A slightly old basement exuding a musty odor, though the tables, chairs, and furniture are fairly new, and the fridge and TV are all present. I lie quietly on the bed, feeling a deep discomfort in this room. Tan Tian hasn't returned yet, and Luo Yu told me to stay here and not go out.
Outside is a larger space. Based on my intuition, this place should be wrapped in a Corpse Barrier. Bored from waiting, I get up and open the door. Luo Yu stands quietly by a large jar, inside which multicolored gases slowly swirl. Luo Yu stares blankly at it.
"What's inside here?"
I asked.
"Emotion."
Luo Yu spat out the word coldly. I sighed helplessly and forced a smile. Luo Yu noticed my smile and froze, staring at me in a daze. I continued to smile.
"What's wrong? You can try smiling too."
Luo Yu's cheeks twitched, his mouth stretching into a grin. Instinctively, I reached out and covered his mouth with my hand.
"Sure enough, without emotion, a smile really looks creepy."
I walked up to the large jar, watching the multicolored gas streams intertwine and slowly circulate up and down. I remembered Zhang Qingyuan telling me about this before: when zombies inhale the gas inside, they temporarily regain emotion. It seems this was created by Emperor God and his team.
How long can it last?
I asked, and Luo Yu replied.
Only a few minutes, that's the absolute limit.
I thought, if he had emotions, he would look very pained right now. I placed a hand on the jar and stroked it for a while, then Luo Yu turned around and slowly floated up.
Where are you going?
Stay here. I'm going out to have a look.
As he spoke, Luo Yu's body penetrated the ceiling like sludge and disappeared.
Looking around this empty space, aside from the large jar in front of me, there were only some simple tables and chairs. I found a chair and sat down. At that moment, I noticed that the wooden table in front of me was covered with tally marks. Not only this table, but the other tables and chairs had them too. I glanced around and saw them on the floor as well.
It looked like it had been a long time. I returned to the room, lay on the bed, and started to feel sleepy. Soon, I fell into a deep sleep.
When I woke up again, I couldn't tell if it was day or night. I left the room and found that Luo Yu hadn't returned. There was food in the fridge and a kitchen nearby. I made something to eat and drank some alcohol, waiting quietly.
I raised a hand, and with a thought, a black flame shot out from my fingertip. I was puzzled by this power suddenly appearing in my body—it wasn't like fire, since it had no temperature, nor did it feel cold, but it managed to burn through the wall Xiao Yan had built with her own power, allowing me to escape.
The Curse Wolf seemed to sense this special power, and it was also the one that helped draw it out of my body. I had thought it might be the power of the Death Curse, but now I don't think so.
This power that suddenly appeared—Yin Chou seemed to know something about it. I wondered if I could still reach him. Just then, I felt the ground shift, and a mass of black sludge emerged from the floor. Luo Yu stood before me.
Where's Tan Tian?
Luo Yu shook his head.
We've lost contact with the clan chief.
Then Luo Yu told me that things outside were complicated now. Lots of Yinfolk were digging everywhere on the streets, patrolling and searching for where I was hiding. The basement I was in was near the tower where Xiao Yan was located. This place had already been searched, but if they kept looking, we'd eventually be found.
How long have you been here?
I asked. Luo Yu stared at me and pointed to the tally marks on the table.
Each tally mark is a day.
The atmosphere was somewhat awkward. I asked, Luo Yu answered. Zombies seem to be like this. On the other hand, Lan Jiuqing is different—he's a chatterbox, and his smile looks natural, even though he has no emotions.
By the way, what exactly did you come here for?
We defected here.
I looked at Luo Yu in surprise. I had heard before that Yue Que asked Zhang Qingyuan to help find the defected Nine Feathers of the Corpse Realm. So they'd always been in this world, which is why neither the Yin nor Yang realms had any trace of them. But when I thought about how they had cooperated with the Immortality Society before, I felt disgusted.
For a moment, I had nothing more to say to Luo Yu. He still stood in front of the large jar, gazing longingly at the colored gas inside, but his face was expressionless.
