Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 748 The City of Lost Beauty Lands, A Farewell to the Beauties

Time flies, the new green leaves on the branches outside the window have turned into a deep blue, and the cicadas' chirping is becoming more and more frequent each day.

Before you know it, more than a month has quietly passed.

For more than a month, Xiao Ran and Gao Yuting seemed to have shut out the passage of time. They traveled and enjoyed the scenery, single-mindedly focused on the road ahead and each other.

After descending from Zishan, Gao Yuting led Xiao Ran on a non-stop journey to the farthest reaches of the world.

She was like a lark that had finally broken free from all its constraints, eager to try everything she had never seen or played before.

At dawn, on the mountaintop where the thin mist had not yet dissipated, Xiao Ran was pulled by Gao Yuting to watch the vast sea of ​​clouds surge towards the rising sun.

At midday, on the shore of a vast, misty lake, she stepped barefoot into the cool water. Her skirt fluttered in the wind, creating ripples, and her laughter was as clear and melodious as a silver bell.

As dusk falls, they light a small campfire in the wilderness, huddled together watching the starry sky gradually light up the night.

Xiao Ran let her arrange the itinerary, her eyes filled with boundless indulgence.

After wandering around, we arrived at the former Fire Dragon Village, only to find it deserted. It seemed the bandits of Fire Dragon Village had left, but we didn't know if they had gone to Ruzhou or were hiding somewhere else.

Later, we came to Xitai Mountain.

Unfortunately, that teahouse is now dilapidated, with only a few wooden stakes remaining. After all, so much time has passed, and we don't know if the old woman is doing well now.

But in the village below Xitai Mountain, the sounds of children's laughter can be heard from time to time, and wisps of smoke rise from the chimneys, giving it a vibrant and lively appearance.

Occasionally, the two would disguise themselves as chivalrous heroes or notorious thieves, causing chaos and upheaval among the evil forces that had not yet been eradicated.

"Rumble..."

White lightning tore through the sky, and the distant building, shrouded in a hazy mist, suddenly exploded with a blinding white light!

Immediately afterwards, a dull and terrifying tearing sound, like the howl of a giant beast, came from afar, making people's hearts tremble even from a great distance.

"Boom! Crash!"

The sound was as if space itself was being brutally torn apart by an invisible giant hand.

With a loud bang, the area quickly disappeared from sight, replaced by a hazy, misty fog.

Xiao Ran and Gao Yuting stood side by side on a low hill, watching the city in front of them completely collapse.

This was the third time the two had witnessed the city collapsing.

As the area collapsed, Gao Yuting's face instantly drained of color, as if struck by an invisible giant hammer. Her body swayed, as if she had suddenly lost all support, and she slumped backward.

"Yuting!"

Xiao Ran's heart clenched suddenly. With quick reflexes, he swiftly wrapped his right arm around her slender yet incredibly heavy waist, holding her firmly in his arms and supporting her swaying body.

"Rumble..."

The chaotic mist in the distance churned even more violently, with blinding white light and the sound of space tearing apart rising and falling. Each flash of white light and each tearing sound seemed to detonate a bomb inside Gao Yuting's body.

Xiao Ran could see clearly that as the distant space tore and fell, the power belonging to the Celestials around Gao Yuting suddenly became dim and chaotic!
It was as if some unseen force was drawing away from her, along with her life force.

"Uh……"

Gao Yuting kept her eyes tightly shut, her teeth clenched, and the veins on her forehead bulged slightly as she let out a suppressed groan of pain. Her body convulsed slightly in Xiao Ran's arms, and each violent tremor of the space felt like torture to her.

Fortunately, the process was short. After a short while, Gao Yuting exhaled a breath of stale air from her slightly reddened lips, and her body had returned to normal.

She squinted at Xiao Ran's face, then said casually, "It's just a chill, I don't think it's a big deal. On the contrary, Huang Chao actually committed suicide in the end, which is really regrettable. Don't you think I'm better than Huang Chao now?!"

Xiao Ran said, feigning exaggeration, "Huang Chao isn't even worthy of carrying your shoes."

Gao Yuting proudly raised her head, as if the intense pain and the detachment from the fate of heaven and earth had never happened.

