Chapter 543: From Hell

Qi Xia knew this might be his only chance.

As long as he could meet that person, he would at least get an answer.

Thinking this, he quickly moved his feet and ran toward the source of the engine noise. It wasn’t long before the old taxi sped up and came to a steady stop right in front of him.

“Passenger, where to?” Xu Liunian rolled down the window and said.

“Escape,” Qi Xia replied.

“Then I can’t do that,” Xu Liunian said with a slight smile. “How about I take you for a spin?”

Without another word, Qi Xia opened the door and sat in the passenger seat. At that moment, he felt pain all over his body, especially in his ribs and chest.

Xu Liunian skillfully shifted into gear and floored the accelerator, speeding away with Qi Xia.

Qi Xia was gasping for breath, sweat dripping constantly from his chin, and the sound of his heartbeat filled the entire car.

“How embarrassing,” Xu Liunian laughed. “The famous Qi Xia, almost dying in a simple running game. Isn’t that something even elementary school kids can do?”

Qi Xia didn’t respond; he just stared blankly out the window. He estimated that “Tianma Shike” had been going on for about an hour, and by now, the various “Canyu Zhe” on the road were clearly exhausted.

For them, this game was utterly hopeless.

Because hardly anyone knew when the black lines in the sky would stop chasing, they might mistakenly think it was a “fight to the death” game. Under such immense psychological pressure, people would tire out much faster than usual.

If you told someone they just had to run for two hours to survive, some would make it. But if you told them the black lines wouldn’t stop until they died, many would give up midway.

Qi Xia had witnessed several Canyu Zhe being pierced through the skull by the black lines. The moment their skulls were pierced, the lines curved downward, splitting the fatal corpses in half.

This method of killing was something Qi Xia had never seen before, but all the bodies he encountered along the way had died in the same manner, which made him curious.

Xu Liunian lightly pressed the clutch and tapped the brakes, turning at the upcoming intersection to dodge a black line, then turned to Qi Xia and said:

“You know, if a sharp weapon pierces through the center of the brow, a person dies instantly without feeling any pain.”

Qi Xia still gazed out the window without speaking.

“So, in movies and TV shows, those people pointing guns at their temples or putting them in their mouths to commit suicide are all wrong,” Xu Liunian continued. “The correct way is to aim at the center of the brow. Otherwise, you’d feel unimaginable pain at the moment of death. Maybe the directors just think it doesn’t look as elegant?”

Xu Liunian spoke as if Qi Xia wasn’t even there, gently turning the steering wheel while keeping his eyes on the road ahead, smiling as if chatting with a friend.

“So, ‘Tianma Shike’ is actually quite humane. These black lines kill people painlessly first, then cut open their bodies. It’s pretty reasonable, right?”

Qi Xia slowly furrowed his brow; he felt Xu Liunian’s logic was getting stranger and stranger.

“So… this passenger, do you have something on your mind?” Xu Liunian asked again.

Qi Xia leaned back in his seat, his voice slightly hoarse, and asked, “Xu Liunian, what is your ultimate goal?”

“Me?” Xu Liunian chuckled lightly. “You’re really surprising me, going straight for my ‘ultimate goal’ like that?”

“I can’t think of any other reason,” Qi Xia replied. “On the surface, you’re with Chu Tianqiu, but you’re helping me with ‘Hui Xiang.’ You’re disrupting Chu Tianqiu’s plans and mine too, so you don’t want anyone to ‘become a god’ or anyone to ‘escape.’”

“It’s not entirely accurate to say that.”

Xu Liunian steered the car to the middle of the road, where a “Yuan Zhumin” was crossing. He actually stopped the car and waited patiently for her to pass.

“For me, it doesn’t matter who ‘becomes a god’ or who ‘escapes.’ What I must do is destroy this place.” Seeing the Yuan Zhumin walking too slowly, Xu Liunian lightly honked the horn.

“Destroy this place…” Qi Xia felt like he’d heard this “ultimate goal” before.

Once, someone had said to him: “Qi Xia, let’s destroy this place together.”

Was it Lin Geng…?

“This place has completely spiraled out of control,” Xu Liunian said, restarting the car. “Even the ones who built it couldn’t have imagined it would end up like this. Now, the gods can’t manage it, and people can’t live here—it’s basically the second hell on earth.”

Qi Xia sensed that the woman in front of him knew a lot, even about the “origin” of this place.

“What do you mean by ‘the second hell’?” Qi Xia asked.

“I come from hell,” Xu Liunian laughed.

“Wha—” That brief statement left Qi Xia stunned.

“But it’s not what you imagine,” Xu Liunian shook his head, his expression a mix of madness and sorrow. “I don’t have any great powers—after all, I’m trapped here too. I’ve always known that no one can come in to save me. We can’t get out, and outsiders can’t get in. ‘Zhongyan Zhidi’ is a blood-soaked fortress. The only way to end it all is to destroy this place.”

Many people had told Qi Xia, “We can’t get out,” but he had never believed it.

Yet, for some reason, hearing it from Xu Liunian’s mouth made it strangely convincing.

“So, how exactly do you plan to destroy this place?” Qi Xia asked.

“I can’t do it alone,” Xu Liunian replied. “If needed, I’ll do my best to help the strong ones here. As long as someone can kill ‘that person,’ this place will lose its purpose.”

“The strong ones?” Qi Xia frowned, thinking about Xu Liunian’s actions all along, then asked, “Like me and Chu Tianqiu?”

“No,” Xu Liunian shook his head. “Chu Tianqiu is smart enough, but he’s not my first choice.”

Qi Xia felt there was more to Xu Liunian’s words, so he asked, “Then, who is this ‘strong one’ you’re thinking of?”

“You and Wen Qiaoyun.”

The moment “Wen Qiaoyun” was mentioned, Qi Xia was clearly taken aback.

“Me and… Wen Qiaoyun?”

Qi Xia furrowed his brow and looked at Xu Liunian, finding it a bit odd. In Xu Liunian’s long memory, did he really think that woman named Wen Qiaoyun was stronger than Chu Tianqiu?

At that moment, a Canyu Zhe spotted the car driving down the street, his eyes widening as he ran into the middle of the road and waved his arms desperately.

He seemed to see a floating log in a raging current—if he could just grab hold of it, he might survive this torrent of black darkness.

But Xu Liunian acted as if he saw nothing, flooring the accelerator and hitting him head-on.

The man’s legs shattered instantly, his body slammed onto the hood, his internal organs ruptured, and he vomited a large mouthful of blood, splattering the windshield.

Xu Liunian didn’t stop; he dragged the body along and ran it over.

“Qi Xia…” Xu Liunian said softly, “Did you see that? ‘Yuan Zhumin’ can’t die, but ‘Canyu Zhe’ deaths are insignificant.”

(Brothers, can I take a day off tomorrow? I really have something going on, and I’m extremely sorry!)