To be honest, I don’t quite understand what Qinglong means.

He’s opened a strange force field, turning our conversation into a secret—meaning what he says cannot be known by anyone else.

But why would he drive a wedge between Qi Xia and Chu Tianqiu?

Neither of them are bad people. If they joined forces, they would naturally be unstoppable. Not only would they possibly stand before Heavenly-Dragon again, but they might even completely destroy this place.

“I don’t quite understand,” I said. “Qinglong… you also want to destroy this place, right?”

“Of course.” Qinglong nodded. “But due to my position, what I can do is limited. I can help others destroy this place, but I cannot do it myself.”

Seeing my hesitation, he walked a few steps and stood before me.

“Xu Liunian, you’re immortal and undying, aren’t you?” He reached up to stroke his long hair. “So are you going to reincarnate in this kind of place for all eternity? Don’t you plan to free yourself?”

“Qinglong, half of my immortality is thanks to you… but aren’t you the same?”

“The same? But what’s the difference between me and ‘Heavenly-Dragon’? We can’t kill any ‘Participants’—we can only wait for the day they kill their way to us.” A desperate smile gradually appeared on Qinglong’s face. “Rather than be overthrown by a crowd of mortals, we might as well take the initiative to destroy this place ourselves.”

“But that’s not what Heavenly-Dragon thinks at all,” I interrupted him. “‘Heavenly-Dragon’ has always believed he’s the ‘god’ of this place! How could he possibly agree to let you destroy it?”

“That’s precisely why I opened ‘Silence.'” Qinglong showed that expression I could never fathom no matter what. “Xu Liunian, remember when we first met? Back then you told me you weren’t someone being escorted here, but rather a work staff member responsible for the escort, crying and begging me to send you out…”

Yes, I remember. Back then I was quite undignified, but I truly had no other options.

This place was simply too terrifying—the first sight seemed like paradise, but the second revealed it to be an abyss.

I was responsible for escorting tens of thousands of people here. After the mission was complete, I discovered there was no way out at all.

Why did this happen?

I followed the train here—why was there no return path?

My superior couldn’t possibly have betrayed me, but what exactly happened in the real world to cut off all our retreat routes?

For people on the outside, time in “Taoyuan” is frozen. Never mind being trapped here for decades—even if I were trapped for thousands or tens of thousands of years, they would only think I had disappeared for an instant.

How could they possibly come to rescue me?

Never mind staying here for thousands or tens of thousands of years—I couldn’t possibly hold out even a hundred years.

Originally my life should have ended at death, but unexpectedly that was actually a new beginning.

For the first time in my ordinary life, I was entrusted with responsibility, yet I let him down. Now to end all of this, I absolutely must find a way to destroy this place.

Even if everyone here has their souls scattered to oblivion, it doesn’t matter.

The “plan” failed long ago.

“Heavenly-Dragon” lied. He told a massive lie.

The “Nuwa Game” has already been abandoned by him. His ultimate goal isn’t to create a “Nuwa” at all.

He doesn’t want to help my superior, his master, to select a “god.”

Rather, he himself wants to become “god.”

He established countless lies here, causing all the people escorted here to choose the wrong objectives. Everyone has been rushing about, collecting all sorts of different things, and the “divine power” obtained has been nothing but fleeting.

How could anyone possibly escape from this kind of place?

What kind of powerful, omnipotent “god” would be needed to escape from this shattered space established within the cracks of spacetime?!

Even someone as powerful as Qinglong couldn’t possibly escape—after all, even the “train” has stopped.

Our best outcome is to die here.

As long as we work hard toward this goal, wouldn’t everyone’s fate seem a bit more heroic?

This way my life wouldn’t be too ordinary either—it would count as having done something within my power for my superior.

The people I personally escorted—if something went wrong, I should naturally be responsible.

“Qinglong,” I called out in a low voice.

“What is it?”

“In all your long observations… do you believe that between Chu Tianqiu and Qi Xia, one will emerge who will ultimately destroy this place?”

“Quite coincidentally.” Qinglong chuckled softly. “These two people have chosen completely different paths, but both will threaten ‘Heavenly-Dragon’s’ position. I cannot fight ‘Heavenly-Dragon’ directly, so I can only use the Participants’ hands to achieve my own purpose.”

“Have you thought it through then…?” I took a deep breath. “If ‘Heavenly-Dragon’ dies… what will you do?”

“I’ll be reduced to ashes along with him.” Qinglong said expressionlessly. “I’m weary. It’s time to disperse.”

I truly saw the look of seeking death in his eyes.

After thinking for a few seconds, I agreed to his request.

“In that case…” I let out a breath and said, “I need some things. These things, I’m afraid in this ‘Taoyuan,’ only you can obtain them.”

“Oh?” Qinglong glanced at me with neither pain nor itch. “Put it this way—aside from the heads of ‘Heavenly-Dragon’ and the ‘Divine Beasts,’ there’s nothing I can’t obtain.”

“That’s perfect then… I need several ‘Earth-level’ heads.”

“‘Earth-level’ heads?” After hearing this, Qinglong pondered for several seconds. “That’s not difficult. I have quite a few ‘Earth-level’ who died for violations, though they’re about to rot.”

“That’s fine.” I shook my head. “I’ll wait here. After you get them, put them in my car.”

After bidding farewell to Qinglong, I hurried back to “Heaven’s Mouth” without stopping, only to find it had already been abandoned.

After asking around with a few Participants who retained their memories, I learned that “Heaven’s Mouth” had already relocated from its original location, advancing toward the eastern part of the city and having now moved its base into a school.

It seems Chu Tianqiu has been outwardly persisting with his own ideas all along. He wants to completely kill all the “Zodiacs” in this city.

“But now I’m back…” I murmured in a low voice. “Tianqiu, the ‘Original Resident’ path doesn’t work at all…”

After walking for about an afternoon, I finally arrived at the new “Heaven’s Mouth.”

Not only was there a spacious playground here, but also a teaching building four or five stories tall.

Now many classrooms had begun lighting up with the glow of campfires, and it appeared there were still quite a few people.

I wonder if Yun Yao is doing well?

I wonder if Zhang Shan and the others are doing well?

After walking just a few steps, I saw a young man I’d never met standing at the school gate. He must have arrived at “Heaven’s Mouth” after me.

“Hello.” The young man looked fair and clean, not like a bad person. “Do you need help?”

“Are you an ‘Echoer’?” I asked.