Her little fist gently pounded on Xiao Ran's firm chest with a hint of coquettishness; the force was less of a punishment and more of a playful touch.

"Get lost! With you around, why would I need him to carry my shoes?"

"Of course not." Xiao Ran raised his hand and opened his palm, carefully wrapping her fist in his warm, large palm.

His movements were gentle, as if he were holding the most fragile treasure in the world with utmost care.

"Let's go!"

Gao Yuting straightened up and took Xiao Ran's arm.

"Okay, where do we go next? To Luoyang?"

Xiao Ran asked Gao Yuting, "So many years have passed, I wonder how Luoyang is now?"

"No!"

Gao Yuting turned around and looked in the direction of Wancheng: "I want to go home."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ran paused, a subtle yet profound sorrow flashing in his eyes. The pain was like an ice needle piercing his heart, fleeting, so quick it seemed like an illusion. His smile remained unchanged, even more gentle, as if afraid of disturbing some fragile treasure. He nodded slightly, his voice low and resolute:
"Okay, go home."

Wancheng. This name is like a warm feather, yet also like a blunt knife, simultaneously soothing and cutting into his heart.

Several days later, on a drizzly morning, Xiao Ran and Gao Yuting appeared outside the city gate of Wancheng.

The fine rain, like silk threads, gently soaked the newly green fields, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of soil and grass.

The soldiers who had been on night watch on the city wall had long since changed shifts, replaced by spirited early-shift soldiers. Through the misty rain, one could see the city gates wide open in the distance, waiting to welcome travelers and merchants for the new day.

Instead of teleporting directly into the city, the two walked slowly along the slightly muddy dirt road leading to the city gate, their steps light and silent in the rain. Only the occasional drips from the umbrellas made a clear, cool sound as they fell onto their damp clothes.

Gao Yuting's face appeared exceptionally pale in the rain and mist, almost radiating an otherworldly purity and fragility, as if shrouded in a crystal shell that was both translucent and easily broken.

In a corner of the city gate, there are three inconspicuous stone tablets, the very three stone tablets that Huang Chao brought back. Now they are abandoned in the corner, covered with yellow dust, and no one cares about them.

The two figures appeared on the roof of the city gate in the next second. Looking at the vast Wancheng behind them, Gao Yuting pulled Xiao Ran to sit down on the roof.

"Do you want to go home and visit your family?"

Xiao Ran placed her hand on Gao Yuting's shoulder, but her voice trembled uncontrollably. In the past month, Xiao Ran's physical condition had gradually recovered.

Although most of his mental strength was permanently deducted, when he recovered, his mental strength increased dramatically, far exceeding his previous level and breaking through the 300-point mark.

If it weren't for the limitations of the physical body, breaking through to 400 points wouldn't be a problem.

This powerful mental strength allowed Xiao Ran to constantly sense that the fortune of this labyrinthine city was being rapidly depleted.

Gao Yuting, who was also being worn down, had already developed several gray hairs in just one month, and her physical condition was becoming increasingly haggard.

"I'm not going. I'll just stand here and look. It'll save my dad from overthinking and my sister from getting upset."

Gao Yuting had no intention of going home. Her father was easy to fool, but her sister was not so easy to fool.

Although my sister is blind, her eyes can see things that many others cannot.

I'm sure I'll scare her if I look like this.

She came back simply to see more of this place.

Looking again at the city gate, this was the place where I first confronted fate.

He met Xiao Ran, fought Huang Chao, gained initial fame, and guarded Wancheng...

Everything flashed before my eyes, as if it were yesterday.

When people think about the past, they will naturally think about the future.

Gao Yuting was no exception: "What are your plans for the future?"

"doing what?"

Xiao Ran looked down at Gao Yuting and affectionately flicked her nose: "Of course I'll stay with you."

To everyone's surprise, Gao Yuting pouted and said, "Don't try to fool me. I'm asking about your future plans. I've heard that you're the owner of that Amazing Pavilion."

"You even know this?" Xiao Ran was a little surprised, looking at Gao Yuting beside her with her eyes curved in the drizzle.

"Of course!" Gao Yuting raised her chin slightly, the raindrops wetting a few strands of hair at her temples, clinging to her fair cheeks.

