Chapter 562: At Least

Qi Xia and the strange woman named Xu Liunian beside him had been driving along the road for some time now.

It had to be said that Xu Liunian's driving skills weren't great. Although she was doing her best to avoid the black lines stretched across the road, some of them—hard to spot with the naked eye—still scraped against the car, making this already battered vehicle look even more damaged.

During the drive, Qi Xia had glanced at her several times and noticed that her eyes no longer held any desire for survival; instead, they were filled with profound sadness.

"Xu Liunian, you said you want to destroy this place..." Qi Xia asked softly, "I don't understand the logic behind it. Is there any necessary connection between 'destroying this place' and 'saving me'?"

"Maybe I need to save you first, and then I can destroy this place?" Xu Liunian replied with a smile.

"I destroy this place...?" Qi Xia furrowed his brow slightly, "Destroying this place doesn't mean anything to me. I haven't finished what I set out to do, and I haven't found the person I'm looking for. If I had to choose, I'd be more inclined to protect this place."

"You don't need to search anymore." Xu Liunian interrupted, "'Yu Nian'an' doesn't exist at all."

The moment the three words "Yu Nian'an" were spoken, Qi Xia's brow furrowed instantly.

If Qi Xia remembered correctly, this was the first time in all his activities in the Zhongyan Zhidi that someone had brought up "Yu Nian'an" on their own, without him saying anything first.

Yet the content of what she said was still heartbreaking.

"Yu Nian'an" simply didn't exist.

"Hold on." Qi Xia's eyes turned ice-cold in an instant; he had already exposed Xu Liunian's lies more than once.

"What is it?"

"No matter whether Yu Nian'an exists or not... why go out of your way to tell me?" Qi Xia turned to look at Xu Liunian, "In the chaotic Tianma Shike, you navigated around all the dangers, drove straight to me, and then told me that 'Yu Nian'an' doesn't exist. Doesn't that seem a bit too deliberate in motive and method?"

After hearing this, Xu Liunian pressed her lips together slightly. She knew that lying to Qi Xia would be extremely difficult, but now, right at the beginning... it was already on the verge of failing.

"Qi Xia, I want to completely break you." Xu Liunian gripped the steering wheel, her face expressionless as she said, "So I have to tell you here that 'Yu Nian'an' is fictional. Every time you've seen 'Yu Nian'an', it's been a product of Huixiang—whether it's me, or Li Xiangling, or yourself, or any other Huixiang that could achieve the same effect. None of it was real."

Hearing those words, Qi Xia's pupils contracted slightly, and a buzzing noise began in his ears: "Xu Liunian... you're manipulating me?"

"Yes, I'm manipulating you." Xu Liunian nodded in affirmation, "Whether it was your first Huixiang or your second, I was involved, stirring things up behind the scenes."

Qi Xia slowly straightened up in his seat, leaning back against the soft passenger side, his gaze terrifying.

"Xu Liunian..." Qi Xia uttered the three words slowly, his voice even changing slightly.

Xu Liunian swallowed hard; she could feel the dangerous aura emanating from Qi Xia filling the entire car.

"You're saying you've been toying with me... using the most important thing to me, over and over?" Qi Xia asked again.

Whether it was because Xu Liunian's hands were trembling or some unknown event was occurring, the taxi's path started weaving like a snake on the highway, and it took her several tries to steady the vehicle.

"So what...?" Xu Liunian asked, her forehead beaded with fine sweat, her mouth turned down slightly as she pressed her lips together tightly.

The air inside the car seemed to be growing thinner, creating a slightly suffocating feeling.

The thin air mixed with the stuffy odor in the car, casting an uneasy atmosphere.

Xu Liunian felt like she was awakening a true monster.

But throughout history, those called "monsters" had little reason, so what about Qi Xia?

Qi Xia's reaction was beyond Xu Liunian's expectations; he remained eerily calm.

He didn't lose his mind on the spot; he just concealed his murderous gaze a bit and said, "Even though you've laid your cards on the table, I still don't fully believe it. I don't think you could manipulate me with 'Yu Nian'an'. You're not that clever, and I'm not that foolish."

"Yeah..." Xu Liunian gave a bitter smile, then slowly closed her eyes, "So what does that change, Qi Xia?"

Under Qi Xia's watchful gaze, in the blink of an eye, Xu Liunian transformed completely into Yu Nian'an.

She wore a white outfit, her long hair by her ears dancing in the wind from the open car window.

The scent of pine wood laundry detergent mixed with lily of the valley shampoo shattered the foul stench of the Zhongyan Zhidi, rushing into Qi Xia's nostrils like a stone breaking glass.

Yu Nian'an sat there, hands on the steering wheel, looking sadly toward the horizon ahead.

Even someone as strong as Qi Xia found his mind going completely blank at that moment.

"Xia, you know..." Xu Liunian began, her voice now as Yu Nian'an's, "there are many paths in this world..."

"Enough..." Qi Xia interrupted hastily, but his expression was no longer composed; it was replaced by pain.

"Xia, I bought your favorite peanuts." Yu Nian'an said with a sorrowful face, "Come home with me?"

She had a complete set of memories about "Yu Nian'an" in her mind, and even if there were some flaws in front of Qi Xia, they were fatal enough.

"Stop it..."

Qi Xia felt all his beliefs crumbling. The deepest, most painful obsession he had cherished day and night wasn't real, nor was it unreal—it was just a role played by someone else.

She was just a role.

"Xu... no..." Qi Xia wanted to kill the Xu Liunian in front of him right then, but every time he saw her face, he couldn't bring himself to do it, "An..."

Even if she was fake, she had been real at least once.

"Now do you believe it?" the driver said, "I'm Yu Nian'an. I've always been. Whether in your dreams or your memories, it's always been me."

As if possessed, Qi Xia reached out to touch Yu Nian'an's cheek; this might be the only time he could touch a real "Yu Nian'an" in the waking world, not in a dream.

But just as his fingers were about to make contact with Yu Nian'an's face, a ghostly voice suddenly echoed in his ear.

"The person outside the door isn't me."

Those five simple words made Qi Xia freeze as if electrocuted, his outstretched fingers halting in mid-air.

"What...?" He scanned around carefully and realized that the Xu Liunian in front of him hadn't spoken, but Yu Nian'an's voice kept ringing in his ear.

"Xia, the person outside the door isn't me."