He is the leader of the Tantric sect in Chagdu.

Out of control, the most terrifying enemy on the road to ascent.

Arriving without warning, dragging people into a deadly situation without leaving a trace... Rather than an enemy, it is more like a natural disaster, an invisible rule—incomprehensible and irresistible.

It's similar to sudden death, but even harder to prevent.

"Can you understand a swamp? The Great Gift Pool is not calm everywhere; it is an endless swamp. Beneath the surface of those pools surging with red liquid, there may be a bottomless abyss—stepping into it and drowning in the swamp means losing control."

The door continued its incessant chatter to Aiiko, but the fox didn't want to listen. He just wanted to leave this broken world: "Tell me, how do I get out?"

"go out?"

The question mark on the screen was like a sharp guillotine, silently cutting off Ai's heartbeat. He felt short of breath, and the feeling of suffocation overwhelmed him once again.

He murmured, his pupils trembling violently, "I...can't get out?"

"...Maybe it's possible? Who knows? There have been precedents. In the cases of people who have gone out of control that I've seen, a few did manage to get out alive, but their later fates were never dignified—three cavities shattered, blood leaking out, they either went insane or became mentally unstable... Is that what you want?"

Ai lowered her head, sat quietly on the ground, her small body trembling slightly as she huddled in the pile of black ashes, burying her face between her knees.

"This is so troublesome..."

I knew that getting involved with the mysterious would never end well.

The fox's gray ears drooped limply, as if the sitting position was not comfortable. He then pulled his tail behind him into his arms and hugged it tightly, then stuck his whole head in, as if trying to suffocate himself, his body twitching from time to time.

The door remained silent for a long time: "Hey...you're not really crying, are you?"

Ai adjusted her posture:

"None of your business..."

"..."

The door completely ignored Ai's lack of cooperation and projected the glowing text directly onto his retina, forcing the fox to listen to the door even with his eyes closed.

"Thinking about it, you really have it tough. You're just a useless fox who's good at nothing, yet you're being forced to enter the mysterious realm... Normally, someone like you wouldn't have a chance to qualify for the Grand Prize Pool, sigh..."

Ai remained silent for several more minutes, until it became clear that the door was the first to give way.

"Actually, it's not entirely hopeless... Don't panic, maybe there's still a chance to save it? You're so petty, getting so worked up over just a few words..."

In the original plan, Ai was supposed to be begging it to save its life, but now the roles are reversed, and it's the fox begging Ai not to die—who knew this fox would have such a low will to live, getting scared and lying on the ground waiting to die...

The awkwardness was palpable even in the text: "How about we talk? emoji:U+1F60E"

Ai raised his head expressionlessly from his tail. Although the door wasn't in front of him, he stared intently at the emptiness before him and whispered, "What are you talking about?"

"For example... life, poetry, and distant places... Hey, don't shut up yet. I know you don't want to hear this right now, but there's no magic cure for getting out of control. Even I can only try talking therapy first. You know what talking therapy is, right? Since it's a mental illness, we can only start from the inside—"

The door drew three circles in front of Ai's eyes, representing Ai's three cavities, and then continued:

"To get out of here, you need to dissect your own three cavities to find the pathogen. This time it was a sudden 'memory' that triggered the loss of control, but what about next time? What if one night, you're listening to some emo music in bed and get locked up again... This is a chronic illness."

"..." Ai blinked. "So this loss of control wasn't just a simple case of a failed attempt to recall memories?"

"As I said, the reminiscence was just a trigger. If you ask me: given your mental state, it's a miracle that you only lost control now. You're like a tree without roots—do you even know what the most basic requirement is for studying the art of the invisible?"

Before Ai could answer, the door provided its own answer: "It's 'desire'! You have to have a purpose in what you do, just like people need to eat to avoid starving—you can't be unaware of such a simple principle, can you?"

"This is the crucial point, Ai, have you ever thought about it—do you actually have something that can be called 'desire'?"

Why does your red liquid flow?

"I..." Ai looked at her fair and slender forearm and suddenly got goosebumps.

He remembered that he had nothing.

A tree without roots, a person without a source.

A humble, drifting exile is banished to a nest where he knows nothing. Apart from his charming appearance, what does he possess?

"So, your red fluid is simply flowing in accordance with gravity—you have never had a single moment of control over it, nor have you ever made a choice based on your own will."

You've been out of control the whole time, and things have never gotten any worse.

So, Ai...

"What qualifications do you have to explore the Grand Prize Pool?"

The door was almost aggressive, and Ai shrank back, replying in confusion:

"Because... I received the secret transmission of insight, inherited the original body's identity... and was brought to the outskirts of the city."

The door looked menacing: "Who asked you that?"

Ai Yi was about to retort when a screen of light appeared before her, displaying several characters that were unusually dazzling:

From now on, just answer my questions:

—Firstly, do you crave authoritarianism?

-No

"Secondly, strength"

-No

Thirdly, ideals or aspirations.

- Maybe not

"Perhaps it means something? Let's try again, part three: ideals or wishes."

- ...world peace?

"Skip... Part Four: Indulgence and Love"

-No

"Fifth - Pure Things (Battle, Knowledge, Victory, Slaughter, Exploration...)"

It's not in what you wrote.

"You're really something, second to last item, sixth: To be remembered."

