Looking at the blood-red holes on each corpse’s face, Zhang Shan’s rage ignited once more.

“Absurd…” he said through gritted teeth. “Even if Chu Tianqiu ordered you to kill people, would he also order you to gouge out these people’s eyeballs?”

Little Glasses keenly noticed something was off at this moment.

“Zhang Shan, it’s probably true,” he interjected. “Although they’re the ones who killed, their hands have no bloodstains. They likely didn’t dig out the corpses’ eyeballs.”

After speaking, he stepped forward with a serious expression: “Mr. Han, Dr. Zhao, may I ask if Mr. Chu’s objective from the start was to obtain these people’s eyeballs?”

“Yes!” Doctor Zhao answered. “We truly were acting under his orders…”

Just as the five people stood deadlocked in the middle of the playground, a cold voice came from the distance.

“It was indeed I who made them do it.”

Everyone turned to look, and Chu Tianqiu was walking toward them from the school entrance.

He approached step by step, bringing with him an overwhelming stench of blood.

Zhang Shan stared at him in a daze. The person before him had the same build and appearance as Chu Tianqiu, yet he wasn’t the image in his memories.

His hair was all swept up to the top of his head, revealing his forehead. A string of strange beads hung on his chest, making him look like some kind of bizarre cultist.

What puzzled Zhang Shan even more was the bloody smell emanating from Chu Tianqiu. He seemed to be dripping with blood all over, and even the coat draped over him was stained with fresh blood.

Little Glasses carefully looked down at Chu Tianqiu’s hands and indeed found that both his hands were bright red.

“Chu… Tianqiu?” Zhang Shan asked tentatively.

“We’ve only been away for a day… your transformation is way too drastic…” Even as Zhang Shan spoke these words aloud, his heart kept churning with doubts.

Could it be that Chu Tianqiu had gone insane in such a short time?

“I’ve just gained some clarity,” Chu Tianqiu said. “I truly have many people to thank for finally understanding what I need to do.”

“What you need to do… is to gouge out these comrades’ eyeballs…?” Zhang Shan asked.

“Precisely.” Chu Tianqiu nodded. “I ordered them to kill, and I personally dug out the eyeballs myself.”

Zhang Shan hadn’t expected Chu Tianqiu to answer so straightforwardly. He could only stand there stunned for a moment before asking: “Why?”

“Because the eyeballs are useful to me,” Chu Tianqiu replied. “Zhang Shan, give me your eyeballs as well.”

“What…?” Zhang Shan’s brow slowly furrowed.

Old Lu looked at Chu Tianqiu before him, then turned back to look at Han Yimo and Doctor Zhao, knowing that the current situation wasn’t good.

Although everyone was chatting, he felt that everyone would come to blows in the next second.

Little Glasses also quickly turned his eyes, reaching out to tug at Zhang Shan: “Something’s wrong, let’s leave first.”

At this moment, Han Yimo’s state of mind finally calmed down. Following a strong bout of dizziness from tinnitus, he once again summoned the “Seven Black Swords.”

Accompanied by the sound of wind being torn asunder, pitch-black treasure swords flew from the distant sky above.

Zhang Shan coldly surveyed his surroundings, then raised his head to look at the sky, saying in a low voice: “You want to kill me here, then dig out my eyeballs?”

“No.” Chu Tianqiu shook his head. “Zhang Shan, you’re now ‘Tian Xing Jian,’ so you should have self-healing abilities. You need only dig out your eyeballs yourself and give them to me, and I’ll let the three of you leave. This way you won’t have any losses, and I’ll obtain what I want. Why not?”

“Chu Tianqiu… do you know how much I trusted you?” Zhang Shan turned to face Chu Tianqiu. “Even though ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ was torn to pieces these two times, I still thought it was just some mistaken decisions, and that we had a chance to start over. But now you want to dig out my eyes to make into a necklace? How is this different from a lunatic?”

“Zhang Shan.” Chu Tianqiu shook his head and said with a smile, “We’ve started over too many times. Before you joined ‘Heaven’s Mouth,’ Yun Yao and I had already tried countless times, but that doesn’t work.”

“Is that so…? So you’ve been lying to me all along?” Zhang Shan laughed angrily. “Damn, you said you suddenly met me over a year ago, then invited me to join ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ to overcome all the ‘Zodiacs’ together. Was all of that a lie?”

“I truly didn’t lie to you about that, but I’ve also remembered many things from the past.” Chu Tianqiu touched his forehead. “My memories draw closer to me every day, even making me recall the first time I met you… Unfortunately, our first meeting wasn’t a year ago.”

“Oh?”

“Zhang Shan… you yourself should know,” Chu Tianqiu said, folding his arms across his chest with a smile. “You’re brave and skilled in battle, utterly loyal, possessing an ‘Echo’ stronger than most people’s, and your ‘Trigger’ isn’t difficult… yet why have you remained an obscure wandering hero all these years?”

“So what?”

“During the previous ten years, ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ was constantly recruiting troops. If I had known there was someone like you wandering the streets, I definitely would have taken you under my command. So why could you never make a name for yourself?”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying,” Zhang Shan said. “I’m just not someone who likes to show off. It’s normal that people don’t know about me.”

“Yes… at first I thought the same.” Chu Tianqiu smiled. “Unfortunately, I overlooked an important point in time. Over a year ago, I not only encountered you, but also heard about a major event… If only I could have connected these two things… perhaps I would have understood earlier, including Qi Xia’s plan… I could have glimpsed a hint of it.”

“Major event…?” Zhang Shan’s face showed a puzzled expression. He turned to look at Little Glasses and Old Lu, both of whom were equally confused.

“About a year and some ago, ‘Whirlpool City’ was declared fallen. Very few people remained there, already unable to leave the interview room. Around that same time, a man named Zhang Shan appeared on these streets.”

“‘Whirlpool City’…?” Everyone present was hearing this name for the first time, and no one could respond.

Chu Tianqiu shook his head: “Zhang Shan, oh Zhang Shan, how did you become teammates with Little Glasses and Old Lu? When we first met ten years ago, you clearly stood beside Nie Bei. You were a renowned general of ‘Whirlpool City,’ but how exactly did you come to be here?”

Zhang Shan felt increasingly confused the more he listened: “Nie Bei… who is that?”

“Ha…” Chu Tianqiu didn’t answer, only laughing to himself. “Nie Bei truly sent ‘Dao City’ a great gift… It’s just that heaven willed it so—you forgot Nie Bei’s instructions and ultimately became my subordinate.”

After hearing this, Zhang Shan laughed angrily again: “So what does this have to do with you gouging out my eyeballs?”

“Of course there’s a connection,” Chu Tianqiu said. “Nie Bei sent you to ‘Dao City’ for nothing more than to leave himself a thread of hope, and that hope is me.”