Chapter 1224: Stars

"You could say that," the thin, dark man nodded. "If the plan succeeds, it's 'inside-outside cooperation.' If it doesn't..."

"I understand," Zhang Shan nodded. "If it doesn't... it's still this city doing its best."

"Ha ha..." The man gave a dry laugh. "Da Shan, if you really make it to the end, what do you want to do?"

"What to do... I..." Zhang Shan had just heard this news and hadn't thought about what he would do next.

"We're soldiers," the man said again. "How about trying the 'capture the leader first' tactic? Find a way to snipe the enemy's leader."

Hearing this, Zhang Shan pondered for a moment. The leaders here... weren't they Tianlong and Qinglong?

"Get some rest," the man changed the subject. "Now that you know about my lie, remember to keep it secret for me."

Zhang Shan took a deep breath and lowered his head to look at the bodies at his feet.

Bodies were truly a varied sight. Their appearances were bizarre—some were still soft, others already rigid; some looked lifelike, while others had decayed and were oozing pus.

Regardless of their state, they were all piled here, and anyone who saw them would call them by the same name—bodies.

If they couldn't be revived, whether decayed and oozing, lifelike, shattered, or unrecognizable, they would ultimately be seen as the same rotting flesh.

They couldn't walk away or escape. They came from all over the world, but now they were gathered haphazardly, until they all rotted away and turned into the same white bones.

"Lao Nie... damn it," Zhang Shan muttered through gritted teeth. "This is annoying... shit..."

"Still can't break that habit of swearing?" the man asked with a smile.

"Lao Nie, let me ask you, when I leave... will you give me advance notice?" Zhang Shan asked.

"No," the man shook his head. "What, are we big tough guys going to have a weepy farewell?"

"At least..." Zhang Shan fell silent for a moment. "Damn it, at least give me some mental preparation?"

"You've been discharged before," the man said, patting Zhang Shan's shoulder. "It's pretty much the same. Comrades who fight side by side every day will one day go their separate ways to the ends of the earth, maybe never to meet again in this life. In situations like that, us tough guys can't cry— if you cry, do it quietly under the covers."

"Damn..." Zhang Shan gritted his teeth. "I..."

The man thought Zhang Shan was going to say something sentimental, but after holding it in for a long time, Zhang Shan finally said flatly, "Lao Nie, I might not get another chance to say this, but I lied too."

"Oh?" The man thought for a moment. "What lie could a rough guy like you tell?"

Zhang Shan reached up and touched his short, cropped hair, which was similar to the man's, and replied, "I said I got used to this haircut because I was in the military for so long..."

"Yeah," the man looked at him.

"But actually, it's because I spent a long time in prison." Zhang Shan gave a bitter smile. "Before I came here, I wasn't 'just discharged'—I had only been out of jail for a few months."

"Ha ha, damn..." The man burst out laughing after hearing the lie. "I thought it was something serious... So you went to prison? So what?"

"Are you deaf? I committed a crime..." Zhang Shan blinked, thinking he hadn't explained clearly.

"You committed a crime in the past, but that doesn't mean you like committing crimes." The man waved his hand. "We've fought side by side for so many years—do I need to judge whether you're a good person based on your past?"

"Don't you even want to ask why I committed the crime?" Zhang Shan frowned.

"You've already said what you wanted to say." The man shook his head. "Who in this world has never made a mistake?"

After hearing this, Zhang Shan gave a slightly complex light laugh.

"Da Shan, I've turned the page on this chapter for you, so you should turn it in your heart too."

The man slowly leaned back until he lay down on the pile of bodies.

He slightly opened his eyes and looked up at the sky, but that night in Wo Cheng, there were no stars to be seen.

The struggling warriors in the entire city were like stars, flickering with light that was impossible to see.

But stars that no one could see... could they still be called stars?

Zhang Shan's eyes flickered, feeling as if his body was rising and soaring from Wo Cheng several years ago.

He passed through dark rooms, walked down ruined streets, went through hellish killing grounds, and saw schools at sunset.

When he opened his eyes again, he was facing a long corridor.

On both sides, many "Shengxiao" stood there indifferently, staring at him.

"Zhang Shan," Chu Tianqiu called from behind, "are you okay?"

Zhang Shan turned around and hesitated as he looked at Chu Tianqiu's face. After a long pause, he tentatively asked, "Chu... Tianqiu?"

Hearing those three words, Chu Tianqiu slowly furrowed his brow and said, "The way you're saying it... it's like you've forgotten my name."

Zhang Shan felt a flood of memories rushing into his mind. Although they flashed by in an instant, it felt like he had lived through many years.

Seeing Chu Tianqiu at a time like this, he had almost forgotten his name.

This dazed feeling... would it happen to every "participant" on the "train" as time went on?

"I remember everything now..." Zhang Shan said with a somewhat blank expression. "Someone is pushing all of this forward..."

Zhang Shan shook his head hard, feeling his mind still a bit foggy. About eighty or ninety percent of his memories had surfaced, but some scattered pieces didn't know where to fit in the timeline.

"What do you mean...?" Chu Tianqiu asked.

"Everything we're experiencing now... it's the result of countless people's efforts..." Zhang Shan said. "Someone has secretly united everyone in 'Taoyuan' right under Tianlong and Qinglong's noses."

Chu Tianqiu narrowed his eyes, feeling he already knew who that person was.

"That white sheep..." Zhang Shan turned to look at Di Shu. "Among the 'Shengxiao,' there's a white sheep... where is he?"

"Leader..." Di Shu said with a forced smile, "Your memories are back, but your reactions are still a beat slow... Where's the white sheep now?"

"Huh...?"

Chu Tianqiu also shook his head beside him: "He used to be the white sheep, but now he's Qi Xia."

"Qi Xia..." Zhang Shan felt like he was starting to piece the whole thing together.

"So... do you remember what you're supposed to do here?" Chu Tianqiu asked again.