Yunda is clearly more experienced than Gong Cheng.

He had dealt with the high priest of the Gongxi clan before and was well aware of their cunning methods. Unable to escape the first time, Ji Moqiu had to resort to a secondary measure, temporarily isolating Yunda's attack by forming an array. He asked, "Why must you be so ruthless?"

Yunda sneered: "[The High Priest is telling me this?]"

He was deceived back then and trapped in one place for a hundred years!

How can this not be a form of utter annihilation?

Do you start complaining when it hurts yourself?

Clearly, that's not what Ji Moqiu meant: [My teacher instructed me before he passed away that the best strategy is to eliminate the enemy and prevent future troubles; if you can't defeat the enemy, you should flee—that's a middle strategy; if you can't defeat them and can't escape, then you should use the worst strategy, but I really don't want to use it.]

Previously, his intelligence was closed off, and he listened to whatever the teacher said.

Now that my wisdom has been awakened, I feel a little ashamed.

Shame prevented him from openly "seducing" others. His teacher said he should just do it, and heavenly lightning would strike his enemies dead—he didn't know if that was true or not. Ji Moqiu looked at Yun Da through the barrier and sighed, "[You didn't want to see this either.]"

He spoke to Yun Da in a consultative tone, appealing to his emotions.

How about we each take a step back?

Then reason with the other party.

"I see the marks on your body from breaking the seal; your vital energy must be damaged, and you're holding back for some reason. I may not be able to defeat you, but I could easily confine you to this prison for another thirty or fifty years. Anian is still in his prime. In thirty or fifty years, one of his descendants, or even Anai's descendants, will be chosen as the High Priest again. Will you still be able to regain your freedom then?"

Although Ji Moqiu said this, he was already mentally prepared to resort to the worst possible strategy. He just didn't know how strong the heavenly lightning his teacher mentioned would be, and whether it could kill the twenty-rank Marquis in front of him.

Even with his years of self-cultivation, Yun Da was still shaken by Ji Moqiu's shameless words, his eyes flashing with intense killing intent, and the icy blue aura surrounding him was tinged with crimson. Above them, ice dragons sensed Yun Da's emotions and became agitated, occasionally letting out threatening roars as they glared at the group.

Ji Moqiu observed the reactions of the ice dragons.

The honest child asked honestly: "Was I right?"

It seems that Yunda does indeed have some unknown concerns.

Using her wide sleeves as cover, Ji Moqiu once again formed a hand seal and cast a spell, while simultaneously interfering with Yun Da's words: "Actually, the ancestor's sealing of you wasn't entirely a bad thing. So what if you are twentieth-rank Marquises? Your sins of killing are so heavy, disrupting the balance of life and death; how could Heaven easily let you off? Perhaps it was precisely this century of seclusion that tempered your character and allowed you to reach a higher level."

Upon hearing this, Yunda gave a forced smile.

The voice was sinister: "According to the High Priest's twisted logic, should I thank your Gongxi clan?"

He continuously poured martial energy into his palm.

As the martial energy was compressed time and again, its color changed from light to dark.

It beats like a heart.

Each jump is a compression.

The martial energy in his hand gradually lengthened, transforming into an ice arrow. He drew the longbow to its fullest extent, and leaping blue-purple electricity swirled around the ice arrow, poised to strike. His target for this arrow was still Shen Tang!

As the arrow flew from the bow, the world suddenly went dark.

Gu Chi clenched his fists and stood up.

A sense of panic washed over me: "Why is the dream gone?"

"What happened to the three lords after the 20th-rank Marquis shot that arrow?" Gu Chi suppressed his panic and tried to figure out his surroundings. It was pitch black, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, like a void of chaos: "My lord? My lord!"

He shouted to Shen Tang at the top of his lungs.

Since this was her dream, she should have some awareness of it.

Gu Chi couldn't remember how long he had walked in the darkness or how far he had gone. Just as his voice was about to go hoarse from shouting, he faintly heard birdsong. He carefully discerned the direction of the sound and gradually approached it.

