Qi Xia, Chen Junnan, and Qiao Jiajin set out once again toward the city’s edge, facing the afternoon sun.

Chen Junnan looked at the team before him, feeling that this should be the first time the three of them were acting alone in Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin’s memories. But little did they know that in his own memory, the three of them had already walked this street dozens of times.

The withered plants here, the cracked earth, the dilapidated houses, the creaking signs, and the rotting smell brought by that gust of breeze—never before had Chen Junnan felt any of it so familiar.

“Old Qi, Old Qiao,” Chen Junnan said with a smile, looking at the sun in the sky. “You know… this young master cut a dashing figure today…”

Qiao Jiajin’s interest was immediately piqued. “Oh? Junnan boy, what did you do?”

“This young master had a rabbit completely dizzy and disoriented today,” Chen Junnan continued with a laugh. “Even I thought I might die, but unexpectedly I lived.”

Qi Xia frowned and said coldly, “Don’t say such inauspicious things.”

“Old Qi, you don’t know…” Chen Junnan shook his head. “Every time, this young master wants to tell you about my dashing heroics in the games, but each time when I actually meet with you, I realize you’re much more capable than me.”

Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin walked together to the middle of the street and moved aside a rusty streetlight that had fallen and was blocking the road, then looked back at Chen Junnan.

“What are you trying to say?”

“Compared to you monsters, this young master truly needs to risk everything just to barely keep up with you two…” Chen Junnan’s hearty smile carried a hint of sadness. “Say, you won’t just abandon me one day, will you? Although this young master doesn’t want to leave, I also can’t be kicked out of the team by you two. You still need to understand that distinction.”

Chen Junnan’s words made Qi Xia feel somewhat awkward.

“Chen Junnan…” Qi Xia said with furrowed brows. “You’re keen on going head-to-head with ‘Zodiacs’—is it because you want to prove you’re standing at the same starting point as us two?”

“What else?” Chen Junnan’s gaze moved away from the sun in the sky, lowering his head to look at Qi Xia. His messy bangs somewhat blocked his eyes, making his expression hard to read. “One of you overcomes all difficulties with intelligence, one of you breaks all laws with fists… Now that I’m standing together with you, do you know what this young master is like?”

Neither of them spoke, only quietly watching him.

“Ah, Junnan boy, you…” Qiao Jiajin looked at Chen Junnan with some reluctance. “Actually you don’t look weak either. If it really came to a fight…”

“Yes, this young master knows,” Chen Junnan nodded. “Probably seven or eight of me could take down one of you.”

“Don’t compare yourself to me…” Qiao Jiajin tried to comfort Chen Junnan, but he felt his mouth was a bit clumsy. After thinking for a long time, he managed to say, “Maybe, maybe five or six would work…”

Chen Junnan laughed and sighed. “So… Old Qi, Old Qiao, if one day I can’t keep up with this team, actually you can always…”

Seeing that Chen Junnan was about to make himself cry, Qi Xia could only say with furrowed brows, “Stop being so sentimental.”

“Huh?” Chen Junnan was choked by Qi Xia’s words, and the words he hadn’t finished saying got stuck in his throat.

“What you did before wasn’t childish at all,” Qi Xia shook his head. “But what you’re saying now is childish.”

“What do you mean, Old Qi?” Chen Junnan impatiently pushed Qi Xia. “This young master has only gotten sentimental once in his entire life, and you’re ruining my moment?”

“No need for it,” Qi Xia said. “If you truly understood me, you’d know what kind of personality I have. I’ve never cared whether the people around me are ‘qualified to stand beside me.’ I only care about how much sincerity the people around me show toward me. When I do things, I rarely rely on others’ strength.”

“You…”

“Even if standing beside me were elderly people, children, or even unfortunate souls without any ‘Echo,’ I could never be so ruthless as to abandon them at will,” Qi Xia turned around, his cold voice coming again. “Much less you.”

“Yo!” Chen Junnan instantly broke into a smile. “Old Qi, when did you become so smooth-tongued? You’ve learned quite a bit from this young master, haven’t you?”

“You’re overestimating me,” Qi Xia continued walking forward, his indifferent voice drifting over. “A grown man standing in the middle of the road being sentimental—I can’t learn that.”

“You brat!” Chen Junnan wanted to curse a few times but didn’t know where to start.

“Instead of that idle time, why not tell me,” Qi Xia changed the subject. “That Wei Yang you mentioned… what kind of person is he exactly?”

“Old Wei, huh…” Chen Junnan recalled while walking forward. “I’ve only had contact with him a few times. Anyway, he’s a fierce big brother type, hard to approach, and no need to approach him. He was once one of your capable generals, but his character wasn’t very honest. You kicked him out of the team a long time ago.”

“I kicked him out?” Qi Xia confirmed.

“That’s right,” Chen Junnan nodded. “Old Wei not only has a terrible temper, but there’s not a truthful word in his mouth. Before entering the ‘Land of End,’ he was a notorious fraudster.”

“Wait a moment…” Qi Xia paused. “Another fraudster?”

“Yeah…” Chen Junnan was about to respond when he suddenly realized Qi Xia’s words were a bit strange. “Hold on… Old Qi, what do you mean by ‘another fraudster’? Are fraudsters very common here?”

“Hmm…?” Qi Xia felt Chen Junnan’s question was also somewhat strange.

“Fraudster?” Qiao Jiajin laughed after hearing this. “My goodness, isn’t that a coincidence? Wasn’t Liar boy a fraudster before coming here? What’s going on with this place—fraudsters everywhere.”

Although Qiao Jiajin was talking to himself on the side, Qi Xia’s gaze never left Chen Junnan. Seeing Chen Junnan’s hesitant expression, he seemed to have thought of something extremely bizarre.

Chen Junnan turned his head and looked at Qi Xia very seriously, as if confirming whether the person before him was really the Qi Xia he knew. His eyes revealed a hard-to-suppress doubt, feeling as though even his own memories had problems.

After holding it in for a long time, he slowly uttered a sentence: “Old Qi… when the hell did you become a fraudster?”