After hearing this, Qi Xia remained silent for a long while before saying, “Let me summarize what you mean. You’re saying all the ‘Extreme Path’ members want to protect this place, but you don’t.”
“Yes.”
“You’re planning to take a completely different path from them and destroy this place.”
“Yes.”
“If that’s the case… why do you still call yourself ‘Extreme Path’?” Qi Xia cast a doubtful look at Lin Qin. “Your current goal aligns with ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ or all the ‘Participants.’ Wouldn’t it be better to just hide it and be a complete and thorough ‘Participant’?”
“I can’t hide it from you.” Lin Qin said. “When I was explaining the ‘Madman Theory’ to you, I felt you saw through me. Rather than having you ruthlessly expose me someday in the future, I might as well tell you the answer directly.”
“I see…” Qi Xia nodded. “I originally thought you weren’t a madman, but you’re actually crazier than ‘Extreme Path.'”
“I’m lucid.” Lin Qin continued drinking, her cheeks beginning to flush red. “I majored in psychology in the real world. How could I possibly become a madman…”
“Then why didn’t you ‘ignite’ me?” Qi Xia asked expressionlessly. “You haven’t shown your sincerity. How can I cooperate with you?”
“Who says I haven’t tried?” Lin Qin sighed. “Every time I touched you, I would ask ‘What are you thinking?’ But your thoughts are locked. Every time you’re thinking about your wife, you can’t sense my ‘Ignition’ at all.”
Seeing that Qi Xia didn’t speak, Lin Qin added, “I want to form a united front with you, Qi Xia. I have no other way out.”
Hearing this, Qi Xia fell silent again.
At this moment, one of them ate peanuts while the other drank beer, chatting as plainly as friends.
“Last time you said you wanted to return to the real world to confirm something. What was it?”
“I forgot to tell you—that matter changed me.” Lin Qin smiled happily. “Qi Xia, you ultimately made it out of here. Although you lived as miserably as a walking corpse, you really did get out.”
Qi Xia paused and slowly asked, “You saw me in the real world?”
“Not exactly.” Lin Qin said with a smile. “I only heard about you. In my time, you lived in the hospital where my friend works. You’re a complete and utter madman. You constantly preached bizarre theories like ‘The End Is Coming,’ ‘No One Survives,’ and ‘Divine Deception,’ giving everyone in the entire hospital a headache.”
Qi Xia’s expression darkened. “So what you wanted to go back and confirm was…?”
“I wanted to confirm whether that person was you.” Lin Qin smiled even more happily. “After all, when my friend described that old man to me, I always felt he was very similar to you. That old man had extremely strong logical thinking. It’s a pity he went mad.”
“So was he me?”
“Most likely.” Lin Qin nodded. “Although that old man had no name or surname, and calling him ‘Qi Xia’ produced no reaction whatsoever, as long as someone mentioned the three words ‘Yu Nian’an’ in his ear, he would fall into a completely collapsed state.”
Saying this, Lin Qin chuckled and turned to Qi Xia. “I had my friend try many times, constantly calling out ‘Yu Nian’an’ in his ear. The effect was quite amusing.”
Crack.
Qi Xia crushed a peanut.
“This is what you meant by… I lived as miserably as a walking corpse…” Qi Xia said with a despairing expression. “You believe that by following me, you’ll definitely find a way to escape…”
“Yes!” Lin Qin nodded happily. “You didn’t die in 2022. Instead, you lived until 2068. Isn’t that the best evidence? Seventy-two-year-old grandpa.”
“You don’t understand me.” Qi Xia shook his head. “If I truly returned from here to reality but lost Yu Nian’an, I couldn’t possibly live until 2068.”
“So you’re saying… that old man isn’t you?” Lin Qin raised her beer bottle with a smile and shook it. “Maybe some unexpected event will happen in the future that forces you to survive even after losing Yu Nian’an?”
Qi Xia stared into Lin Qin’s eyes and pondered for a long time before nodding slightly.
He revealed a cold smile and said, “Fine. I agree to join forces. Let me see what this future unexpected event is.”
So to survive here, the most important thing was “deception”?
Lin Qin also looked at Qi Xia with a smile. The two exchanged a glance, as if reaching an agreement.
After Yun Yao finished singing one song, amid everyone’s “encore” calls, she opened the radio and sang it again.
It seemed she had only found a recording of this one song.
“Lin Qin, how long have you been wandering here?” Qi Xia asked casually.
“Do you think my answer will be truthful?” Lin Qin asked.
“I can judge truth from falsehood through your answer.”
“A very long time. Even longer than you imagine.” Lin Qin said with a chuckle. “I’m a veteran ‘Extreme Path’ member.”
“Have you ever seen me before?” Qi Xia asked again.
“No.” Lin Qin shook her head. “I’ve wandered the ‘Land of Finality’ even longer than Chu Tianqiu, but I’ve never seen you.”
Qi Xia furrowed his brow slightly, feeling that things were once again exceeding his expectations.
“This question is very important to me. I hope you’ll tell the truth.” Qi Xia stared into Lin Qin’s eyes and asked.
“Really.” Lin Qin nodded. “I know what you’re thinking, so I won’t deceive you on this question. Qi Xia, I haven’t heard of someone like you existing in the ‘Land of Finality’ for at least seven years. As for before seven years… I didn’t even know if the ‘Land of Finality’ existed.”
“Seven years?!” Qi Xia was stunned.
Could his deduction be wrong?
He had originally thought that according to what Baihu said, he should have been wandering the “Land of Finality” for a very long time. But what was this “seven years” about?
Qi Xia knew his mind wouldn’t change with the number of cycles. In other words, as long as he woke up in the “Land of Finality,” he would definitely pass through the “Interview Room.”
If he encountered a “Zodiac” in the city, he would certainly challenge it.
With a bit more luck, if he could retain his memories, he knew he could completely turn the “Land of Finality” upside down.
He would know many people and would also kill many “Zodiac.”
But why hadn’t this kind of situation occurred even once during the entire seven years?
“Could it be that in these seven years, I never passed an ‘Interview’ even once?”
Qi Xia’s eyes turned cold as he suddenly turned to look at Lin Qin.
“So when did you start infiltrating our ‘Interview Room’?” Qi Xia said. “If you’ve never seen me before, why would you infiltrate our room and willingly become my teammate?”
Lin Qin slowly extended her hand and counted on her fingers.
“Our meeting counts as the third time.” She looked at Qi Xia. “The first time I saw you in a game, unfortunately you died. The second time was entering the ‘Interview Room.’ This is the third time.”
After saying this, she smiled again. “I’ve never seen anyone continuously risk their life against the ‘Zodiac’ without any ‘Echo,’ but you did it. What a pity though—in the end you died in an ordinary ‘Earth-Chicken’ game.”
“Which means…” Qi Xia looked at Lin Qin with a heavy expression. “I’ve only come to the ‘Land of Finality’ for three cycles?”