"Enough." Qi Xia cut ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ off Officer Li’s speech. "Officer Li, why are you so determined to save everyone? Are you truly willing to endure death again and again for people you barely know?"

Officer Li smiled faintly, lighting another cigarette.

"I’d say you’re mistaken." He shook his head. "I’m a criminal affairs officer. How could I only help the people I know? Every victim is a stranger to me, yet I’d still risk my life to protect them. That’s the principle."

"In any case, I disagree," Qi Xia said firmly. "The specifics of your {Reverberation} are only my theory. We don’t know for sure if you can actually summon things at will. What if you can only conjure lighters and cigarettes?"

"Either way, there’s nothing to lose." Officer Li replied calmly. "It wouldn’t hurt to try. Maybe you’re right, and I could lead everyone out effortlessly."

"But if you trade your life for three thousand six hundred {Dào} and we do escape, what happens to you?" Qi Xia frowned. "By that logic, the moment you gather all three thousand six hundred {Dào}, you’ll die and won’t even have the right to leave."

"Isn’t that perfect?" Officer Li laughed heartily. "Qi Xia, my best ending would be dying here to save everyone."

"Don’t say such ominous things," Qi Xia responded with concern. "It’s too soon to declare your ending without fully understanding the situation." He knew Officer Li meant every word. To him, dying here to save others was the ideal fate.

"But Zhang Huannan..." Officer Li muttered softly, "With him there, I can’t return."

"Officer Li, you’re from 2010, right?" Qi Xia asked.

"Yes."

"I’ll give you my number. Once you return to the real world, contact me from back then," Qi Xia said. "I’ll help you deal with Zhang Huannan."

"Contact you from back then...?" Officer Li blinked. "Qi Xia, what year are you from? How old are you now?"

"I’m from 2022, I’m 26."

Officer Li paused, then raised his head and asked, "You would’ve been only fourteen in 2010. Do you understand what kind of person Zhang Huannan is?"

"It doesn’t matter," Qi Xia said, shaking his head. "He doesn’t stand a chance against the fourteen-year-old me."

"You..." Officer Li found himself unable to see through this man. Could a fourteen-year-old really stand against such a ruthless swindler?

But then it struck him—Qi Xia was a swindler too.

Yet his eyes were unlike those of any criminal Officer Li had ever met. There was no {malice}, only {despair}.

"Qi Xia, are you truly a swindler?" Officer Li asked calmly. "How many times have you deceived someone, and who were they?"

"This has nothing to do with our escape," Qi Xia turned his head away. "In any case, I don’t harm innocent people."

"So that means... you lied in your first story too?" Officer Li asked.

"That doesn’t matter. Just remember that I’ll help you. In return, promise me you won’t recklessly throw your life away for others."

Officer Li pondered Qi Xia’s words carefully, unable to refute them. "I promise," he nodded. "But if I {die by accident} in one of the games, then I’ll have no choice but to test this ability."

"Alright," Qi Xia agreed. Though Officer Li hadn’t abandoned the idea completely, this new compromise was far more reasonable.

"Qi Xia, what’s your {Reverberation}?" Officer Li suddenly asked.

Qi Xia scratched his head and muttered, "I don’t know."

"Don’t know?" Officer Li paused. "That makes things tricky... So next time, you might not retain any memory?"

"Yes," Qi Xia nodded. "But you’re different, Officer Li. Unless you’re shot in the head, you’ll always retain your memory. In other words, all our hopes of escaping rest on you."

"But what can I do if I’m the only one?" Officer Li asked, troubled. "If all of you forget, how could I possibly succeed?"

Qi Xia knew this was indeed a serious problem. If they really wanted to escape this strange place, the more people who retained memory, the better.

As the games went on, the cycle would repeat again and again, meaning the number of {Reverberatees} would steadily grow. Which meant... the ability to {retain memory} couldn’t stay secret. Then what was the real meaning of Mortal Goat’s warning?

Who should they be wary of?

Was it {Earthly Branches}? {Judgment’s Domain}? Or the other participants?

Qi Xia thought hard, then turned to Officer Li. "If I forget everything next time, just tell me one thing."

"One thing?"

"Yes." Qi Xia nodded. "Tell me, '{Yu Nian'An says: knock knock knock}', and I’ll understand. This is a secret only she and I know."

When Qi Xia was with Yu Nian'An, he often drifted off in thought. At such times, Yu Nian’an would say, '{knock knock knock}'. The moment he heard it, Qi Xia would snap back and smile, asking, "Who’s outside the door?"

"Looks like Qi Xia is home," Yu Nian’an would always reply playfully. "I thought you were out since you’ve been ignoring me for so long."

They had played this silly game dozens of times, and it became Yu Nian’An’s unique mark in Qi Xia’s heart.

"Is that really all it takes?" Officer Li asked. "Will you truly believe me?"

"We’re already trapped in this hellhole. What’s left not to believe?..." Qi Xia replied with a melancholic expression. "I need to escape, but before that, I intend to reclaim what belongs to me from {End Point}."

"What belongs to you...?" Officer Li blinked, clearly confused.

Qi Xia didn’t answer. Instead, he recalled something else and pulled a wrinkled piece of paper from his pocket—the {Earthly Branches Ascension Wagering Contract} he had taken from the Mortal Goat.

With others present before, he hadn’t had the chance to read it. If there were hidden truths about this realm, they had to be within this contract.

Officer Li leaned closer as Qi Xia unfolded the paper. The two of them each held one side of the crumpled sheet, using the dim light of the school building to read through it in full.

When they finished, Officer Li wore a complicated expression, feeling as if he were about to lose his mind.

Could anyone sane write something like this?