Chu Tianqiu asked me to give Qi Xia a perfectly timed show of force, but he and I were truly not on the same level.

I was nearly trampled to death by Qi Xia’s horse.

But this was also good. This was already all the effort I could make as an ordinary person.

I remember Chu Tianqiu asking me to try to reveal some flaws to Qi Xia. Now I sadly discovered that even if I did nothing and merely stood before Qi Xia, I was already full of flaws.

The more I wanted to play myself as Chu Tianqiu, the greater the flaws I would reveal.

After all, Qi Xia asked me more than once, “Chu Tianqiu, are you really an intelligent person?”

Every time I heard this kind of question, my “Echo” was nearly broken. Fortunately, I always firmly believed I was the former Chu Tianqiu. After all, from certain angles, my ultimate goal and Chu Tianqiu’s were the same, so our beliefs were connected. I was him, but he was not me.

At that time, Qi Xia also gave me an extremely strange piece of information that forced me to re-examine the entire situation.

Their room had ten people.

Every room here had nine people. After all, even a lunatic like “Heavenly-Dragon” knew that above are the Nine Heavens, below are the Nine Abysses—”nine” is the great number of heaven and earth. The significance of this character for “Dao techniques” goes without saying.

If he truly wanted to use all the “Participants” as stepping stones on his path to becoming a god, he would absolutely never arrange an interview room with ten people.

In that case… could someone, like me, have made some kind of deal with Qinglong and then infiltrated Qi Xia’s room?

This sounded truly too absurd. No one in Qi Xia’s room had become a “Madman,” which meant their room’s interviewer would kill the extra person. The infiltrator faced extremely high danger—practically certain death.

Just how insane would one have to be to infiltrate when the room was already full?

Unfortunately, I wasn’t Chu Tianqiu. I didn’t remember at all who Qi Xia’s original teammates were. Among the eight people who came with him this time… was there one extra person?

I infiltrated a room to break into Chu Tianqiu’s team and thereby enter “Heaven’s Mouth.” So that extra person in Qi Xia’s room… was it to infiltrate Qi Xia’s team?

I felt that no one dared to set foot in this “Taoyuan” anymore. The strange ecological environment had created batch after batch of monsters.

In previous days, rumors of “only one person can leave” spread everywhere, making it impossible for us to trust anyone.

Moreover, even the most trusted teammates could suddenly lose all their memories one day and become completely unrelated to us thereafter.

At that time, Chu Tianqiu was the first to step forward. Not only did he establish an organization and rack his brains time and again to preserve everyone’s memories, but when everyone’s hearts were in turmoil, he produced a notebook.

He told everyone that what was recorded in the notebook proved that more than one person could escape from here, because someone had succeeded before, so the “Participants” must unite.

Although Chu Tianqiu never mentioned it, many of us had already guessed that notebook was fabricated by him.

But what did that matter?

Someone who could organize scattered individuals, provide food and shelter, and be responsible for everyone’s “Echoes”—Chu Tianqiu lived more exhaustingly every day here than anyone else. How could anyone want to pierce through that transparent layer of window paper?

No matter what Chu Tianqiu’s notebook was, even if it was just a blank page, as long as he held it in his hand, it was the faith of everyone at “Heaven’s Mouth.” People would go forward one after another for that illusory paper, constantly dying here.

In a place filled with “despair,” no one would question the weight of “hope.”

That’s why I actively found an opportunity and infiltrated when everyone in Chu Tianqiu’s room simultaneously lost their memories, smoothly becoming one of them.

Speaking of which, what was the purpose of the person who infiltrated Qi Xia’s room?

I had seen Qi Xia a few times before, but the time was too long ago—so long ago that “Heaven’s Mouth” hadn’t even been established yet.

The Qi Xia of seven years ago left an extremely deep impression on me, but he had disappeared for so long that I originally thought he had also become a “Madman.” But thinking carefully, aside from me, would any “Madman” here recover their sanity?

Qinglong wouldn’t do such a risky thing, and Zhu Que even less so.

Which meant Qi Xia had been moving around “Taoyuan” all these years. But if he really was a formidable figure, why had he been so silent for so long, not even joining “Heaven’s Mouth”?

Even if his personality was solitary, Chu Tianqiu would absolutely have extended an olive branch to him.

So could this matter be related to the infiltrator in their room?

Later I learned that the one who infiltrated their room wasn’t an outsider, but rather an old familiar face.

Let’s set this matter aside for now. At that time, I had only one thought—I needed to stabilize Qi Xia first. His upper ability limit remained to be observed. I wanted to take this opportunity to understand this person well.

So I told him about the mechanism of “Echoes” and the ultimate goal of “Heaven’s Mouth.”

We would rely on one “Echoer” after another to break through all the games.

But what I needed to do wasn’t just this—I also had to tell him about myself—that is, about “Xu Liunian.”

Such an intelligent person couldn’t be allowed to die in ignorance fighting for his life against “Earth-level” Zodiacs in games. I wanted him to take “Xu Liunian” as a warning and be cautious in word and deed.

Borrowing Chu Tianqiu’s mouth, I vividly narrated a false story.

After all, I wouldn’t appear again using “Xu Liunian’s” identity in the short term… The next time I appeared should be when I completely incited the war between Qi Xia and Chu Tianqiu.

Now I was also somewhat curious… Between these two people, who exactly would lead everyone to destroy this place?

What surprised me was that Qi Xia actually truly retained memories from the previous time.

He indeed obtained an “Echo.” Qinglong’s plan had already succeeded.

An “Unfortunate One” actually obtained an “Echo.” What exactly was Qi Xia’s “Echo”?

I feigned surprise and sent Yun Yao to search. I had already parked my car at the place where I last met with Qi Xia. Although they wouldn’t come up empty, they absolutely couldn’t know that I myself had long returned to “Heaven’s Mouth.”

What I needed to do was more than just return here—I also needed to stir up a layer of waves for Qinglong.

As long as I could ride this wave, perhaps I too could barely touch the sky.