Chapter 1222: Night of the Whirlwind City

Chapter 1222: Wo Cheng Zhi Ye

Zhang Shan took a few steps forward but eventually stopped, leaning against the wall.

The feeling was strange now. The effects of "Tian Xing Jian" were still active, but he already felt mentally dazed.

A flood of memories flashed through his mind like a meteor shower, bright and vivid.

In those memories, he wasn't on the "Lieh Che" or at "Tian Tang Kou"; instead, he was in a city stained with blood.

The nights there had no "Lou Yi," but the streets were filled with burning ruins and corpses scattered everywhere.

The stench of decay mixed with the smell of charred remains hung in the air around everyone. As night deepened, all the people sat quietly by the roadside, resting.

Their faces were etched with exhaustion; they sat with their heads bowed, staring at the ground, whether gazing at the dried blood in the cracks of the street pavement or contemplating their own crumbling, desperate lives.

A massive pile of corpses stood at the center of the city. In his memories, Zhang Shan was sitting on top of it with another person.

Beneath them lay the bodies of "Can Yu Zhe" and "Sheng Xiao."

"Da Shan... we... really going to lose."

The man spoke, and Zhang Shan turned to look. He had a neat buzz cut, a dark and lean face, and wounds covering his entire body.

"Are you giving up?" Zhang Shan asked.

"There's no reason to give up." The dark, lean man shook his head, his eyes filled with despair.

"But you've seen the situation..." Zhang Shan sighed. "It's only a matter of time before we're wiped out. How much longer can we hold on...? A few cycles? A few months? What's the point of all this persistence...?"

"In my dictionary, there's only 'fight to the death,' no 'give up.'" The dark, lean man said. "But... even though this city is going to fall, the 'Can Yu Zhe' will ultimately win."

"'Can Yu Zhe' victory?"

"The war is bigger than we imagined." The man explained, "The reason we've been fighting so hard in this city is to greatly weaken the 'Sheng Xiao' forces and pave the way for future victories."

"What...?" Zhang Shan felt like the man was talking about things he'd never heard before.

"This isn't the only city." The man sat on the corpse pile, looking down at the lifeless embers of a fire below, and continued, "Our sacrifices aren't meaningless. I've lied to all the 'Bo Wen Bing Shi' in this city. While holding on will lead to victory, none of us will live to see it."

After saying that, he shifted his body on the corpse pile and turned to face Zhang Shan.

"Da Shan, only you." He said, "Maybe only you can see that victory."

"Me?"

"I've made a deal with someone." The man wiped the dried blood from his face and smiled bitterly. "When the city falls, we'll find a way to send you out."

In his memories, Zhang Shan sensed that the situation was escalating to a scale he couldn't comprehend.

In his usual days, he only knew of rushing through the city with various teammates, fighting battles, and watching their resistance on the verge of total collapse. But now, he was suddenly told there was a larger war?

"From the time we have memories, you've been fighting alongside me." The dark, lean man said with a smile. "You remember almost every person who's died in this city. We need someone who can retain memories the longest to make it to the end."

"What do you mean...?" Zhang Shan paused. "I'm getting more and more confused... What do you mean by sending me out?"

"Send you to another city, to live with a new identity."

"Why not send you out?! You remember those people too."

"'Tian Xing Jian' is more suitable than 'Ying Yan.'" The man said, "I can only oversee the battlefield as a whole but can't intervene effectively. Compared to me, you have a better chance of survival."

"But your 'Bo Wen' is more stable." Zhang Shan retorted, "Mine might look powerful, but it doesn't always activate... What if I forget? What about all our comrades...? What if one day I forget everything?!"

"It's okay." The man said, "I'm willing to take a gamble."

"A gamble...?"

The man pointed up at the sky above them.

Zhang Shan followed his finger and looked up. The sky was pitch black, with no stars in sight.

"Today, I got some news." The man pointed and said, "Someone has placed a strange 'Ge Duan' over all of us."

"'Ge Duan'?" Zhang Shan frowned at the sky, feeling the situation becoming more abstract.

Because there was nothing there, let alone any "Ge Duan."

"This 'Ge Duan' has been in effect all along. It helps the 'Zhong Yan Zhi Di' block everyone's memories. Although ordinary people reborn in the 'Zhong Yan Zhi Di' don't retain memories anyway, this added 'Ge Duan' makes the effect even stronger."

The man tried to explain the news he'd heard in a few words, but Zhang Shan wasn't the sharpest, and he only felt more confused the more he listened.

"How to put it..." The man lowered his finger. "When I was in school, I heard that all energy in the world is conserved and fixed. But I always wondered, when a person dies... even if their flesh turns back to dust, where do their memories and thoughts get stored?"

Zhang Shan blinked and murmured softly, "So you're saying... memories float up to the sky?"

"Something like that." The man nodded. "Memories are like children who’ve left home... they float in the sky, searching for their owners. But you know, we’re all constantly being reborn."

Zhang Shan thought along with the man's words and quickly understood what he meant: "So you're saying... the memories from my previous self could drift to me now?"

"Exactly." The man laughed. "We’re all living here through willpower and reason. We clearly know who we are, and our subconscious knows what memories to accept. But once we enter a state of 'Shen Du Bo Wen Hua'—in other words, when we’re on the brink of madness—we might receive chaotic memories."

Zhang Shan pondered for a moment and asked, "So that means, if I feel like I've been to certain places before... or done certain things, it's because I've received the wrong memories?"

"You've got the general idea." The man replied, "So in the end, I'm not afraid you'll lose all your memories. As long as you've experienced all this, one day those memories will surge back into your mind, including... what I'm saying right now."

"But you said there's a 'Ge Duan' in the sky...?"

"He told me that the person who cast the 'Ge Duan' will die, and the 'Ge Duan' will disappear on the spot." The man said, "By then... everyone's level of rationality will drop, and those past memories will converge, including... the memories of Qing Long and Tian Long."