Facing that horrifying back, Qi Xia slowly stood up, then walked forward to stare closely at those pairs of deformed eyes.

“Why do this?” Qi Xia asked.

“Why do this…?” Earth-Snake paused. “Are you asking me?”

After hearing this, Qi Xia sighed with a hint of helplessness.

Earth-Snake let out a cold laugh and continued, “I’d also like to know… why do this? Just because I couldn’t provide anything… so I had to endure this ‘Divine Baptism.’ But as you can see, no matter what, the one who ultimately becomes a ‘god’ could never be me. I can’t even become a ‘demigod,’ after all, ‘demigods’ are all insane…”

He slowly turned his head, looking at Qi Xia behind him with the corner of his eye. “Even you can become what you are now, but I never can.”

“We’re all the same,” Qi Xia said. “True freedom isn’t about doing whatever you want, but being able to refuse whatever you want. You’re still far from it.”

“God damn it…” Earth-Snake smiled bitterly. “Of course I know that, but this kind of ‘freedom’ is the only thing I can still do.”

“You…”

“Qi Xia,” Earth-Snake said. “I’ve always been curious about one thing.”

“What thing?”

“Even if one day I could return to the real world… we people with beast heads and beast skin… we people with eyes implanted in our bodies, exactly what form should we return in?”

“This… isn’t something you need to worry about,” Qi Xia answered expressionlessly.

“No… you definitely know…” Earth-Snake slowly turned his head, speaking with a hint of resentment. “You never included us in your calculations from the start… right? You knew very well that even if we could truly return to the real world… we’d be monsters that everyone would want to kill… We couldn’t even walk the streets… So this plan never included us eight from the beginning… You deceived us… From the very start, you…”

Qi Xia reached out and placed his hand on Earth-Snake’s shoulder, interrupting his words.

The instant Earth-Snake turned his face to meet Qi Xia’s gaze, he suddenly saw those eyes filled with killing intent. Before he could say anything, Qi Xia’s cold words squeezed out from his throat: “Did you eat something filthy? What gives you the confidence to dare speculate about my plans?”

Earth-Snake felt an extremely unusual aura surging within Qi Xia’s body. He seemed not just to have “changed”—it was far more than that.

He appeared to have completely transformed into another kind of creature.

“You…” Earth-Snake swallowed and said, “Wait… I feel like I’ve heard you phrase things this way somewhere before…”

Some old memories suddenly flashed through Earth-Snake’s mind, making him freeze entirely.

Several years ago, a pristinely dressed Baiyang had looked at him coldly and asked, “Earth-Snake, did you eat something filthy? You actually dare speak to my people like that?”

At that time, Earth-Snake had argued his case forcefully, shouting, “I’ll say whatever I want. Besides, you got many of your books from me, so why can’t I make demands?”

The two had nearly come to blows and had viewed each other unfavorably for a long time afterward.

“What is this situation…?” Earth-Snake turned around, looking at Qi Xia incredulously. “Could you be Bai…”

Qi Xia ignored Earth-Snake, only slowly taking a step back and saying, “Connect everything in your mind, then speculate about my actions.”

“This is too absurd…” Earth-Snake lowered his head somewhat incredulously, as if pondering something extremely terrifying. “You didn’t disappear… you’ve been with us all along?! Why? Do they all know about this?!”

“Only a few people know,” Qi Xia said. “They guessed my identity through various clues, but I couldn’t admit it. A ‘Zodiac’ publicly revealing their identity is no different from suicide.”

“But why?!” Earth-Snake said with a trembling voice. “What’s your reason for doing this? Why didn’t you tell us your plan at all? You’ve clearly been with us all along, yet you made us spend our time in anxiety and worry?”

Qi Xia didn’t answer, only saying indifferently, “You just need to know… there’s a way to save you.”

Earth-Snake examined Qi Xia once more. If he had once been Baiyang and was now a “Participant,” it meant he truly had found a method to transform from monster back to human.

Thinking of this, Earth-Snake could no longer maintain his composure.

“Qi Xia… quickly!” He stepped forward and gripped Qi Xia’s shoulder forcefully. “How exactly did you do it?! Tell me quickly! Save me! Let me become a ‘Participant’ again! I don’t want to be a Zodi…”

Qi Xia’s brow furrowed. He immediately reached out and pinched Earth-Snake’s slender snout. The air fell silent at that moment.

His action startled everyone beside them.

“Earth-Snake,” Qi Xia said coldly. “You’ve lost your composure… Think carefully. ‘Zodiacs Never Flee.'”

Earth-Snake looked at Qi Xia and pondered for a long time before his gaze gradually calmed. Only then did Qi Xia release his grip on the snout.

“Yes… ‘Zodiacs Never Flee’…” Earth-Snake said with a bitter smile. “Even after encountering something like this, I must stand firmly in this position…”

After saying this, he seemed to remember something and turned to look at Qi Xia again. “You don’t know ‘Zodiacs Never Echo,’ yet you remember ‘Zodiacs Never Flee’… What exactly is going on with your memory?”

“My memory is like sunlight through venetian blinds,” Qi Xia said. “Countless rays of light drill through the gaps between the blinds, but they cannot form a complete surface.”

“Such a strange phenomenon…” Earth-Snake shook his head, but soon let out a soft laugh. “No… it seems like nothing that happens to you would make people feel strange.”

“So can you tell me now?” Qi Xia once again slowly walked behind Earth-Snake, looking at that horrifying sight. “Why did he implant eyes in your body?”

“This matter is truly a long story… This is the second method for ‘Zodiacs’ to obtain ‘Echo.'” After Earth-Snake finished speaking with a sorrowful expression, he looked up at the sky outside the window again. “God damn bizarre—even this can be discussed now.”

Earth-Snake came back to his senses and said softly to the four people, “You must have also discovered that to activate the so-called ‘divine power’ of ‘Echo,’ two things are needed. The first is ‘imagination,’ and the second is ‘belief.'”

“Yes,” Qi Xia nodded.

“As long as these two points can be satisfied… theoretically one can ‘make wishes come true,'” Earth-Snake said. “Doesn’t this sound like an ability everyone dreams of having?”

“But there are drawbacks to both,” Qi Xia said.

“Exactly,” Earth-Snake agreed. “The first drawback is ‘side effects.’ After all, it’s using mortal strength to drive ‘immortal techniques’—no one’s body can withstand it. The deeper the belief, the more insane the person becomes. As for those who don’t go insane, they die every moment under the tyrannical power of ‘immortal techniques.’ For example, those who can burn, those who can freeze, those who can strengthen themselves. Every single person must pay an enormous price to ‘make wishes come true’ for that fleeting moment.”