TDU Chapter 293
Chapter 293 The Unexploitable Function
By the time Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin arrived back at {Passage to Heaven}, night had completely fallen.
Zhang Shan and another young man were standing at the entrance; the four exchanged nods in greeting.
Pushing open their designated classroom door, Qi Xia glanced inside—everyone had already returned, except for one: Chen Junnan was nowhere to be seen.
Yet right now, Chen Junnan was precisely the person Qi Xia most wanted to find.
"Where’s that chatterbox?" Qi Xia asked.
"You mean Chen Junnan?" Lin Qin rose to her feet. "He seemed a bit troubled and went up to the rooftop."
"The rooftop?" Qi Xia rubbed his chin and nodded thoughtfully.
Could it be that Chen Junnan had discovered something?
After settling Qiao Jiajin down, Qi Xia was just about to head up to find Chen Junnan when Lin Qin called out to him.
"Qi Xia..." Lin Qin grabbed his arm and pulled him aside. "There’s something I need to tell you."
"What is it?" Qi Xia asked.
"Two matters..." Lin Qin turned her head to glance at Han Yimo. "First, it’s about Han Yimo..."
She explained to Qi Xia in full detail how Han Yimo’s {Reverberation} had ceased.
After hearing her out, Qi Xia simply nodded, finding nothing particularly alarming about this.
While {Reverberatees} were indeed a crucial force, Han Yimo’s {Reverberation} had always been rather peculiar. If he could no longer activate his {Reverberation}, it was neither a loss nor a gain—merely an ordinary development.
"What concerns me now is..." Lin Qin hesitated, "if Han Yimo has truly forgotten everything this time... then during the next cycle, he will enter this place with a completely new state of mind..."
"And?" Qi Xia prompted.
"And he might experience the most intense {Fear} we’ve ever seen," Lin Qin said, lifting her gaze to meet his. "After all, everything here would be unfamiliar and terrifying to him..."
"Mm..." Qi Xia nodded once more. He found Lin Qin’s concerns reasonable, yet the matter itself was difficult to resolve.
If Han Yimo truly experienced the most severe {Fear} he had in seven years, it would undoubtedly be a significant catastrophe. However, if they were to forcibly induce his {Reverberation} now in order to avoid it, that too would be an ill-advised course of action.
"What is the other matter?" Qi Xia asked.
"Secondly..." Lin Qin thought for a moment, then recounted the encounter with the elderly woman and child from earlier that day.
Qi Xia had seen those two before as well, but he had never witnessed the scene that Lin Qin described.
An elderly woman capable of moving at astonishing speeds?
"A Sacred Guardian?" Qi Xia asked.
"I don’t think so..." Lin Qin shook her head. "I’ve seen all four Sacred Guardians... these two individuals are unfamiliar faces."
"Doesn’t that strike you as strange?" Qi Xia mused after a moment of thought. "They’re not {Indigenous Inhabitants}, {Participants}, nor {Sacred Guardians}. And given that they lack animal heads… they cannot possibly belong to the {Earthly Branches} either."
With a brief pause, Qi Xia turned his head to Lin Qin, his gaze sharp. "Have you ever seen a {Celestial-grade Earthly Branch}?"
"Me?" Lin Qin gently shook her head. "I’ve been active here for seven years, but I’ve never encountered a {Celestial-grade}."
"I see..." Qi Xia narrowed his eyes slowly. "Are {Celestials} really that hard to come by?"
"It’s hard to say." Lin Qin sighed softly. "I’ve heard {Celestial-grades} don’t maintain any {game venues}, which means they can roam freely... and that makes them incredibly difficult to locate."
"Noted. I’ll go seek out Chen Junnan now."
Bidding farewell to Lin Qin, Qi Xia turned and headed toward the rooftop. But just as he reached the stairwell, he bumped into Chu Tianqiu.
"Qi Xia?" A profound smile played across Chu Tianqiu’s face. "Wandering around in the middle of the night... out for a stroll, are we?"
Qi Xia didn’t answer. He was about to brush past Chu Tianqiu toward the rooftop when a thought struck him.
"Chu Tianqiu..." Qi Xia called out, "the method you used to invoke my {Reverberation}—can it be done once more?"
A faint flicker of surprise crossed Chu Tianqiu’s face before he laughed. "What’s this? It’s only the first day, and you’re already spiraling into {amnesia panic}?"
"I suffer from no such panic," Qi Xia replied, "I simply wish to use my {Reverberation} to revive someone."
"Revive someone...?" Chu Tianqiu found this amusing. "You intend to resurrect the dead?"
Qi Xia nodded. "Yes. Someone who’s been dead for about a month."
"With your intellect... it must be clear to you the inherent contradiction in this," Chu Tianqiu remarked with a smile. "You are well aware that the person has been dead for a long time—how, then, could you possibly resurrect them through your subconscious?"
Qi Xia sighed softly, fully conscious of the contradiction in his predicament. If he retained this memory, the resurrection of the dead would remain a futile pursuit. Yet, if he chose to forget, he would be left unable to recall even the identity of the deceased.
In that case... how could his {Endowing Life Without End} ever take effect?
Qi Xia pondered for a moment before speaking. "You need not concern yourself with my affairs. Simply tell me what is required for me to trigger my {Reverberation}."
"It’s a rather difficult endeavor..." Chu Tianqiu mused. "I’ve expended a great deal of resources and energy on this matter."
"Next time you’re about to exert yourself so thoroughly, remember to inform me in advance," Qi Xia smiled and said. "With all the effort you’ve put in, we can’t let it go to waste."
Chu Tianqiu chuckled and nodded. He was about to leave when he suddenly paused, turned back, and asked, "Qi Xia, what did you witness just prior to the awakening of your {Reverberation}?"
"Is that answer...important?" Qi Xia inquired.
"It is of great importance," Chu Tianqiu replied. "Pertaining to the central aspect of my research."
Qi Xia recalled his state before his {Reverberation}—he only remembered an unbearable pain, and that Yu Nian'An had come to take him home.
"I saw nothing," Qi Xia remarked. "If you have a method in mind, feel free to put it to use. I'll be waiting."
A brief, inscrutable shift crossed Chu Tianqiu’s expression. "Qi Xia... I trust you have come to recognize this by now. Even if I precisely mirror the events of that day, acquiring your {Reverberation} is not a certainty. Your {trigger}, after all, is a chance occurrence, not one forced into being."
"This issue is yours to resolve," Qi Xia replied with a meaningful smile. "Our latest form of cooperation is that I provide the {Reverberation}, and you take charge of the {trigger}. If I fail, how shall we continue this collaboration?"
Chu Tianqiu pondered momentarily, then nodded. "That’s a valid point, Qi Xia."
The two shared a glance before falling into silence. Chu Tianqiu then turned, making his way toward the classroom where Yun Yao awaited, while Qi Xia calmly strolled toward the rooftop.
The rooftop of the school building was expansive and deserted, with a few chairs scattered haphazardly, their origin unclear.
From a distance, Qi Xia spotted Chen Junnan and Qin Dingdong sitting there, both gazing into the pitch-black night.
However, the two sat far apart, as if they were strangers to one another.
At the sound of footsteps, Chen Junnan turned to look. "Aye Ole Qi, come have a seat. Make yourself at home."
TL Note: Rant goes here ( •̯́ ₃ •̯̀)
