Qi Xia, Qiao Jiajin, and Li Shangwu had been following a group of “Cat” team members for nearly the entire morning and were gradually feeling somewhat fatigued.

Was the “Cat’s” base really this far from “Heaven’s Gate”?

“Liar boy…” Qiao Jiajin said in a low voice. “There’s something I’ve been very concerned about.”

“What?”

“Look…” Qiao Jiajin jerked his mouth backward. “There’s a little hero who’s been following us the whole time.”

Qi Xia turned around. His gaze passed through all the pale-faced “Cat” team members and looked directly at Zheng Yingxiong at the very back of the group.

He saw that the child was still wearing the crown folded from newspaper. His two eyes cautiously watched the surroundings, his hand always resting on the newspaper short sword at his waist, as if responding to something.

“Song Qi.” Qi Xia called out.

Song Qi at the front of the group heard this and turned back with a bloodless face, asking: “What?”

“Have you… ever seen that child?” Qi Xia glanced toward the back of the group.

Song Qi looked from afar, thought briefly and said: “I seem to have seen him, but don’t have any deep impression.”

“I once heard an interesting theory.” Qi Xia said. “All people who enter the ‘Land of Terminus’ are sinners. We’re here to ‘atone,’ but do children also have their own ‘sins’?”

“Of course.” Song Qi sighed and said, “If you preserve your memories in the ‘Land of Terminus’ long enough, you’ll even discover some people are born with unforgivable ‘sins.'”

“Is that so?”

“A completely ignorant child who helped his mother hang herself is regarded as ‘matricide.’ A beggar wandering the streets who stole another beggar’s food on a cold winter street is regarded as ‘plunder.'” Song Qi revealed a bitter smile and counted with a despairing expression. “There’s also a down-and-out magician who accidentally broke an audience member’s expensive watch, thus taking on a million in debt and ending up with a broken family. A righteous big brother who accidentally killed a notorious scoundrel. There’s even a taxi driver who didn’t notice a college entrance exam student’s admission ticket left in the car, resulting in them missing the exam and committing suicide…”

“Absurd.” Qi Xia coldly interrupted. “Song Qi, do you think these are ‘sins’? If this kind of logic can hold, then what ‘sin’ are these people atoning for? And why should they ‘atone’?”

“Indeed absurd, but how can these not count as ‘sins’?” Song Qi turned to look at Qi Xia, his eyes equally cold. “Each of us has a past too painful to look back on. Why would I care what sin a child committed?”

Officer Li at the side looked at the two arguing and slowly spoke: “In my view… for anything to be called a ‘sin,’ at minimum they should have broken the law. If even the law doesn’t determine them guilty, then naturally this ‘sin’ is unreasonable.”

“Heh…” Song Qi looked at Officer Li. “That sounds nice, but I’ve seen far too many people… there are even a very few people who can’t recall doing anything wrong no matter what. Could it be all these people broke the law without knowing it?”

After hearing this, Officer Li sighed and fell silent.

“If we all broke the law, why would it be the ‘Land of Terminus’ that punishes us?!” Song Qi revealed a cold smile. “From your tone, you’re a ‘law enforcer,’ right? You tell me… by all rights, should we be trapped here for eternity?!”

Officer Li couldn’t answer any of Song Qi’s questions.

Wasn’t he also someone trapped here?

“What’s going on…?” Qiao Jiajin walked between the two and said to Song Qi. “Bomber dude, you better speak properly to me. Can’t you see the current situation? If you keep yelling at our people, don’t blame me for turning my back on you.”

After hearing this, Song Qi sighed. Whether from fear or from thinking it through, he turned to Officer Li and said: “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to target you. It’s just that this place always brings up bad memories.”

Seeing Song Qi settle down, Qiao Jiajin turned and asked: “Liar boy, are we not worrying about that child? Just letting him follow us to the ‘Cat’s’ territory?”

“I think the ‘Cat’ probably won’t kill a child.” Qi Xia said. “But let’s still be careful. After all, we’re not children.”

After hearing this, Song Qi shook his head: “If Fifth Brother wanted to kill you, he wouldn’t go through all this trouble.”

Qi Xia didn’t speak. The group followed the “Cat” for another half hour or so before finally arriving at the entrance of a huge prison.

Standing at the entrance was a rather tall woman. She had a lip piercing and wore dark lipstick. She didn’t look very approachable.

“Sixth Sister…” Song Qi covered his severed right hand and walked forward with some difficulty to greet the woman.

“Old Seven… what happened to you all?” The woman called Sixth Sister looked somewhat angrily at the group returning in defeat. “Who’s so bold as to dare touch you all?”

“It’s just a transaction…” Song Qi said. “The person Fifth Brother was looking for has been brought…”

“Is it them?” The woman turned to look at Qi Xia and the other two, then said, “No matter how urgent, put it aside for now. You all follow me to see Fifth Brother first.”

What Qi Xia and the others didn’t expect was that the woman had the three of them wait at the entrance while she led all the “Cat” team members into the prison. The three of them plus Zheng Yingxiong stood alone at the entrance, as if no one wanted to acknowledge them.

“What’s the situation, liar boy…” Qiao Jiajin scratched his hair. “This is…?”

“Don’t know.” Qi Xia said coldly. “I don’t understand them.”

Officer Li stretched his muscles and said: “I thought it was a criminal gang, but now it seems very organized.”

Qiao Jiajin thought briefly, then turned back and said: “I have a good idea.”

“What idea?” Officer Li asked.

“What if I sneak in secretly?”

“Sneak in…?” Officer Li was startled. “Is that necessary?”

“Fists, forget it.” Qi Xia said. “Although they’re all injured, they have considerable numbers. Let’s be cautious.”

“Alright.” Qiao Jiajin shrugged his shoulders and sat to the side. Before long, he began digging at the sand on the ground.

Yingxiong slowly took a step forward at this time, his childish face filled with caution: “Civilians, I advise you to be careful. The smell inside is very strong.”

“Oh…?” Qi Xia raised an eyebrow. “Yingxiong, are there ‘monsters’ inside?”

“No, inside doesn’t smell like ‘monsters,’ but rather a thick smell of ‘Echo.'”

Qi Xia also lowered his head to think. The smell of “Echo”?

From the current perspective, there were only two possibilities—either the “Cat” team had all achieved “Echo,” or among them was a very powerful “Echoer.”

But why would they feel so assured leaving several people at the entrance while they first went to see that “Fifth Brother”?

Qi Xia thought briefly and felt the situation wasn’t hard to deduce.

Song Qi and the others were willing to sever the entire team’s right hands to bring him back, which naturally proved he was important enough. Yet the first thing they did upon returning was to see “Fifth Brother.” In that case, there was only one possibility.

That person called Qian Wu might be able to heal them.