Chapter 1147: Fingers

"Okay!" Qiu Shiliu nodded. "With Jiu Jie here, I feel more at ease. But you just said... where did I go wrong?"

"It should be the 'direction of movement' that's the problem, not 'please bring the most important door closer to me'..." Bai Jiu pondered. "That wording is too vague. I suspect it might reveal the ultimate secret of Zhongyan Zhidi to you, and we don't need that information right now."

"The ultimate secret...?"

"Yes, only the 'ultimate secret' is the most important thing for everyone. But right now, we want to kill Xuanwu or find its weakness."

"So you mean..."

"I think," Bai Jiu replied seriously, "it should be 'please bring the door most important to Xuanwu closer to me.'"

"I see..."

Qiu Shiliu's mouth moved within Jiang Shi's eye, but soon she thought of a troubling question.

"Jiu Jie..."

"What is it?"

"I want to ask you something," Qiu Shiliu's voice drifted ethereally, sounding a bit hesitant.

"Why so formal? Just say it," Bai Jiu furrowed her brow in confusion.

"You know... from your perspective, I strangely appeared in Jiang Shi's eye, but from mine, you all suddenly showed up inside Xuanwu's body..."

"That's right," Bai Jiu nodded.

Though the description sounded abstract from both sides, that's exactly what happened.

"I want to confirm... am I going crazy?" Qiu Shiliu asked with a trembling voice. "How can I be sure that what I'm seeing through this hole isn't some mind-tricking illusion inside Xuanwu's body?"

After she spoke, both Bai Jiu and Jiang Shi fell silent for a few seconds.

Yes, in this situation, how could they prove that what each side was seeing wasn't an illusion?

"Your doubt is valid," Bai Jiu paused before saying. "From your viewpoint, we could indeed be an illusion."

"I'm even relying on sheer willpower just to breathe right now," Qiu Shiliu added. "In a state like this, it's easy to slip into madness, so I really hope you all are real... I need genuine teammates to strengthen my resolve..."

"I have a way," Bai Jiu said.

"What...?"

"Theoretically, you should be able to touch me," Bai Jiu extended a finger. "If I'm not mistaken, your finger can reach out from Xiao Jiang Shi's eye."

"Huh?!" Jiang Shi was stunned. "Wait... heroine, hold on!!"

Qiu Shiliu thought it made sense, even if the sight might be a bit horrifying. It was the only way to confirm that Bai Jiu and the others weren't illusions.

With that in mind, she slowly extended her hand toward the empty hole in the air. Her finger gradually disappeared into the void, feeling a cool sensation on the other side, as if entering another space or dipping into water.

Bai Jiu thought the scene in front of her was indeed quite shocking.

On Jiang Shi's helpless face, one eye still had a tear hanging from it, while from the other eye socket, a slender finger emerged.

The finger twisted and moved on Jiang Shi's face like a worm.

Bai Jiu thought to herself that it was a good thing this was happening to a "cat." If it were any other amnesiac "participant," they would probably have gone mad by now.

"Jiu... Jiu Jie..."

"Xiao Jiang Shi, does it hurt...?" Bai Jiu asked with some concern.

"N-not really..." Jiang Shi replied. "But this is just too scary... My right eye can see a finger sticking out from my left eye!!"

"Good, close your eyes."

Bai Jiu stepped forward, gently touching Qiu Shiliu's finger, then picked up a small handful of sand from the ground, "liquefied" it, and dropped it onto the tip of Qiu Shiliu's finger.

"Shiliu, not only did I touch you, but I also left a mark that only I would leave," Bai Jiu said. "Rest assured, we're not illusions."

Whether Qiu Shiliu heard her or not was unclear, but her finger trembled slightly before slowly retracting.

Before long, her eyes reappeared, and from the look in them, the fear seemed to have lessened a bit.

"Xiao Shiliu, go ahead. Maybe this time, killing Xuanwu really depends on you," Bai Jiu said.

"Hold on... Jiu Jie, there's something I still don't quite understand..."

"What is it?"

"If I switch to another door... how will I communicate with you?" Qiu Shiliu asked hesitantly. "I'll end up in a different place and won't be able to find you."

Bai Jiu thought for a moment and realized it was indeed a problem.

Next, Qiu Shiliu was going to the "door most important to Xuanwu," which would definitely take her away from her current spot.

What would happen then? Would they still need to strategize?

In such uncertainty, even if Qiu Shiliu found something crucial to Xuanwu, how would she proceed?

"This..."

"How about..." Qiu Shiliu suggested, "Jiu Jie, you could tell me in advance about a few possible situations, like Shan Jie did, and then I'll handle it myself."

"No..."

After thinking for a while, Bai Jiu came up with a strange idea.

"Shiliu, can you take this 'door' with you?" she asked.

"Huh...?" Qiu Shiliu was taken aback.

"I mean the light circle in front of you..." Bai Jiu thought again. "Can you move it?"

Qiu Shiliu felt that Bai Jiu had raised a question she had never considered before. Could these strange doors actually be moved?

"You... just wait a second."

Qiu Shiliu said, then shrank back a little and extended her hand.

From Bai Jiu's perspective, Jiang Shi's eye no longer showed any strange patterns; it was just pitch black.

The next second, a fleshy object covered Jiang Shi's eye, then it turned pitch black again.

"Wow! Jiu Jie, you're amazing!" Qiu Shiliu's intermittent voice came from the other side. "This thing can actually be taken away..."

"I figured as much..." Bai Jiu nodded. "If things go as expected, someone must have used these portable doors to build something here, so they have to be movable."

"Great!" Qiu Shiliu's voice became clearer. "It's like holding a phone for a video call with you all."

Jiang Shi paused at that. "What's a video call?"

"Kids shouldn't ask about that," Bai Jiu patted Jiang Shi on the shoulder, then looked into his eye.

In Jiang Shi's eye, Qiu Shiliu's face appeared, just as she described—like a screen for a video call.

As long as you looked closely into Jiang Shi's eye, you could see Qiu Shiliu's figure.

"Jiu Jie, I'm heading out. Let's work together from inside and out to see what Xuanwu really is."