Chapter 346: Harmonizing with Light, Merging with Dust

No wonder Mei Lin vanished from the casino right after obtaining the two mirrors. Ning Zhe studied Beidang’s terrified expression and understood: she had directly used Xi Zhao’s rules to forcibly leave this layer of the world—no wonder the Gambler was powerless against her.

His initial instinct had been correct: Beidang and Mei Lin truly understood the Gambler’s rules—and even the nature of this world itself. They had come prepared, not recklessly.

Unfortunately, they had encountered Fen Wu and Ning Zhe—two intruders.

The Gambler was originally a prisoner locked within the Mirror World by the Golden Clan, but had been exploited by Fen Wu to become a bizarre event that randomly dragged in a few lucky souls to gamble with him. It seemed the so-called Golden Clan must have some hidden connection to Fen Wu.

Otherwise, how could Fen Wu have precisely located the Gambler’s coordinates within the infinite layers of the Mirror World—and found the sealed prison holding this vile prisoner capable of peeling away 'Zhao You' from Ning Zhe’s body?

Ning Zhe’s gaze flickered slightly; he thought of many things—the Vanessa Castle with its inner and outer layers, and the notebooks in his and Xia Yubing’s hands…

“Fen Wu’s matter requires careful planning. He is cunning, ruthless, and not something we can deal with in a moment.” Ning Zhe shook his head. “Let’s first resolve the immediate problem.”

Ning Zhe unlocked his phone to check the time, then said to Beidang: “You told me to find Mei Lin—meaning you have a way to determine her coordinates. What exactly is it?”

“You—you’re actually…” Beidang’s face turned pale with terror, and he answered Ning Zhe’s question uncontrollably.

“The Tongguang Mirror.” Beidang said. “Mei Lin borrowed my Tongguang Mirror, numbered ‘3.’ Combined with the one she carries, numbered ‘7,’ these two artifacts—imbued with Xi Zhao’s rules—when brought together, can lock onto a Mirror World with the designation ‘3-7.’”

“Prumelia is hidden somewhere in the ‘3-7’ world.”

“Though the Mirror World has infinite layers, they are all reflections of one another. The states of different worlds synchronize. If Prumelia reverses a move in the ‘3-7’ world, it affects the flow of time in all other worlds. This is one of the few rules that can forcibly override dimensional barriers.”

“If you and Mei Lin lose the Gambler’s game and die, Prumelia will be forced to reverse her move, granting you another chance—until you succeed.”

Xi Zhao is the reflection of space; the player is the ghost of time.

…What about Lan Shiwén?

Ning Zhe suddenly thought of this question—even though it was destined to have no answer.

“Thank you for your cooperation. You’ve cleared up many of my doubts.” Ning Zhe stood, stepped behind Beidang, and patted his shoulder softly. “Please forget me quietly.”

The next moment, Beidang’s terror dissolved into confusion. He blinked, staring at the Gambler sitting motionless in the empty room, utterly bewildered:

“Where… is this? The inside of an opera house? That’s the Gambler?”

“When did I come in? Was I gambling with the Gambler? Where’s Mei Lin? Where did she go?”

“Where’s my Tongguang Mirror?!”

While Beidang was utterly lost, Ning Zhe had already stepped beyond the curtain and arrived at the balcony where Mei Lin had vanished.

Standing at the balcony railing and gazing downward, he searched—and soon spotted two bronze mirrors lying on the audience seats below: one marked ‘3,’ the other ‘7.’ These mirrors were the artifacts used to lock the coordinates of the ‘3-7’ Mirror World; they themselves could not be brought into the Mirror World—or rather, there should already be two bronze mirrors marked ‘3-7’ inside, serving as the exit of that layer.

“Mei Lin’s plan was likely to reverse her move immediately after confirming Prumelia’s condition, helping Beidang win the Gambler’s game and end this bizarre event.”

Ning Zhe leapt down from the balcony, picked up the two bronze mirrors from the carpet, and placed them face-to-face, wedged between the armrests of a seat in the corner of the audience section.

Once done, his ordinary face beneath the dark hair softened into gentle beauty. A pale purple gauze dress wrapped around his ample figure, and he sat gracefully between the two mirrors as Feng Yushu.

The instant his legs touched the chair, the two shadows beneath the lights on the Number 1 balcony—the Gambler and Beidang—vanished from his perception.

They were no longer in the same world.

“Is this the ‘3-7’ Mirror World?”

Ning Zhe rose from the chair, closed his eyes—and two familiar figures appeared before him.

In the monitoring room of the Sainte-Lia Opera House in the ‘3-7’ Mirror World, dim yellow light cast two shadows on the floor: one tall, one short.

Mei Lin sat slumped on the floor beside the table, her face buried in her hands, weeping uncontrollably.

The delicate black-dressed girl, like a porcelain doll, sat motionless, her vacant eyes glazed and empty. She mechanically lifted her slender, tender hands—like bamboo shoots—and pushed the chess pieces forward, emotionless as a CNC machine executing programmed commands.

Even less than a CNC machine—at least that thing had speed.

Mei Lin, eyes blurred with tears, wiped them desperately, trying to find even a flicker of humanity in Prumelia’s lifeless gaze—but in vain.

She did not know who Fen Wu was, nor what had happened to Prumelia during her absence. She could only watch helplessly as the person most important to her became this hollow shell—silent, unresponsive, reacting only to stimuli with raw instinct, unaware of anything that had occurred.

“How could this happen…” Mei Lin pushed Prumelia’s shoulder again—no reaction. She pinched her cheek—no expression. Only when hurt did Prumelia instinctively flinch, never retaliating.

She had become an appendage of the chessboard. Her only purpose in life was to play.

In the deathly silence, footsteps—tap, tap—approached from afar and stopped at the monitoring room’s door.

Mei Lin tensed instantly, standing up to shield Prumelia behind her like a mother leopard guarding her cub. Her red, tear-filled eyes glared at the door: “Who’s there!”

Click. The door opened. A beautiful woman in a pale purple long dress stepped inside.

Ning Zhe glanced at Mei Lin’s unblotted tears, then at the chessboard behind her, and smiled:

“Miss Mei Lin, you don’t want your mistress to remain a hollow shell without self-awareness, do you?”

(End of Chapter)