Chapter 219 Returning Home
Qiao Jiajin charged at the door, his body slamming into it with unrelenting force.
Everything was spiraling into confusion. He could clearly hear the voices of Qi Xia and Li Xiangling from within, yet no one came to answer his calls.
"Swindler lad! Kung Fu gal!" Qiao Jiajin shouted, sweat dripping from his brow. "What exactly is going on? Open the door already!!"
At that moment, the members of {Cats} began to hear the commotion, slowly converging from the first floor, encircling Qiao Jiajin in growing numbers.
Song Seven pushed his way through the gathering crowd, stepping forward. His eyes fell upon the tattooed man in front of him, recognition flashing in his gaze.
He had only appeared for a fleeting moment, yet in that brief span, he had broken the arms of six people.
What was even more terrifying was that he wasn’t even a {Reverberatee}.
Qiao Jiajin slowly turned his head, his gaze chilling as it swept over the group. "My name?"
"Yes," Song Seven replied, unfazed, "Though we’ve already spilled much blood, I still want to know who you are."
"Portland Street, A’Jin." Qiao Jiajin sneered, his lips curling into a mocking smile. "You can call me {Boss Qiao}, or {Godfather}."
"Interesting," Song Seven mused, his eyes flicking toward the door behind Qiao Jiajin. "Is anyone still inside?"
Qiao Jiajin didn’t offer a direct answer. Instead, he responded with a challenge, "Why don’t you check elsewhere? If you’re set on breaking down this door, half of your xiōngdìs will meet their end."
"Indeed, I believe you’re capable of that," Song Seven said, his expression unshaken. "But even if we all fall, this task must be completed."
"So there's no room for negotiation?" Qiao Jiajin cracked his neck with a dangerous smile. "Who’s first to step up?"
Several men dressed in black subtly shifted their stances, inching closer.
Qiao Jiajin knew the capabilities of these individuals. Earlier, he had concealed himself in the shadows, observing their movements. It became apparent that all of them were {Reverberatees}, each possessing a {Reverberation} honed for battle, much like Luo Eleven.
What struck him further was their seamless coordination—every motion was precise, every action calculated. They were not mere thugs, but highly trained operatives.
‘What a headache…’ Qiao Jiajin thought, the weight of the situation pressing on his mind.
Why were these people here so impossibly unreasonable? Ready to kill at the slightest provocation, without a second thought. After years on the streets, Qiao Jiajin had never encountered such relentless, cold-blooded hostility.
He reached inward, attempting to summon the {miracle} he had relied on earlier that day. But whether it was the toll of exhaustion or the disarray in his mind, not even the faintest trace of the {miracle} could be felt.
"Swindler lad..." he muttered under his breath, a hint of grim resolve in his voice. "I can only give it my all this one last time..."
Qi Xia stood motionless, surrounded by a gruesome scene—organs and severed fingers scattered across the ground. It felt as though half of his body’s weight had been ripped away, and his consciousness began to flicker and fade.
He could still feel his heart beating, his brain functioning, enough to know that death had not yet claimed him.
"Kill me..." Qi Xia whispered, his voice fragile and strained. "Just do it..."
"Huh...?" Black Tortoise’s face twisted in exaggerated disbelief, "Aren’t you the one who was going to kill me? Why, suddenly, do you want me to be the one to end you?"
"Stop tormenting me..." Qi Xia’s voice cracked with raw despair, "I give up..."
"No!!" Black Tortoise cried out, leaping to her feet. "You can’t give up now!"
"I beg of you..." Qi Xia's consciousness wavered, his body wracked with excruciating pain.
The organs torn from his body had long ceased to function, and now, the wounds within him seemed to pulse with a life of their own, a cruel reminder of his impending end.
He knew survival was impossible, yet he never imagined that even death would be so agonizingly elusive.
"Qi ge..." Li Xiangling stood beside him, her expression helpless and filled with anguish, utterly at a loss as to what to do.
Before him, Black Tortoise’s body was marred by countless knife wounds, yet she moved like a creature unaffected, as lively and vivacious as ever.
"Just kill me already..." Qi Xia's eyes were devoid of life, "I'm so tired..."
Slowly, Qi Xia lifted his head, his gaze landing on Yu Nian'An, who stood quietly behind Black Tortoise.
