard of a situation where ‘traces of existence are erased.'”

“What…?” Qi Xia furrowed his brow.

“Generally speaking, when ‘Echoers’ return to the day before their death, it is a very obvious ‘divine gift.’ They can enjoy a day of divine experience with ‘Mother Goddess’s’ power. But I didn’t expect you would feel pain instead.” Aunt Tong looked at Qi Xia meaningfully. “Child, you also have memories, which means you also received a ‘divine gift.’ Then could it be… that the one who erased the traces of your wife’s existence was you yourself?”

Qi Xia was about to say something but slowly widened his eyes.

The information contained in these words was too overwhelming, leaving Qi Xia unable to process it all at once.

So “Echo” wasn’t just an exclusive ability of the “End Land”?

They could even bring “Echo” back to the real world and spend a day there?

But this still couldn’t explain why Yu Nian’an had disappeared.

“Even if my ‘Echo’ really was ‘erase a person,’ how could I possibly erase my own wife? I still can’t believe my wife has disappeared!” Qi Xia said through gritted teeth. “I will never cast aside my ‘lingering thought.'”

“Then could there be such a possibility…” Aunt Tong raised her head and stared at Qi Xia, her gaze particularly profound. “Child, could it be that you never had a wife at all?”

“You!” Qi Xia instantly became furious. “What nonsense are you saying? Whether or not I have a wife—can’t even I myself tell? On what basis do you say she doesn’t exist?!”

Lin Qin and Qiao Jiajin quickly stood up and held Qi Xia back.

“Qi Xia… you…” Lin Qin always had words she couldn’t say.

He really was very strange.

When normal people mentioned their wives, they were mostly proud, longing, or yearning.

But few people would be like Qi Xia.

As long as the three words “Yu Nian’an” were mentioned, it would almost instantly make him become sensitive, vulnerable, and irritable.

The two pulled Qi Xia down to sit, noticing he was trembling slightly.

Aunt Tong stared at Qi Xia and pondered for a while before saying, “Child, how about asking other people?”

“Ask other people?” Qi Xia was startled.

“When you return to the real world, ask the mutual friends you share with your wife.” Aunt Tong picked up her teacup and took a light sip of tea. “If they also remember your wife, it means her disappearance was indeed tampered with by someone—it could be ‘Mother Goddess,’ or it could be an ‘Echo.’ But if they don’t remember your wife, then it can only mean…”

“Stop talking!” Qi Xia interrupted. “I will naturally go back and investigate thoroughly.”

Though he said this, he couldn’t remember having any “mutual friends” with Yu Nian’an.

Did Yu Nian’an… have friends?

“That’s not right…” Qi Xia’s lips moved slightly as an even more bizarre thought began circling in his mind. “Do I… have friends?”

Aunt Tong ignored this small interruption and said a few more words to everyone about “Mother Goddess’s” greatness before announcing the end of class.

When everyone slowly left the classroom, Qi Xia still sat in place without moving.

“Qi Xia… are you alright?” Lin Qin gently patted him.

Qi Xia turned around. “I’m… fine, just can’t figure out many things.”

“What’s there to fear?” Han Yimo suddenly interjected. “Isn’t there an omniscient auntie here?”

Qi Xia sighed and asked, “Han Yimo, do you really believe what that auntie said?”

“How should I put it…” Han Yimo touched his chin and pondered briefly. “Qi Xia, generally in situations like ours… I mean suddenly arriving in a place like a different world, there would be a ‘senior’ to guide and lead the way. As long as you do what the senior says, you should get a very good ending in the end. I think that auntie is playing that role.”

If Qi Xia’s guess was correct, Han Yimo was trying to explain the current phenomenon using plot devices from novels.

“You died early last time, so you might not know…” Qi Xia shook his head. “We wandered the ‘End Land’ for four days without any guide or leader. Not just us—even the ‘Zodiacs’ here are the same. They’re all constantly groping forward. Everyone is fighting for their lives in complete confusion. That’s what I find most terrifying.”

“Ah…?” Han Yimo paused slightly, then started pondering again. He muttered to himself, “Then could it be because I’m the ‘protagonist’…?”

“What?”

“Last time, because ‘I’ didn’t appear, you also didn’t receive guidance…” Han Yimo organized his words, trying to make his viewpoint more understandable. “I mean, this time the ‘protagonist’ has appeared, so the ‘guidance’ has arrived as well.”

Qi Xia shook his head and stood up wordlessly.

He had never known writers’ thoughts could be so bizarre.

“Han Yimo, although I don’t know much about this place, I know that more than half of what that auntie said is false. I suggest you don’t follow in her footsteps, or you’ll go mad.”

After saying this, he slowly walked out of the classroom.

The three looked at each other and followed him out.

By now, the sky was approaching evening, and the first day was about to end.

The good news was that Qi Xia had learned much information he hadn’t obtained last time, moving one step closer to that ethereal “escape.”

The bad news was that within a single day, he had lost three teammates: Tiantian, Officer Li, and Lawyer Zhang.

When the four returned to the classroom, Doctor Zhao was sitting inside eating canned food. Xiao Ran was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin, a trace of embarrassment appeared on his face, and he didn’t greet them.

Han Yimo and Lin Qin, not understanding the situation, could only find places to sit down.

Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin got food for the two of them, and the four sat in a circle.

Before long, Yun Yao entered from outside. She looked around inside and said, “Qi Xia… although this might be presumptuous to say… there’s a ‘welcoming party’ tonight. Do you want to attend?”