Chapter 942: Desperate Sky

"How could such a life exist...?"

Tianniu laughed bitterly, "In the past, to survive, I endured so much hardship... How could I not know that? How is it possible that after visiting 'Taoyuan' once and becoming 'Tianniu' once, my life suddenly became smooth sailing when I went out...?"

After speaking, Tianniu pointed to the air with a sorrowful expression and asked, "Qinglong, tell me, does 'Taoyuan' look like some kind of sacred place that can make all our wishes come true...? How could that not raise suspicions?"

In the dim light, the faces of everyone present began to fill with despair. Although they were all "Tianji," they still felt as insignificant as ants.

"But what's the difference, really?" Qinglong asked.

"What...?"

"You live out a lifetime in a dream until you die of old age, and you live out a lifetime in the real world until you die of old age... What's the fundamental difference?"

Qinglong's words left everyone stunned. They all seemed to want to say something, but at first, they couldn't find a way to refute it.

Yes... What was the difference between these two kinds of lives?

"Anyway... I just can't understand it," Qinglong said. "For you, it's all just about finding a place to live. Isn't a flawless life more appealing than your reality full of wounds and scars? Where did I go wrong? And where did Tianlong go wrong?"

"How could they possibly be the same..." Tianniu said, losing some of his confidence, "A dream is still a dream... It has to be different from reality..."

"But Tianlong's dream-entering ability is extremely powerful," Qinglong said. "Even in the dream, you can feel pain and pleasure. You can experience all the joys and sorrows, so for you, the two are essentially no different."

"But... but our lives... won't be that smooth..." Tianniu struggled to retort, "It's precisely because life has its ups and downs that we want to go back and see..."

"Ha ha ha ha!" Qinglong suddenly burst into laughter.

His booming laughter made everyone in the room turn to look at him.

"What ridiculous thinking!" Qinglong said with a smirk in his eyes, "Because it's too smooth, it's not life? It has to have ups and downs to count? Tell me... where did this masochistic idea come from?"

"You..."

"In the real world, you struggle, don't you? All for the sake of having smooth sailing later in life?" Qinglong's voice grew louder, "Who ever told you that life has to be full of suffering?"

He slowly walked over to Tianniu, who now seemed completely drained of energy to argue back.

"Tianniu... If you think your life is too smooth... why not just have Tianlong give you one full of wounds and scars?" Qinglong laughed as he placed his hand on Tianniu's shoulder, "If you suffer enough in the dream... will you think it's real? Will you never wake up then?"

"I... I..."

"Your idea isn't wrong, but maybe the real life is the smooth one." Qinglong leaned in close to Tianniu's ear and whispered, "All the suffering is just a dream."

After hearing this, Tianniu's eyes flickered for a moment, and then he slowly lowered his head.

"Do you want to die?" Qinglong whispered in her ear again, "All of this right now is a dream. If you die, you'll be free."

Seeing Tianniu's mental defenses crumbling step by step, Tianzhu, who had just awakened, couldn't sit still any longer and quickly changed the subject.

"Qinglong... when can we move around freely?" he asked.

The sudden question snapped Tianniu back to attention, while Qinglong's face took on an unhappy expression.

"Move around freely...?"

"We can't just sit here forever," Tianzhu said. "Why don't you just be upfront with us about your plans? Maybe some of us would be willing to help you. That way, those who oppose you die, and those who follow you live—what do you think?"

Qinglong nodded after hearing this, "That does make some sense..."

"So, do you want to tell us what you're really planning?" Tianzhu asked again. "I can state my position first. Since you freed me from the dream and brought me back to reality, that's a favor to me, so I'll stand with you."

After hearing this, Tianshe timidly lifted his head and glanced toward Tianzhu, countless inner thoughts flooding into his ears.

How laughable Tianzhu is—his thoughts don't sound like he's on Qinglong's side at all; it's more like he wants to kill Qinglong and Tianlong to claim credit.

"Too bad I'm not fooled..." Qinglong said as he slowly paced around the room, soon coming to a stop behind Tianhu. "The fact that you're all still sitting here, bearing the title of 'Tianji Zodiac,' is precisely because you're all so scheming. Even Tianhu, a kid running around bare-bottomed in a belly band..."

He reached out and gently touched Tianhu's head, but Tianhu wisely stayed silent.

"...is probably already a fifty- or sixty-year-old monster, right?" Qinglong laughed. "When dealing with all of you, ordinary lies and promises won't work. Only absolute power can keep you in check."

Tianzhu flexed his fingers a bit; due to his long slumber, his body control had grown rusty.

But how could they contact Tianlong now?

They had spent so much time climbing to this point—who wanted to die?

Even if neither Tianlong nor Qinglong was a good person, only Tianlong could balance Qinglong.

The reason the two had coexisted peacefully for so long was mutual restraint. If one ruler turned traitor, the situation would become even more tyrannical, leading to deeper despair for everyone.

"Don't worry," Qinglong said again. "What I ask of you is simple, just like I said at the beginning. As long as you sit here quietly, no one will get hurt. I never wanted your lives in the first place, but only if you don't bring it on yourselves."

Tianshe felt a bit puzzled by this, as just a moment ago, he had seen a very tangible killing intent in Qinglong's eyes, yet now he was saying he didn't want to kill them.

"After all, you are 'Tianji'," Qinglong continued. "We've worked together for decades, like colleagues in the real world who couldn't stick it out that long, so I do have a tiny bit of sentiment for you."

Upon hearing this, Tianhou and Tianji both looked up at Qinglong and asked in unison: "We really won't be in any danger?"

"Yes," Qinglong replied, "but at the same time... you have to keep tonight's events completely under wraps in front of Tianlong. That'll buy your lives—got it?"

All the "Tianji" knew they had no leverage to negotiate with Qinglong right now, so they reluctantly agreed.

But Tianzhu seemed to have something else on his mind; his eyes darted around before he slowly closed them.

At that moment, Qinglong's ears twitched, and he turned to look at him.

"'Puppet'...?" he said with a laugh. "Tianzhu... didn't I tell you not to pull any tricks?"

"I... I..." Tianzhu quickly shook his head. "It's a misunderstanding. It's just that I haven't used my 'Xianfa' in so long... I wanted to check if it's still there."