Chapter 223: Who's Outside the Door

Qi Xia frowned and slowly sat up, reaching out to touch Yu Nian'an's face. "An, are you not feeling well?"

Yu Nian'an still didn't answer. After thinking for a moment, she finally said, "Blong blong blong."

Though he was utterly confused, Qi Xia tentatively asked, "Is that someone at the door?"

But this time, Yu Nian'an didn't say "It turns out Qi Xia is home." Instead, she stared into Qi Xia's eyes and said, word by word, "The person outside the door is not me."

"What...?" Qi Xia felt completely baffled. "An, are you... sleepwalking?"

Yu Nian'an stopped looking at Qi Xia and slowly lay back down, closing her eyes as if nothing had happened.

Before long, her breathing became steady, as if she had fallen asleep again.

Qi Xia gently patted Yu Nian'an's back, worried, trying to make her feel more secure.

Maybe these past days, with him not being home, Yu Nian'an had been too exhausted.

"Rest easy, An. I'm not going anywhere—I'll stay right here with you." Qi Xia slowly hugged her.

...

"Blong blong blong."

Qi Xia jolted awake and saw Yu Nian'an sitting beside him again.

Outside the window, it was still pitch black, and in the dim light, he could only make out the sparkle in Yu Nian'an's eyes.

"An... you..."

Qi Xia slowly sat up, a sense of unease growing in his heart.

"Blong blong blong," Yu Nian'an said.

As Qi Xia looked into her eyes, he noticed tears in them.

"What on earth happened?"

He wanted to understand why Yu Nian'an was acting this way.

"Blong blong blong."

But Yu Nian'an seemed to only say that one thing.

After a long silence, Qi Xia finally asked, "Who... who is at the door?"

"Xia, the person outside the door is not me."

Qi Xia clearly saw a tear at the corner of Yu Nian'an's eye. It glistened faintly in the darkness as it traced half her face and fell.

After saying that, Yu Nian'an closed her eyes and slowly lay down.

She had fallen asleep again.

But Qi Xia couldn't sleep no matter what.

Yu Nian'an had been with him for seven years and had never cried before.

He had sworn that in his lifetime, he would never let her tears fall to the ground.

Yet, this time, he had broken that promise.

Yu Nian'an looked utterly heartbroken, her eyes like they held a knife, carving despair into her heart.

A foul stench began to spread through the room, making Qi Xia feel utterly unreal.

This was a smell only found in Zhong Yan Zhi Di—why was it appearing in reality?

The surroundings were too dark.

Qi Xia couldn't tell if this was reality or Zhong Yan Zhi Di. He could only hold Yu Nian'an tightly, trying to calm himself as much as possible.

Time passed second by second, and after about an hour, Qi Xia felt Yu Nian'an's body stir.

He gently released his hold and watched as she sat up.

She opened her eyes and turned to look in Qi Xia's direction.

"Blong blong blong."

Qi Xia slowly sat up as well, an unsettling thought beginning to take root in his mind.

If everything was as he suspected, this would be the most terrifying thing he had ever encountered.

"Who is at the door?" Qi Xia asked, his voice trembling.

Yu Nian'an paused, then said in a low voice, "The door... outside... is not... me."

As soon as she finished, Yu Nian'an shed tears of pain.

And in that moment, Qi Xia broke down.

Watching Yu Nian'an lie down and fall asleep again, his tears flowed uncontrollably.

So that's how it is...?

She was in so much pain, but she couldn't resist.

She knew the one saying "blong blong blong" wasn't Yu Nian'an, and she knew she wasn't herself.

Yu Nian'an shouldn't exist, yet here she was, lying there.

Why was she lying there?

What had caused her to appear?

"What exactly is my hui xiang...?" Qi Xia curled up, clutching his hair tightly in the darkness.

His entire beliefs and convictions crumbled like a collapsing building, shattering from the foundation.

Why did the meal Yu Nian'an cooked today match exactly what Qi Xia had guessed?

Why did the flavors perfectly meet his expectations?

Why did her memories of those seven years align perfectly with his own?

Why did she carry the unique scent of Zhong Yan Zhi Di?

Wasn't it all too obvious...?

Qi Xia trembled slightly all over.

The Yu Nian'an before him was neither real nor fake.

She was something Qi Xia had "created."

She was the work of hui xiang, born from his own beliefs, so naturally, she matched his thoughts completely.

Qi Xia's trembling grew more intense as he began to doubt everything.

If the Yu Nian'an in front of him was created...

Then where was the real Yu Nian'an?

"No... that's not right..."

The question circled back to the beginning—did Yu Nian'an even exist?

If she didn't, where did those seven years of memories come from?

Qi Xia had even risked everything to scam a scumbag for Yu Nian'an's sake—was all of that just his own delusion?!!

"Stop joking..." Qi Xia shook his head.

He knew he had lived with Yu Nian'an; those memories were too vivid, etched into his very bones.

No one in this world lives for another person.

But Qi Xia was different—he always felt he was living for Yu Nian'an.

If she didn't exist in this world, where would his beliefs come from?

Those seven years...

Then, Lin Geng's voice echoed in Qi Xia's ears: "Qi Xia, I haven't heard of anyone like you in Zhong Yan Zhi Di for at least seven years."

Qi Xia furrowed his brow, feeling his thoughts clearing a bit.

For seven years, he hadn't once left the interview room.

Was it possible... that he wasn't even in the room back then?

That's why he hadn't led anyone to escape, and why no one in Zhong Yan Zhi Di had seen him or Qiao Jia Jin, Li Jing Guan, and the others.

"Was I... with Yu Nian'an back then...?"

This bold idea surfaced in Qi Xia's mind.

He knew he couldn't have only entered Zhong Yan Zhi Di for three cycles; he must have been there much earlier.

From his previous conversations with Zhu Que and Bai Hu, he realized his past self must have turned Zhong Yan Zhi Di upside down and even possibly escaped.

He escaped back to the real world, but the others in the room didn't.

Then, he met Yu Nian'an and spent seven years in reality.

But after seven years, something unknown happened, pulling him back to this damned place, forcing everything to start over.

"This makes so much sense..." Qi Xia murmured to himself.

Otherwise, how could anyone remember what had happened to Qi Xia from more than seven years ago?

Qi Xia felt he was teetering on the edge between madness and sanity...

He was just one straw away from plunging into complete insanity.