Chapter 1308: The Answer

Jiang Ruoxue and Lin Jin placed their arms on Yan Zhichun's shoulders, channeling all their Yinguo and Jifa into her.

The expressions on all three faces were complex, but nothing mattered more at that moment than survival.

Just as the Sun beneath their feet began to glow faintly, the arrival of the Zhiyan Shike would mean everyone would perish from Tianlong's Lixie.

Yan Zhichun looked gravely at the eyeball on the table and asked softly:

"Tian Gou... In the Tianji Shike, has there ever been a moment dominated by Duoxinpo?"

Tian Gou paused before replying:

"No."

"Never at all?" Yan Zhichun asked again.

"That's right." Tian Gou nodded. "Human rationality is a mysterious thing. Even if someone loses their rationality, the way it manifests isn't entirely uniform, just like those various Yuan Zhumin."

Yan Zhichun had indeed encountered all sorts of Yuan Zhumin—some wandered like walking corpses, others could barely hold a conversation, and some repeated certain actions until death.

Tian Gou sighed and continued: "Rationality is a hard-to-control variable. Moreover, losing it doesn't just turn someone into a Yuan Zhumin; it could also enhance their Xianfa. Neither Qinglong nor Tianlong would risk that."

"Then..." Yan Zhichun felt she had no way to press further; this bizarre plan seemed to have more flaws the more she asked. "A behavior that's never been implemented before... and Qi Xia calls it the most important plan... Am I the only one who finds this strange?"

Tian Gou gritted his teeth and said:

"I told you... I just want to live. The struggles at the top have nothing to do with someone like me. I only know that if I do what he says, I'll survive."

"Someone like you..." Di Gou, standing nearby, chuckled dryly. "As the Tianji that every Shengxiao here aspires to be... and you call yourself insignificant?"

"Isn't that what I am..." Tian Gou turned to him. "This is Taoyuan... Renji are ordinary people wearing masks, Diji are ordinary people with modified bodies, and Tianji are ordinary people with implanted eyeballs. What's the real difference between us?"

Tian Gou's expression gradually turned despondent; he seemed more unhinged than anyone else, yet also more perceptive than all.

Tian Gou shook his head: "Even though I'm called Tianji, if I were loaded with deadly weapons, I'd still know who to provoke and who not to. After all, they have a hundred ways to kill me."

Yan Zhichun felt that Tian Gou's described situation wasn't all that different from her own.

After years of trials, she had always felt herself growing and getting stronger, but in the end, it all vanished like an illusion.

It was as if she hadn't grown or strengthened at all; she had merely followed the path others had laid out for her.

Now, she just wanted to escape this life that others could manipulate; nothing else was in her considerations.

What about for Jidao... or for Friendship...

When unsure what was real, she only wanted to live for herself.

As long as she could unleash the Kuangluan Shike to end this battle, there would only be two possible outcomes: either she would be utterly destroyed, or she would completely escape this false realm.

Either way, it would be enough to put an end to this absurd life.

Thinking of this, Yan Zhichun reached out and touched the eyeball in the center of the table. Following Tian Gou's guidance, she let her thoughts flow, channeling her Duoxinpo into the Chunneng.

In the next second, she felt a chill on her fingers, as if they were firmly stuck to the eyeball, unable to pull away.

The slightly trembling eyeball was like a greedy little mouth, sucking something from her body.

Yan Zhichun had never experienced anything like this; she only knew that what was being drawn out wasn't blood or flesh, but something invisible... like Xin Nian.

Lin Jin and Jiang Ruoxue, with their hands on her shoulders, also looked uncomfortable, as a large surge of Xin Nian mixed with Li Zhi flowed through their arms into Yan Zhichun's body and then vanished.

Strange lights began to illuminate the entire workbench, and soon even the Sun under their feet started to vibrate slightly, like a massive pupil contracting.

Everyone lost their balance, but after Zheng Yingxiong steadied himself, he tried to pull them apart, only to be stopped by Di Gou.

"Good... This is perfect..." Tian Gou said excitedly. "The Kuangluan Shike is here... I'm alive... I've made it..."

He didn't care about the fate of Yan Zhichun and the others; he staggered forward and began touching the other eyeballs: "This time, let's use hair, right? Hair infused with Duoxinpo... No need for Guan Chuan... Just a simple touch will do. Oh, and it needs Yin Ni... Can't let them notice the hair's presence..."

He released every ability he could think of from the various eyeballs on the table, and the central Chunneng eyeball gradually turned red.

With the Men still open, the space of the Sun connected to the Lieche, sending massive air currents into the carriage and making everyone feel an odd sensation under their feet.

...

Qi Xia carefully sensed the vibrations under his feet, then looked up at the elder in front of him, his expression finally easing a bit.

"Even with a living Bianshu standing right in front of me... it doesn't matter..." Qi Xia muttered to himself. "What's meant to happen has happened..."

"What are you saying, young man?" The elder's face flashed with unease, as his subconscious always linked this young man with death.

Qi Xia didn't answer; he just stared at him and asked:

"Why did you come to find me?"

The elder slowly dropped the hair in his hand to the ground and said: "Ah... I just can't break this bad habit of mine... Ever since I learned I could seek the Zhen Xiang, I've always wanted to get to the bottom of things."

Qi Xia knew that to truly settle his mind, he had to actively eliminate this variable in front of him.

He couldn't die here, or live here.

He could only disappear from here.

"Alright." Qi Xia nodded. "Why don't you just ask me directly? What do you want to know?"

"Young man..." The elder stepped inside, hesitating. "I've sought the Zhen Xiang twice, and both times I encountered you... But the truths I sought were completely different... How could they point to the same answer?"

"What did you seek, then?"

"I once asked where we come from, and once where we go." The elder said. "Young man... The answer told me you were our origin and will be our destination."

Qi Xia paused slightly at this, then lowered his head in silence.

"Variables" were few but deadly.

A Huixiang that could seek "answers," acquired by someone with immense curiosity.

Before he could tear the loophole wider, it needed to be stopped immediately.

This kind of "variable" wasn't even worthy of a dream.