Chapter 1223: Collusion

As Zhang Shan listened, he felt the situation becoming increasingly bizarre, and several doubts arose in his mind.

"Wait a minute... Lao Nie," Zhang Shan interrupted, "what do you mean by Qinglong and Tianlong's memories? If everything you've said is true, how could those two have memories drifting in the sky? Have they died before?"

"I don't know," the man shook his head, "but that's what I heard."

"So, one day... will everyone here slowly remember everything that happened in 'Zhongyan Zhidi'?" Zhang Shan asked doubtfully, "You said 'the level of sanity will decline,' meaning everyone will stand here with stronger 'bo wen' and all their memories?"

"Truthfully..." the man said with a heavy expression, "I really don't know... All of this could be a plan, or perhaps... a fantasy."

"Even you don't know... then why did you take it upon yourself to send me out?"

"That's why I said I'm gambling on it. I'm betting on sending you out, betting that you'll survive to the end and one day remember all of us."

Despair reappeared in the man's eyes.

He stared quietly downward, his voice remaining soft throughout.

Whether out of fear that others might hear this bizarre news or concern about disturbing that nonexistent sleep time, he kept it low.

"This is just utter nonsense..." Zhang Shan scratched his head, wanting to refute it but feeling his words were clumsy and unconvincing. He could only ask, "Lao Nie, you know what the most important thing is for all of us, right? Is it that damn 'bo wen'?"

"I get what you mean," the man nodded, looking at the crowd below, "What matters to us has never been 'bo wen,' but 'memories.' 'Bo wen transformation' is just a means for many people to preserve their memories."

"Exactly!" Zhang Shan's tone grew increasingly urgent, "If it's really as you say, all our memories are out there..."

He glanced up at the sky, still finding it absurd: "...floating in the sky, then why the hell did that person set up a 'ge duan' to block us from getting those memories? Now everyone's trying to 'bo wen transform' to save their memories, which just makes it harder for us to escape!"

The man reached up to touch his nose bridge after hearing this, picking off a dried blood scab, and said, "Maybe... it's to keep us from going insane?"

"That's too far-fetched..." Zhang Shan shook his head, "If gaining a lot of memories would drive us insane, then wouldn't dying over and over again do the same?"

"I think whoever is capable of doing this must have their reasons," the man pondered, "He just believes we shouldn't get our memories now, or maybe what he's really blocking isn't our memories... but I don't know his thoughts."

"Lao Nie, I feel like you've been tricked... His deal doesn't hold up, and there are too many factors involved..." Zhang Shan counted on his fingers, "First, you have to ensure I can safely survive to his so-called 'end'; second, the one who set up the 'ge duan' has to die at the end; third, that 'ge duan' really has to completely disappear; fourth, I have to 'deep bo wen transform' and remember all of you..."

"That's right," the man said.

"And all of this is based on the premise that 'our memories are really floating in the sky,'" Zhang Shan shook his head, "I disagree. This method is like walking a tightrope over a cliff—dangerous from the first step."

The man tossed the blood scab from his hand onto the corpse pile below and turned to look at Zhang Shan: "We have no other choice."

"What..."

"You know it yourself—we've entered the 'lun xian dao ji shi.'"

The man sighed deeply and pointed to the people resting on either side of the road below the corpse pile: "How long do you think our people can hold out? Even if our numbers let us last a few cycles, our sanity won't allow it."

Zhang Shan followed the man's gaze. Every inch of the city's ground was soaked in foul-smelling blood, and exhaustion was etched on everyone's faces.

They didn't even have the energy to bury their comrades or their own bodies; they just staked their lives on the gamble.

"Now, I only have two paths in front of me," the man said, patting Zhang Shan on the shoulder, "The first is to send you out, and then I'll lead all the 'bo wen soldiers' to die in battle."

"What's the second?" Zhang Shan asked irritably.

"The second is for you to stay here, and then we'll all die in battle."

Zhang Shan opened his mouth at these words, clearly falling silent for a moment.

He felt speechless.

"We can all see the outcome," the man said with a bitter smile, his pale teeth shining brightly in the darkness, "Neither of these paths leads to 'victory,' just a sliver of 'hope.' The only thing I can do is send that 'hope' out. After all, war has never been about individuals—I have to follow what the other side said and try to look as far ahead as possible."

Zhang Shan swallowed hard, still unable to refute.

He didn't know what he was holding onto. Staying here would only mean death, but going to a strange new city and abandoning his comrades... no matter how he looked at it, it wasn't his style.

"Lao Nie..." Zhang Shan finally snapped out of it after a while and asked, "About that person you mentioned... how will he grant me a new identity?"

"According to him, he can make a deal with the 'upper level' here," the man answered honestly, "The next time you wake up, you won't be my roommate anymore. You'll be in a completely new room, and when you step out, you won't see our city..."

"I'll do it," Zhang Shan said helplessly, shaking his head with a complicated smile, "We've always been fighting tooth and nail against this so-called 'upper level,' but that person can make deals with them... What kind of nonsense did he feed you to make you believe all this so wholeheartedly?"

"It's the 'identity,'" the man replied.

"'Identity'...?"

"If any 'participant' had told me this, I wouldn't believe it," the man said with a laugh and a shake of his head, "But the one who told me was a 'shengxiao.'"

Zhang Shan's eyes widened slightly at that.

"It's hard for me to understand too," the man said, touching his head, "The north's Di Long told me someone wanted to see me, and then during the 'shengxiao's' off-duty time, I met that Bai Yang through a portal."

"So, this is actually... a Li Ying Wai He?" Zhang Shan asked, furrowing his brow.

(Today I saw that Shi Ri Zhong Yan has a rating of 9.9 points. I don't know if it will drop in a couple of days, and I'm so happy I don't know where to share it, so I'll share it here in advance with every reader. Thank you all. Without each of you, we wouldn't have these results—I'm truly extremely grateful.)