Chapter 199: Excuse Me, But Where Is This?

Yes, yes.

Tang Luo gave a perfunctory reply with no sincerity, "Any more clues?"

Shi Ren shook his head; he had said nearly everything he needed to—those lines like "waking up every day from nightmares," if spoken, this monk probably wouldn't feel the slightest sympathy.

"If there aren't any, then go find the exit." Tang Luo said, "Maybe people like you aren't just one. Go out and wander around—you might even run into 'colleagues' and exchange work experiences."

"Huh?" Shi Ren blinked in surprise.

Since leaving, he had never entered this world again, and he avoided this dressing table as much as possible.

Acting like an ostrich, he indulged himself in this flashy world, never thinking that perhaps there were others like him.

Such a thing was not impossible.

Since the dressing table could find him, why couldn't it find someone else?

"Let's go." Tang Luo kicked the dressing table beside him into pieces with one foot, then lifted his leg and walked outside—though he was quite confident the dressing table was fake, but what if it was real?

Better to give it a kick first to test things out, to avoid an embarrassing situation.

Watching Tang Luo leave, Shi Ren gritted his teeth and followed him out.

"Oh, this is the place you used to stay?" After leaving the basement through the corridor, outside wasn't a villa but a gloomy room in a high-gated mansion. Tang Luo turned his head and asked.

"Yes." Shi Ren answered, his voice instantly becoming extremely frightened.

He raised his hands, and where his gaze fell was a pair of small, dirty little hands, which had probably been playing in the mud just minutes ago.

Shi Ren rubbed his hands over his own body, then looked up at Tang Luo.

To be precise, he was looking up at Tang Luo's tall figure.

"You've turned into a child." Tang Luo's words shattered Shi Ren's illusion.

He plopped down on the ground like a real child and burst into loud wailing.

His voice was sharp and piercing; after crying a few times, Shi Ren simply lay on the ground and began rolling around, as if even his personality had reverted to that of a child.

Tang Luo ignored Shi Ren's loud wailing and walked out of the room.

This was a large mansion with multiple courtyards and wings, quite ancient in style, with furniture and plants everywhere in the vast estate, even clothing, but not a single person present.

It felt extremely eerie.

No set dressing would be needed to film any horror movie here.

Tang Luo walked out of the mansion through the tightly closed front gate, but what he saw wasn't an ancient, fragrant street—it was a very modern road.

The streetlights beside it weren't lit, yet they were strikingly noticeable.

Across the way stood a supermarket, as if this mansion had been dumped into a modern city, the sense of disorientation extremely obvious.

"Do you recognize this supermarket?" Tang Luo asked.

Shi Ren stumbled over, stared at the supermarket for a while, then said, "No, no," still sniffling.

He was just a brat so annoying even dogs disliked him, only wanting people to drive him far away.

Tang Luo thought for a moment, then leapt up, his body soaring as he jumped onto the roof of the supermarket across the street.

This was a six-story building, tens of meters high.

Standing on top, he could see the strangeness of this place.

It wasn't simply a single ancient, gloomy courtyard thrown into a modern city, but rather various chaotic scenes randomly placed together.

It was like a brat playing with a map editor, clicking wherever and placing things there.

"What did you see?" Shi Ren shouted loudly from the road below.

"I saw a person." Tang Luo replied briefly, then leapt up again.

"Hey! Wait for me! You said you'd take me out together!" Shi Ren screamed in terror, wailing loudly as he ran after Tang Luo's direction.

After a few leaps, Tang Luo landed on a playground with green grass and a plastic track.

Someone was there, bouncing a football.

"Fifteen thousand one hundred ninety-nine, ten thousand..."

The person bounced the ball while counting, showing no reaction to Tang Luo's arrival.

Tang Luo approached to observe, confirmed the person was beyond saving, and simply waved his hand to slap them to the ground.

After falling, the person twitched twice, like a puddle of water merging into the grass beneath their feet, leaving no trace.

"No clues at all." Tang Luo casually found a nearby high point, then leapt again.

The way of travel was extremely simple and brutal.

Half an hour later.

Tang Luo sat on half a park bench, his face solemn, unknown what he was thinking.

In this half hour, he had encountered several people similar to the football-bouncer—already beyond saving, and a light touch would let them fully merge into this strange space.

"You! You! You actually ran!"

The wailing came from not far away; Shi Ren came running on his short legs, baring his teeth and clawing, his hands flailing wildly, as if wanting to beat Tang Luo.

Tang Luo naturally wouldn't indulge him; he kicked out, sending Shi Ren flying—he landed face-first in the dirt.

Shi Ren stared blankly for two seconds, then uttered the classic line: "You dare hit me? Even my dad never hit me!"

"Well, the regression is becoming more and more obvious. Probably not long before he fully merges into this space and becomes part of it." Tang Luo looked at Shi Ren and said.

Shi Ren's body trembled, as if he had cleared his mind a little, then he crawled and ran over: "Master, Master! Save me! Save me!"

At this moment, he was completely rational, knowing exactly which thigh to cling to.

"Any discoveries? Like an exit?" Tang Luo asked.