“There’s nothing in this world that can be hidden from me, especially when it comes to you.” Her eyes gleamed with a sly yet warm light. “I’m just curious, what are you planning to do next? I’ve been curious for a long time! Tell me quickly.”

As she said this, she let go of Xiao Ran's hand and instead skillfully and somewhat coquettishly wrapped her arms around Xiao Ran's arm, gently swaying it. In front of Xiao Ran, she no longer had any of her ethereal beauty.

Looking into her expectant eyes so close to his, Xiao Ran's eyes were overflowing with doting affection. He covered her slightly cool hand with his own: "Alright, since you want to hear it, I'll tell you."

Xiao Ran explained her plans for the Amazing Pavilion to Gao Yuting in detail.

According to Xiao Ran's plan, once the Amazing Pavilion is on the right track, the benefits and resources it will bring will be unimaginable.

The Amazing Pavilion is no longer just a shop of curiosities.

It will be an important node in this new order network, an intelligence organization, a distribution center, and a central hub.

Xiao Ran will quickly replace Changchun Society and become a new force among beginners, thanks to the huge profits brought by the Amazing Pavilion.

"Are you sure you can eat such a big piece of fatty meat?"

Hearing Xiao Ran's blueprint, Gao Yuting couldn't help but feel worried for him.

“I used to worry about it, but now I don’t care anymore.”

When Xiao Ran said she didn't care, she was naturally referring to external forces like the Changchun Association.

Having endured so many hardships, even if he were an iron pestle, he would now be honed into an indestructible steel needle. If those people from Changchun Association didn't come, fine; but if they dared to show any sign of it, Xiao Ran wouldn't mind using his head to give the others a heads-up.

As Gao Yuting listened to Xiao Ran describe his ambitious blueprint, her face lit up with anticipation, as if she could already see the grand undertaking he would build with his own hands. She reached out and hugged Xiao Ran tightly around the waist, pressing her cheek against his warm chest, her voice carrying a rare touch of sweet innocence:

"Okay, but there's one thing you have to promise me!" She raised her head, her clear eyes gazing deeply into Xiao Ran's eyes.

"Wancheng, my home, you have to protect it well for me! Especially my sister..." Her voice softened unconsciously as she mentioned her sister.
"She's quiet by nature, has poor eyesight, and is more clear-headed than anyone else. You need to protect her well."

She paused, then sighed softly, "As for those good-for-nothing brothers... well, let it be. If they have any legitimate difficulties, lend a hand if you can. But if they dare to bully others or do wrong, don't be polite to them; deal with them as appropriate!"

"Okay!" Xiao Ran tightened his arms around her shoulders, his deep voice carrying an unwavering promise, clearly heard through the rain. "I remember."

Suddenly, Xiao Ran felt a pang of heart palpitation.

It felt as if a cold hand had gripped his heart tightly, squeezing him so hard he could barely breathe.

"Rumble..."

A muffled clap of thunder rumbled across the sky, tearing through the void as white lightning split the heavens in two.

"Rumble..."

Silvery-white lightning tore through the murky sky like an angry dragon!
The entire city of Wancheng trembled violently under the tearing lightning, tiles tumbled down, the earth seemed to become a turbulent sea, and the rooftops beneath our feet groaned under the unbearable weight.

Gao Yuting's body trembled violently, she let out a muffled groan, and a trace of pale golden blood spilled from the corner of her mouth.

Xiao Ran clearly felt the body in her arms instantly turn cold, as if she were holding a block of ice that had been frozen for ten thousand years. Her aura of the Celestial Realm weakened rapidly like a punctured balloon, and her cheeks, which were already glowing with an abnormal aura, were now frighteningly ashen. Even the few strands of dazzling silver hair seemed to have lost their luster under the dim lightning.

The huge warning lettering, cold and ruthless, was directly imprinted deep within their senses:

[WARNING! This area is about to fall! WARNING! This area is about to fall. Uncertain events may occur during the fall. Please be prepared.]

The piercing warning wasn't just coming from in front of Xiao Ran.

At the same time, Wu Man, who lived in Ruzhou City, also received a warning.

Many ordinary people who were unaware of the truth were terrified when they saw this scene. They had never seen anything so horrifying in their lives.

The earth seemed to be torn apart by an invisible behemoth, splitting open a bottomless chasm, and distant houses twisted and collapsed like crumpled pieces of paper.

