Chapter 339: The Reserved Path

"Qi Xia..." Qian Wu felt that the person in front of him was even more profound and unfathomable than he had imagined. "Even if we really need to use each other, why choose such a terrifying teammate as Chu Tianqiu? I'm being completely honest with you; wouldn't that be more suitable?"

"He wants to become a god, and I can help him," Qi Xia said with a smile. "He's willing to take the place of 'Tian Long' here, while I only want to get out. So, in terms of our goals, we won't get in each other's way. Once he becomes a god, he absolutely won't allow someone like me to remain in the 'Zhong Yan Zhi Di,' because he can't completely kill me, and I might threaten his position one day. That's the deal we've made, walking on the edge of a knife."

Qian Wu fell silent for a moment after hearing this, then looked up and asked, "You'd rather make a deal with that kind of person than give me a chance...?"

Qi Xia looked at the person in front of him, whose appearance shifted between male and female, and shook his head silently. "Qian Wu, in my eyes, you are a decent person, so it's difficult for me to work with you. After all, anyone who partners with me doesn't end up well."

"Ha..." Qian Wu let out a bitter laugh. "But Qi Xia, I've been looking for you for ten years."

"Is that so...?"

"For the first three years, I could still catch glimpses of you, but starting seven years ago... you seemed to vanish completely." A trace of sorrow flickered across Qian Wu's expression. "Before long, all of you disappeared... I even thought you had become walking corpses in some corner of the 'Zhong Yan Zhi Di.'"

Qi Xia sensed that Qian Wu's state felt strangely familiar, much like Chen Jun Nan.

"Why me?" Qi Xia narrowed his eyes and asked. "There are tens of thousands of people in the 'Zhong Yan Zhi Di,' even if the number has significantly decreased now, why does it have to be me?"

"Because you are the only one who has directly confronted 'Tian Long'," Qian Wu said with some excitement. "Even if you've lost all your memories, I know you can do it. Ten years ago, you made it possible for ten thousand people to stand before 'Tian Long' at the same time, and you can do it again ten years later."

Qi Xia slowly lowered his head after hearing this, a wave of sadness washing over him as well.

"Qian Wu, but I lost," Qi Xia said. "I not only lost ten years ago, but I lost again ten years later. Although I have no memories, I know I've been trying different methods to break through 'Tian Long' and escape from here, but I truly have no guarantee."

Qi Xia felt this was the first time during his entire time in the 'Zhong Yan Zhi Di' that he was truly opening up, whether due to a strange sense of familiarity with Qian Wu or the security provided by 'Jian Mo.'

"Different methods...?" Qian Wu seemed very interested. "Do you know what methods you used?"

Qi Xia nodded. "I was going to mention this anyway; it can serve as a bargaining chip in our negotiation."

"What?"

"I'll tell you about the second method I used, and you can consider the possibility of working with me based on that."

Qian Wu nodded seriously. "Go ahead."

"I was a 'Sheng Xiao' for seven years."

The moment he spoke, everyone except Qi Xia stood up in shock.

"You were a 'Sheng Xiao' for seven years?!"

This answer completely exceeded Qian Wu's expectations.

"I started as 'Ren Yang,' and climbed step by step until I reached 'Di Yang.' But just as I was about to advance to 'Tian Yang,' 'Tian Long' played a trick on me, stripping me of everything and turning me back into a participant with all my memories wiped."

Qian Wu listened carefully, exchanged glances with Song Qi and Zhou Liu, and then tentatively asked, "You can remember this?"

"No, I don't remember." Qi Xia shook his head. "I've pieced it together from various clues, but now it seems... there's no evidence to disprove my assumption."

At that moment, Qiao Jia Jin murmured softly from the side, "Deceiver, are you the 'sheep' that the tiger guy is looking for...?"

"Yes," Qi Xia nodded.

"Then why didn't you tell him?"

"Because I don't know where he stands," Qi Xia sighed. "What if he knows I'm that 'sheep'? As a 'Sheng Xiao,' would he choose to help us participants? Or make me become a 'sheep' again? I don't look forward to either outcome, so I didn't make it clear to him."

Qian Wu sat down slowly, as if in a daze. "I thought becoming a 'Sheng Xiao' was our way out, but now it seems it's just another scam..."

After a long silence, Song Qi finally spoke up. "So... are all the paths here blocked? Big Brother Five... how do we get out?"

"Paths...?" Qi Xia furrowed his brow slightly.

Xia, there are many roads in this world, and each person has their own.

"Wait a minute..." Qi Xia suddenly thought of a vague clue, but he couldn't quite grasp it.

A strange question lingered in his mind.

Why did he use different methods each time to confront Tian Long?

The same person, emerging from the same room, leading the same teammates along the same path, yet employing completely different tactics.

"Hold on..." Qi Xia rubbed his forehead, as if he had realized something crucial.

Suppose...

Suppose he clearly knew he wouldn't retain his memories, how would he know to use a different method against 'Tian Long' next time?

How could he ensure he wouldn't repeat the same mistakes?!

"So that's how it is...?" Qi Xia suddenly widened his eyes and looked at Qian Wu.

Only this man knew the answer, but Qi Xia didn't dare to ask.

If the answer was as he suspected, then... what about Yu Nian An?

Qian Wu noticed Qi Xia's unusual expression and furrowed his brow slightly. "What is it?"

"I..." Qi Xia thought for a long time before finally asking, "Qian Wu, in your memories from ten years ago... was I a 'Hui Xiang Zhe'?"

Qian Wu pondered for a moment and nodded. "I think so. On the battlefield back then, I seem to have heard someone mention it. It's just that your ability wasn't very strong; you were just an ordinary two-character 'Hui Xiang.'"

As expected...

Qi Xia covered his forehead in frustration, his expression full of pain.

Now everything made sense...

Why he chose different paths each time?

Because he had paved the way for his future self!

If he was right, when he failed to challenge 'Tian Long,' he left behind a scheme. That scheme was to seal his 'Hui Xiang' trigger, so no matter how many times he revived, he would only be a 'Bu Xing Zhe,' forcing him to take the path of becoming a 'Sheng Xiao.'

And after seven years as a 'Sheng Xiao,' seeing that he was about to fail again, he left another path for himself to avoid repeating the mistake.

That path was called Yu Nian An.

As long as Yu Nian An existed, he could ensure he had something to hold onto and wouldn't become a 'Sheng Xiao' again.