Chapter 300: Lonely Participants

Sòng Qí walked out of the teaching building, and the faces of all the Máo team members changed.

Several people quickly stepped forward to check his injuries, but he waved them off.

"All of you, one right hand," Sòng Qí said, looking up. "Men handle the cutting, women handle the stopping of the bleeding."

After he spoke, most of them had already drawn their daggers and pressed them against their wrists.

Qí Xià sat by the window, watching this bizarre scene on the distant playground, and slowly furrowed his brow.

"Sòng Qí... Luò Shíyī?" He stared at the two familiar faces on the field, lost in thought. It seemed they were indeed part of the same organization, but why were they collectively severing their right hands?

"Could it be... a 'Jiāoyì'?" Qí Xià glanced at Chǔ Tiānqiū in the distance, piecing together the causes and effects in his mind.

What could make this group of mercenaries pay such a heavy price?

"Could it be me...?" But soon, Qí Xià stroked his chin and furrowed his brow. "Am I that important?"

As he was pondering, a faint sound of footsteps came from behind.

He turned around and saw Lǐ Jìngguān staring at him with a serious expression, as if he had something to say.

"What's wrong?"

Lǐ Jìngguān sat down next to Qí Xià, looked up at him, and hesitated.

"Speak your mind," Qí Xià said. "Is something troubling you?"

Lǐ Jìngguān glanced at Qí Xià and slowly said, "Qí Xià, do you remember? You said that as long as I stood by your side, you would help me deal with Zhāng Huànán."

"That's right," Qí Xià nodded seriously. "Is it sorted out now?"

Hearing that question, Lǐ Jìngguān's face darkened, and he gave a bitter smile. "I didn't expect you to stay so calm about it... Qí Xià, why did you deceive me?"

"Deceive you...?" Qí Xià paused.

"I chose to believe you, but you deceived me... Was what you said about helping me with Zhāng Huànán just a temporary ploy to buy time?"

There was no anger in Lǐ Jìngguān's eyes, only a trace of disappointment.

"What...?" Qí Xià was a bit confused about the situation. "Where did I deceive you?"

Lǐ Jìngguān pondered for a moment, reached into his pocket, but then remembered it was empty.

"The last time you gave me a phone number... to contact you at fourteen years old," Lǐ Jìngguān said, trying to reach for a cigarette but finding none, so he continued with a disappointed expression. "But that phone number is disconnected."

"Disconnected...?" Qí Xià slowly furrowed his brow, feeling that things were beyond his expectations.

"To escape my own troubles... I've memorized that phone number countless times. I've thought of all sorts of possibilities, even how to convince you at fourteen, but I never imagined the number was wrong."

Qí Xià didn't speak; he just lowered his head in silence.

"So why did you deceive me...?" Lǐ Jìngguān looked at Qí Xià with eyes full of disappointed weariness, as if he had lost the drive to escape once more.

"Lǐ Jìngguān, no matter if you believe it or not, I had no motive to deceive you."

"But Qí Xià..." Lǐ Jìngguān gave a bitter smile. "No one's helping me... From the beginning to the end... No one's helping me... What's the point of me returning to reality?"

"Are you sure the phone number is correct?" Qí Xià asked.

Lǐ Jìngguān closed his eyes slightly and repeated the phone number.

It was a landline number, the one from the house where Qí Xià grew up, not a digit off.

"You say it's disconnected?" Qí Xià asked.

"Would I come all this way just to lie to you...?"

No matter how he thought about it, this was too strange.

After all, the phone number Qí Xià gave Lǐ Jìngguān was real, yet it couldn't reach him. Where had things gone wrong?

Qí Xià turned his head and saw Chǔ Tiānqiū pointing in his direction. Sòng Qí and the others confirmed the target and started walking over.

"Trouble..." Qí Xià furrowed his brow and turned back to Lǐ Jìngguān. "Lǐ Jìngguān, although I don't know why it's disconnected, leave me your phone number."

"My phone number...?" Lǐ Jìngguān was a bit puzzled. "Your time is later than mine; how can you help me back then?"

Qí Xià shook his head. "The issue now isn't about 'helping you' anymore. I just want to know... whether the two of us can make contact in the real world."

"What...?" Lǐ Jìngguān was stunned. "Are you doubting..."

"I have no doubts," Qí Xià said. "It's just an experiment. Besides, our lives are at a standstill; ten days won't make a difference."

Lǐ Jìngguān thought for a moment and recited a string of phone numbers.

"Due to my special profession, this number shouldn't change easily," Lǐ Jìngguān added. "If you can't get through... it only means I no longer exist in your world."

"No longer exist...?"

"I made mistakes, so I'll be lost in history," Lǐ Jìngguān said with a bitter smile. "I can't reach the bright future you all can see."

"The bright future..." Qí Xià said with a bitter smile. "We can only hope."

As the two fell silent, the classroom door was pushed open, and the group from the Máo team walked in.

No one in the room moved; they just quietly watched them.

Sòng Qí stepped forward and looked at Qí Xià. "I should have realized you're not an ordinary person."

Qí Xià didn't speak, and in the distance, Qiáo Jiājǐn slowly stood up.

"Not an ordinary person?" Qiáo Jiājǐn smiled. "So, are you here to pay respects or something?"

Seeing this shirtless man in front of them, everyone took a slight step back.

"Qiáo Jiājǐn..." Sòng Qí said thoughtfully. "This time, we're taking Qí Xià with us. We hope you won't get in the way."

"Ha?" Qiáo Jiājǐn smiled. "How about we compromise? You don't take him, and I won't stop you. Deal?"

At that moment, Lǐ Jìngguān also stood up, standing shoulder to shoulder with Qiáo Jiājǐn. He had never seen these people in black leather clothes before, but after years in law enforcement, he could tell at a glance they were a gang.

"Trouble..." Sòng Qí looked at Qiáo Jiājǐn, then at the muscular Lǐ Jìngguān, and said, "These two don't look easy to handle."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sòng Qí noticed Hán Yìmò sitting in the corner.

This person had left a deep impression on him; during his death, there had been a violent explosion that directly killed three Máo team members.

Sòng Qí felt that Hán Yìmò was probably the second person in Zhòngyán Zhīdì who could trigger an explosion, aside from himself.

Hán Yìmò also instantly recalled something, and a faint sense of fear arose, making his ears ring.

"This room is getting lively..." Sòng Qí's expression gradually darkened.

Qí Xià, Qiáo Jiājǐn, a skilled fighting officer, the mystic Lín Gēng, plus someone who can trigger explosions.

Then he looked at Sū Shān: "And a long-lost strategist..."