The sky was no longer the familiar blue, but was torn to pieces by countless, flickering lightning bolts. Silvery-white lightning snakes roamed wildly in the murky leaden clouds, emitting a hissing sound that could stop your heart.

The air was filled with the pungent smell of burning and sulfur, as if the whole world was groaning in its death throes.

"God is angry!!"

An elderly man with white hair and beard knelt down in the muddy, rainy ground with a thud, clasped his hands together, and kowtowed towards the distorted sky with tears streaming down his face, pleading, "Spare us! Spare Wancheng!"

Fear spread like a plague. Children cried out in terror from the violent tremors and deafening roar, held tightly in the arms of their pale-faced, equally bewildered parents.

Some people collapsed to the ground, trembling uncontrollably; others ran frantically through the collapsed streets like headless flies, screaming but not knowing where to go; and many more, like the old man, chose the most primal form of pleading and begging for mercy in the face of the ultimate divine might.

"We're about to land!"

On the city wall of Ruzhou, Wu Man sat atop the tiger demon, gazing up at the apocalyptic sky. The tiger demon lay prostrate on the ground, emitting uneasy growls.

Beside him, Huang Le, Liu Mu, Qinghai Laomo, Lingxian Qinghao, and others also had solemn expressions.

They felt it more deeply; this time it wasn't just the earth cracking and the sky tearing apart, but the entire lost city plummeting downwards, rapidly falling to the ground.

Wu Man's gaze unconsciously turned towards Wancheng. As far as her eyes could see, countless dim yellow energies were surging madly towards Wancheng.

It's like a dried-up riverbed where water will unconsciously gather in the low-lying areas.

Upon seeing this, Wu Man immediately realized that Xiao Ran and Gao Yuting were probably in Wancheng at the moment.

A sense of unease crept into his heart. "I'll go to Wancheng over there."

Without waiting to see if anyone heard him, he patted the tiger demon's head. The tiger demon roared and transformed into a black whirlwind, leaping off the city wall and disappearing into the rain with Wu Man in an instant.

Boom——! !

Another unprecedentedly thick bolt of lightning pierced the heavens and earth like a spear of judgment! The entire city of Wancheng suddenly sank, and everyone could clearly feel a tremendous sense of weightlessness.

“Don’t be afraid!!”

Xiao Ran's hand was tightly gripping Gao Yuting's shoulder, and he could clearly feel the pain that Yuting was enduring in his arms.

Strands of luck and vitality were rapidly extracted from her body, and Xiao Ran could only watch helplessly, unable to do anything.

Meanwhile, the real world.

The tranquil sky was suddenly covered by countless enormous shadows. Like a floating continent from mythology, or a cluster of fallen meteorites, the outlines of ancient cities, each with its own distinct style, some dilapidated, some magnificent, were frantically captured and marked by the city's surveillance system and military radar amidst the piercing sirens.

"Alert! A high-energy aggregate and a giant material entity have been detected in the skies above area CN-4X, confirming the full activation of the 'Maze City' phenomenon!"

"Warning! The impact zone has been confirmed!! The affected area is... a radius of 300 kilometers!"

"Emergency Plan 'Project Sky Repair' activated at full power!!"

"All air units, take cover! Take cover!!"

"Fire, medical, and engineering emergency response teams, all mobilize! Evacuation teams! Calculate the area with the highest overlap of landing points and clear it by force! Now! Immediately!!"

Inside the command center, glaring red alarm lights flashed wildly, and various orders were issued like a storm.

The supercomputer was running at full speed, trying to calculate the final trajectory of each massive fragment of the labyrinth and the potential range of the shockwaves it would generate. However, the immense uncertainty filled the screen with glaring red warning markers.

On the ground, troops that had been waiting for orders surged like a flood towards key transportation routes and pre-designated areas.

Armored vehicles roared as heavily armed soldiers quickly set up roadblocks, guiding bewildered residents into underground bunkers or open areas away from tall buildings.

The piercing sirens of police cars echoed through every street, and emergency evacuation notices were played on a loop over and over again through loudspeakers.

In the sky, thousands of drones, like a disturbed swarm of bees, flashed their navigation lights and rushed at top speed toward the crash sites of the various lost cities.

