Chapter 34: Spider's Journey, Cicada's Transformation (2)

It was rare to see Yuan Zhixia flustered; Li Cheng laughed inwardly but spoke coolly: "This is the Shadow Realm, a reflection of the real world."

Its range is limited; as long as you run in one direction, you'll eventually escape and return to the real world."

In fact, this explanation is incomplete; according to Changsun Yao, the Shadow Realm is not created but inherently exists as a reflection of the real world.

Opening the Shadow Realm is like tearing a hole in the curtain of the real world, pulling in selected people and objects.

And the so-called "sustaining the Shadow Realm" should be understood as the act of the caster keeping themselves, along with the people and objects chosen by the target of the spell, continuously remaining in the Shadow Realm.

The entire process consumes the caster's energy continuously—the larger the area, the longer the duration, and the more people and objects pulled in, the greater the energy drain.

Moreover, visibility within the Shadow Realm is low, effectively blocking long-range detection methods.

Thus, even the Special Affairs Bureau lacks the capacity to monitor every direction of the Shadow Realm at all times; they only station guards at key geographic coordinates.

Ordinary people have three main ways to escape the Shadow Realm.

First, have the caster end the spell, or have the caster actively send specific people or objects out of the Shadow Realm.

Second, kill the caster.

Third, move far away from the caster—the greater the distance, the more energy is drained, and the weaker the link between caster and target; once a threshold is crossed, the target will "fall back" into the real world.

These three methods apply equally to transcenders who accidentally become trapped in the Shadow Realm.

For their own safety, some players purchase items that enable rapid escape from the Shadow Realm, or learn skills that can pinpoint the caster's exact location.

"Also,"

Li Cheng added: "The Yinshi Public Security Bureau's Pujiang Branch, 5.3 kilometers from here, and the Huangbai Branch, 5.7 kilometers away, are safe. Reach either and you'll be rescued."

Not long after lunch break began, Li Cheng, suffering side effects from the gene suppressant, went to the relatively empty administrative building restroom to vomit blood.

As a transcender, it was normal for him to be pulled into the Shadow Realm—but Ye Jiaying and Yuan Zhixia were clearly deliberately selected and dragged in.

The immediate priority is to leave this place and escape danger.

Some experiment subjects that escaped the killing grounds can live indefinitely within the Shadow Realm.

"I have a motorcycle," Yuan Zhixia said grimly. "Can you ride it?"

According to the Implementation Regulations of the Road Traffic Safety Law, high school students aged sixteen or older are permitted to ride electric vehicles on public roads.

Given Yuan Zhixia's lawless nature—she'd secretly built a gun in the garage—she had heavily modified the vehicle and could disable its restrictions to reach speeds rivaling turbocharged motorcycles.

Seeing Li Cheng nod in agreement, Yuan Zhixia pulled a remote key fob from her pocket and pressed the button toward the nearby parking shed.

No response. The motorcycle, like all other vehicles, was covered in shadow; even inserting the key into the ignition failed to start it.

Yuan Zhixia's face remained calm, but her mind raced furiously.

'The items in my backpack work because the backpack was already at my feet when I entered—considered part of me. But the motorcycle is downstairs in the shed; its physical form never entered the Shadow Realm and remains in the real world. Hence, it cannot be activated.'

'So, from the real world's perspective, Yuan Zhixia and I must have vanished instantly from our seats. And since it's lunch break, the classmates are all asleep—no one noticed our sudden disappearance.'

'Wait—could the monster or human behind this scenario have deliberately chosen the school's lunch break to launch the attack, precisely to avoid immediate discovery?'

'Given that this man mentioned the Pujiang and Huangbai branches are safe, it proves state institutions can indeed penetrate here and are aware of this world's condition—thus capable of deterring all manner of demons and monsters.'

'This raises a new problem: even by car, reaching either police station five kilometers away would take over twenty minutes—on foot, even longer, nearly matching the end of lunch break. And visibility here is low; unknown dangers could lurk along the way.'

'Under these circumstances, the optimal solution is for this man to return to the real world first, call the police, and alert state institutions to dispatch rescue teams.'

'But he doesn't do this for several possible reasons: one, he cannot return quickly; two, helping us is merely incidental, not a priority; three, he can return but has tensions with state institutions; four, he has other business within the Shadow Realm; five, the Shadow Realm is more dangerous than imagined, and state institutions cannot or will not send personnel deep inside.'

Just by watching Yuan Zhixia's expression, Li Cheng knew the sweet, innocent girl was thinking furiously; to prevent her from spiraling and to avoid exposing his identity, he spoke up: "You're lucky you met me—I'll escort you to the police station. Once you're safe, you can pay me for saving your lives."

"Yes, Mr. Da Zai Zhi," Yuan Zhixia nodded obediently like an ordinary girl.

Li Cheng led them out of the campus, noticing the spiderweb coverage extended to the school's teaching building, science building, cafeteria, and dormitories.

Only after leaving the campus did the web traces thin out, stretching southwestward until vanishing near the subway entrance.

"Which—"

After careful thought, Ye Jiaying whispered: "Upstairs, I saw those spider monsters carry away a human-shaped, moving cocoon—wherever they took it."

"Hmm. Those spider monsters are likely Shadow Realm creatures; their cost of surviving here is far lower than humans', so they use this world as a nest."

Li Cheng chose his words carefully, speaking coldly: "With so many individual spider monsters, their population size and hunting range must be vast."

Though abundant, the webs at Zhuoyue High School are not the spiders' nest—this place is too clean; no drained cocoons or egg sacs hatching spiderlings were seen.

That means the person trapped in the cocoon was likely taken elsewhere—and without GPS, who knows where?

Impossible to rescue. Can't be rescued. We can only wait for the Special Affairs Bureau to release the list of missing persons.

Hmm. Speaking of which, it's odd—based on Li Cheng's observations of news apps and social media, the number of missing persons in the city hasn't significantly increased recently.

"I have a drone. Can I release it to scout ahead?"

After receiving Li Cheng's permission, Yuan Zhixia pulled out a drone from her backpack and launched it into the air for reconnaissance.

Electronic communication in the Shadow Realm is severely degraded; the drone can fly only about fifty meters before losing connection. Still, within that fifty-meter range, video transmission remains normal—more reliable than visual scouting on foot.

"There are no vehicles here. Once we reach an area with more traffic, I'll get you to jump onto the roofs of cars and use the flow to reach the police station quickly."

The journey remained eerily quiet. Li Cheng glanced at the drone's remote display and said: "Matter within the Shadow Realm, besides its ability to auto-repair, is slightly softer than in the real world."

"Understood," Yuan Zhixia nodded. "We can use this method—stepping on car roofs—to hitch a ride."

"Yes…" Before he finished speaking, Li Cheng suddenly realized something, his brow furrowing.

Yuan Zhixia also instantly sensed the anomaly; her expression tightened involuntarily as her gaze locked onto the subway station beside the intersection fifty meters ahead.

Ye Jiaying noticed their changed expressions and asked nervously: "What's wrong?"

"Subway," Yuan Zhixia tapped a few buttons on the drone remote, setting auto-cruise and target tracking, then handed it to Ye Jiaying and drew her pistol. "The webs emerging from the school vanished at the subway entrance."

"If we can use real-world vehicles to move through the Shadow Realm, then that means—"

"They can use the subway to move and hunt," Li Cheng said expressionlessly, twisting his wrist to extend a bone blade.

A dense rustling sound suddenly erupted ahead—countless spider monsters poured out of the subway entrance, like a flood of cockroaches bursting from a sewer lid.

(End of Chapter)