There seemed to be some ripples in the air, but perhaps that was just Trist's illusion.

Nothing seems to have changed, yet everything seems to have changed.

"Don't worry, you should be able to get back safely."

Putting the pen down, Gu Du took a deep breath.

"In the story, I have already sent you out of the town. You only need to walk out of this door and you will return to the original abandoned city."

He pointed at a wooden door that had appeared behind the three people at some point in time.

"What about you?"

Xia couldn't help but ask.

“I’m already a person in the book.”

Gu Du was very calm.

He picked up the harmonica that was lying on the table.

"You were looking at this thing just now. It seems you know it?"

Gu Du said to Lu Ban.

"I know his master."

Lu Ban replied that although he had only seen the corpse, he still knew him.

"Then I'll give it to you. There's no point in keeping it with me."

He handed the harmonica to Lu Ban. Lu Ban took it and held it in his hand. The harmonica was very heavy, as if it carried a lot.

[Obtained item: Du Danping's melody fragment]

The indifferent and cold words of the system appeared on the shell of the harmonica.

"One more thing."

Gudu pulled out another piece of paper from the pile of old papers and handed it to Lu Ban.

"Before I met that friend, I had a relationship with a woman. Later, because of the guy in this door, I had to stay away from everyone. After publishing my novel, I gave her one of the copies and left the title page as a souvenir. I hope you will have the opportunity to bring this title page to her, saying..."

The great writer was at a loss for words for a moment. He pondered for a while before continuing.

"Just say, he's gone."

Lu Ban took the paper and felt that it looked familiar.

He took out the book "Old News of the Wasted City" that he had taken from Shitou from his pocket, opened the cover, and put the title page in.

The tearing marks were completely consistent.

"…Is she okay?"

Gu Du understood a lot of things in an instant, but he did not waver. The wavering, hesitation, and tangle that he should have experienced had already been resolved before the ending.

"Her children have grown up and are doing well now."

Lu Ban answered.

"That's good."

The ancient capital seemed a little gloomy, but it finally settled down to relief.

"You guys should go now. It's not a good idea to stay here for too long."

He waved his hand, urging the three to leave.

The mission has been completed, and Lu Ban really has no reason to stay here any longer.

They pushed open the wooden door, and outside was a thick night. The town no longer existed, leaving only endless ruins.

The rental car was parked outside, silent and like an old friend.

Lu Ban took a last look at the ancient capital sitting in front of the bronze gate. The other party did not look over here, but lowered his head, picked up the pen, and prepared to write another story.

He will continue to create stories that are shocking, frightening, and terrifying to please the sleeping god. This struggle will continue forever, until the end of the universe. No, even if the universe ends, perhaps he will still continue to write in the dreams of the Old Ones.

Lu Ban closed the door, and the door disappeared completely. The road was empty, as if nothing had ever existed.

Suddenly, at the other end of the ruins that seemed to have no end, Lu Ban saw a little bit of dawn.

On the other side of the pitch-black horizon where even the stars are invisible, a ray of light pierces through the darkness and spans the sky.

Immediately afterwards, brilliant, glorious, dazzling sunlight illuminated the sky, and a golden sun rose slowly from the horizon.

In the morning light, the world was shrouded in a layer of fog. The light shone on the broken buildings and the slightly bumpy road, leaving dazzling spots of light.

Everything seems to be newly born and full of hope.

No one knew that there had once been an ordinary person here who relied on his own wisdom to imprison the unspeakable god.

"Give this to Stone, he should be able to understand everything."

Lu Ban handed the newly completed "Old News of the Wasted City" to Trist.

"You mean, he's from the ancient capital..."

Drizzt also understood quickly.

"This task may not be as simple as we thought."

After going through so much, Lu Ban had already made some guesses about the Land of Silence.

"If something goes wrong in the middle, we might become cannon fodder in the novel, the detective who failed in the previous wave of investigations, the nameless monster, or the dead with a name."

This is the essence of alienation.

Although Gudu did not say it explicitly, perhaps many similar chosen ones had participated in this mission before, but they all failed and eventually became one of the townspeople in suits, or were torn apart by dogs that jumped out of the paintings, or got lost on the roads in the wilderness of the abandoned city.

As for those indescribable great beings, they seem to be incompatible with each other, and there is even an obvious confrontation and hostility between some of them.

Lu Ban and his friends' arrival here is the key to completing the story of the ancient capital and ultimately making the sleeper continue to sleep.

Therefore, the gods in the Land of Silence may not want the one in the Ruined City to wake up.

"Won't you come back with me?"

Drizzt asked as he got into the driver's seat.

"No, I don't like riding this thing. It makes me dizzy."

The reasons Sia gave were very real.

"I don't want to ride around in a car with a man."

Lu Ban’s reasons are more realistic.

“…”

Trist had no choice but to start the engine and look at the two again.

"Anyway, I hope we can meet again."

Lu Ban nodded, and then the system's text appeared in his field of vision.

[Mission completed, now starting to return]

【3……2……1……】

The ruins around him were twisted into a ball, and Lu Ban felt dizzy. In that extreme dizziness, he seemed to see some slippery tentacles passing around his body and some fluttering cloaks. It was like sinking into a cold and dark lake, and a feeling of suffocation enveloped Lu Ban.

“…Something’s wrong?”

In the past, although returning from a foreign land was a little bizarre, it was ultimately just an experience similar to taking a plane.

But now, this unnatural feeling of suffocation is not reasonable.

Lu Ban tried to find some clues from the colorful world around him. He saw an emerald eye without pupils staring at him under his feet.

However, the eyes disappeared after just a moment, and were covered by dreamy, colorful bubbles.

Everything changed rapidly, the suffocating feeling that had been bothering Lu Ban disappeared, and his feet stepped on solid ground again.

He saw himself sitting in front of a computer desk. The tattered and decayed book on the desk was blown away by the wind. On the cover, a man who looked a little crazy was writing furiously, and countless monsters escaped from his pen.

The last thing to disappear was the title of the book. Lu Ban saw that it was called "Mouth of a Madman".