Qi Xia had contemplated countless questions in his mind, but now only this one question could determine the direction of their upcoming conversation in the shortest time.

“As I thought,” Qi Xia nodded. “Let’s make this brief.”

He pulled out the map Qinglong had given him from his chest, unfolded it before Earth-Ox, then asked, “Do you know these people?”

Earth-Ox glanced at Qi Xia, then reached out to take the map. After studying it for a long while, she asked, “What do these characters represent?”

“Zodiac,” Qi Xia said. “Are these people as trustworthy as you?”

Earth-Ox stared at the map for quite some time before slowly shaking her head. “I don’t know.”

“Don’t know…?”

“I’ve only just arrived in this city. I haven’t had time to familiarize myself so comprehensively with the distribution of these ‘Zodiac,'” Earth-Ox said with a sigh. “But I’ll also tell you honestly, Qi Xia…”

Hearing his name called out by Earth-Ox, Qi Xia inexplicably felt somewhat saddened.

“Ever since putting on the masks, we basically lost contact with each other,” Earth-Ox said. “I’m not even sure what kind of masks they’re wearing. We also have no way to confirm identities by announcing our names, so to anyone, we are alone.”

After hearing this, Qi Xia frowned slightly. “You mean, even if you and the remaining seven people came face to face, there’s no way to confirm who they really are?”

“Exactly. Unless you can bring eight ‘Heavenly-Snake’ beads and question all eight people on this map, not a single one is truly trustworthy,” she refolded the map and returned it to Qi Xia. “Even if they really are who they are, far too many things have happened over these ten-plus years. ‘Participants’ can still fast-forward their own time through death, but ‘Zodiac’ cannot. We truly live through each and every day. Anyone could completely collapse at any given moment.”

Qi Xia knew Earth-Ox spoke the truth. In prolonged solitude and doubt, even teammates with the strongest bonds could fracture.

Moreover, “Heavenly-Dragon” and “Qinglong” didn’t appear to be fools. They not only had the cunning to lure these “Zodiac” step by step into the abyss, but also possessed forceful means of intimidation. Under this dual pressure, even the firmest resolve could waver.

“Besides, this isn’t even the most fatal point,” Earth-Ox said.

“The most fatal point is that each of us is independent. Even if we’re certain we haven’t strayed from the path, no one can guarantee that you’re still holding to your original heart,” Earth-Ox said.

“Me…?” Qi Xia glanced at her.

“We’re like walking on a steel cable ten thousand meters in the air,” Earth-Ox answered. “The reason we’re not afraid of this potentially fatal height is precisely because we still have the steel cable beneath our feet.”

“I understand…”

“It’s just that we’ve been walking on this cable for over ten years… everyone’s afraid it will break,” Earth-Ox shook her head with a darkened expression. “Qi Xia, after seeing you, I finally realized the cable is still solid, and I can let go of the worry I’ve been carrying. I hope the others are the same.”

Seeing Qi Xia remain silent, Earth-Ox stared at him for a moment, then asked softly, “Those eyes of yours… did you succeed? Did you injure ‘him’?”

After hearing this, Qi Xia nodded slightly. “Possibly.”

“What do you mean ‘possibly’?” Earth-Ox asked in confusion. “Are you telling me that a path you’ve been planning for so long… has now entered an uncertain state?”

After listening, Qi Xia sighed deeply. “Yes, I’m uncertain. My memory is stuck.”

“Your memory is stuck?”

“Plans spanning too much time always have some details that develop flaws,” Qi Xia answered. “I’m working on resolving this matter. Right now my memory is very strange…”

“How is it strange?” Earth-Ox asked.

After hearing this, Qi Xia slowly turned around to face the pit beside Earth-Ox, then kicked a pile of sand down into it with his foot.

The sand and soil fell into the pit, but it was far from enough to fill this enormous hole.

“Clearly many memories have already filled in. These memories are fragmented enough to constitute decades of life,” Qi Xia stared at the pit and said. “But the pit is far from filled. I still feel like I’ve forgotten far too much.”

After finishing speaking, Qi Xia turned to look at Earth-Ox and said again, “There aren’t many ‘Zodiac’ I can trust. I need someone to help me string my memories together.”

“So you found me,” Earth-Ox smiled slightly. “Then you may be overthinking things.”

“How so?”

“You’ve always adhered to your principles,” Earth-Ox said. “Each of us is a chess piece in your plan, only knowing what we ourselves should do and nothing about anything else, so I can’t tell you what your missing memories actually are.”

“Then you can tell me what your part of the plan is,” Qi Xia said.

“That’s truly a pity,” Earth-Ox walked step by step before Qi Xia, saying with a completely serious expression, “You yourself once instructed that even if you came to ask, I absolutely must not mention it.”

“Oh…?”

“Qi Xia, you can trust me one hundred percent, but I may not necessarily trust you,” Earth-Ox said.

“I see,” Qi Xia narrowed his eyes looking at her.

“You told me that if the current you can’t cooperate across time with your past self through your own efforts, it only proves your ability is just so-so,” Earth-Ox said. “We can’t take risks. We’d rather not be liberated for the time being than let anyone escape from here.”

After hearing this, Qi Xia nodded slightly and said, “This is even better.”

“Is that so?”

“If you easily told me the answer, I would even consider it a trap left by my past self for my present self,” Qi Xia said. “This is too much like something I would do. I’d rather have my future self die prematurely than allow any flaws in the plan.”

“In that case, is there anything else you need to ask me?” Earth-Ox asked again.

“I…” Qi Xia thought for a moment before answering, “Right now I’ve found some like-minded new companions—also among the ‘Zodiac’ and the few people I can trust besides you. Tonight, find a chance to meet with them.”

“Which one?”

“Earth-Tiger, whose game is called ‘Narrow Road Encounter,'” Qi Xia said. “He should be quite famous among the Earth-level ‘Zodiac’ lately. You can go meet him tonight.”

After hearing this, Earth-Ox opened her mouth as if wanting to say something, but still worried about being monitored, she simply nodded.

“One more question,” Qi Xia spoke again. “Can you tell me about the current ‘Earth-Dragon’?”

“‘Earth-Dragon’…” After hearing this, Earth-Ox frowned slightly. “You mean… someone among us has become ‘Earth-Dragon’?”