Chapter 539: A White Dress

Qi Xia was already drenched in sweat and couldn't remember how long he had been running. He only knew that he hadn't pushed his physical limits like this in many years.

He was gasping for breath, feeling as if his mouth and tongue were coated with sand, so dry that he couldn't squeeze out a drop of water.

His vision kept darkening, and his heart was pounding wildly. He only hoped that his breathing wouldn't become erratic, as an acute intercostal pain would leave him stranded and doomed.

Qi Xia regretted not having thought to exercise his body, but then he reconsidered that such prolonged running would likely only be sustainable for professional athletes. Ordinary people would exhaust themselves at some point, and this couldn't be compensated by regular training.

What would the Zhong Yan Zhi Di become after this Tian Ma Shi Ke?

Would most of the "roads" laid out by everyone here be abandoned once again, forcing a restart?

Though this heavenly-level game didn't match the massive upheaval caused by Tian Long and Qing Long, it was still enough to severely drain all "participants." Many would fail to obtain Hui Xiang in time, completely forgetting the experiences they had accumulated.

Qi Xia furrowed his brow again and glanced back. That strange black line was still approaching at a steady, unhurried pace, visibly closing in on him.

The stones thrown by Chen Jun Nan were effortlessly sliced by it, and anything that made contact with the body would result in certain death.

From what he could see now, the black lines drifting down from the sun weren't moving like snakes but were extending infinitely from the sun overhead as a pivot point within two hours.

Qi Xia knew he couldn't even afford to quickly distance himself from the black thread to rest for a few minutes. If he lost sight of it, he'd have no idea from which direction it might approach, and a moment's distraction could get him killed.

"Not good..."

Qi Xia gritted his teeth and thought to himself, "At this rate, I won't be able to hold out... but my Hui Xiang..."

Just as Qi Xia felt the world spinning, he suddenly spotted a woman in a white dress turning the corner in the distance and vanishing after a brief flash.

Qi Xia was slightly stunned, momentarily unsure if he was still dreaming.

That white dress was all too familiar to him. As the figure disappeared around the corner, Qi Xia felt as if something had been torn from his heart.

"An...?"

He shook his head vigorously to confirm he was still alert, then looked toward the direction the girl had fled. Sure enough, a barely visible thread was floating in the air.

This meant she wasn't a hallucination but a real person—a "participant" who was also being pursued by the thread.

A participant in a white dress... with long hair reaching her waist?

In just a flash, that person's silhouette lingered in Qi Xia's mind, making it impossible for him to focus.

"The deepest 'obsession' in my heart..."

Now, Qi Xia faced two paths: the open area he had planned to head toward on the left, and the maze of alleys on the right where the girl in white had gone.

It was a gamble.

He hadn't obtained Hui Xiang yet, so choosing the right alley would lead him down a completely unknown path.

But in the vast Zhong Yan Zhi Di, what were the chances of spotting someone with a silhouette identical to Yu Nian An?

His stamina was nearly depleted, and no matter what, there was a risk he'd die in this Tian Ma Shi Ke.

"Since I can't obtain Hui Xiang no matter what..."

Qi Xia pursed his lips, "At least don't let myself regret it."

He took a deep breath, using his remaining energy to sprint a few steps and widen the gap from the black line behind him. He then picked up a few pieces of discarded cardboard from the ground and grabbed a handful of fine sand.

Clutching both in his hands, Qi Xia steadied his breathing slightly and dashed toward the right alley, plunging into the dimness.

It was a narrow, old alleyway, no more than two meters wide, stretching straight ahead as if leading elsewhere.

The girl in the white dress was no longer in sight; she must have run deeper into the alley.

The sun barely penetrated here, and with no working lighting on the street, even though it was noon, the alley felt like dusk, making it extremely hard to spot any threads.

If he couldn't determine whether the girl had stuck to the wall or stayed in the center of the alley, every step Qi Xia took while running would be fraught with danger.

Fortunately, he had come prepared. He quickly pulled out the discarded cardboard he had picked up earlier, held it upright, and threw it like a playing card.

The cardboard spun rapidly through the alley in a curve, but it wasn't cut by anything until it flew the entire length.

Qi Xia nervously glanced back; his own black line was now only seven or eight meters away.

With no time to think, he threw the other piece of cardboard in a different direction. This time, it made a soft thud midway through the alley and scattered into two pieces on the ground.

"So that's it..."

Qi Xia nodded, realizing the girl must have moved along the left wall of the alley, with her black line positioned there as well.

After confirming the path, Qi Xia tossed the fine sand forward along the left side. Even if the black line was razor-sharp, it couldn't cut through all the airborne particles. Some dust clung to the line, outlining its rough shape for him.

Once he was sure his route wouldn't collide with the black line, he hurried forward.

He had already tested with the two pieces of cardboard, and aside from the black line near the left wall, no other "participants" seemed to have passed through this alley, and there was no second black line hanging in the air. It appeared safe for now.

However, once he entered, black lines would form on both sides of the alley, making it impossible for anyone else to follow safely.

In a few steps, Qi Xia reached the end, where it T-ed into another path. The girl's black line clearly turned left.

But the left wall was very high, blocking almost all light. It wasn't pitch-black, yet the visibility was so poor that Qi Xia could barely make out anything ahead.

Qi Xia found it strange—would someone fleeing for their life really choose a place this dark, where they couldn't see a thing?