Chapter 541

Chapter 541 Tattoo

Could a mere, modest door truly hold back those black threads?

Or… could this be a tactic employed by {Judgment’s Domain}?

“You’re able to evade those black threads?” Qi Xia probed.

“Evade ‘em?” Ole Sun shook his head. “Young mate, if it weren’t fer you, we might’ve had ten minutes to rest ‘ere. But your arrival’s gone and thrown our plans all awry.”

He then glanced at the burly man beside him. “Ole Deng, ye done?”

The man continued muttering to himself for a while before opening his eyes. “Almost… it should have transferred over.”

Qi Xia pricked up his ears. From outside came a soft {thud}, as if someone had fallen.

“What did you do?” he asked.

The woman in white, noticing Qi Xia’s expression, did not answer. Instead, she folded her arms over her chest and spoke softly, “What is your name?”

“Qi Xia.”

“Qi Xia… do you know who I am?” she continued to inquire.

“If you haven’t heard my name before, then we probably were not acquainted,” Qi Xia replied, frowning. “However, your aura is rather familiar.”

“My sentiments exactly,” the woman in white remarked with a cold smile. “Those eyes of yours always remind me of certain past events.”

Her words only deepened Qi Xia’s suspicion that this was not a straightforward matter. Could they really have crossed paths before?

Yet she clearly carried immense cunning. Flanked on both sides by members of {Judgment’s Domain}, her status within their ranks was evidently high.

Could he really find himself entangled with these lunatics?

“My name is Yan Zhichun,” the woman introduced.

“One bud foretells spring (yī yàn zhīchūn)*,” Qi Xia nodded. “A fine name.”

(TLN: This is where her name derives from. “One bud foretells spring; one leaf signals autumn (一芽知春，一叶知秋)” is a proverb meaning that small, early signs can reveal larger changes. By noticing subtle details, like new sprouts or falling leaves, one can anticipate the direction of events and the coming of transformation. It is often shortened to “one leaf signals autumn.”)

“It is only through my favor that you are able to pause here for a few minutes.” Yan Zhichun turned to lift a bottle of water from the table and handed it to Qi Xia. “There’s a door through the back. You can escape through it shortly. As strangers coming together by chance, providing a name and a bottle of water is all the courtesy I can extend.”

Qi Xia still did not fully grasp the situation. Even Chen Junnan and Qian Five had never mentioned that this game allowed for a {resting period}.

“Could it be… one of you happens to possess a {Reverberation} capable of countering {Celestial Horse’s Hour}?”

At Qi Xia’s words, the three Adherents exchanged a glance. Yan Zhichun stepped forward and spoke slowly before him, “You seem a touch too intelligent. In a place like this, being too intelligent and failing to conceal yourself is a perilous combination.”

“Perilous?” Qi Xia sensed the underlying threat but remained unshaken. “So because I’ve seen through your secrets, you intend to kill me?”

“Facinating,” Yan Zhichun nodded. “I rather enjoy meeting clever people, especially those as defiant and arrogant as you.”

“I only care to meet those who are sincere,” Qi Xia replied evenly.

“So would you like to leave an address? We might correspond closely in the future.”

“With you {Adherents}?” Qi Xia’s mind flashed to the scene of Qiao Jiajin and Tian Tian being slain by an {Adherent} and his expression darkened. “No. I merely have a few questions for you.”

“Questions?”

Qi Xia stepped forward, locking eyes on the woman before him. When they were but two paces apart, he caught the subtle fragrance she carried.

A sharp scent of pine-scented laundry detergent mingled with a muguet fragrance of her shampoo. Qi Xia captured it instantly.

In that moment, his mind descended into utter chaos, the very ability to think slipping away.

Wasn’t this exactly the scent of Yu Nian’An?

“Why…?” Qi Xia asked in a daze. “Why are there so many coincidences?”

Yan Zhichun could not fathom his meaning, her eyes coldly fixed on him. The man before her appeared intelligent enough, yet there was an undeniable air of madness about him. “What coincidences? What is it you are trying to say?”

Qi Xia closed his eyes, it truly felt as if Yu Nian'An was standing right before him. But the instant this woman spoke, his illusion shattered; after all, their voices were completely different.

“Yan Zhichun… where is your hometown?” Qi Xia asked.

“Cangzhou, Hebei.”

“Hebei…” Qi Xia’s expression fell slightly at the answer. They were, ultimately, two entirely different individuals.

Yet how could the world produce such astonishing coincidences?

Their attire, silhouettes, figures, and even the scent they carried all were identical.

There was no need to speak of the sparsely populated {End Point}; even in the real world, what were the chances of encountering a person like this?

“What was your previous occupation?" Qi Xia continued to ask.

The consecutive questions seemed to darken Yan Zhichun’s expression. As one of the top figures within {Judgment’s Domain}, her code of conduct had always been concealment and deception, but this man before her was relentlessly probing her past.

“Does it concern you?” Yan Zhichun retorted with furrowed brows. “So this is what you meant when you said you had questions for me?”

“Consider it a personal favor I owe you,” Qi Xia urged. “I truly wish to know the answers.”

Seeing a trace of pleading beneath Qi Xia’s icy gaze, Yan Zhichun’s heart softened involuntarily. Almost without thinking, she replied, “I’m simply a university English major, trying to find an internship. Is this question really that crucial to you?”

“These questions are not the important ones,” Qi Xia shook his head. “The question that truly matters is… have you ever heard the name {Yu Nian’An}?”

Yan Zhichun lowered her head, pondered for a moment, then shook it. “Never heard of her. Which room is she from?”

Qi Xia sensed that the woman before him was not lying. At the very least, her expression gave no hint of falsehood. He could only replay the situation in his mind, over and over, trying to untangle the truth.

All the paths he had previously deduced now seemed pointless; they would only lead to erroneous conclusions.

Now that he had met Yan Zhichun, it was as though a new path had revealed itself.

If his own memories could be altered by himself, then was it possible that the Yu Nian’An in his memory, the one in his dreams, was never truly her?

Perhaps, for some unknown reason, he had changed Yu Nian’An’s appearance… whether as a disguise, or perhaps to avoid something.

Qi Xia felt certain he had seen Yan Zhichun before, yet their personalities seemed incompatible. The likelihood that he would have remembered her was zero.

But what had happened back then… that led him to use Yan Zhichun’s body as a vessel, while sending Yu Nian’An’s soul elsewhere?

“Any more questions?” Yan Zhichun asked.

“No more,” Qi Xia shook his head. “Know the way at dawn; die without regret at dusk*.”

(TLN: “Know the way at dawn; die without regret at dusk (朝聞道，夕死可矣)” is famous saying from ‘The Analects’ and reflects Confucius’s view on life, morality, and action. It doesn’t mean literally dying in the evening; rather, it expresses the idea that once one grasps the true Way (道; Dào), living or dying matters little, because one has fulfilled life’s highest purpose.)

“Then will you be coming with us?” Yan Zhichun’s gaze held him firmly. “Ole Deng’s {Reverberation} won’t last much longer. Those black threads outside have just killed a {Marionette Puppet}. They’ll come for you very soon.”

‘Marionette Puppet…’ Qi Xia’s expression sharpened as understanding dawned. He nodded. “I’ve rested enough. Let us part here.”

He knew that his foremost task was no longer entangling with the {vessel} before him, but to locate Yu Nian’An’s {soul}.

“Where’s the back door?” Qi Xia asked.

Yan Zhichun turned and pointed in a direction.

But the instant her finger extended, Qi Xia’s eyes widened, and a buzzing filled his ears.

On the side of her index finger were three engraved letters:

{Y N A}.