Chapter 536: The Former Lover, Wang

"Chu Tianqiu, didn't you hear me speaking?"

A figure dressed in white stood in front of Chu Tianqiu, looking at him with hesitation.

"I heard you, Yan Zhichun. Not only did I hear you, but I heard it very clearly." Chu Tianqiu nodded. "The Tianma Shike is about to arrive, and when it does, there will be countless casualties."

After speaking, Chu Tianqiu glanced at Jiang Ruoxue and Xiaoxiao standing behind Yan Zhichun, then let out a light laugh. "You're all quite curious, aren't you? Even though you know something this major is about to happen, why aren't you heading to an open area to wait it out?"

With that, he walked toward Jiang Ruoxue and slowly revealed a meaningful smile. "Jiang Ruoxue, didn't you already defect from Tian Tang Kou and join Ji Dao? Is this trip back just to specifically inform me about the Tianma Shike?"

"There's something I need to clarify." Jiang Ruoxue shook her head. "I never defected from Tian Tang Kou. From the beginning to the end, I've always been with Ji Dao."

"I see..." Chu Tianqiu smiled and nodded. "That's truly heartbreaking news for me. Someone with such powerful Hui Xiang and Li Zhi, yet you're thoroughly Ji Dao."

After saying that, Chu Tianqiu slowly furrowed his brow. He felt that most Ji Dao members seemed able to maintain more Li Zhi than those in ordinary organizations.

"We're all Hui Xiang Zhe. If we die, we're dead. Whether we run or not, it doesn't make much difference in the end." Yan Zhichun said. "But what about the people under you?"

"Whether the people under me live or die... what does that have to do with me?"

Yan Zhichun let out a light laugh in response. She felt that Chu Tianqiu was completely different from what she had imagined. "As the former Liang Ren Wang, you've gathered so many strong individuals here... Can't you at least preserve their memories at the most basic level?"

"Is that necessary?"

Chu Tianqiu turned around, put on his coat, adjusted his glasses with his hand, and his expression made Yan Zhichun feel particularly puzzling.

"How interesting." Yan Zhichun nodded. "I'm curious, as a leader like you, how your reputation reached even Ji Dao. Is it just by regularly erasing your members' memories so they forget the evils you've committed?"

"I..." Chu Tianqiu narrowed his eyes and looked out the window, where the sun was beginning to contract.

He swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue and said softly, "Go and save yourselves. Though our deaths wouldn't be much of a loss, Huan Mie is still better than Can Si."

"What about you?" Yan Zhichun asked. "Are you planning to die here?"

"No." Chu Tianqiu smirked. "I'll definitely escape. Anyone here can die, but not me."

"What a selfish and willful leader." Yan Zhichun said meaningfully.

"Thank you."

Yan Zhichun turned back to glance at Jiang Ruoxue. After Jiang Ruoxue gave a slight nod, the three of them got up and left the room, heading to the playground.

At that moment, no one in Tian Tang Kou had noticed the changes in the sun in the sky. Some were even still indoors, and once those strange threads quietly approached, there would be no way to escape in time.

"Zhichun." Jiang Ruoxue called from behind. "We only came to notify you. Why did you have to go and warn Chu Tianqiu?"

Yan Zhichun responded with a sweet laugh. "I'm just curious about him. I wanted to see his decision-making. This person's reputation and his actual actions are complete opposites. Why is that?"

Jiang Ruoxue knew that Yan Zhichun cared deeply about the prestige of the title Liang Ren Wang.

She had once told many Ji Dao Zhe that if they ever grew tired of being Ji Dao Zhe and wanted to try escaping Zhong Yan Zhi Di, the best place to go was to join Liang Ren Wang Chu Tianqiu.

Yet, not a single Ji Dao Zhe had heard of anyone successfully joining him, and now Yan Zhichun was the first to become disillusioned.

The so-called Liang Ren Wang didn't care about anyone else's life or death.

He was not only extremely mad but also possessed deep cunning.

"So, in the end, there's no real 'way out' in this place." Yan Zhichun looked at the sky and said. "It's better to choose your own path rather than pin your hopes on others."

"Do you think Chu Tianqiu wasn't lying?" Jiang Ruoxue also looked at the sky and asked.

"Lying...?"

"Though the saying goes 'hearing is false, seeing is true,' we've heard far too many praises about Chu Tianqiu." Jiang Ruoxue sighed. "If his current behavior is the 'cause,' it doesn't add up to the 'effect' from before."

"I think you've gone a bit mad too." Yan Zhichun shook her head. "Ruoxue, is the 'cause' before the 'effect,' or vice versa? No one takes the present as the 'cause' and works backward to make the past the 'effect.'"

"So you understand that principle too." Jiang Ruoxue nodded. "In that case, doesn't it mean Chu Tianqiu has changed? We can't deny everything he's done based on the current situation."

"I hope you're right." Yan Zhichun nodded.

The tall Xiaoxiao stood nearby, watching the two of them the whole time. She had joined Ji Dao not long ago, and this was her first time seeing the so-called Ji Dao Wang Yan Zhichun. There was always a strange aura about her that made Xiaoxiao feel hard to approach.

Yan Zhichun looked up at the mass of black lines emanating from behind the sun and shook her head helplessly.

"With the Tianma Shike descending on the fifth day, Ji Dao will suffer heavy losses, and the consequences are unpredictable." Yan Zhichun's expression grew increasingly somber. "We were already short on people, and now we probably won't be able to protect this place."

"Every 'cause' leads to its own 'effect.' You've done well enough." Jiang Ruoxue said calmly. "Let's go."

The three of them no longer concerned themselves with the fate of the people in Tian Tang Kou and stepped out the gate.

In the distance, Chu Tianqiu watched the three figures leaving from the window, his expression gradually turning melancholic.

Just then, someone gently knocked on the door. He turned to look, and standing outside was Zhao Yisheng.

"Chu Tianqiu."

"What is it?"

Zhao Yisheng held an old rag in his hand, constantly wiping the bloodstains from his own. "I've made some progress on the task you assigned me..."

"You're quite the professional doctor." Chu Tianqiu nodded. "You can even dissect such a rotten corpse?"

"It's a bit disgusting, but I've got a general idea." Zhao Yisheng nodded and tossed the rag aside. "That corpse of Qi Xia—there was indeed a malignant tumor in the brain. Though the body is highly decayed, I can roughly tell that this condition wouldn't leave much time. Most people would be bedridden, waiting to die."

Chu Tianqiu nodded after hearing this. Though he had been mentally prepared, the result still felt strange. Qi Xia had a malignant tumor in his brain that was even worse than his own.

"But there's one thing I don't quite understand." Zhao Yisheng asked seriously. "That corpse's brain was damaged, as if it had been... excavated."