Chapter 112 The Unrenewable Past
"Indeed, ten people."
Yun Yao and Chu Tianqiu fell into a brief, contemplative silence.
Suddenly, Chu Tianqiu lifted his gaze, his tone probing. "If your room contained {ten people}, then how did you deduce that ours holds {nine}?"
Qi Xia's lips curled into a cold smile. "Because when the nine of us left the room, {Mortal Dragon} made a remark about how {everyone managed to survive}." His voice was laced with irony. "How strange, though—if {everyone managed to survive}, shouldn't there have been ten of us walking out?"
Chu Tianqiu silently nodded, finding Qi Xia's intellect to be just as sharp as he had imagined.
"However," Qi Xia continued, "the notion of {nine people} seems rather plausible. After all, the escape devices in the room were designed for {nine people}."
"Our room has nine table segments and nine ropes. If there were truly {ten people} in there, distributing the game resources would have been utterly impossible."
"In other words," Qi Xia continued, his voice steady, "this game was originally designed for nine people. As long as nine individuals exit the room, it can be deemed that {everyone managed to survive}." His expression turned more serious as he glanced toward the window, the weight of his thoughts evident. "But if that's the case, why were there ten people in the room?"
Chu Tianqiu blinked, asking, "You arrived at such a precise conclusion based on these few clues?"
"Not exactly {precise}," Qi Xia corrected him with a cool tone. "Before meeting you, I couldn't be sure whether the suspect was male or female." He paused for a beat, his eyes narrowing slightly as he studied Chu Tianqiu. "But now, it's my turn to ask you something."
"Go ahead." Chu Tianqiu nodded. "What do you want to know?"
"How did you know the personnel configuration of our room?" Qi Xia asked. "This is something that even us, the directly involved parties, are uncertain about. So how did you come by this information?"
Chu Tianqiu slowly licked his dry lips and said, "I regret that I cannot answer that; it is practically the core secret of {Passage to Heaven}."
Qi Xia turned his head to glance at Chu Tianqiu, once again displaying a look of suspicion.
Isn’t the true core secret of {Passage to Heaven} that diary?
In other words, does this knowledge lie within the pages of that same diary?
"Very well, I'll ask a different question," Qi Xia said. "What is the principle behind {memory preservation}? Why is it that only a select few retain their memories?"
"You must have already guessed it, right?" Chu Tianqiu’s voice held a quiet certainty. "Qi Xia, the answer is {Reverberation}. Anyone who hears their {Reverberation} within ten days can retain their memories in the next cycle."
Qi Xia’s mind raced, piecing things together. "You're saying only {Reverberatees} can retain memories?" he asked, his voice laced with lingering confusion. He had considered this possibility before, but it still didn’t sit right. Han Yimo and Officer Li were clearly {Reverberatees}, and it made sense that they could remember.
But then, why could he remember everything?
Had he somehow triggered his own {Reverberation}?
Qi Xia frowned, deep in thought, a storm of questions swirling in his mind. After a long pause, he came to a chilling conclusion. If he truly was a {Reverberatee}, then his {Reverberation} must have happened shortly before his death. After all, he had been far from the plaza, and by all accounts, should not have been able to hear the bell.
But if he had indeed triggered his {Reverberation}, what power had he gained from it?
Yun Yao smiled slightly and said, "Qi Xia... judging by your expression, it seems you don't know that you've triggered your {Reverberation}?"
Her words laid bare Qi Xia’s predicament, causing him to regard her with a newfound respect. It seemed that those who could join {Passage to Heaven} were indeed no ordinary individuals.
"I honestly have no recollection," Qi Xia admitted, his brow furrowing. "I was far from the bell at the time, so it’s possible I missed the sound."
"Far?" Yun Yao pondered for a moment, her expression thoughtful. "There are giant bells at the four corners of the city—north, south, east, and west. It should have been impossible not to hear it."
Qi Xia’s brow furrowed even deeper, the pieces falling into place. ‘So that's how it is,’ he thought, a flicker of understanding crossing his mind.
But these four bells were all positioned within the city—could it really be that Qi Xia hadn’t heard the sound simply because he had reached the city’s edge?
"Qi Xia, if what you're saying is true, and you don't know exactly when you triggered your {Reverberation}, then things are going to get complicated," Chu Tianqiu remarked, his tone taking on a serious edge.
"Exactly," Chu Tianqiu nodded, his expression grave. "You don’t know how you triggered your {Reverberation} in the last cycle, which means you can’t replicate it in this one. In other words, you can’t reliably trigger your {Reverberation}, and without that, you can’t retain your memories consistently."
Qi Xia stroked his chin thoughtfully, then spoke, "No wonder, when I was about to crush your skull earlier, you said {I can’t die yet}. That must have been because your {Reverberation} hadn’t triggered yet. If you had perished in that moment, all your memories from the previous cycles would have been lost, wouldn't they?"
"Indeed," Chu Tianqiu nodded. "Such a trivial matter could hardly escape your notice. Nevertheless, I must still advise you to uncover the cause of your {Reverberation} at the earliest opportunity, or else you risk losing yourself entirely in this cycle."
The two exchanged a silent glance before Qi Xia inquired, "If, in the previous cycle... someone briefly triggered their {Reverberation} just before death, would they need to once again approach the brink of death in this cycle to replicate it?"
"Theoretically, yes," Chu Tianqiu replied.
Qi Xia’s mind wandered to Officer Li, his face coming into sharp focus. A paradox began to form, the logic of it weaving through his thoughts like an intricate puzzle. If Officer Li’s trigger for {Reverberation} had indeed been {the brink of death}, then, by all reasoning, he should have never lost his memories.
Whether he perished in the game, fell victim to the land’s annihilation, or was slain by the {Earthly Branches} or the {overseers}, he should have retained his memories from each cycle. Yet, based on Officer Li’s current state, it was clear that he only held onto the memories of the previous instance.
This realization seemed to indirectly confirm another matter: He, Officer Li, and the others must have arrived at {End Point} far later than the other participants. They had only experienced two cycles.
But then, a sudden pause gripped him. ‘Wait a minute…’ Qi Xia interrupted his own line of thinking, the unsettling notion slowly taking shape. What if Officer Li had already retained his memories during the previous instance? What if he had followed the Mortal Goat’s instructions and deliberately concealed them?
The thought lingered, and as Qi Xia considered it more, it became clear that it wasn’t an insignificant possibility.
This also explained why Officer Li had initially chosen not to join Qi Xia’s team, but instead decided to remain behind. He had known, perhaps even with a quiet certainty, that collecting three thousand six hundred {Dào} was not a task to be hurried.
And yet, in the end, he had died—trying to save another person.
This was the paradox Qi Xia had been grappling with.
If Officer Li truly retained his memories, he should have known that it didn’t matter if Lawyer Zhang drowned—she would simply be revived in a few days. So why, then, would he choose such a painful and futile path, sacrificing his life in the process?
Then, returning to the question at hand… How many instances had Han Yimo managed to retain his memories for? Like Officer Li, he too possessed a constitution highly susceptible to {Reverberation}. In theory, once he reached {End Point}, his chances of retaining his memories should have been exceedingly high.
The more Qi Xia thought about the situation, the more it seemed to spiral into an eerie realization.
How long had he truly been here?