"How come there's a forest here..."

Just then, a gentle breeze caressed my face.

This gust of wind also dispelled the darkness that had been obscuring Gu Chi's vision.

He found himself in a dense forest that seemed to stretch endlessly, surrounded by trees he didn't recognize. The trunks soared into the clouds, their canopies so thick they blocked out the sun. Gu Chi wondered to himself, "Is this also a dream the Lord is having?"

"My lord?"

Gu Chi bent down and walked through a fallen, dead tree.

"My lord, where are you?"

Like a headless fly, it scurries through the jungle in search of Shen Tang.

Why can't I find it?

Gu Chi began to doubt his earlier judgment.

Where is our Lord?

He was already agitated and less alert than usual. He accidentally stepped on a thick patch of moss, slipped, and fell into a hidden pit nearby. The pit was bottomless, and Gu Chi fell for a long time without seeing the bottom.

The speed of the fall is increasing.

Finally, Gu Chi lost consciousness and fell into a coma.

When he slowly woke up, he thought he had escaped the dream, but when he opened his eyes, he didn't see the familiar tent roof, but a strange, snow-white "roof". The "roof" had no beams and was very low; Gu Chi could touch the top with just a slight reach.

"Looks like we haven't escaped the dream yet..."

Gu Chi carefully observed the surrounding environment.

The space is cramped, with only about twenty steps between the two walls.

A large number of strange objects were piled up in the corner.

Just as Gu Chi was about to get closer to examine what it was, he heard a clicking sound from outside the door. He instantly became alert, wondering where to hide, when a small door was opened from the outside. Gu Chi's eyes lit up with joy when he saw who it was, and he quickly went to greet them.

"So, my lord was here all along?"

The newcomer's face was exactly the same as Shen Tang's.

To be precise, she looked exactly like Shen Tang when she was eleven or twelve years old, with a childlike look in her eyes and brows, and strange clothes and hairstyle. Her usually neatly styled long hair was now only shoulder-length. She walked straight past Gu Chi, and seeing this, Gu Chi felt disappointed.

But he still took steps to keep up with the girl.

"Does Your Majesty know what place this is?"

Knowing there would be no answer, Gu Chi still asked out of habit.

The girl pulled out a strangely shaped seat and took out dozens of pens-like objects from the side. Just as she was about to start writing, the quiet space was shattered by a piercing sound. Gu Chi was also startled, his heart skipped a beat, and he turned his head to look for the source of the sound.

Hello, who is it?

Gu Chi saw the girl take a piece out of her pocket...

No, a brick was pressed against my ear.

Those strange bricks could glow and make sounds.

Taking advantage of the girl's inability to see him, Gu Chi couldn't suppress his curiosity and leaned closer to observe the "brick's" appearance. He also heard the "brick's" voice: "October 7th, unusual phenomena."

It was a slightly hoarse male voice.

The girl said, "Strange phenomena have been happening non-stop since I was born in 2020, haven't they? Is this something that warrants a warning?"

She grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds from the side and stuffed them into her mouth.

She continued, "[I was seriously ill right after birth, almost died from a high fever, and barely survived. I'm constantly getting minor and major illnesses. The fish I eat are poisonous, the water I drink is polluted. I haven't evolved three heads and six arms yet because I was born early.]"

[The mortal body cannot withstand such torment.]

The girl sighed deeply, her brows furrowed with melancholy.

[Seventh Brother, are you sure my tribulation script is normal?]

"Brick": [It's normal if nothing unexpected happens. This time it's not even a love tribulation. I just ask that you grow up safely and smoothly, experience a mortal life, and go through birth, aging, sickness, and death. That would be a success.]

It's more like a vacation than a tribulation.

The girl sighed again: "[It's normal if nothing unexpected happens? I understand, I understand. If nothing unexpected happens, something unexpected is bound to happen. I was so naive and simple-minded to believe that old fox's lies. By the way, what was that strange phenomenon on October 7th that you mentioned...?]"

"Brick" told her: "Prepare more supplies."

