Chapter 566: Joke

Qi Xia looked at Xu Liunian and noticed her entire body was trembling.

Mortals were fleeing, while the gods were pursuing.

Where could they escape? Where indeed?

“Qi Xia...!” Xu Liunian’s voice was also trembling. “Taoyuan has special Shen Li blessings that allow people inside to gain ‘god force’ under extreme emotions. This plan was originally called the ‘Nüwa Youxi’! But the original ‘judges’ were all killed by ‘Tianlong’! He replaced them with people he selected himself and completely took over this place!”

The moment they exited the alley, Xu Liunian spun the car around and sped off toward the main road.

“Now, all the ‘Shengxiao,’ all the ‘Shen Shou,’ they’re all lies!! There isn’t a single person here who can escape!!”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the ground in front of them began to shake violently, and massive boulders rose up, blocking their entire path.

Seeing this, Xu Liunian quickly shifted into reverse and turned the car around.

But as she did, the air suddenly grew still, and Qinglong was already sitting in the back seat.

The turbulent taxi came to a halt like a yacht dropping anchor in massive waves, swaying in place but going nowhere.

Qi Xia saw the drastic change in Xu Liunian’s expression and couldn’t help but turn his head, only to lock eyes with Qinglong.

“I think I’ve said this before... I don’t like ‘pieces’ that have a mind of their own.”

Qinglong’s androgynous voice echoed slowly, sounding eerily familiar to Qi Xia.

This voice was identical to the one he had heard in his dreams, but strangely, while it had once made his hair stand on end and made it impossible to even look at the speaker, the man before him now felt different.

“Qi Xia…” Xu Liunian gazed at Qinglong for a long time before speaking slowly, “Let me introduce you… Tianlong’s most capable assistant, Qinglong.”

After hearing this, Qi Xia carefully studied Qinglong.

Xu Liunian paused for a while before continuing: “My time is running out, so I’ll tell you my ‘final hypothesis’ now.”

Qinglong didn’t interrupt; he just watched Xu Liunian quietly, as if observing a frantic monkey.

“Go ahead,” Qi Xia said gravely.

“We are ‘clones’ born from your power. The real versions of us have already escaped this cursed place.” She struggled to organize her thoughts, speaking to Qi Xia word by word. “I suspect we escape every ten days, but because of your stubborn ‘Sheng Sheng Bu Xi,’ there’s always a clone left behind to suffer through the cycle of reincarnation!”

Qi Xia narrowed his eyes at these words, then turned to look at Qinglong. He noticed that Qinglong’s smile had grown even wider, as if he truly saw Xu Liunian as a ridiculous clown.

“Are you finished?” Qinglong asked.

“I…” Xu Liunian wasn’t sure what Qinglong meant and cast a pleading glance at Qi Xia in the passenger seat.

But Qi Xia remained unmoved.

“Xu Liunian, you’ve truly disappointed me.” Qinglong slowly extended his hand and placed it on her forehead. “Restoring your sanity for just over twenty days has already let things spiral out of control. Why should I keep you around?”

Qi Xia saw Xu Liunian trembling uncontrollably, but what could he do to intervene in this situation?

When Xu Liunian decided to reveal these truths, whether her guesses were right or wrong, she would completely provoke Qinglong.

From this perspective, it seemed Xu Liunian had once been under Qinglong’s command. Her unexpected strategies in the past were likely guided by him.

That would make everything logical.

Including Qinglong’s appearance here now.

“Wait a minute.” Qi Xia spoke up to stop him.

Qinglong paused slightly and turned to Qi Xia, then slowly smirked: “You want me to… ‘wait a minute’?”

An overwhelming pressure burst from Qinglong, making Qi Xia furrow his brow.

If he were still an ordinary person, he’d probably be repelled by Qinglong’s aura alone. But now, Qi Xia felt he was on the same level as his opponent.

Since both of them possessed “Shen Li,” they had bargaining chips for negotiation.

“That’s right, I want you to wait a minute,” Qi Xia said coldly.

“Interesting… very interesting…” Qinglong nodded, but he didn’t withdraw his hand. Instead, he fixed his ink-green eyes on him. “What am I waiting for? And what are you going to do?”

“Qinglong… I am ‘Sheng Sheng Bu Xi,’” Qi Xia said. “You can’t kill Xu Liunian.”

Upon hearing this, Qinglong’s hand indeed stopped.

“No matter what you do…” Qi Xia continued, “Xu Liunian is just an ordinary ‘participant.’ She’ll revive with the ‘Hui Xiang.’ You can’t kill her.”

“Ha… haha…” Qinglong retracted his hand, his eyes filled with madness. “It really is you… Seventy years ago, it was you, and seventy years later, it’s still you…”

“Is it me…?” Qi Xia felt confused.

“Qi Xia, from now on, I’m going to tell you two jokes. Here’s the first one.” Qinglong leaned forward, getting closer to Qi Xia. “If you hadn’t so self-righteously said that just now, Xu Liunian would have been completely freed.”

“What…?”

“And here’s the second one.”

Qinglong extended a finger and placed it on Qi Xia’s forehead, but Qi Xia didn’t dodge.

“Qi Xia, if you hadn’t so self-righteously boasted seventy years ago, no one would have suffered this cycle of reincarnation.”

The moment Qinglong touched Qi Xia’s forehead, a strange memory exploded in Qi Xia’s mind.

In the memory, Qi Xia stood covered in blood before a man with a blurred face. Behind the man was Qinglong, and behind Qi Xia was a mountain of tens of thousands of corpses.

The sky was a flawless blue.

Qi Xia slowly lowered his head and said through gritted teeth: “Tianlong… We won’t just die like this… I swear all the ‘participants’ will return, and the ‘Hui Xiang Zhe’ will lead everyone forward with these painful memories… until we completely defeat you.”

As soon as he finished, Qinglong behind Tianlong suddenly clutched his ears, his expression twisting in agony.

“What’s wrong?” Tianlong asked, turning back.

After a long while, Qinglong’s face gradually eased, and after thinking for a few seconds, he shook his head: “Nothing.”

Qi Xia glanced at Qinglong, then smiled slightly before spitting out a mouthful of blood and collapsing straight to the ground.

The memory ended abruptly.

Qi Xia’s eyes widened slowly. He turned to Qinglong, gritting his teeth: “What kind of joke are you playing…? You’re saying all this is because of me?”

“Isn’t it?” Qinglong laughed. “I heard it… The frequency was so high that even you couldn’t hear it, but I did.”

“Ridiculous.” Qi Xia laughed angrily. “Even if it’s because of me that they’re trapped in endless reincarnation, what’s wrong with that? As ‘humans,’ are we just meant to be slaughtered by you without even the right to fight back?”