Qian Five looked Officer Li in the eyes and smiled slightly. "It's getting late. Ti to rest."
"Then," Qi Xia called out to her. "Have you already decided where I stand?"
"Do I need to?" Qian Five shook her head. "Haven't you always been this way?"
With that, she turned decisively and pushed open the door, leaving without hesitation. Zhou Six followed closely behind, leaving the rest of them standing there in silence.
"This way, please…" Song Seven said to the collective. "I'll show you to your rooms. Just so you know in advance, {Cats}' quarters are all single-person prison cells. I hope you won't mind."
Officer Li gave a bitter laugh and shook his head. "Never thought I'd end up sleeping in a jail cell."
…
They followed Song Seven down the corridor to their assigned cells. Zheng Hero insisted on sharing a room with Qi Xia.
This morning, Chen Junnan had confidently declared he would face Terrestrial Snake's ga alone. By now, it should be over.
"Song Seven, could you return to {Passage to Heaven} and help check on sothing?" Qi Xia asked. "I want to know if Chen Junnan made it back."
"Chen Junnan?" Song Seven nodded. "Got it. I'll be back soon."
Once everyone had left, Qi Xia turned to Zheng Hero.
This strange child always gave him a strong sense of dissonance.
"Hero," Qi Xia called out.
"What is it, civilian?" Hero replied.
Qi Xia sighed helplessly at the response. "What's your {Reverberation}?"
"{Reverberation}...?" Zheng Hero seed to mull over the word, then twitched his nose, taking a few sniffs before answering, "It's {Prompt Redolence}."
"{Prompt Redolence}…?" Qi Xia had never heard of such an unusual {Reverberation}. "So your ability to pick up on {Earthly Branches}' stench and the presence of other {Reverberations} is due to this {Prompt Redolence}?"
"Correct." Hero nodded emphatically. "That's why I'm different from all of you. I'm {Hero}, destined to walk a lonely road."
Qi Xia found it strange. "Doesn't that make you functionally equivalent to the {Display Screens} and {Giant Bells}, except your perception is rooted in scent—"
"Not the sa!!" Zheng Hero declared firmly, his expression resolute. "I'm way better than that {Display Screen}!"
"Oh?" Qi Xia's lips curved into a faint smile as he slowly sat down on the edge of the bed. "Then tell , how exactly are you better?"
"I can detect subtle, invisible scents. The display screen can't!" Zheng Hero sounded as if he were praising himself. "That dumb screen only lights up when the {Bell} rings because soone triggered their {Reverberation}. But if a person activates their {Reverberation} very gently, the bell might not ring at all, and the screen won't show anything."
"Oh…?" A glimr of realization sparked in Qi Xia's eyes. "So if soone initiates their {Reverberation} with minimal force, the {bells} won't {ring}?"
"There's another case!" Zheng Hero's youthful voice echoed through the tiny cell. "If soone has complete command over their {Reverberation}, they could activate and end it so quickly that the {Bell} doesn't even have ti to respond."
Qi Xia's brows arched slightly; this venture to {Cats} had been nothing short of revelatory.
Just as Lin Qin had suggested, the {bells' toll} could be controlled.
"You know the design of the bells, right?"
"I certainly do," Qi Xia replied.
"If you've ever looked up from beneath the Giant Bells, you'd understand why so people can avoid triggering its chi."
Qi Xia pondered for a mont, then looked up. "You an that if a {Reverberation} is activated quickly enough, the pendulum inside won't have ti to touch the bell's interior, so the bell won't ring?"
"That's exactly it," Zheng Hero nodded emphatically.
Though Qi Xia grasped Zheng Hero's explanation, another question arose.
If that's the case, then the giant bells clearly have an obvious flaw. So do such bells exist at {End Point} at all?
If it could be constructed, why not make it more foolproof?
"Civilian, your scent is strange," Zheng Hero said. "Aren't you supposed to be a {Fragrantee}?"
"Fragrantee…?"
"I–I an {Reverberatee}…"
Qi Xia frowned. "What, does my scent differ from others'?"
"Usually, ability users emit a clean fragrance, but yours is strange; it seems to be sowhere between an {Earthly Branch} and a {Reverberatee}."
"Is that so?" Qi Xia raised his arm and brought it close to his nose, sniffing lightly, but he couldn't detect any scent himself.
Confirming that this sll was sothing only Hero could perceive.
"Hero, when did you join {Passage to Heaven}?" Qi Xia shifted the topic and asked.
"?" Zheng Hero carefully drew the newspaper sword from his waist, wiped it gently with care, then looked back at Qi Xia. "I was invited in by a very strong-looking civilian."
"So this is your first ti joining {Passage to Heaven}?"
"Correct. I didn't even know that place was called {Passage to Heaven}."
"I'm curious," Qi Xia asked. "Where were you before this? Have you retained your mories?"
Zheng Hero sheathed his short sword and answered, "Truth be told, civilian, I'm from another city."
"Another city?"
"Correct. That city of ours is already afflicted, sunk into ruin." Zheng Hero said, looking up at Qi Xia with a lost expression. "I never expected there to be so many active people here."
Qi Xia recalled the taxi ride with Xu Liunian to the city's outskirts, where towering skyscrapers rose and roads stretched in every direction.
Unfortunately, even this small city before him had already worn down his patience and frayed his nerves.
How vast was this realm? What lay beyond the city limits? Where exactly was the city's edge?
Where were the {Earthly Branches} scattered? And how many {Participants} truly existed?
"Sunk into ruin…?" Qi Xia glanced at the child with curiosity, sensing there was more to his identity than t the eye.
"I may be a {Hero}, but I cannot unite the entire city. Everyone is trapped in an endless cycle of life and death," Zheng Hero replied, his expression growing increasingly forlorn.
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