At this moment, Evan Yang felt as if he were inside a painting. This painting was different from the ones outside; he still possessed his Immortal Essence here. After testing it a few times, he found he could actually circulate it, which made him very curious—just what kind of place had he arrived in? Could it be that the mural on the wall was truly a Painting Array, able to draw people into its world?
But why was he drawn in here? Was there something special about this place, or was it deliberately made as a secluded paradise? Evan scanned around curiously; in fact, the space wasn’t very large, and a single sweep of his divine sense could take in everything before him.
Everything felt so real, yet carried an unreal sensation that filled Evan’s heart.
"Is anyone here?" Evan thought for a moment, then called out to his surroundings, wanting to confirm if anyone else was present. But aside from his own echo, there was only echo—no other voices at all. As for the animals, not only were they unafraid, they actually crowded around Evan.
He saw the animals chattering nonstop. At first, Evan was simply curious why they weren’t afraid of him, but when he listened carefully to their chatter, he was shocked.
"You can understand what I’m saying?" Evan asked in surprise.
A rabbit squatting nearby exclaimed, "How can you understand what we’re saying?"
"I—" Evan recalled that ever since being possessed by Luna, the Jade Rabbit, he could understand some spirit beast language. So being able to comprehend them now was normal, and he wasn’t too surprised, though he wasn’t sure how to explain it. He simply said, "I understand spirit beast language." "Really?" the rabbit asked in delight. The other animals were also overjoyed, as if meeting Evan was the happiest thing that had ever happened to them. "Yes, really. What’s wrong?" Evan asked. "Take us out!" the rabbit said excitedly.
"Take you out? Weren’t you born here? Or did someone put you here?" Evan asked curiously.
"What do you mean we were originally from here? We were all humans, but—" The rabbit suddenly said something that stunned Evan.
"You were humans?" Evan was stunned; it was almost unbelievable.
"That's right, we were humans—just like you. We accidentally ended up here, and after just a few days, we slowly turned into animals," the rabbit said gloomily.
Evan was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected this space to be so bizarre. If he didn’t know spirit beast language, he would never have learned the truth. He pressed for more details and learned that there were over a thousand animals here, accumulated over who knows how many years. Every time someone new arrived, the animals were excited, but soon disappointed, as none of the newcomers could understand their language. No matter how the animals tried to communicate, the people didn’t understand. Only after they themselves turned into animals did they realize the truth, but by then it was too late.
So Evan’s arrival—and the fact that he could understand animal language—was undoubtedly a blessing for them.
At that moment, more and more animals gathered when they heard someone could understand them. Evan estimated there were indeed over a thousand. Seeing so many, some likely trapped here for countless years, he couldn’t help but marvel. He then asked the rabbit curiously, "What exactly is this place? Do you know?"
"No one knows. We became like this just a few days after arriving. We wander around here every day and can’t use any of our powers. But you’re different—you can use your power, so you might be able to take us out," the rabbit said.
"How do I get out?" Evan asked curiously.
"After many years of searching, we found a single path. But along this path are many strange and dangerous things. If we try to go, we just end up as their food. So we have to trouble you—if you can defeat them, we can leave," the rabbit said excitedly.
Evan was secretly alarmed. He hadn’t expected the only way out to be guarded by bizarre things. He wondered who could have designed such a place, with the power to turn people into animals in just a few days and strip them of all their strength.
This mystery puzzled Evan, but he knew he had to follow the path they mentioned. Otherwise, he might end up turning into an animal himself, which would be a huge problem.
So Evan agreed to help them. When the animals heard he was going to take the path, they were overjoyed, and a swarm of them led Evan in one direction.
Soon, Evan arrived at a path between two mountains. This path led upward, but its destination was unknown.
"This is it," the rabbit said.
Evan nodded. "Got it."
"If you’re able to leave, please come back and take us out. We’ll forever be grateful," the rabbit said, afraid Evan might not return. The other animals echoed similar sentiments.
Evan said, "Don’t worry, everyone. As long as I, Evan Yang, can get out, I’ll definitely take you all with me. Thank you, everyone."
