“Try them both…?” I hesitated.

“I’ll first go find a ‘mask’ and hide it in a secret place in ‘Dao City,’ then return to ‘Jade City’ for a desperate fight.” After Guyu finished speaking, he looked at me. “Sister Zhichun, you’re right. I should extend a helping hand as much as possible while being able to protect myself. If I can help, I’ll help. If I can’t, at least I tried my best.”

“But have you really thought this through?” Jiang Ruoxue asked again. “Being a ‘Zodiac’ doesn’t necessarily mean you can escape either. It can only keep you alive.”

“Staying alive is enough.” Guyu said. “If I don’t act quickly… I’m afraid I’ll be trapped in the ‘Interview Room’ forever.”

His eyes were unusually sad. I knew both paths were difficult choices for him, but he had to choose.

If he decided to stay in “Jade City,” he wouldn’t have even a shred of hope.

“Sister Zhichun, some people in ‘Jade City’ want to escape but can’t. I’m already considered lucky.” Guyu smiled bitterly. “Just as you said… we will be destroyed eventually, but hopefully by then… our ruler can send ‘hope’ to ‘Dao City.'”

“Send ‘hope’ to ‘Dao City’…?” I looked at Guyu with furrowed brows. “What do you mean?”

“Someone has to move forward carrying an entire city’s last hope.” Guyu said. “All of us have struggled here… Even those who have already been brainwashed, you can’t deny they struggled here. So I’m unwilling to let everyone disappear here… I want to demand an explanation from above.”

“But my advice is for you not to go back.” I said. “I can’t understand this kind of choice. Knowing there’s risk, yet you insist on diving in. Guyu, you seem like a smart person. Think carefully—would there really be such an unreasonable choice in this world?”

“No… Sister Zhichun…” Guyu sighed. “This is no longer a problem that can be solved by ‘reason’… There are people in that city who gave me hope. I can’t directly choose to abandon them…”

“So you want to change that city?” I asked.

“Yes.” Guyu said. “Sister Zhichun, you just said ‘unity’ leads to destruction, so the moment I return, I’ll try to create some chaos. If I can directly overthrow the leader, that would be even better… Such a divided situation might give us a thread of hope.”

“But that will be very difficult.”

“Yes… even if there’s only a one in ten million chance, I still have to go back and try.” Guyu answered. “Otherwise, even if I become a ‘Zodiac’ standing there in the future, I’ll blame myself forever. I’ll always wonder ‘If I had gone back then, would everything have been different?'”

Many times, standing from a rational perspective, I found it hard to understand why people in this world would make various unreasonable choices.

But now I understood everything.

Even if all the “rational” paths were laid out before them, humans could still be dominated by “emotion.”

For instance, I had always been saying that in this world I only loved myself, but if Jiang Ruoxue were trapped in that city, even I would probably choose to take a gamble.

I smiled bitterly. “Guyu, you’re a good person. I hope we can see you again someday.”

“I hope so too.” Guyu nodded, looking at me and then at Jiang Ruoxue. “Sister Xue, Sister Zhichun… Thank you for meeting with me this time, and thank you to Brother Old Sun for chatting with me, and Sister Zhoumo for beating me up all these days… This might be the most beautiful memory I have since arriving at the ‘Land of the End.'”

“Don’t make conclusions too early.” I shook my head. “Your days in the ‘Land of the End’ are far from over.”

“I know.” Guyu smiled. “But they’ll never be better than this.”

He slowly walked to our side and picked up that plastic rose from beside me.

This already worn and faded fake flower made my heart sink.

It was just a magic trick… How high were people’s expectations for it?

It had already done many things beyond its scope of duty. It had already tried hard enough…

“I’m leaving now.”

Guyu tightened the rose bud with his hand, then stuffed it back into the small black stick.

I had never imagined that such a beautiful-looking flower was actually being compressed long-term in a cramped space inside a black rod.

It couldn’t see the light of day. It couldn’t bloom with color.

It struggled painfully within iron walls.

When would it bloom again?

“Choose ‘Monkey.'” I said.

“‘Monkey’…?” Guyu’s hand holding the black stick paused slightly.

“All ‘Zodiac’ have special characteristics.” I also stood up and looked into Guyu’s eyes. “‘Monkey’s’ characteristic is ‘cheating.’ You’re a magician, so choosing ‘Monkey’ will give you a better chance of survival.”

“Okay…” Guyu nodded. “Thank you, Sister Zhichun…”

“Returning to a city of despair, then finally being reborn as a ‘Zodiac.'” I looked at him helplessly. “This is exactly ‘without breaking, there is no establishing.'”

“What…?”

“Remember ‘without breaking, there is no establishing.'” I said to him. “Whether returning to ‘Jade City’ or becoming a ‘Zodiac,’ you can’t slack off on either path. I look forward to reuniting with you.”

“Okay.” After hearing my words, Guyu seemed to have made some kind of resolution. “I’ll remember, Sister Zhichun, Sister Xue… If in the future, you’re walking on the road and see a strange monkey greeting you, I hope you’ll say a few words to him.”

“I will.”

Although I said “I will,” my mood couldn’t brighten up.

Once Guyu truly became a “Monkey” standing here, it would mean “Jade City” had completely fallen, and all those people important to him had disappeared.

He could only stand alone in “Dao City.”

Watching him turn and leave, Jiang Ruoxue and I exchanged sad glances.

“Hey!” Jiang Ruoxue was startled and quickly noticed something wrong, shouting in the direction Guyu was leaving. “Guyu, leaving the city isn’t in that direction. You’re going the wrong way.”

“I know.” Guyu turned around and said to Jiang Ruoxue. “I’m not planning to go to ‘Whirlpool City’ to find a ‘Zodiac’ mask anymore. I’m planning to gamble a Monkey to death in ‘Dao City.'”

“What…?” I was slightly stunned. “There’s clearly a safer path, yet you won’t take it?”

“Yes, too safe doesn’t suit me.” Guyu said. “The opponent can cheat, and I can cheat too. I want to test exactly how capable I am. If I can gamble a ‘Zodiac’ to death, it means my strength has at least reached ‘Human-Level,’ more than enough to deal with ordinary ‘Participants.'”

“But you already know ‘Zodiac’ were formerly ‘Participants’ too. Can you still bring yourself to kill?” I asked again.

“This is exactly ‘survival of the fittest.'” Guyu said. “If I’m stronger than him, then I’ll replace him as the ‘Monkey.’ If he defeats me in gambling with lives, it only proves my ability goes this far. I’ll die without regrets.”

“You…” Jiang Ruoxue asked. “Do you need us to go with you?”

“No.” Guyu shook his head. “Sister Xue, I’m not sure whether I can win, so you don’t need to watch me die miserably either. Just stay in the anticipation that we might reunite.”

That day, Guyu left.

I didn’t think he was particularly pitiful. After all, he was just one of the pitiable people commonly seen everywhere in this “Land of the End.”