"An..." His lips twitched into a faint, weary smile. With a body that felt lighter than air, he moved toward her, his steps slow and unsteady.
"Xia!" Yu Nian'An looked at him with concern, her voice filled with worry. "What's wrong? You look so exhausted—was this task especially difficult?"
Qi Xia’s smile faltered, and tears welled in his eyes. "Yes, this task was... especially difficult..." His voice quivered, choking on the weight of his emotions. "I’m so tired... I thought I would never see you again... An..."
Since entering {End Point}, Qi Xia had worn an impenetrable mask of detachment. He had been like a machine, relentless in his focus, always avoiding every misstep and carefully charting the optimal path.
Every program within him had been wound so tightly, always braced against the slightest misstep, afraid of deviation, of failure.
But in this moment, this person who had always been so meticulously controlled, broke apart. Tears welled up, and the sobs racked his body with uncontrollable force.
"An... where exactly are you...?"
“Xia, I’m at home,” Yu Nian'An said, her voice filled with concern. “I bought your favorite peanuts. Come back home, I’m waiting for you.”
“Xia, let’s go home, okay?”
“Mm...” Qi Xia cried out, his voice shaking. “An... take me home... take me away…”
Black Tortoise turned back to see nothing but emptiness, confusion spreading across her face as she tried to understand his actions.
But before she could react, a sudden tremor coursed through the room, shaking the very foundation beneath them.
Li Xiangling felt it too—an overwhelming force, like the stirring of a great storm.
Before either of them could react, a deafening bell tolled, its resonance slicing through the air. The shockwave that followed was overwhelming, sending both women crashing to the ground. Yet amidst the turmoil, Qi Xia stood resolute, his figure unyielding in the face of the storm.
The glass trembled violently in response to the resounding toll, on the verge of shattering under the immense force.
Outside, the fighting faltered, the bell’s shockwave wreaking havoc. The fighters staggered, their balance lost in the overwhelming rush, as none could stand firm against its power.
It took Li Xiangling what seemed like an eternity to steady herself. Seizing the opportunity while Black Tortoise remained disoriented, she dashed toward Qi Xia, her heart pounding in her chest. But as she reached him, her eyes widened in horror. Though he stood motionless, there was no breath, no sign of life.
Chu Tianqiu and Yun Yao stood in front of the display screen, their gazes fixed on the chaotic exchange of {Reverberations} flashing across the monitor. The room was filled with a heavy silence, neither of them speaking a word.
After a prolonged pause, Chu Tianqiu finally broke the stillness. "Yun Yao, let’s make a wager."
“A wager? You’re betting on whether Qi Xia can trigger his {Reverberation}?”
“No,” Chu Tianqiu responded, shaking his head. “I want to bet on how many words Qi Xia’s {Reverberation} will have.”
"I wager three words," Chu Tianqiu declared with unwavering confidence. "Qi Xia is without a doubt a paragon among the people of {End Point} realm. My earlier deduction cannot possibly be mistaken."
The moment his words hung in the air, the enormous bell began to sway violently, its ominous motion sending a ripple of unease through the atmosphere.
A smile curled on Chu Tianqiu’s lips, but it faltered as the bell’s tremors escalated in intensity. His eyes widened in alarm.
"No—this is bad!" His voice sharpened with urgency as he seized Yun Yao’s arm. "Hurry! Get in the car!"
Without a second thought, they sprinted toward the vehicle, slamming the doors shut. As Chu Tianqiu was about to reverse, the deafening resonance of the bell exploded in a sonic shockwave that seemed to tear through the very air itself.
They clamped their hands to their ears in a desperate attempt to block out the searing noise, but the earth beneath them seemed to pulse with the bell’s resonance, and the car's windshield shattered, the cracks spider-webbing across the glass as though the vehicle itself were bowing to the overwhelming force.
Chu Tianqiu fought to steady himself, his gaze transfixed on the screen. A colossal line of text emerged at the center, swiftly eclipsing every other {Reverberation}. But before they could process what they saw, the second toll of the bell reverberated through the air, and the immense text vanished as if it had never existed.
As the ringing gradually faded, they were at last freed from the excruciating torment.
A heavy silence lingered between them before Chu Tianqiu finally broke it, his voice uncharacteristically shaky. “What the f*ck was that just now?”
Yun Yao’s expression mirrored his own disbelief, her eyes wide as she tried to make sense of the impossible.