Chapter 1103: Where the Heart Leads

Chapter 1103: Where the Heart Leads

Qinglong toyed with the character "Qiu" in his hand, carefully considering the rules from Xuanwu's perspective.

It was almost laughable—after all these years of setting rules without ever thinking about the participants' situations, now he had to take Xuanwu's life into account.

Was there something that had once felt overwhelmingly vast to Xuanwu...?

It certainly wasn't "Qiu"; Xuanwu might not even know what "Qiu" meant.

This thing had to be even larger than "Qiu," not in a physical sense, but in a psychological one.

As long as it existed, once Xuanwu was trapped in it, she could never escape. Others might find a way out, but not her.

She was born in it, grew up in it, and died in it.

In her heart, this character was more terrifying than "Mi."

After pondering for a long time, Qinglong finally arrived at an answer.

It was an answer that only Xuanwu would see as "correct," something in her heart that far outweighed "Qiu."

With that thought, Qinglong picked up the character "Mu" and gently placed it on the "Feng Huang Xiang Shu Tai."

The people outside quickly began to think when they saw "Mu," trying to figure out what Qinglong had created.

Chen Junnan also realized that Qinglong's creation wasn't "Qiu."

A moment later, a "Cun" from the "Jiang" slowly appeared, and Qinglong's final answer for the last question was—

"Cun."

Qi Xia's eyes flickered rapidly when he saw the character, feeling a bit confused.

Qinglong's answer was actually "Cun"? Had he stopped caring about the rules?

Xuanwu stared at it for a moment and asked:

"What character is this?"

"It's 'Cun'," Chen Junnan replied, "'the village' in township and county."

"'Cun'..." Xuanwu's eyes shimmered as she said, "'Cun' is so vast..."

"Hiss..." Chen Junnan was slightly taken aback. "'Cun' is vast?"

"This..." Qiao Jiajin scratched his head. "Jun Nan, how big is the biggest village in the world?"

"How the hell would I know?" Chen Junnan frowned, thinking Qinglong's answer was way off.

How big could a "Cun" be? Could it be bigger than a "Qiu"?

From certain angles, comparing something like a "hill" to a "village," it wasn't immediately clear which had a larger area.

After all, "Qiu" had its sizes, and "Cun" had its rises and falls.

To decide between them, it would depend on Chen Junnan's persuasion and Qiao Jiajin's reasoning.

Feeling he needed to influence her thinking quickly, Chen Junnan asked:

"Big sister, 'Cun' isn't that big, right? Maybe you misunderstood?"

"'Cun' is too vast..." Xuanwu said. "I've never left 'Cun'... 'Cun' has 'Mi,' and 'Mi' is important, but I don't have 'Fu'..."

"Hold on!" Chen Junnan felt his brain overloading. "Are you playing word association with me? We're talking about the size of 'Cun'..."

"Isn't it big?" Xuanwu turned her face, a hint of her features showing through her hair. "I can't get out... I've never been able to get out..."

Tian Tian quietly reached out and gently brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

Her eyes flickered as she said softly:

"'Cun' is indeed vast—some people are trapped in it for life—but it's not that big. If you want to leave, you can."

"Is that true...?" Xuanwu paused. "If I just want to...?"

For the first time, Zheng Yingxiong clearly sensed the scent of "sadness" emanating from Xuanwu.

At that moment, Chen Junnan realized the atmosphere was off; Tian Tian and Xuanwu seemed to have fallen into some emotional low, but he couldn't pinpoint why.

Thinking about it, Chen Junnan quickly reached out and tugged at Zhang Chenze:

"Zhang Jie! What's going on right now? Do you want to help them? I'm a bit lost on what to say—how did 'Cun' become like this?"

Zhang Chenze's eyes turned cold:

"I don't want to discuss this."

"Huh...?"

Chen Junnan was stunned for a while, truly unsure of what had happened, so he fell silent in the strange atmosphere.

Qinglong stepped out from behind the screen, glanced at Xuanwu's state, and felt a bit relieved before standing aside with the group.

Seeing this, Qi Xia couldn't hold back a question he'd been suppressing and asked Qinglong:

"Qinglong, what is other people's suffering to you?"

"Oh?" Qinglong raised an eyebrow. "Suffering is just suffering—what else could it be?"

"Is 'other people's suffering' just a tool you use to secure victory at key moments?" Qi Xia asked.

"That's an interesting question," Qinglong said. "Don't just say 'suffering'—anything that makes me feel comfortable is my tool for victory."

"Alright, that makes sense." Qi Xia nodded, then ignored Qinglong and went behind the screen.

He picked up a pile of characters from the ground and tossed in his own "Zu."

The situation was indeed tricky now.

Qinglong created characters based on the "rules" every time, but Qi Xia thought based on Qinglong's creations.

So, each round left him with little time.

Based on the current situation, Xuanwu thought "Cun" was vast because she'd never left her village and had no parents, growing up hungry and starving.

"No wonder you always wanted to die..."

For Xuanwu, the desire for death might have peaked before entering the "End Place."

Unfortunately, after dying, she ended up here, and because of her "immortality," she was stuck forever.

She always wanted to die but could never truly die.

This was the first time Qi Xia truly felt how tragic "immortality" could be.

In that case... for someone like Xuanwu, what character could be larger than "Cun"?

But "Cun" was like a completely sealed cage, blocking her view entirely.

Even if Qi Xia could form something like mountains, rivers, lakes, skies, or the universe—physically overwhelming "Cun"—it might not seem larger to Xuanwu.

Qi Xia had to quickly shift his thinking and consider another possibility: was there a way to let Xuanwu temporarily leave "Cun"...?

If any character could break through "Cun"'s boundaries, they could win the game outright.

Everyone waited in front of the screen for a long time, and based on the previous experience, no one spoke.

A moment later, a "Mu" appeared on the screen.

Everyone frowned at that moment—both Qinglong and Qi Xia had started with "Mu," so the answers probably wouldn't differ much.

Soon after, another "Mu" appeared on the screen.

"Lin."

This time, the group fell silent again, but it was different from the last silence.

They weren't shocked by Qi Xia's answer; they just felt he was likely to lose.

Comparing "Lin" and "Cun"... while normal people might struggle to say which was larger, for Xuanwu, "Lin" didn't seem that important.

"Ha..." Qinglong slowly smirked. "Qi Xia, oh Qi Xia... even the largest forest in the world isn't bigger than the 'Cun' in Xuanwu's heart."

But Qi Xia didn't stop after creating "Lin."

He took a "Xi" from the "Jiang" and carefully placed it below "Lin."

Perhaps only this could seize that slim chance.

"Meng"!