TDU Chapter 340
Chapter 340 My Plan, My Purpose
Could it be that {Yu Nian'An} truly doesn’t exist…?
“She was the path I left for myself…?” Qi Xia bent down, staring at the ground, clutching his hair with both hands. A strange sense of dissonance crept over him.
His memories only spanned twenty-six years, and Yu Nian’An occupied seven of them; how could this {contingency} feel so unbearably genuine?
Before Yu Nian’An existed, what was his reason for wanting to escape?
If he truly created Yu Nian’An, then what was the path he left for himself?
It felt to Qi Xia as if a secret thread connected him to his former selves from seven and ten years ago, as if they were speaking across time.
But he also knew clearly that his thoughts couldn’t be so easily deciphered.
What exactly did his past self want to convey?
Was Yu Nian’An really a creation of his own device?
“Impossible... it can’t be true,” Qi Xia shook his head, muttering to himself. “There’s no way, even with {Endowing Life Without End}, to fabricate someone who was never real…”
All abilities of {End Point} required a foundation of subconscious belief; if he’d never met Yu Nian'An, how could he have brought her into being?
What made his subconscious accept the existence of someone who wasn’t real?
And how could he be so certain of Yu Nian'An’s personality and appearance?
Qiao Jiajin, familiar with Qi Xia’s temperament, knew that whenever he fell into deep thought, it was always with this lost, absorbed expression. All he could do was quietly watch from the side.
At that moment, Qian Five picked up the bottle of liquor in front of Qiao Jiajin, poured herself half a glass, then spoke, “Qi Xia, I heard from Song Seven that you were able to trigger your {Reverberation}, and for some reason your {Reverberation} was exceptionally loud this time—enough to alert all the {Earthly Branches} on the entire train.”
Qi Xia’s train of thought was interrupted. He slowly raised his head to look at Qian Five, and a new question formed in his mind. “Qian Five, you said I managed to trigger my {Reverberation}. Can a person have two different {Reverberations} at the same time?”
Qian Five took a small sip of liquor, then shook her head. “I’ve never heard of such a case. Only those at the level of {Sacred Guardians} can possess multiple abilities akin to {Reverberations}. But are you really one of them?”
Qi Xia knew for certain he was not a {Sacred Guardian}; he wasn’t even a part of the {Earthly Branches} anymore.
So why was his {Reverberation} this time not his previous two-word {Reverberation}?
What exactly was {Endowing Life Without End}?
Qian Five noticed the change in Qi Xia’s expression and, after a brief thought, put down the glass she had brought to her lips. “Qi Xia… can you manifest two {Reverberations}? Is your current {Reverberation}… different from before?”
Realizing Qian Five was far from ordinary, Qi Xia saw no reason to continue concealing it. He nodded to the womanlike Qian Five and said, “That’s right. This time, my Reverberation is {Endowing Life Without End}.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Qi Xia braced for skepticism, but Qian Five nodded with a serious expression.
“Just as I suspected…” she murmured, lips barely moving. “No wonder no one in the entire {End Point} has ever heard such a sound… A four-word {Reverberation}, huh. Was this all planned by your former self?”
“My former self...?” Qi Xia found the rationale hard to accept.
Could it be that every time he left himself a different path, the ultimate goal was to create a four-word {Reverberation}?
But since no one in {End Point} had ever heard or seen a four-word {Reverberation}, how could he have possibly strive towards it?
In hindsight, his experience at {End Point} broke down into four distinct stages.
The first stage spanned roughly from the beginning up until ten years ago. During this time, he possessed an ordinary two-word {Reverberation}. After an unknown period, one day ten years ago, he launched a decisive battle against {Celestial Dragon}, leading ten thousand participants—and was utterly defeated. Following this, he lost that two-word {Reverberation}.
The second stage took place roughly between ten and seven years ago. Although he became a {Unfortunate One} during this time, he frequently operated in {End Point} alongside teammates including Qiao Jiajin and Chen Junnan. They defeated many {Earthly Branches}, and during this period, he developed his next tactic: becoming a part of the {Earthly Branches}. Perhaps to avoid worrying Qiao Jiajin and Chen Junnan, or for other reasons, Qi Xia concealed this plan.
The third stage stretched from seven years ago to just over thirty days ago. During this phase, he remained a {Goat}, but this path did not lead to escape; instead, it reverted him to his original state.
Now, he was in the fourth stage.
If asked what was different about this experience compared to the previous ones, the answer was naturally {Endowing Life Without End}—a new phenomenon never before seen in earlier stages. Have all paths truly led to this point?
Officer Li, noticing Qi Xia’s deep contemplation, turned to Qiao Jiajin and asked, “Hoodlum, what kind of ability is {Endowing Life Without End}?”
Qiao Jiajin shrugged. “I’m not really sure, copper. But last time, I was reborn every time I died which helped me defeat all the {Cats}. That was probably thanks to Swindler lad’s help.”
“Are you referring to that huge pile of your bodies on the ground...?”
Only then did Song Seven suddenly realize. “What?! So you’re telling me that your repeated resurrections were all due to this {Endowing Life Without End}?
“Yeah,” Qiao Jiajin nodded. “What else could it be, from a clone machine?”
“Then what’s your {Reverberation}?” Song Seven pressed.
“I forgot the name,” Qiao Jiajin shook his head, then said seriously, “It was something like {Oi, no cheating, you lan-joeng}.”
In just a sentence, everyone listening was momentarily speechless.
Qian Five smiled faintly. “Your {Reverberation} is {Purge All Power}.”
“Oh?” Qiao Jiajin glanced at Qian Five. “You even know mine?”
“Of course,” Qian Five nodded. “Once your ability activates, every {Reverberatee} in {End Point} must submit. Unfortunately, it can’t restrain {Celestial Dragon}.”
“Well, isn’t that already enough?” Qiao Jiajin stretched lazily with a smile. “Being able to protect my teammates from harm by others is good enough for me. As for that {Celestial Dragon}... I’ll leave that to you all to solve.”
“Solve…” Qian Five cast a complicated glance at Qi Xia. If there was truly any way to deal with {Celestial Dragon}, they would have to rely on the only four-word {Reverberatee} of {End Point}.
“I’ve made my decision,” Qi Xia declared. “I will gather those three thousand six hundred {Dào} together and bring {Celestial Dragon} forth.”
TL Note: Rant goes here ( •̯́ ₃ •̯̀)
