Song Qi shook his head. “If you don’t want to say, that’s fine. We’re just here to ask Chu Tianqiu about something.”

Chen Junnan stuck his finger in his ear and scratched it, thought for a moment, then said, “You brought this many people… just to ‘ask about something’?”

“That’s right. This time we must get an answer,” Song Qi nodded. “After all, ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ is also an organization full of ‘Echoers.’ We have to be careful.”

“Speaking of which… Song… Little Song,” Chen Junnan walked forward a few steps and stood face to face with Song Qi. “What kind of organization are you guys now?”

“We are the ‘Cats.’ We’ve gathered a group of strong individuals who don’t want to leave, but instead want to stay in the ‘Land of Finality’ forever. We take real gold and silver to do work for people,” Song Qi paused, then added, “Whether it’s here or outside, whether it’s dirty work or hard labor.”

“Holy crap…” Chen Junnan scratched his ear. “Why does your situation sound so familiar to me?”

“It seems you also have an ‘Echo.’ Do you want to join the ‘Cats’ now?” Song Qi said. “Our boss, Qian Wu, would probably really like you.”

“Qian… Wu?” Chen Junnan seemed to recall something. “Little Money Bean? Qian Duoduo?”

“You…!” Song Qi rushed over immediately. This person spoke without restraint and could easily undermine Qian Wu’s position in everyone’s hearts. He quickly said in a low voice, “What are you babbling about? What ‘Little Money Bean’? How do you know Brother Wu’s real name?”

“Ah, I…” Chen Junnan laughed somewhat embarrassedly. “I forgot, I forgot. Qian Wu, right? I just wanted to know if it was him. So it really is him…”

Seeing this, Song Qi said in a low voice, “If you’re an old friend of Brother Wu’s, you should go see him even more. He might even bestow upon you the title of ‘Twenty-Two.'”

“Chen Twenty-Two…?” Chen Junnan shook his head. “That sounds terrible. This young master would rather be a handsome man than become an idiot in your group.”

Song Qi sighed. “Since you have no intention of cooperating, brother, then don’t block us anymore. We’re going to see Chu Tianqiu now.”

After learning that the other party’s target wasn’t Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin, Chen Junnan naturally stopped worrying. He stepped aside to reveal the gate.

Song Qi didn’t hesitate either. He pushed open the door and walked in, with the Cat team members following closely behind.

At the same moment, Zhang Shan and Yun Yao walked out from the teaching building with more than ten people, coming aggressively to the playground.

The two groups of people stood on opposite sides in the center of the playground. After a moment, Song Qi and Zhang Shan came to the center.

Song Qi vaguely remembered the man before him. Last time, everyone had gone through quite some effort to kill him.

“Brother, state your name,” Song Qi said.

“Zhang Shan of ‘Heaven’s Mouth.'”

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Song Qi of the ‘Cats.'” Song Qi said to him. “I want to see Chu Tianqiu.”

“That’s not how it works.” Zhang Shan looked at the uniformly dressed black-clothed people before him. “Song Qi, are you the leader of the ‘Cats’?”

“No,” Song Qi shook his head. “Our leader is Qian Wu.”

“The leader is Wu… and you’re Qi?” Zhang Shan smiled. “Damn, there’s still a ‘Liu’ between you two, so you’re the third-in-command?”

“Yes,” Song Qi nodded.

“You’re the third-in-command, and so am I,” Zhang Shan smiled. “Whatever business you have, we can discuss it between the two of us—our positions are equal. It’s not quite proper for a third-in-command to directly demand to see the other side’s leader.”

“You’re also the third-in-command…?” Song Qi squinted and looked at Yun Yao behind Zhang Shan, thought for a moment, then nodded. “My apologies, but I don’t think our positions are equal. For Brother Wu to kill Chu Tianqiu would be as simple as moving a finger.”

“But some commanders are good at martial combat, while some commanders are good at strategy…” Zhang Shan looked meaningfully at Song Qi. “When you say such things, are you trying to provoke?”

After a few simple exchanges, Song Qi clearly felt that the aura of the man before him was extraordinary. With such an aggressive bearing, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he was the leader himself.

At this moment, a strange thought kept circling in Song Qi’s mind—the strength of “Heaven’s Mouth” wasn’t weak, but when the Cat team launched their large-scale attack last time, very few “Echoers” rose up to resist. What exactly went wrong? Wasn’t their primary purpose in gathering together to obtain “Echoes”?

Moreover, the one who hired the “Cats” to carry out the massacre wasn’t an outsider, but their own leader, Chu Tianqiu.

“I have no intention of provoking,” Song Qi said. “We’re just looking for someone… and the instigator of this matter should know the details best.”

While the two were in a standoff, the crowd behind on the “Heaven’s Mouth” side gradually parted to both sides, and a slender figure walked over—it was Chu Tianqiu.

He walked up to Song Qi with an elegant smile on his face and slowly came to a stop. The two men faced each other in the morning sunlight, with the foul-smelling wind blowing, staring at each other for a few seconds.

“The Cat team…” Chu Tianqiu was the first to speak. “What’s the matter?”

“Chu Tianqiu, we have something to ask you. Can we speak privately?” Song Qi asked.

Chu Tianqiu smiled slightly and said, “Sure, come with me. Let’s find a place to sit and talk.”

Song Qi nodded, gave a few instructions to the people behind him, and everyone sat down on the spot.

“You all don’t need to stay here either,” Chu Tianqiu waved his hand. “Those who come are friends. Everyone disperse.”

After hearing this, the people of “Heaven’s Mouth” looked at each other, then finally dispersed.

Yun Yao looked around and noticed Chen Junnan standing at the school gate doing morning exercises. After thinking briefly, she left the crowd and walked toward that man.

Chen Junnan was just about to leave when he heard a female voice behind him.

“Wait a moment…”

He turned around and saw it was Yun Yao.

“What is it, big star?” Chen Junnan scratched the back of his head. “Did you remember Liu Yan’s phone number?”

Yun Yao thought for a moment, then asked, “Why are you looking for Earth-Snake?”

“Because I want to exercise my brain a bit,” Chen Junnan said. “Do you have any advice?”

“Are you trying to help Qi Xia collect strategies?” Yun Yao asked again.

“Not exactly, but pretty close,” Chen Junnan nodded. “I just want to see what Earth-Snake is like now.”

“I’ll go with you,” Yun Yao said.

“What…” Chen Junnan was startled. “No way. With your looks, going to Earth-Snake’s territory would be like a lamb entering a tiger’s den. You’d better stay put.”

“It seems you also know what kind of person Earth-Snake is,” Yun Yao said. “If a big man like you goes, how will Earth-Snake open his heart to you?”

Chen Junnan thought for a moment, then nodded and said, “But I can’t guarantee you’ll survive.”

“That’s fine. For the ultimate goal, I was going to die many times anyway,” Yun Yao said with determination.

“But aren’t you going to worry about that mess over there?” Chen Junnan used his chin to point at the crowd on the playground.

“It has nothing to do with me,” Yun Yao sighed. “No matter what Chu Tianqiu’s purpose is, ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ has become somewhat distorted.”