Chapter 198

Tang Luo said, walking behind Shi Ren, "Little fox, learn a thing or two."

"Huh?" The little fox, half a step behind Tang Luo, looked somewhat dazed. Clearly a stunning black silk enchantress, after all these blows, she's developing into a cute, silly loli—truly... being a fool is illegal!

"I mean, this guy's performance of dragging things out as much as possible, really not wanting us to go to that sacrificial site, isn't bad."

Tang Luo said, "You can learn from this. As a fox spirit, if your deceitful tactics are lacking, how can that work? Even without relying on your charm, a single glance that leaves people dazed and confused—that's what makes a qualified fox spirit."

Xue Nianzhi felt helpless.

Although she has fox demon blood and is a half-demon, she was raised properly under the red flag as a Chinese person.

Proper fox spirits rarely use any fox demon abilities, let alone a single glance that leaves people dazed and confused.

Why do people have prejudices against fox spirits?

Not every fox spirit is good at... wait, Xue Nianzhi recalled, the fox spirits she's actually seen are just her mother.

And her mother, in fact, is quite skilled at this.

In short, it's this half-demon little fox who's unqualified, useless.

"Wait, Master, are you saying Shi Ren actually wants us to come here?" The useless Xue Nianzhi suddenly realized.

Her voice raised, Shi Ren, walking in front, stopped his steps.

"Of course." Tang Luo said, "There are actually only two situations before him: one, I kill him on the spot, certain death. Two, I let him bring us here to provoke whatever demon, and there's still a slim chance of survival—what do you choose?"

"Master, you're joking." Shi Ren turned around, his face stiff.

You've exposed me like this—I really don't know how to keep acting. We haven't even truly arrived yet; can't suddenly turn hostile now, or we'll die.

Xue Nianzhi suddenly understood: "So Master, you're deliberately putting on an air of confidence bordering on arrogance, making him inwardly despise and look down on you, thus firming his resolve to bring us here."

Another layer of scheme within a scheme, mutual calculation—how terrifying!

"No." Tang Luo said, "I'm genuinely confident, not pretending."

"..."

"..."

These words really can't be followed up on.

Shi Ren simply stopped talking, opened the villa's front door, and walked in.

This is Shi Ren's residence in Yue Fu; according to Xue Nianzhi, Shi Ren belongs to the petite bourgeoisie.

This petite bourgeoisie is compared to those tycoons; compared to ordinary people, Shi Ren's wealth is something they couldn't earn in several lifetimes.

The villa was built by Shi Ren for himself alone, far from the dust and turmoil, with no one around.

Standing alone here, if it were night, he could probably start another horror supernatural livestream.

By day, it looks quite normal.

After Shi Ren entered the villa, Tang Luo followed him inside, and Xue Nianzhi naturally stayed glued to Tang Luo.

Deep down, she felt a bit regretful—how did she just agree to come take a look?

What if... she was saying what if this Xuanzang Master really messed up?

He didn't even bring that cat along—such strong power wasted like this, truly confidence turned into arrogance.

"The location is in the basement." Shi Ren said, walking into the study, not knowing what he touched, the tall bookshelf opened, revealing the stairs downward.

It reminded Tang Luo of when he first got the ominous manor on his first mission.

There's a similar secret passage leading to the basement, the entrance also a movable bookshelf—truly, human nature is to repeat.

The study is on the first floor of the villa, the downward stairs quite steep.

After walking a short distance, a thick black steel door came into view.

It looks somewhat like a bank vault door, a bit exaggerated.

No idea what Shi Ren told the workers when building it—did he say he wanted to build his own little vault here, or a war shelter?

"The altar is in here." Shi Ren pushed open the rather heavy door, pushing it inward.

A stale smell from years without air circulation hit them, making Xue Nianzhi want to vomit.

Shi Ren seemed not to have smelled it at all, walking into the basement.

Tang Luo didn't linger either; Xue Nianzhi gritted her teeth, then very cleverly shouted: "Master, I'm waiting for you outside!" and scurried to the basement entrance to stand there.

Her words got no response from Tang Luo.

The basement was pitch black, no lighting installed, no light source at all.

But the space can be said to be quite "spacious"—about the size of a basketball court, height over three meters.

Spacious and empty.

Yes, the entire basement had nothing extra.

The only thing present was the object in the very center, covered with a black cloth.

Judging by the size under the black cloth, it's over one meter high and about one meter wide—hard to tell what it is.

Shi Ren walked toward the "altar," stopped after approaching, and said to Tang Luo: "Master, this is the place. I dare not touch it..."

"Your framing is too obvious." Tang Luo said.

Though he said that, he still complied with Shi Ren's wish, walked up to the black cloth, grabbed it, and snatched Shi Ren beside him, smashing him toward the black cloth.