Shi Ren shook his head; just now he had poured all his energy into finding Tang Luo—no time to look for an exit.

Moreover, this wasn't something you could just find if you wanted to.

Shi Ren shook his head repeatedly.

"Trash, what use are you!" Tang Luo scolded righteously, since he was strong anyway and Shi Ren couldn't beat him, so he could only grudgingly admit it.

After scolding him, Tang Luo thought a bit and indeed still had to use the original method.

Familiar formula, familiar taste—only then is it the method of Master Xuanzang.

"Alright."

Tang Luo stood up, grabbed Shi Ren and lifted him, then put the shoes back.

Since we can't find the exit, why not just smash this whole place? Then we can get out, right?

I, Tang Luo, have painstakingly cultivated for so many years—what is it for?

Isn't it just to carve out a bloody path through all these conspiracies and schemes?

Charge, charge through all obstacles before me—then there are no obstacles.

Lift leg, stomp down—no matter how complex the internal space of this magic treasure, the poor monk will stomp it to pieces along with the treasure, and it won't be able to trap me!

With a booming roar.

The earth dragon rolled, and cracks appeared in the sky!

At this moment, a roar drowned out the noise Tang Luo made.

With endless anger, the ground beneath Tang Luo's feet faintly revealed the outline of a huge face.

The place Tang Luo stepped on happened to be the mouth of that face.

Perhaps because Tang Luo stepped on it, or perhaps because the mouth deliberately opened.

A huge black void appeared beneath Tang Luo's feet, and amidst Shi Ren's terrified screams, it swallowed both of them.

……

Vast ocean.

On the boundless sea surface, completely far from land, a small island stood alone.

Whether on the most detailed map or satellite imagery, no trace of this small island exists.

This small island is here, not in the "human world."

The trees on the island are quite lush; in the dense jungle, a small hut is hidden.

The hut is very simple—just one story, square, with a door, a window, and extended eaves.

Probably to withstand occasional wind and rain.

Although the surrounding plants are dense, they haven't affected the hut at all, giving it a rather secluded and independent feeling.

A true place to avoid the world and live in seclusion.

Much better than Zhongnan Mountain, where prices still rise—these days, even if you want to avoid the world, you need money.

Of course, in terms of difficulty, finding such a perfectly suitable small island on the ocean to live in seclusion is much harder than going to Zhongnan Mountain.

The furnishings in the hut are also very simple.

A futon, a table, a bed.

On the futon, sitting cross-legged is an old man who looks like he has immortal wind and Daoist bones.

The old man has a head of white hair, casually tied up, looking quite disheveled.

His hands rest on his knees; the purple Dao robe he wears expands and contracts, moving with a mysterious rhythm.

On the old man's forehead, a wisp of light-emitting aura, like a fine thread, connects him to the object floating before him.

The floating object is a mirror fragment no larger than a palm, appearing at first glance no different from an ordinary mirror fragment.

But black and white qi flow across it—it is not an ordinary object.

If observed carefully, one would find the old man's actions seem to be nurturing and tempering this mirror fragment with his own power.

The old man's face looks extremely exhausted, wrinkles very pronounced, mouth corners pulled down.

He gives the feeling of someone just rescued from the brink of death, as if he hasn't had good years to live—just as worn out.

That's why he looks like he has immortal wind and Daoist bones, but in reality, he's already a castle in the air.

As the aura slowly circulates, the mirror fragment, originally still and motionless, suddenly trembles.

The old man suddenly opens his eyes, his eyes full of bloodshot veins and ecstatic joy!

Ten years!

Exactly ten years!

He has almost been day and night tempering and nurturing the mirror fragments; his cultivation has not only made no progress, but keeps declining—just to truly succeed in refining and become the master of this mirror fragment.

But it's all worth it.

After ten years, the mirror fragment, which had almost no response, has changed!

Meaning he is about to succeed; once successful, all his efforts will be rewarded, with greater and richer returns.

Because this mirror is called the Yin-Yang Mirror.

The Yin-Yang Mirror, in *Fengshen Yanyi*, is Hongjun's treasure, granted by the Treasure-Splitting Rock to Yuanshi Tianzun, who then gave it to one of the Twelve Golden Immortals, the Chijing (zi) Daoist, later passed on to Yinhong.

It has yin and yang sides: the yin side is black, the yang side is white; black is death, white is life.

Look into it, and life and death are immediately judged.

Once one becomes the master of this treasure, then he……

The old man's smile can no longer be concealed.

He sees the mirror begin to tremble, trembling—seems something is wrong!

Before the old man can restrain his smile, cracks appear on the mirror—shattering! It is shattering!

"No! My Yin-Yang Mirror!"

The old man seems to be shattering not the mirror, but himself, letting out a mournful, extremely tragic roar.

With this roar, the palm-sized Yin-Yang Mirror fragments explode with a bang.

Madness swept through the entire hut.

The hut was destroyed in an instant, turning to dust and vanishing, a violent aura surging toward the heavens, as if it wanted to pierce the sky.

"He's out. Excuse me, where is this?"

Tang Luo looked at the dazed old man before him and asked.