This name struck like a bolt of lightning, freezing Lin Qin in place and causing Yan Zhichun beside her to widen her eyes in shock.

“Wen… Qiaoyun?”

Yan Zhichun and Lin Qin stared at each other for a long while before they began to seriously examine this young woman.

“What kind of joke is this… Is it just the same name?” Yan Zhichun asked doubtfully, “You’re saying you’re Wen Qiaoyun?”

“What’s wrong with me being Wen Qiaoyun? Do you two know me?” Wen Qiaoyun looked at the two women before her with confusion. “You two are really strange.”

Lin Qin and Yan Zhichun decisively stopped their argument, sensing that a more important matter had emerged before them.

After pondering for a moment, Yan Zhichun felt she had found some kind of flaw and asked, “How long have you been here?”

“How long have I been here…?” Wen Qiaoyun was stunned by the question. “What kind of question is that? Didn’t you two also come out from that strange corridor?”

“It’s already the seventh day,” Yan Zhichun said. “Are you saying you just arrived?”

“The seventh day…?” Wen Qiaoyun froze. “You’ve been here for seven days? I thought we all just arrived.”

Upon hearing this answer, Yan Zhichun was immediately at a loss for words and could only turn to look at Lin Qin before saying quietly, “Just what kind of person have you brought here?”

“I…” Lin Qin replied, “I don’t know either, but I didn’t bring her here.”

Despite saying this, Lin Qin’s heart began to fill with unease.

This matter was far too strange. Not only was Wen Qiaoyun’s situation bizarre, but even Lin Qin’s own circumstances were extremely peculiar.

She clearly remembered that she had already died.

Yet the moment after the black thread pierced through her forehead, she opened her eyes to find herself standing on an empty street at dusk.

Though filled with confusion, she could only temporarily hide in a nearby building, where this woman called Yan Zhichun was present.

Not long after, Wen Qiaoyun had also entered to spend the night. At the time, Lin Qin had only assumed the newcomer was an ordinary Participant and hadn’t given it much thought, her mind entirely occupied with puzzling over why she had suddenly appeared on the street. She never expected that this person’s appearance would be even more suspicious than her own situation.

Lin Qin had encountered the Wen Qiaoyun who had become a “resident” several times before. She clearly remembered that Wen Qiaoyun had always worn this same top.

Combined with the fact that her features were identical to that terrifying resident’s, it was enough to prove that she was indeed Wen Qiaoyun herself.

Only now, she looked much healthier—her cheeks were no longer sunken, her eye sockets no longer deep. She was clearly a reborn, healthy, brand-new Wen Qiaoyun.

How did she appear here?

“Could it be… that Yun Yao and the others’ plan targeting Qi Xia actually succeeded?”

Although Lin Qin hadn’t explicitly stated her position at the time, she knew that Yun Yao and the others wanted to use Qi Xia to resurrect Wen Qiaoyun.

Now it seemed they had apparently succeeded… but would a Wen Qiaoyun without any memories still have value?

Following this line of reasoning, she herself should also have been “created” by Qi Xia…

So Lin Qin’s mind grew even more chaotic. She didn’t know whether she could still be considered herself. If she was merely a newly created person, why would she carry memories from before?

“Today is really getting stranger and stranger…” Yan Zhichun interrupted Lin Qin’s train of thought and said, “In one small room, there are imposters everywhere.”

Lin Qin shook her head helplessly and chose not to argue with Yan Zhichun anymore. She simply turned back to look at Wen Qiaoyun.

She didn’t know which era Wen Qiaoyun came from, but she felt as though decades separated them, as if she were looking at a historical figure who once existed now standing before her.

“Wen Qiaoyun, I’m willing to team up with you,” Lin Qin said. “Would you like to come with me to meet my teammates?”

“Me…?” Wen Qiaoyun looked at Lin Qin and pondered for a long time before saying, “But your actions don’t sound particularly righteous… Are all your teammates these so-called ‘Extreme Dao’ members?”

“Don’t worry,” Lin Qin said. “The team I’m taking you to isn’t as simple as ‘righteous’ or ‘villainous.’ Perhaps each of us has our own purposes, with complexity beyond imagination, and it’s impossible to say who’s good or bad. If you’re willing, we can set out right now.”

What should have been such a discouraging statement made Wen Qiaoyun ponder for a long while. Finally, she revealed a confident smile and said, “Sounds interesting. I’ll go with you.”

Lin Qin nodded, thinking to herself that this was indeed worthy of Wen Qiaoyun. Perhaps only someone with this kind of mentality could reach the pinnacle in this place.

However… was there still enough time for her to climb up from the bottom?

Perhaps that answer would have to be left for her to discover herself.

The two no longer paid attention to Yan Zhichun and were about to leave together when they discovered another young woman entering through the doorway.

Lin Qin frowned the moment she saw this person, though the newcomer smiled and waved at Lin Qin in greeting.

The arrival was none other than Jiang Ruoxue, who had previously met Lin Qin once before.

“Yo!” Jiang Ruoxue waved her hand. “You… where have I seen you before… Earth Dog’s… ‘Letter Deliverer,’ right?”

Lin Qin nodded in response.

“What a coincidence,” Jiang Ruoxue said with a goodwill smile, then shifted her gaze to Wen Qiaoyun.

After staring at Wen Qiaoyun for a long while, she said with an unchanged expression, “Hello.”

Wen Qiaoyun also nodded in response: “Hello.”

Lin Qin remembered that Jiang Ruoxue was neither enemy nor ally, with a strange position. Fearing that delays would lead to complications, she turned to Wen Qiaoyun and said, “Let’s go.”

Wen Qiaoyun agreed, and the two walked out of the building together.

Only Yan Zhichun and Jiang Ruoxue remained in the room.

Yan Zhichun sighed and said, “How did you find your way here?”

Jiang Ruoxue walked slowly to Yan Zhichun’s side and smiled, saying, “Because of ‘Cause and Effect.’ I knew that as long as I set out, I would find you.”

Yan Zhichun nodded after hearing this, then raised her eyes and said, “Today has been truly strange. Those two women just now were each more peculiar than the other.”

“Oh?” Jiang Ruoxue covered her mouth with a smile. “Is there anything here that you would find strange?”

Yan Zhichun briefly explained what had just occurred to Jiang Ruoxue. One of these two women claimed to be an Extreme Dao member who had wandered for seven years, while the other was a historical monarch.

Both of these figures who seemingly could dominate their respective domains had simultaneously appeared in the same building to spend the night.

“That person really is Wen Qiaoyun,” Jiang Ruoxue said.

“What?” Yan Zhichun was startled. “Hasn’t the legendary Wen Qiaoyun already disappeared?”

“Yes,” Jiang Ruoxue nodded. “Her appearance is a massive ‘Effect,’ which necessarily requires an ultimate ‘Cause.’ Don’t you want to follow them and see?”