“Coming to get you…?”

Sand and gravel continuously fell from above the two of them, as if many faceless people had already died from exhaustion.

But throughout the city, new faceless people kept rising up to fill the vacant positions.

Heavenly-Dragon slowly sneered. “Baiyang, as long as I awaken, the entire ‘Peach Blossom Spring’ will tremble for me. I will see countless terrified faces, yet you still need someone outside to come get you… This is what mortals are—how tragic.”

“If I heard correctly… every time you wake up, what you see are pairs of eyes that don’t want you to wake up.” Qi Xia replied, “I’m the exact opposite of you—there are people who look forward to me waking up and will feel joy because of it. I don’t understand which of us is more tragic.”

After hearing this, Heavenly-Dragon fell silent for a few seconds, feeling like he’d been hit in a sore spot.

Within this vast “Peach Blossom Spring,” how many people were looking forward to him waking up?

This moment of hesitation was keenly captured by Qi Xia, who quietly noted it in his mind.

A few seconds later, the only remaining mouth on Heavenly-Dragon’s face slowly revealed a cold smile.

“Why should I care about them…?” he said. “If these people don’t want me to wake up, they can just go ahead and kill me so I sleep forever. But who on this entire ‘Train’ can accomplish that?”

Heavenly-Dragon floated forward a step through the air.

“Baiyang, Qinglong has no way to deal with me, so he can only hand over the task of assassinating me to others.” Heavenly-Dragon continued, “Unfortunately, none of the ‘Zodiacs’ among ‘Heaven, Earth, and Man’ dare take on this mission, because Qinglong is unpredictable. They can’t tell whether Qinglong wants to test them or actually needs me to die.”

“So this matter can only be done by outsiders.” Qi Xia said, “Even if there really is a ‘Zodiac’ who dares take on this mission, they would become enemies of the other ‘Zodiacs.’ After all, most are kept in the dark. They’re still looking forward to you, this Heavenly-Dragon, helping them advance, so they won’t let you die.”

“Looks like you understand the principles here even better than I do.” Heavenly-Dragon grinned. “So even if they all don’t want me to open my eyes, I will still awaken on the tenth day. Who can possibly stop me?”

“Look at the world you manage.” Qi Xia said, “Not only is the ‘Land of the End’ full of lies, even the ‘Zodiacs’ on the ‘Train’ don’t know whom they should believe. Heavenly-Dragon, your management has been a complete failure. You’ve also sown monstrous lies.”

“A life of being threatened and intimidated?” Qi Xia frowned. “Ridiculous…”

“Is my understanding of ‘mortals’ mistaken?” Heavenly-Dragon smiled. “All mortals are threatened from childhood… if you don’t eat properly you’re ruined, if you don’t study hard you’re ruined, even if you can’t get into a good university, can’t find a good job, haven’t bought a car or house before a certain age, can’t get promoted within a few years… there will be people telling you your life is over. I simply extended these threats and intimidations to the ‘Train,’ telling them not to provoke me, otherwise their lives will still be ruined. Where did I lie?”

After hearing this, Qi Xia remained silent, just quietly looking at Heavenly-Dragon, trying to understand the other’s thoughts from a madman’s perspective.

Heavenly-Dragon asked again, “If all mortals were experiencing this kind of threat and intimidation for the first time, how could they be as calm as they are now? Whether they treat this place as a ‘workplace,’ a ‘school,’ or a ‘family,’ they’ll discover that the rules I’ve set coincidentally align with real life, so they ultimately accepted it all gladly.”

“Your sophistry sounds correct.” Qi Xia answered, “Unfortunately, the people who say these ‘threats’ to mortals don’t want their lives—but you do. Your motive for speaking these threats is to set reasonable causes of death for everyone.”

“Oh?”

“Don’t try to convince me with your theories anymore.” Qi Xia added, “I won’t believe a single word you say. The reason ‘humans’ can be called ‘humans’ is precisely because they can live, but you’ve done everything possible to erase all traces of everyone’s existence. You deliberately turn people into monsters. You take away their reason, rob them of their lives—this is the evil karma you’ve committed.”

“I clearly think you’re about to go mad…” Heavenly-Dragon grinned. “Yet your thoughts still seem very clear.”

“Really?” Qi Xia moved his neck a bit. “Heavenly-Dragon, you have no way to subdue me with ‘force,’ so now you’ve switched to a ‘mental’ offensive. But if I were so easily defeated, how could I possibly be standing here confronting you?”

After pondering for a few seconds, Heavenly-Dragon nodded. “You’re right.”

“So give up. Leave on your own this time, don’t make it end with mutual destruction.” Qi Xia said.

Heavenly-Dragon lowered his head, facing Qi Xia’s arm, and noticed that his arm was trembling slightly at that moment.

Such a large-scale “Endless Life”—even if what he created were creatures without faces, he couldn’t possibly be completely unaffected.

“Baiyang, the next time I wake up will be the moment everyone collapses.” Heavenly-Dragon said again. “Are you ready to see me in reality?”

“Maybe you won’t be able to wake up.” Qi Xia replied. “Tomorrow night I might lead a group of people to beat you to death.”

“Hahahahaha!” Heavenly-Dragon laughed while pointing at Qi Xia’s trembling arm. “With this?”

He slowly floated forward a few more meters, almost standing right in front of Qi Xia, and asked softly, “Baiyang, if this were reality, even if everyone in the entire ‘Peach Blossom Spring’ unleashed their immortal arts… who do you think could beat me to death?”

“In that case… I also have a question I want to ask you.”

The flesh and bone staircase beneath Qi Xia’s feet rose again, bringing him closer to Heavenly-Dragon.

“Oh?” Heavenly-Dragon nodded. “What is it?”

“Heavenly-Dragon… tell me honestly…” Qi Xia asked in a deep voice. “Can the ‘Train’… really go out?”

“Hmm…?” Heavenly-Dragon paused.

“Where exactly is your so-called ‘next stop’?” Qi Xia asked again. “Have you been there?”

Heavenly-Dragon remained silent for a long while before opening his mouth to say, “Baiyang, actually I could deceive you… but I don’t mind being honest with you. Whether it’s the ‘next stop’ or the ‘previous stop,’ there won’t be anything at all. There isn’t even ‘darkness’ there—it’s true nothingness.”

“I see…”

“So abandon that hope.” Heavenly-Dragon said. “If you still want to feel the sensation of ‘being alive,’ you can only stay in the ‘Peach Blossom Spring.'”