Some carried out monitoring and communication relay tasks, while others rushed headlong into the shadowy mass of the giant, all-encompassing creature, dropping one survival kit after another.

After all, with such a large-scale collapse of the lost city, the number of people who can actually evacuate safely is definitely not very large.

Most people will inevitably be drawn into a strange and dangerous area after landing in the Lost City. The survival first aid kits that are projected down contain survival supplies, an F-level profession scroll, and a matching cursed item.

This is the limit that the country and the company can do—to find a glimmer of hope for everyone.

Traffic police officers shouted themselves hoarse as they directed the chaotic traffic, while police officers helped elderly people with mobility issues and carried frightened children as they ran across the slippery ground.

The fire truck sped off, its piercing sirens trying to tear through the air thick with fear.

Fortunately, since the Mystery City has been gradually implemented, the company, with the tacit approval of the country, has begun to popularize knowledge about the Mystery City on a large scale.

Even though online discussions are still prohibited, the neighborhood and community offices hold various survival classes and explanations of the Lost City every day, as well as activities on how to safely get through the chaotic period.

Even roadside food stalls display promotional brochures for the "Beginner's Safety Manual".

The substantial investment in education in the early stages immediately yielded significant results at this point.

People looked at the shadow falling overhead and, although they instinctively felt fear, there was no widespread chaos like in the West, Southeast Asia, or even the Kangaroo Union.

As the enormous shadow silently descended, everyone felt a sudden weight on their bodies, as if an extra burden had been placed upon them.

In an instant, the emergency command center lost all signals, and the images transmitted by the drones turned into static, as if all contact with the outside world had been severed.

Fortunately, the water and electricity infrastructure remained uninterrupted.

Someone carefully walked to the window and saw that ancient buildings had appeared out of thin air.

However, the existence of these buildings does not mean that they squeeze out the space of the original world, but rather that they are integrated with it.

The road is a mix of blue bricks and asphalt, with blue bricks and green tiles blending in with the surrounding high-rise buildings. Some houses even have door thresholds made of cement or wood carvings.

So although a huge shadow fell, it did not destroy everything in a devastating way like in the apocalypse.

As the enormous thunder in the sky gradually dissipated, the entire world was shrouded in a white mist.

"Shhhhh..."

In the white fog, a dark figure leaped across the road. The figure was so fast that some people only saw a shadow.

It looks like a tiger, but it's bigger than an ox.

"Click!!"

The tiger's sharp claws stepped on the car, instantly turning the Nissan sedan into a flat iron disc. The soft texture almost caused the tiger demon to stumble and fall.

Fortunately, this was no ordinary tiger. With a push of its hind legs, it leaped more than ten meters away, glanced back at the flattened lump of iron, sneezed in dissatisfaction, and then turned to continue on its way.

Before long, when Wu Man rode the tiger demon through a cluster of tall buildings and arrived at the front and back of Wancheng's city wall, she noticed Xiao Ran sitting on the city wall from afar.

The towering, bluish-gray ancient city wall, like the spine of a silent behemoth, meanders through the lingering white mist that blankets the sky. The cold rain continues incessantly, soaking the city bricks into a deep, inky hue.

The tiger demon's heavy footsteps trod through the muddy, strange ground mixed with asphalt and brick fragments, passing through the last few crooked buildings with bizarrely pieced-together old and new structures.

Wu Man sat on the tiger's back, her mutilated body wrapped in a thick cloak, her vision straining to penetrate the thin curtain of rain.

On that ancient battlement, Xiao Ran sat quietly, holding Gao Yuting in her arms, pointing to the tall buildings in front of her.
"Those are office buildings, made of cement and steel bars, very sturdy, they can be built many, many stories high. Those metal boxes are cars, ordinary people can ride in them and travel thousands of miles a day, more comfortable than riding a horse. And there are airplanes, you know what airplanes are? They can carry people and fly, faster than you can fly..."

He tried his best to make his voice sound relaxed and ordinary, as if they were just leisurely pointing out the ordinary scenery from the city wall after the rain.

Gao Yuting's head rested on his arm, her lips pouting, her eyes closed, like Sleeping Beauty in a story, quietly drifting off to sleep...

(End of this chapter)