Qi Xia drew back his hand, covering his ears, feeling that he must have gone completely mad.

“An… the person outside the door isn’t you… then where is the real you?”

But the voice in his ears gave Qi Xia no answer. It seemed unable to hear Qi Xia’s voice at all. She would only continuously repeat the same sentence over and over.

“The person outside the door isn’t me… Xia, outside the door, it’s not me…”

“I know, I know…” Qi Xia covered his ears, trying hard to capture this ghostly voice. He only felt his hands ice-cold, trembling uncontrollably. “An… where are you trapped? And where is this ‘door’?”

“Knock knock knock…”

The voice in his ears grew increasingly clear. Qi Xia could feel that Yu Nian’an seemed to want to convey some information to him, but she couldn’t hear him.

“An, I’m here. Tell me where you are?” Qi Xia asked.

“Outside the door, it’s not me.” Yu Nian’an’s ethereal voice came, followed immediately by continuous “knock knock knock” sounds.

This situation, no matter who experienced it, would inevitably think they had completely fallen into madness. Qi Xia felt his mind was about to split apart.

But he also vaguely sensed that he seemed to have grasped some ethereal clue. There was a real “Yu Nian’an” in this world, somewhere. This Yu Nian’an was neither a product of “Echo,” nor was she Xu Liunian pretending before him—she was a real person.

Qi Xia recalled the first time Yu Nian’an had said to him “the person outside the door isn’t me.”

According to what Xu Liunian said, at that time she was playing Yu Nian’an, which would have been when he first got into her taxi.

Could it be that at that time he hadn’t died yet, but had only fallen into a dying state, and then had a dream?

But at that time, Xu Liunian was playing Yu Nian’an, causing the Yu Nian’an in his dream to have a “rejection reaction,” thereby continuously prompting him that “the person outside the door isn’t me.” She said it over and over, but at that time he didn’t understand these words.

The Yu Nian’an at that time was extremely anxious, so anxious that she was crying in the midnight moonlight.

“You’re trapped… aren’t you?” Qi Xia lowered his hands from his ears, lifted his head and said, “You need me to save you, don’t you?”

“Xia, as long as we think of each other, we will meet.”

Hearing these words, Qi Xia slowly narrowed his eyes. He felt his mind was like a tunnel filled with rubble, and at this moment a ray of light was passing through the gaps between the stones.

The air seemed to freeze at this moment.

Xu Liunian felt something was wrong. At this moment, after the air froze, it actually began to shake. She immediately reached out and closed the car window.

“CLANG!!!!”

The instant the windows on both sides closed, a terrifying massive sound exploded.

Xu Liunian had never heard such a tremendous sound. Her entire being felt as if her soul had been shaken out. At this moment, even the car was trembling along with the ground.

Many “Participants” running on the street were all knocked to the ground by this massive sound. Because they had been running while overexerted, almost no one could get back up after falling. They were instantly caught up to by the black lines, then cleanly and neatly split in half.

“Endless Rebirth” arrived with a thunderous roar along with the death aura of numerous participants.

Qi Xia looked down at his own body. There was no change in appearance, but he felt his thinking was somewhat different.

Xu Liunian knew that her first lie had been achieved. Now was the timing for her second lie to appear.

Every step now was a huge gamble. If she was willing to quit while ahead, she wouldn’t lose too heavily. But if she chose to raise the stakes, naturally the high returns would come with enormous risks.

But at this moment, Xu Liunian was going all in. She had no way back.

“I’m sorry, Qi Xia. I deceived you,” she said.

“Deceived me…?” Qi Xia’s gaze had already recovered its composure. He sat quietly in the passenger seat, his cold aura like that of a deity who had just descended to the mortal realm.

“Yu Nian’an does exist.” Xu Liunian smiled bitterly. “The reason I lied was precisely to trigger your ‘Echo.’ Every time matters concerning Yu Nian’an are mentioned, it’s when your emotions fluctuate the most.”

“Oh?” Qi Xia nodded, using a pair of eyes radiating spiritual light to look at Xu Liunian. If Qi Xia’s eyes were normally already extremely profound, then his eyes now were like the vast universe, impossible for anyone to see through in the slightest.

“So… where is the real Yu Nian’an?”

“In ‘Jade City.'” Xu Liunian suppressed the fear in her heart and said decisively, “Yu Nian’an isn’t a person from this city at all, which is why you’ve never been able to see her.”

“‘Jade City’…?” Qi Xia slowly furrowed his brow.

“That’s right. Everyone in that city needs to collect ‘jade’ to escape from here.” Xu Liunian blinked, shedding Yu Nian’an’s appearance and returning to her original form. “If you can come back alive next time, you must remember to go take a look at ‘Jade City.’ The real Yu Nian’an is there.”

“Is that so…” Qi Xia nodded ambiguously. “A city that needs to collect ‘jade’…”

“So, Qi Xia, I’m really happy.” Xu Liunian continued, “Being able to let a powerful person like you obtain an ‘Echo’ means we’re one step closer to everyone escaping. Whether it’s you or Wen Qiaoyun from ‘Jade City’…”

Qi Xia felt something was slightly strange, so he asked, “Where exactly is ‘Jade City’?”

“It’s at the place where we first met. Follow the highway straight ahead, about ten-plus kilometers and you’ll arrive at another city.” Xu Liunian tried hard to control her emotions, speaking eloquently to Qi Xia. “Everyone there is a powerhouse no less than you. They’re about to break through all the rules of this place.”

“Everyone is a powerhouse…?” Qi Xia looked at Xu Liunian with eyes full of pity. “So that’s how it is?”

“Yes.” Xu Liunian nodded. “And ‘Wen Qiaoyun’ is the greatest leader of all of ‘Jade City.’ Her power surpasses anyone’s imagination.”

Qi Xia reached up to touch his chin, then curved his lips upward.

“‘Information gap’ tactics, right?” he asked softly.

“What…?”

“Xu Liunian, the only weapon you can use to maneuver between me and Chu Tianqiu is the ‘information gap.'” Qi Xia said. “It’s just a pity that the ‘information gap’ is a double-edged sword. You think that by controlling enough information, you can use it to control this place by yourself, but you don’t know that everyone has information. I’ve already learned about the ‘Jade City’ you mentioned. That place has completely gone mad.”

“You…”

“And in this cycle, in just two days, I suddenly heard many people mention the name ‘Wen Qiaoyun’ to me. I now have a bold hypothesis…” Qi Xia reached out and opened the car window, letting the foul-smelling breeze pour into the car.

“You wouldn’t be planning and organizing things to use me, to make me create a woman called ‘Wen Qiaoyun,’ would you?”

Qi Xia had hit the nail on the head, stripping away all of Xu Liunian’s disguises, whether visible or invisible.

“Just what kind of monster are you?” Xu Liunian said somewhat dazedly. “You say you’re relying on ‘guessing’?! You can calculate to this step purely by ‘guessing’?!”