TDU Chapter 504
Chapter 504 Pulsating Brain
“Mm…” The words Chen Junnan had on his lips were stopped mid-thought, and a frown slowly creased his brow.
It appeared that {rebellion} was a grave taboo among the {Earthly Branches}. An open agreement would surely be overheard; he would need a more discreet way to convey his intent.
But what subtler approach could he conceive?
At that moment, a cold, distant voice echoed faintly in his mind: “I believe I planted a {mole} within the {Earthly Branches}.”
Indeed. Qi Xia had already laid the groundwork. Now it was merely a matter of going with the flow.
“I want you to find a {mole},” Chen Junnan said.
“{Mole}…?”
“Yes.” Chen Junnan nodded. “Tonight, you should rest and tend to your wounds, but also keep an eye out, see if any other {Earthly Branches} have shown unusual activity recently. Then, slip inside and observe. Learn what’s going on.”
He knew that, besides himself, the other teams were surely trying to gain an advantage within the {Earthly Branches}. Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin had displayed powers in the game that were far from weak; they had undoubtedly already secured control over one of the {Earthly Branches}.
Meaning there was no need to deal with this bloated rabbit now. All that was required was to let him drift along with the current.
“Other {Earthly Branches}…?” Terrestrial Rabbit’s ears twitched at the subtlety of the phrasing. “What kind of organization are you? Are you trying to manipulate others besides me?”
Chen Junnan merely shook his head with a smile. “Cotton-tailed rascal da ge, best not to pry. The more you do, the sooner you die. Just do as I say. As for the {Dào}, we won’t take it this time, treat yourself to something nice with it.”
He turned, beckoned to the others, and lifted Xiao Jiang Ten onto his back.
Cui Fourteen held Jiang Ten’s head carefully while Ma Twelve and Wu Thirteen supported Song Seven, and without a word, the group pushed open the door and left Terrestrial Rabbit’s game venue entirely.
For a long while, Terrestrial Rabbit did not move. Then he looked up at the corner where the ceiling met the wall, his expression tightening in quiet deliberation.
…
Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin’s teams had been waiting outside the building for some time, but Qian Five’s game was proving unusual.
As soon as his team had entered, the door had locked behind them, and there was no sign of it reopening. They could neither offer any help nor see what was happening inside; all they could do was hope Qian Five finished quickly and tended to the injured as soon as he emerged.
‘Why is there still no movement…?’ Qi Xia furrowed his brows at the towering structure before him. He didn’t even know which {Earthly Branch} Qian Five had encountered, and there was no way for him to offer guidance.
However, the intermittent ringing of a distant bell had been audible for some time now. Upon closer thought, someone who could command the whole of {Cats} was certainly no ordinary figure. The state of just a handful of their members spoke volumes about their captain’s power.
“By the way…” Bai Nine, a petite girl with ponytails, glanced at Qi Xia’s team with a puzzled expression. “You all really took part in a Terrestrial-grade game and came out entirely unscathed?”
“Pure chance,” Qi Xia responded. “The game we partook in was one of wits, not killing.”
“Is it really just pure chance…?” Bai Nine gave a bitter smile. “It’s so rare for all participants to survive a Terrestrial-grade game… it’s hard to believe it’s only fortune.”
Qi Xia’s expression remained flat as he regarded the petite girl. “No need to be discouraged. If I were to lead a team in {Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse}, the casualties would probably be about the same as yours.”
‘The same…?’ Bai Nine shook her head, glancing first at the most severely injured Qiao Jiajin and then at the others. Their team of seven had suffered one death and five injuries—a situation as grim as could be.
Had Qi Xia not arrived midway, their team might have been utterly annihilated by that ruthless Terrestrial Horse.
She could not help but be curious about their final impromptu captain, Chen Junnan. What kind of result would he deliver?
Would he ensure everyone emerged unscathed, or leave the entire team wounded?
Catching Bai Nine in a moment of distraction, Qi Xia leaned in slightly and asked, “Who’s on Qian Five’s team?”
“Oh,” Bai Nine turned and smiled sweetly. “Five ge’s team includes Officer Li, the newly joined Four ge, and a few interns.”
“Interns?” Qi Xia was momentarily taken aback. “You even take on interns?”
“Of course.” Bai Nine nodded. “If a veteran member vouches for them, there’s technically no need for an internship. Still, we’ve scouted some talented people from all corners of {End Point}. Some lack firm conviction, others find it too difficult to trigger their {Reverberation}. Since it’s uncertain whether they can become long-term members of {Cats}, they haven’t been formally inducted yet. There are four of them in total.”
“So Qian Five’s team also consists of six members.” Qi Xia thought it over briefly. “Does he have substantial game experience?”
“At least more experienced than us,” Bai Nine said with a giggle. “We haven’t participated in games for a very long time. And even when we do, victory isn’t our objective. We pick low-risk games and leave halfway through once a {Reverberation} is awakened.”
Qi Xia had no interest in the daily operations of {Cats}. He walked over to where Qiao Jiajin lay and frowned as he examined his injuries.
Qiao Jiajin’s life was currently hanging by a thread. Earlier, shards from the exploding ice sphere had pierced deep into his body. By now they had all melted away, leaving it impossible to tell where exactly he had been wounded.
In that instant, Qi Xia felt a splitting pain tear through his head. Tiny fragments of memory flickered unexpectedly before his eyes.
He had the vague sense that he had witnessed scenes like this countless times: teammates injured, gravely wounded, on the brink of death, or utterly gone.
The moment he tried to grasp those fleeting images, his head felt as though it were about to explode, forcibly severing his train of thought.
‘What exactly…?’ Qi Xia clenched his teeth, enduring the searing pain in his mind as he cautiously tried to recall those minute shards of memory.
Slowly, he became aware that it was all like striking at thin air, nothing but wasted effort. The more he tried to remember, the more blank spaces spread through his mind, as though every bone had been stripped from his body and replaced by a profound, suffocating despair.
Though he couldn’t recall anything, Qi Xia felt as if his mind had been completely consumed by despair.
‘What… exactly happened…’ Qi Xia rubbed his temples. Something about his brain felt profoundly wrong.
It was as if he were a fully alert machine. When thinking about ordinary matters, his mind would hum with relentless activity, never stalling. Yet the moment he touched on memories of his teammates or the past, his brain shifted into a different state entirely.
Small, seemingly insignificant events became completely inaccessible, as though someone had drained them from his memory.
Qi Xia’s left hand slowly rose, fingers threading through the tangled strands of hair on the left side of his head, pressing against the part that throbbed with excruciating pain. He could even feel his brain pulsing beneath his skull, each beat deliberate and tangible.
Had his brain…always pulsed like this?
It throbbed like a fierce, unyielding pulse, hammering at his thoughts whenever he dwelled on certain subjects, shattering every line of reasoning.
Questions such as… Who am I, really? ...or… Where is Yu Nian’An?
Qi Xia cradled his brain as though it were a living, frenzied creature.
In that moment, he felt as if something—something alien—was growing inside it.
TL Note: Rant goes here ( •̯́ ₃ •̯̀)