Hearing Evan’s words, everyone finally relaxed. Evan took a deep breath and started climbing, wanting to see where the path led and what strange things blocked the way.
Step by step, Evan felt it was a bit strenuous, which surprised him. He had only climbed a few steps and already felt tired—it was hard to imagine. He kept going, and after a while, he left the shadows behind. Another oddity: after his divine sense entered this path, its range became extremely short; now he could only see things within ten steps.
"This is really strange," Evan muttered. Just as he finished, a sudden sound came from ahead. Evan was startled and quickly became alert. Sure enough, moments later, a black, grotesque creature lunged at him.
Startled, Evan quickly drew his dagger, dodged, and slashed at it. As he struck, the creature turned into a cloud of black smoke.
"It’s not even solid? But why did it feel so real when I slashed it?" Evan was shocked, finding it unbelievable.
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He continued upward for a while, and such creatures appeared more and more frequently. Evan couldn’t understand why these bizarre things existed, so he advanced with extra caution. If he wasn’t careful, things within ten steps would suddenly appear and lunge at him.
Just like that, Evan kept climbing higher.
At the very bottom, the rabbit muttered, "He should be able to make it, right?"
"He’s our only hope. How many years have we waited? We hoped someone could come, but none of them understood us. In the end, they became just like us," said a squirrel nearby.
"Yeah, I wish we could leave—it would be wonderful. But what’s up there, what’s waiting, we all know, but we don’t have the ability. Who knows if he can really find the exit and take us out," the rabbit said.
The squirrel sighed, "Let’s hope so. Here, our lifespans aren’t limited, but living here day after day, cut off from the world, with no conflicts, still feels like something is missing."
"Yeah," the rabbit replied.
It wasn’t just the rabbit and squirrel—many animals, formerly humans, hoped Evan could pass safely and take them away, because they truly didn’t want to live like this anymore.
As for Evan, after spending most of the day, he finally reached a smooth stone platform. It was so slippery that a careless step could send someone sliding. The black creatures had stopped appearing, but ahead there was a giant boulder.
There were densely packed characters carved on the boulder. Evan skimmed them and found they described a person—someone who turned out to be an Immortal Sovereign.
"Nameless Immortal Sovereign?" Evan didn’t know who this Nameless Immortal Sovereign was, but he realized this place was created by that Sovereign. Apparently, the Sovereign made it as a private back-garden, never expecting anyone else would come. More importantly, the Sovereign liked isolation and disliked humans, seeing them as filthy, so he made everyone here turn into animals.
"Just who is this Nameless Immortal Sovereign, to have such power?" Evan wondered.
As Evan turned his gaze away to search for an exit, he found more words carved beneath the boulder.
The script was delicate, as if carved by a woman.
"A secluded paradise may seem good, but it makes people lose their true nature and joy. Everything becomes a self-entertaining world. I want to walk out of this world. —Fairy Lyra." Evan read it line by line.
Fairy Lyra? Who was that? Evan was puzzled—how had so many people come here? That meant he wasn’t the only one; at least a fairy had come before him.
But how did that fairy leave? Or did she fail and become an animal?
With these questions, Evan searched around and found the path seemed blocked by the boulder. The only way forward was to move it. He placed both hands on the stone and used his power to try shifting it.
The boulder slowly shifted, opening a gap half a person wide. Seeing the opening, Evan was delighted and tried moving it further.
Soon, the gap was wide enough for a person to enter. Evan was very pleased and tried to go inside. The boulder was indeed massive, about five or six people thick. After entering, he saw a wall ahead with several large characters carved on it.
"Turn Back and You Will Find the Shore?" Evan was even more confused. Was this left by the Immortal Sovereign or by the fairy?
Still puzzled, Evan continued moving forward and soon found a cliff ahead.
The cliff was bottomless, which made Evan curious. Why was there a cliff here, and what was on the other side? What was below? And what did that phrase mean?
At this moment, Evan stood deep within this place, feeling as if many mysteries surrounded him. It seemed that with one step forward, he might uncover the secrets here.