Qi Xia frowned and slowly sat up, reaching out to stroke Yu Nian’an’s face. “An, are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

Yu Nian’an still didn’t answer. After thinking for a while, she still spoke: “Knock, knock, knock.”

Although his heart was full of confusion, Qi Xia still tentatively asked, “Who’s at the door?”

But this time, Yu Nian’an didn’t say the phrase “So Qi Xia is home after all.” Instead, she stared into Qi Xia’s eyes and said word by word, “The one outside the door is not me.”

“What…?” Qi Xia felt somewhat baffled. “An, are you… sleepwalking?”

Yu Nian’an stopped looking at Qi Xia. She just slowly lay down and closed her eyes, as if nothing had happened.

Before long, her breathing became even, as if she had fallen asleep again.

Qi Xia worriedly patted Yu Nian’an’s back gently, trying to make her feel more secure.

Perhaps these past days when he hadn’t been home, Yu Nian’an had been too exhausted.

“Don’t worry, An. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay right here with you.” Qi Xia slowly embraced her.

…

“Knock, knock, knock.”

Qi Xia suddenly woke up and found Yu Nian’an sitting beside him again.

Outside the window, it was still pitch black. Through the dimness, he could only see Yu Nian’an’s bright, glistening eyes.

“An… you…”

Qi Xia slowly sat up, an uneasy feeling stirring in his heart.

“Knock, knock, knock.” Yu Nian’an said.

Qi Xia stared into her eyes and noticed there seemed to be tears in them.

“What on earth is happening?”

He wanted to understand Yu Nian’an’s motivation for doing this.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

But Yu Nian’an seemed to only be able to say this one phrase.

Qi Xia was silent for a long while, then finally asked, “Who, who’s at the door?”

“Xia, the one outside the door is not me.”

Qi Xia saw very clearly that there was a teardrop at the corner of Yu Nian’an’s eye.

This teardrop gleamed faintly in the darkness, sliding down half her face before falling.

After saying this, Yu Nian’an closed her eyes and slowly lay down.

She had fallen asleep again.

But Qi Xia could no longer fall asleep no matter what.

In the seven years he had been with Yu Nian’an, she had never cried.

He had once sworn an oath that he would never let Yu Nian’an’s tears fall to the ground in his lifetime.

But this time, he had broken his word.

Yu Nian’an looked extremely sad. That look in her eyes was like it contained a knife, carving her heart full of despair.

Waves of putrid stench began to spread throughout the room, making Qi Xia feel extremely unreal.

This was a smell that could only be encountered in the “Land of the End.” Why would it appear in reality?

The surroundings were far too dark.

Qi Xia couldn’t distinguish at all whether this place was reality or the “Land of the End.” He could only slowly embrace Yu Nian’an to calm his emotions as much as possible.

Time passed minute by minute. After about an hour, Qi Xia felt Yu Nian’an’s body move.

He gently released his hold, then watched with his own eyes as Yu Nian’an sat up.

She opened her eyes and turned her head to look in Qi Xia’s direction.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

Qi Xia also slowly sat up. An uneasy thought began to sprout in Qi Xia’s heart.

If everything truly was as he imagined, this would be the most terrifying thing he had encountered in his entire life.

“Who’s at the door?” Qi Xia asked with a trembling voice.

Yu Nian’an paused, then said in a low voice, “The. One. Outside. The. Door. Is. Not. Me.”

After these words, Yu Nian’an shed tears of agony.

And in this moment, Qi Xia broke down as well.

Watching Yu Nian’an lie down and fall asleep again, Qi Xia’s tears gushed out uncontrollably.

So that’s how it is…?

She was in great pain, but she couldn’t resist.

She knew that the person saying “knock, knock, knock” was not Yu Nian’an. She also knew that she herself was not herself.

Yu Nian’an shouldn’t exist, yet she was lying here.

Why was she lying here?

What reason caused her to appear?

“What exactly is my ‘Echo’…?”

Qi Xia curled up his body, gripping his own hair tightly in the darkness.

His entire being’s faith and persistence, like a collapsing building, was now shattering and crumbling from the foundation.

Why were the dishes Yu Nian’an made today exactly the same as what Qi Xia had guessed?

Why did the flavors she made completely match his expectations?

Why did the seven years she recalled match his memories perfectly, down to the smallest detail?

Why did she carry the unique scent of the “Land of the End”?

Looking at it this way, wasn’t it too obvious…

Qi Xia’s entire body was trembling slightly.

The Yu Nian’an before his eyes was neither real nor fake.

Rather, she was “created” by Qi Xia.

She was a masterpiece of the “Echo,” born from his own “belief,” so naturally she would be completely consistent with his own thoughts.

The trembling in Qi Xia’s body grew more and more intense. He began to doubt everything.

If the Yu Nian’an before his eyes was created…

Then where was the real Yu Nian’an?

“No… that’s not right…”

The problem seemed to have returned to the starting point… did Yu Nian’an exist or not?

If she didn’t exist, where did the memories of those seven years come from?

Qi Xia had even taken personal risks to defraud a scumbag for Yu Nian’an’s sake. Could all of this have been something he imagined?!

“Stop joking…” Qi Xia shook his head.

He knew he must have lived together with Yu Nian’an. That period of memory was too real, real enough to be engraved in his bones and heart.

No one in this world lived for someone else.

But Qi Xia was different. He always felt that he was living for Yu Nian’an’s sake.

If there was no Yu Nian’an in this world, where would his faith come from?

Those seven years of time…

Lin Qin’s voice now echoed in Qi Xia’s ear: “Qi Xia, I haven’t heard of a figure like you in the ‘Land of the End’ for at least seven years.”

Qi Xia furrowed his brow, feeling his thoughts becoming somewhat clearer.

During those seven years, he had never once walked out of the interview room.

Then could it be… that he wasn’t in the room at all at that time?

That’s why he didn’t lead everyone to escape. That’s why no one in the “Land of the End” had seen him, nor had they seen Qiao Jiajin, Officer Li, and the others.

“I… was together with Yu Nian’an at that time…?”

This bold idea sprouted in Qi Xia’s heart.

He knew he absolutely couldn’t have only entered the “Land of the End” for three cycles. He should have entered this place much earlier.

Through his previous conversations with Zhu Que and Baihu, he knew that his past self should have turned the “Land of the End” upside down, and might have even escaped.

He escaped back to the real world, but the other people in the room didn’t.

Then he met Yu Nian’an and spent seven years in the real world.

But after seven years, something unknown happened that caused him to return to this damned place, forcing everything to start over again.

“This makes too much sense…” Qi Xia murmured.

Unless someone’s memories had been preserved for more than seven years, it would be impossible to know what had happened to Qi Xia before.

Qi Xia felt he had found a peculiar critical point between madness and rationality…

It seemed like he was only one straw away from falling completely into utter insanity.