Chapter 348: Me and Myself

The moment Chen Junnan entered, everyone's expressions changed.

He looked perfectly fine, completely unharmed. Seeing everyone staring at him, even he felt a bit awkward.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" he asked. "Am I that handsome?"

The injured Chen Junnan's eyes slowly widened, his face deathly pale, but he quickly understood. "Is this 'Hua Xing'...?" he said to Chu Tianqiu. "Are you using such a crude trick on me?"

The Chen Junnan by the door paused slightly at the sound of the voice and turned to look at the injured one.

"Huh...?"

When their eyes met, both were clearly stunned.

"You... this..." The Chen Junnan by the door pointed at the injured one, his expression bewildered. "What in the world? That's... that's me, isn't it?"

The injured Chen Junnan furrowed his brow, his breath coming in short gasps. "Are you... still pretending?"

"Me?" The Chen Junnan by the door was startled. "Pretending? Who the hell are you?"

Jin Yuanxun ignored the two of them. He placed the bundle he had carried in front of Chu Tianqiu, then leaned down and whispered, "Brother, this guy just suddenly appeared in the basement like that..."

"I know," Chu Tianqiu nodded. "No need to say more."

Jin Yuanxun nodded in understanding and stood behind Chu Tianqiu.

"You ask who I am..." The injured Chen Junnan gritted his teeth, enduring the intense pain as he shakily got to his feet. "Are you playing the game of the true and false Sun Wukong with me...?"

The Chen Junnan by the door took a few steps forward. "What's all this true and false Sun Wukong nonsense? Are you the six-eared macaque?"

As they stared at each other, both felt something was wrong.

"There's no need to argue," Chu Tianqiu said with a smile, breaking the tension between the two. "You are both real."

"What?"

Everyone in the room was taken aback, and the two Chen Junnans turned to look at him.

"I'm truly sorry," Chu Tianqiu said to the injured Chen Junnan with a laugh. "I deliberately said you were fake just now. Don't hold it against me."

"You... what do you mean?" the injured Chen Junnan asked. "You... where did you get this thing from..."

He pointed at the version of himself standing there, his face a mixture of complex emotions.

"Naturally, it's from 'Hui Xiang'," Chu Tianqiu replied with a smile. "Everyone, I've temporarily gained the ability to make you all immortal."

"Immortal...?"

"This Chen Junnan..." Chu Tianqiu pointed to the one at the door. "He was created by me using a certain 'Hui Xiang' ability."

"Chu Tianqiu, do you even know what you're saying?" The Chen Junnan by the door's expression turned cold. "You're saying I'm something you created?"

"Don't get so worked up," Chu Tianqiu said with a smile. "This ability creates a completely new version of you, like cloning. There might be some minor gaps in your memories, so I suggest you two communicate now and sync them up."

"What...?" Both Chen Junnans furrowed their brows. "You're saying... we're both real?"

Yun Yao, Yan Zhichun, and Xu Qian examined the two men carefully. Apart from the injuries and complexion, they looked identical in every way.

Even their mannerisms and way of speaking were exactly the same – neither seemed fake.

"So? Nothing to say?" Chu Tianqiu turned to the injured Chen Junnan and said, "Since you have nothing to say, you can rest assured and die now. The other Chen Junnan will live on in your place – you're no longer needed, so go ahead and die peacefully."

The injured Chen Junnan stared blankly, his face filled with confusion.

He had never felt this way before. Facing death, he desperately wanted to live for the first time.

He sensed that the person in front of him, who looked exactly like him, wasn't really him – even if they were identical in every way, down to their memories – he just wasn't him.

"No... that's not right..." Chen Junnan trembled as he reached out and grabbed Yun Yao's arm. "Big... big star... this isn't right, is it? I'm me... he's him... you shouldn't abandon me like this...?"

Yun Yao could clearly feel Chen Junnan's desperation, but she could do nothing.

The old Chen Junnan was destined to die, while the new one was destined to live.

"Chen... Chen Junnan... you..." She stammered for a long time before managing to say, "You'll be fine..."

"What the hell do you mean, I'll be fine?!" Chen Junnan shouted with all his might, pointing at the version of himself in front of him. "Him... you all..."

He struggled to find the words but ultimately said nothing.

"So... I've become a burden?" Chen Junnan slowly lowered his head, gasping for air. He felt completely cold, his head spinning badly. Although he had died countless times before, this unbearable feeling in his heart – what was it?

"What a powerful ability..." Chu Tianqiu murmured to himself with a smile. "No wonder I had to make sure you gained 'Hui Xiang'..."

Seeing how distraught Chen Junnan was, Yun Yao turned to Chu Tianqiu with a face full of indignation. "What exactly have you done?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Chu Tianqiu replied. "I used the lives of all the 'Tian Tang Kou' members to explore a new path. From now on, none of you need to fear death anymore."

"Just based on this?!" Yun Yao pointed at the two Chen Junnans. "You're abandoning a teammate on the brink of death and creating a brand-new 'clone'?"

"What's wrong with that?" Chu Tianqiu asked. "Go ask that lively Chen Junnan – is he fake? Apart from missing today's memories, what about him isn't Chen Junnan?"

The Chen Junnan by the door flared up again after hearing this. "What the hell are you talking about...? How dare you claim you created me?"

"But this is just wrong!" Yun Yao said. "This... this feels..."

"Feels unethical?" Chu Tianqiu laughed. "It feels like we're back in the 1960s, when cloning technology was just emerging. Tell me, is a cloned person a 'tool,' an 'animal,' or a real 'person'?"

"This is clearly the same issue..." Yun Yao said, somewhat dazed. "This ability is just too bizarre. If we're relying on it to get out..."

"So I said you're really selfish..." Chu Tianqiu took his glasses out of his shirt pocket and put them on. "Every time you die, you're resurrected through the same principle, but now that I'm cloning someone while they're still alive, you suddenly think it's unethical?"

"I..."

Lao Lv and Tong Yi exchanged glances, both sensing that something was off about this ability. They didn't know how Chu Tianqiu had obtained it, but if it really allowed for arbitrary cloning of teammates, then before they escaped, the entire 'Tian Tang Kou' would surely descend into chaos.

Even if all the clones could follow orders, who could guarantee how many people would make it out? And who could be sure whether the one who escaped was the original or a clone?