Chapter 1218: The Root and the Branch

After seeing off Tiantian and the other two, only Qi Xia stood alone in the quiet hallway.

Although there were still occasional Can Yu Zhe passing by, Qi Xia in that moment was just one of them, unnoticed by anyone.

He turned his head again to look at the illusory figure of Bai Yang, then retreated back into the room, closing the door behind him. He sat down once more in the center of the room.

The timing wasn't right; he could only continue waiting.

Just as Qi Xia had expected, when he looked up again, Bai Yang was already leaning against the doorframe.

He was like a nightmare for Qi Xia, impossible to shake off or dispel.

"What a bothersome ghost thing..."

Bai Yang let out a cold laugh in response, then stepped forward step by step until he was sitting in front of Qi Xia.

"Am I the one who wants to appear?" Bai Yang retorted. "I've already finished everything I needed to do. I've reached the day of retirement, yet I'm repeatedly imagined into existence. Why not just admit defeat? Let me take care of what comes next."

Qi Xia rubbed his forehead after hearing this, feeling that the situation was once again sliding toward the edge of losing control.

If Bai Yang's illusion was something he had imagined himself, then every word Bai Yang said was a reflection of his own subconscious. Now, this statement from Bai Yang seemed to prove that he had thoughts of retreating.

"My mind is a bit chaotic," Qi Xia said. "But you should know what I'm thinking..."

"Of course." Bai Yang nodded. "You believe that even if you die, it doesn't matter, as long as someone makes it to the end."

"But the situation isn't right now..." Qi Xia said. "Something beyond my expectations is happening."

Bai Yang pondered for half a second before shaking his head and replying, "A massive tower is bound to have tiny cracks."

"Will it collapse?" Qi Xia asked.

"So what if it does?" Bai Yang stared at Qi Xia. "Your goal isn't for this tower to stand for a thousand years, but just to build it in that instant."

"Yes..." Qi Xia muttered with his head down. "As long as I build the tower and touch the blue sky in that instant, that's enough..."

"So, can you stop summoning me?" Bai Yang said with a cold expression. "Am I your trump card?"

"I..."

Qi Xia was momentarily speechless. As usual, his mind was processing many things at once, but an uneasy premonition in his subconscious kept interrupting his thoughts.

"It's just thousands upon thousands of faceless people..." Bai Yang chuckled lightly. "As long as you don't say anything... who could find out?"

"Yes..." Qi Xia nodded. "As long as I don't say anything..."

"Didn't we kill those thousands of people with our own hands?" Bai Yang stood up, then bent down, his face close to Qi Xia's. "Are those things people in your heart?"

Qi Xia's brows furrowed slightly, and he felt his mind growing even more confused.

"We killed for days on end without rest... and finally wiped them all out..." Bai Yang continued. "How long did it take just to bury those bodies?"

"Wait a minute..." Qi Xia pressed his forehead and lifted a pair of cold eyes toward Bai Yang. "What are you doing?"

"We buried them... wasn't it to cover up this massive lie?" Bai Yang went on. "Why are you starting to be afraid now?"

Qi Xia sensed that Bai Yang was shaking his psychological defenses, but Bai Yang was clearly just his own illusion.

What good would it do him if I collapsed?

Did he really want to resurrect in this state of chaos?

"It'll be dug up eventually... won't it?" Bai Yang asked. "You used those faceless people and then killed them, burying them in the dark alleys... how could that not be discovered? This place is full of madmen—how can you predict their actions?"

"Are you even trying to comfort me...?" Qi Xia said with furrowed brows. "Did I kill those people just out of my own selfishness...?"

"Wasn't it...?" Bai Yang leaned in close to Qi Xia's ear. "Are you going to tell me those people wanted to die?"

"Those people..." Qi Xia paused. "No, you said it yourself—those things aren't people."

"What I'm asking is... in your eyes, do those people count as people?" Bai Yang straightened up and continued staring at Qi Xia with a meaningful gaze. "Killing the faceless to save those with faces... does whether they deserve saving depend on whether they have features?"

"I..."

"Who spent more time with you?" Bai Yang asked again. "How did you get it so backward?"

Qi Xia noticed that Bai Yang's form was gradually changing; it wasn't turning solid, but strands of crimson aura were appearing around him.

This was the dense aura of Zhong Yan Zhi Di.

Perhaps the figure before him had never truly been Bai Yang, but the Zhong Yan Zhi E suppressed deep in his heart.

He was himself, yet not entirely.

For this path... how many people had he killed?

No... there were loopholes, because some of them weren't killed just by him—they were also killed by Bai Yang.

"Bai Yang..." Qi Xia said after a few seconds of silence, "After you became the judge of Ren Ji You Xi, even Yan Zhi Chun couldn't recognize you anymore... and yet here you are, mocking me for getting it backward."

Bai Yang let out a light laugh. "Yan Zhi Chun... If it were you, could you recognize him? It's been so many years. How long has it been?"

He reached up to stroke his chin, and a word slipped out involuntarily—

"Yong Heng."

"Yes, it's been Yong Heng that long..." Bai Yang said with a smile. "After experiencing Yong Heng, I could still recognize that face because Yan Zhi Chun left a deep impression on me. Anyone else would be impossible to remember an old acquaintance in that situation... right?"

"What a Yong Heng," Qi Xia said. "That Yong Heng wasn't just yours—it was mine too."

"This Yong Heng changed our temperaments, turned Bai Hu into an old man, and taught us how to fight against Tian Long..." Bai Yang continued. "But those faceless people who accompanied you... in your eyes, they weren't even people. That makes you seem so cold."

Qi Xia felt his mind gradually descending into chaos.

Far away in another part of the hallway, Yan Zhi Chun, Chu Tian Qiu, and Qin Ding Dong slowly came to a stop.

They sensed that the scene before them was changing, but this subtle shift was hard to detect. Fortunately, none of these three were ordinary people, and they almost instantly noticed something was off.

Perhaps it was just someone's position changing, or maybe someone's expression suddenly twisted, but this "train" definitely looked different from before.