I hope to live to a ripe old age.

"Prepare supplies?" The girl raised her voice, roaring at the "brick," "You bastard, didn't you say I was getting a sweet campus romance novel script for my tribulation? Now you want me to prepare supplies? What for? A post-apocalyptic survival game?"

The other side, "Brick," remained silent.

The girl suppressed her anger and asked, "Have you found him?"

The sound of the "brick" had a slightly strange quality to it.

The person has been found, but there was a slight discrepancy.

How large is the deviation?

The "brick" (referring to a large object) seemed guilty: "Three or four thousand years old? That big?"

The girl is undergoing this tribulation in order to find someone.

However, the person she is looking for will not be reincarnated for another three or four thousand years.

The girl fell into a long silence.

Gu Chi, who had been bending down to eavesdrop, also fell silent.

Analyze the meaning of their conversation carefully.

[Three, four, thousand, years?]

Each word looks like it was squeezed out from behind the molars.

Once you're back in your place, you'll be a piece of cake!

The girl cursed under her breath and crushed the "brick" in her hand with her bare hands. The "brick" traced a perfect parabola in the air before landing precisely in the trash can in the corner of the studio. The girl put her hands behind her head and crossed her legs on the table.

His eyes were vacant as he stared at the ceiling.

Gu Chi couldn't understand what she was thinking. His scholarly methods couldn't read the mind of someone in a dream. He also idly toured the strange room. Some boards were covered with white paper, some were still blank, and some had been drawn with strange patterns.

Just by looking at these pictures, Gu Chi was certain that the girl was his master.

"Such a masterpiece!"

Only the Lord could draw that...

Unbeknownst to them, the girl had appeared behind Gu Chi.

With a hint of pride: "Isn't my drawing pretty good?"

Gu Chi's back stiffened: "You...you can see the pond?"

The girl nodded matter-of-factly and said, "I'm not blind, of course I can see it. At first I thought it was some wandering ghost. But you have a good eye and know how to appreciate my work. Just for that, you're not an ordinary little ghost."

Gu Chi: "..."

The young girl immediately noticed that Gu Chi seemed troubled and said generously, "Could it be some unfulfilled wish from your previous life? I've seen many ghosts with such lingering obsessions, barely clinging to life. Since we're destined to meet today, tell me, and perhaps I can help you..."

Upon hearing this, Gu Chi knew that the girl had misunderstood.

However, he did have one wish.

Gu Chi looked at her with his eyes: "I hope the Lord will wake up."

"Your lord?"

Gu Chi nodded emphatically: "Yes, that's my only wish."

The girl sat down, crossed her legs, and prepared to calculate for Gu Chi with her fingers: "Tell me, what is the master's name, and when was he born and when did he die?"

His surname was Shen, his given name was Tang, and his courtesy name was Youli.

The girl looked up at Gu Chi: "What?"

The little devil's master has the same name as him.

Gu Chi said to himself, "His birth year is unknown, but he is still alive."

The girl and Gu Chi stared at each other for a long time.

For some reason, he did some more calculations with his fingers.

Gu Chi said, "Your master is none other than yourself."

Girl: "..."

The two looked at each other, and in the blink of an eye, countless sunrises and sunsets had passed outside the window. The once bright and clean studio had been reduced to ruins in the process, covered in a thick layer of dust.

Not far away, a steel forest was engulfed in flames of war, and twisted, rotting humanoid monsters roared as they chased after the living. As light and shadow shifted, countless mutated plants and animals joined this bizarre spectacle.

The girl avoided Gu Chi's gaze.

She ran to the window where it used to be and looked out.

A waning, ominous crimson moon hung in the pitch-black sky.

A suffocating, eerie power permeated the air.

She murmured in shock, "What's going on?"

Unfortunately, Gu Chi knew even less than she did and couldn't answer her questions. All he could do was stand behind her as usual, following his master as a subordinate, nothing more.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock—

The raindrops, as big as soybeans, started slowly but quickly turned into a downpour.

