Chapter 67: Sun and Moon Under the Same Sky

Though he spoke with great bravado, Ning Zhe staggered and fell again the moment he finished. Scales, feathers, butterfly wing scales—features of various creatures emerged sequentially across his body, wreathed in Taiyi’s mist.

Yet these animal identities were too weak and simplistic to shake Ning Zhe in the slightest.

Humans are the noblest of all creatures; even high-intelligence beings like dolphins and chimpanzees possess memories and emotions so sparse compared to humans that they are laughably inadequate.

Ning Zhe’s self-awareness was crystal clear; his mental fortitude far surpassed ordinary people. Even if he stole the identities and self-perceptions of every animal in the entire ecological garden at once, it would impose little burden on his psyche.

What truly shook his sense of self was the guard’s identity, stolen through the pond’s reflection.

“This is how the guard perceives himself… not a partial image seen by others,” Ning Zhe said, gripping the wall with one hand as Bai Zhi helped him stand. “The more complete, clear, and three-dimensional the identity Taiyi steals, the heavier the burden on my mind.”

But an incomplete identity cannot deceive the rules or serve as a resurrection armor shielding his true self.

A complete identity burdens the mind; a partial one cannot deceive the rules… After several experiences, his understanding of Taiyi’s flaws grew deeper.

He must find an exit soon, or death—or total descent into a fallen demon—awaited him.

“Ning Zhe, are you really alright? Shouldn’t you rest first?” Bai Zhi guided him to a seat, her eyes filled with concern.

“No time to rest,” Ning Zhe shook his head and sent a text message to Feng Yushu: “Because the sun is about to rise.”

The message was unremarkable—just asking if she was still safe. Feng Yushu replied that she was fine.

The moment Feng Yushu saw Ning Zhe’s message, his chaotic mental state stabilized.

Ning Zhe gripped the steering wheel, started the engine, and accelerated toward the hospital.

He drove at high speed, leaving Bai Zhi even more bewildered: “Why say there’s no time to rest?”

“Look up. Look at the moon in the sky,” Ning Zhe said as he drove. “Recall what day it is today. What does the moon look like?”

Bai Zhi tilted her head slightly and saw a pure white full moon hanging low over the western horizon, like a snow-white sunset about to sink.

The time was 04:57—almost five.

In southern July, the heat still clung fiercely; night fell late and dawn came early. Before five a.m., the white moon had sunk, and the sun in the eastern sky stirred, eager to climb into the heavens.

Nothing unusual? Bai Zhi frowned and checked the car’s digital calendar: 【July 25, 2014, Lunar June 29, 04:58】

“Wait…” Bai Zhi finally noticed something. Her pupils dilated slightly as she lifted her gaze once more to the full white moon hanging over the western horizon.

At the end of July in the Gregorian calendar, the end of the sixth lunar month—why was the moon full?

“Because that thing isn’t the moon.”

Ning Zhe yanked the steering wheel hard, drifting the Wuling Hongguang around the corner with no skill, only luck: “Likewise, the sun in the sky isn’t the sun either. Both are fakes.”

Or put another way—this entire world from four years ago is fake.

Cool night air poured through the windows, scattering Bai Zhi’s black hair. Her hands stiffened unconsciously as she stared at the white moon on the horizon and Ning Zhe’s cold, expressionless profile, memories flooding back.

When she first entered this world, Bai Zhi, as a legend player, received three direct rule hints: 1. The god is everywhere. 2. Do not look directly at the god. 3. Beware those who have looked directly at the god.

“At sunset, people outdoors are branded with different mental imprints because they triggered Rule Two—do not look directly at the god,” Bai Zhi murmured.

Ning Zhe nodded, his foot still pressing the accelerator: “Each day, during the brief window of dawn and dusk, there is a moment when the sun rises over the eastern horizon while the moon still hangs over the western horizon—day and night coexist in the sky.”

When sun and moon share the sky, the god gazes directly upon the earth.

“Because they’re not sun and moon—they’re the god’s two eyes…” Bai Zhi’s voice trembled. “The god is everywhere.”

Perhaps they had never experienced any impossible time travel—they had simply entered a fictional space parallel to reality, where the god watched over the land, just as the Snake God controlled the fortunes of He Family Village.

With this, many previous mysteries became clear.

Bai Zhi recalled her message to her mother—why it had gone unanswered was because they occupied different spaces; Feng Yushu had entered this god-observed land long before them.

And that evening, when she received the reply, was the turning point when they crossed beyond reality’s boundary and entered this realm.

“This realm encompasses the entire Taoyuan City district, and its boundary should be near the gas station,” Bai Zhi quickly concluded. The proof: their messages to Feng Yushu had been intermittent at the gas station, but became completely seamless once they entered the city.

1. They are inside a virtual world similar to He Family Village, one dependent on the god’s existence.

2. The sun and moon in this world are the god’s eyes; everyone here lives under the god’s gaze.

3. At dawn and dusk, when sun and moon share the sky, the god’s two eyes gaze directly upon the earth—“gazing” becomes “direct viewing.”

4. Those directly viewed by the god are branded with mental imprints, their content determined by whoever controls this world.

5. That person’s target is the survivors of Bishui Bay Estate.

“According to your mother’s message, nearly all survivors of Bishui Bay Estate are dead. The only confirmed living ones are you and your mother.”

Ning Zhe gripped the steering wheel: “Now the rules of this world are clear. I’ll take you to reunite with your mother. No matter what the person behind the scenes wants, he will be forced to reveal himself.”

“Are you certain he’ll show himself?” Bai Zhi asked.

“I’m certain,” Ning Zhe said firmly. “Because he’s human—not a ghost.”

Humans cannot outlast ghosts.

It is known that each dawn and dusk, when the god gazes upon the earth, ghosts brand everyone under its gaze with mental imprints.

Understood rules make avoiding the ghost’s influence simple—just stay indoors. This control card only kills indiscriminately during the initial phase of ignorance. Once the rules are seen through and a medium found, its power plummets, and the struggle quickly becomes a war of endurance.

Ning Zhe had used Taiyi only a few times, and he was already on the brink of exhaustion. He didn’t believe the person manipulating this virtual world did so without cost—even a small cost must exist. And the opponent’s goal was clear.

So if he gathered Feng Yushu and her daughter together and waited, that person would inevitably appear.

(End of Chapter)