Young man, still a bit naive.

Can Elder Tang let you have your way so easily?

"Clang!"

With a crisp sound, the black cloth fell, Shi Ren and the object beneath it collided and rolled together on the ground.

That object wasn't anything special—it was a dressing table.

It looks quite old, having seen some years.

The mirror on top, possibly due to impact fragments, is covered in cracks—maybe it was already like that before.

At the moment the black cloth fell, the surrounding space seemed to twist slightly.

"Oh?" Tang Luo raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise appearing on his face.

Shi Ren slowly crawled up from the ground, not looking at the dressing table altar on the floor, but instead gazing at Tang Luo with a rather strange expression.

After a moment, he suddenly burst into loud laughter, mixed with tears: "It's over, it's all over!"

"Don't make noise." Tang Luo walked over and kicked the half-prostrate Shi Ren flat onto the ground with one foot.

Shi Ren rolled twice on the ground, then sprang up, his face fierce as he stared at Tang Luo: "It's all your fault! You have no idea what you've done!"

"Tch, nothing more than being pulled into a special independent space." Tang Luo said, "A 'cave heaven blessed land'—the internal space of a powerful magical treasure. I'm not unfamiliar with entering such places."

"..."

Shi Ren stopped speaking.

He suddenly realized this monk seemed stronger than he had imagined?

"You came out of this place?" Tang Luo ignored the fallen dressing table on the ground and looked at Shi Ren as he asked.

This dressing table is no longer the one he saw outside; it's fake.

This place is not the outside world, but a special independent space.

If one must say, it's somewhat similar to the sealed place he entered during the last mission—look, saying it this way, what's there left to worry about?

Tang Luo has entered and exited places like this over a hundred and eighty times, destroying quite a few of them.

There are always some fools who think trapping someone inside a magical treasure guarantees safety.

Do they think the treasures in their hands are on the level of Laozi's gourd, Maitreya's golden bell, or the Yin-Yang Two-Qi Vase?

As for this world, according to Tang Luo's judgment, it's most likely also the "inner world" of a magical treasure.

And this treasure, needless to say, is certainly the dressing table one sees.

Compared to the whole, Tang Luo leans more toward it being just a part of the dressing table—ordinary people wouldn't refine a dressing table into a treasure, or shape a treasure to look like a dressing table.

Most treasures are still used for attack and conquest.

Dressing table treasure... what can it do, make oneself look better? Like a beauty camera function?

Better to forge it directly into a slab brick, or a gold brick—hurts more when smashing someone and carries the aura of a nouveau riche.

Shi Ren, listless and dazed, lifted his head to look at Tang Luo and said: "Yes, and also no."

"What's with the mystery? If what you say is good, I can consider taking you out together later." Tang Luo said.

Shi Ren gave a bitter laugh and began to recount his experience.

It happened a very long time ago, when Shi Ren was still a child, roughly around eight years old.

Belonging to the stage of a destructive, troublesome brat that even dogs dislike.

The brat ran around jumping up and down, and by accident—or pretending it was an accident—he slipped through a dog hole and ran into a grand mansion.

The deep courtyard resembled a labyrinth; Shi Ren successfully got lost and, without realizing it, arrived outside a room.

"When I heard the voice saying 'come in,' 'come in,' I couldn't help but walk in." Shi Ren said, recalling it still left a shadow in his heart.

"You were told to come in, so you went in—why are you so obedient?" Tang Luo said, "You must have wanted to go in yourself."

Shi Ren didn't argue, continuing to recount his experience.

Upon entering the room, Shi Ren saw the dressing table placed right in the center, covered with a black cloth that had already fallen halfway.

So, he curiously walked over and touched it with his hand.

"That should have been the moment I entered this world." Shi Ren said.

After entering this independent space, the brat Shi Ren certainly couldn't be as sharp as Tang Luo and notice it immediately.

Suddenly feeling a bit frightened, he hurriedly left, not even closing the door.

Days passed one by one, and Shi Ren gradually grew up.

At that time, though the era was turbulent, the place where Shi Ren lived remained peaceful and unaffected.

Even after growing up, the brat had no desire to go out and wander the world; he simply grew up to nearly thirty, the age of establishment.

Then, one day, Shi Ren suddenly realized he seemed to be living in a "Truman Show"-like world—this is Shi Ren's current description.

Then followed a period of bitter struggling; Shi Ren stumbled and staggered, yet miraculously managed to escape.

Shi Ren thought his nightmare had ended, little knowing it had only just begun.

His departure might have been deliberately arranged by that "voice," so as to make Shi Ren become its tool and claw, to do its bidding.

"This dressing table wants to 'eat people'; if I don't help it, I will die." Shi Ren said, "Do you understand? I was forced! I am innocent!"