Gu Chi subconsciously reached out to catch the raindrops.

The rainwater was as black as ink, and a faint, fishy stench could be smelled.

The steel forest has become ruins. The riotous plants and animals trembled under the baptism of this foul rain. Those that could hide hid, while those that could not hide howled in agony. Before long, their bodies were corroded by the rain, with an effect comparable to the legendary corpse-dissolving water.

Gu Chi was speechless at this scene.

"What...what kind of rain is this? Is it an apocalyptic catastrophe?"

The girl looked up at the quiet blood moon, her eyes shifting with changing emotions, the once clear color turning deep: "Rain comes from the ocean, and is also a product of humankind, but it is not enough to destroy humanity. What truly destroys humanity is the war they started, and everywhere there is suffocating filth."

Her voice was calm and even.

These words also helped Gu Chi recall previous clues—

Could the scene before him be a vision from thousands of years ago, before the destruction of the previous generation of human civilization? Did this apocalyptic catastrophe give rise to everything from his era? The more he thought about it, the more certain he became of his guess.

The girl sat on the ground.

Gu Chi felt that the girl's reaction was a bit off.

She was too calm.

The girl seemed to see through his thoughts and said calmly, "When one civilization is destroyed, another new civilization will rise to the stage of history. When one human is destroyed, another intelligent race will take the stage. This cycle of change is the natural order. The current destruction of the human race is just repeating the old path of the last intelligent race. There is nothing special about it, and there is no need to lament it."

Gu Chi opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

The girl patted him on the shoulder to comfort him.

"Go with the flow and accept your destiny."

Gu Chi murmured to her, "Does the Lord not want to save the world?"

The girl seemed to have heard something amusing: "Saving the world? Why should I save it? Let alone the fact that I'm undergoing tribulation, I'm just a mortal with no ability. Even if I possessed divine power, I couldn't possibly intervene in the karma of humanity, because it's none of my business. For a human being with a short lifespan, human history is long and glorious, like an ancient tree standing in the forest for thousands of years..."

"Before humans cut down trees to build houses and make fires for warmth, did they realize how precious this tree was? To me, it is just as precious."

Gu Chi stared at the girl in shock.

The girl watched indifferently as the earth beneath her feet was swept away and submerged by the towering waves, and as the ocean was replaced by rising land: "Besides, the word 'save' is misused. No one has the right to look down upon others, not even so-called gods. External 'save' is nothing but a short-sighted solution. Humanity was dragged into hell by its own greed and desires, and naturally, they need to pull themselves out of the mire of annihilation. Besides—"

As soon as he finished speaking, a beam of light shot into the sky from the direction of Kyushu.

Countless illusory figures flew out from the pillar of light, accompanied by celestial music that spread in all directions, actually lifting up the four corners of the sinking continent. The land, which had been completely submerged by the waves, slowly rose against the tide, gradually revealing the ruins riddled with holes.

Gu Chi stared in astonishment.

He sensed the power of words emanating from these figures.

The girl chuckled: "Oh, you saved yourself."

Gu Chi tensed up: "Self-rescue? You successfully rescued yourself?"

The girl simply said, "Not yet. The number of the Great Dao is fifty, of which forty-nine are used, and man escapes one. Even in seemingly hopeless situations, there is always a glimmer of hope. It just depends on whether you can grasp it or not."

Gu Chi looked at the girl beside him, recalling her earlier words: "Master just said that he has entered the game, so where are you right now?"

Find the true Lord and awaken the other person from their dream.

The girl thought for a moment: "In the lab."

What kind of place is a laboratory?

The girl's smile became more interested.

"Didn't you see those walking undead before? Humans call them 'zombies.' Zombies spread through saliva and blood; if you get bitten, you'll become one of them. But 'I' am an exception, so some brilliant minds thought 'I' held the so-called antidote code and took 'me' away for research. I'm probably suffering now, aren't I?"

ヾ(ゞ)

Tangmei was born in the 2020s.

P.S.: Tang Mei was trapped in a dream within a dream.