With a loud bang, I immediately looked up. A huge crack appeared in the ceiling, but it quickly vanished. Then another loud noise—this time, rubble fell down. I jumped up and dodged. Luo Yu remained motionless, still staring at the jar. I grew nervous and prepared to draw a weapon, but remembered that Beauty had been melted down. The situation was bad, so I only had my bow.
Don't worry. They can't find this place. Even if they dig up the ground, all they'll see is black rock. As long as you don't leave this Corpse Barrier space, you'll be fine.
With a rumble, I saw several people in fiery red clothes jump down, weapons in hand, digging at the ground. More and more people appeared. I quickly retreated. Just then, I saw a Yinfolk pass right through Luo Yu's body, and one of them swung a digging tool at me. I was surprised but didn't dodge—the tool passed easily through my body. They couldn't see us, but we could see them, and they couldn't touch us. It felt strange.
At that moment, a group of Yinfolk were talking about orders from above—they were told to dig down 100 meters. They kept digging, and soon I was standing in midair with no ground beneath me. The Yinfolk kept digging quickly downward with their tools.
Soon, the Yinfolk who came down moved away from us. The surroundings were empty except for the walls. I didn't know what to say, so I walked over, raised a finger, and released black flames. Luo Yu turned his head.
Have you ever seen this kind of flame?
Luo Yu shook his head. The air currents inside the floating jar became chaotic. Suddenly, Luo Yu raised a hand. With a loud bang, the jar exploded and fell, its multicolored gases quickly dispersing and vanishing into the air.
This was made by Emperor God and his people. If we don't destroy it, they'll use the gas inside to find us.
Even though it was just for a moment, I saw helplessness flash across Luo Yu's face.
The reason we defected was because Clan Chief Yue Que and Blood Fiend Luan Tian had a conflict. Clan Chief Tan Tian couldn't resolve it, and even chose to cooperate with Ji Yun'er at the time—which we couldn't accept.
I responded with an 'oh' and didn't ask further, because I saw a streak of flame descend from above. Xiao Yan stood a few meters away, her gaze heavy as she scanned the surroundings.
Lan Ruoxi, if you're here, come out quickly. We've already dealt with Tan Tian.
I looked at Xiao Yan in surprise, but Luo Yu immediately shook his head.
The clan chief can't die. They've probably used the laws of this world to expel him from it.
Lan Ruoxi, if you can hear me, think carefully. You can't do anything in this world. We just want to talk to you.
After Xiao Yan said those words, she left. I stared gravely upward, watching the flames vanish into the distant opening. If Tan Tian really left this world, we wouldn't stand a chance against them. If we go out, we'll be captured immediately. I don't want to give up the key to Snowridge, and I definitely don't want to take them into Snowridge.
Now I've figured something out—why hasn't war broken out in the world of the living? I'm afraid the moment I'm captured, war will erupt immediately.
Do you know what "dawn" means?
I asked. Luo Yu looked at me and shook his head.
If you mean the literal sense, it's the first light at dawn. If you mean something else, I'm not sure.
I blinked and smiled awkwardly. I told Luo Yu this was a message Yin Choujian wanted me to pass to Tan Tian, but now Tan Tian might not be able to return to the shadow world, so I just said it.
Luo Yu closed his eyes, as if deep in thought. After a while, I noticed everything around us gradually returned to normal. I sat on a chair, waiting for Luo Yu to speak. What exactly did Yin Choujian mean by "dawn"? He disappeared without explaining, leaving me to figure it out. If it meant defeating Xiao Yan, that didn't seem right either. Dawn—the first light when night turns to day.
I see.
I watched Luo Yu's expression, and it seemed he understood. He floated in front of me and said:
This world has no dawn.
Suddenly, I snapped awake, thoughts swarming in my head. Indeed, after all this time in this world, I've never seen dawn. The transition from night to day happens instantly—one moment it's pitch dark, and in the blink of an eye, it's daytime, but the brightness never changes.
So this world doesn't have the phenomenon of dawn!