-No

"Finally: Part Seven - The Gravity of Ascent"

-can't read.

.

.

Ai answered the seven questions blankly, like a doll, which led to a long silence. Although the door was not a physical object now, Ai could still imagine it wiping its forehead and sweating.

"You were right, you really are a talent. These days, it's rare to see someone as lazy as you... You can't find a single universal desire that matches you. The little bit of survival instinct you have left is just an instinctive fear of dying, which can't even be called a desire, it's just cowardice..."

Ai felt like she was being subtly criticized, but couldn't find a chance to retort. After holding back for a while, she was blocked back by the door.

"I'm genuinely curious now—how come someone like you hasn't gotten a jade pendant yet? You work overtime every day for no apparent reason, you have no private life and no form of entertainment, and your hobbies are... feeding little girls, helping older women run their shops, and recently getting into cosplay... tsk, it feels like living is just a waste of air compared to dying, and it doesn't feel as good as Zisha pottery."

"Why……"

Ai had been in a daze from the beginning; he never imagined a door could be so sarcastic… and so talkative at that.

"Even those high school students, in a moment of passion, will shout 'I am the will of Heaven, those who defy me shall die'—it seems silly and childish, but it also shows a hint of ambition; at least they know what 'chuunibyou' (a Japanese term for someone with delusions of grandeur) means."

How can someone as useless as you study the art of the invisible, or how can you advance in your cultivation?

Are you really ready to step into that world?

"Getting ready?" Ai finally found a point to interject, muttering unconvinced, "I wanted to get ready too, but that moth didn't give me any time to prepare..."

"A moth?"

The door, undeniably, erected an even larger screen of light before Ai, from which a radiant glow flowed and gradually coalesced into a small, gray fox.

"See that? It's you, Ai."

Ai nodded, and the fox in the light screen nodded as well. The next moment, a beam of light emerged from the void, piercing straight into the fox's chest and pulling out a ball of dark red light.

"!"

"Look again, this is a projection of your three cavities, also known as the 'vessel of the mind.'"

Ai instinctively clutched his chest, suppressing the throbbing phantom pain, and stared wide-eyed at the scene before him: the red light tilted under the control of the door, and an invisible substance flowed out from within. He understood almost instantly what it was—

"That's right, it contains your red liquid, the solute of body, mind and spirit, a liquid soul."

The three cavities are the skull, chest, and abdomen, corresponding to the realms of spirit, body, and mind.

Compared to your current physical body, this red liquid is closer to the essence of the origin, or rather, it is the true master of the individual "Ai".

"This knowledge exists in the original owner's memories..."

Ai murmured, vaguely understanding this part of the theory about the red liquid, but still unable to answer his confusion: "What exactly are you trying to tell me?"

"Today's topic isn't that red liquid, which is why I poured it out first. Look closely, at the bottom, that thing that's been holding it all along, your three-chambered vessel—"

Ai looked at the dark red ball of light, narrowed her eyes, and then became lost in thought.

"Have you seen it clearly? Your 'cause'."

The invisible substances that made up the vessel flickered in Ai's vision, dim and colorless. At the points where the light met, the "fulcrums" that supported the entire container were covered with hideous cracks, like ugly brands etched onto flesh and blood—

"Your mind was like this from the very beginning, and it hasn't improved in the slightest since you started exploring the Great Pool."

"I……"

"Aiyi".

The door interrupted him, etching a line of large characters into his vision: "How can a person live without a 'fulcrum'?"

.

Utensils.

Ai repeated silently.

"Lever point".

"Power is the solute, and the mind is the container. A finite vessel must either use everything it has to hold, or it will shatter silently. Once it can no longer support the downward force of gravity, it is destined to end."

My fulcrum?

Ai Yi seemed lost in thought, while the door murmured softly, the words seemingly permeating with tenderness:

"Think carefully, why did you step into the world of intangible arts?"

"..."

He recalled that early morning when Nie pointed to the prosthetic body replacement surgery screen on the terminal and solemnly told him, "This won't work."

Then she told the fox about the rules, the curse, the Great Pool of Prayer, and—

"The top of the tower," Ai murmured as if in a dream, "to the top of the tower, as long as I get there, I can have everything, and fulfill all my wishes..."

"What a pity."

The light from the door dimmed, and the font size was turned down to a very small size:

"This is not the fulcrum."

-Not a fulcrum?

That's just an illusion. You don't even know what's at the top of the tower. You embarked on this path because you were trying to deceive yourself with an invisible goal.

The door continued:

"You're trapped in emptiness, self-isolated, sinking deeper and deeper, you have no foothold in the world... Oh, I forgot you have a stupid bird."

I want to save that stupid bird.

"Just out of pity? Bullshit, Ai. You're a naturally cold-hearted person. The seeds of grief don't lie—you grieve without pity, sigh without compassion. You superficially lick the wounds of suffering only because you enjoy the feeling. You're simply addicted to the process of empathy. This act of empathy makes you feel closer to the 'great crowd of people,' making you seem more like a normal person."

- Empathy?

"Yes, you try to empathize with ordinary people, like an alien trying to imitate human emotions—but it looks stupid. Most of the time, you act like a gloomy old man, a corporate slave who is unhappy with his life."

-Well……

"You agree, right, the 24-year-old, 1.55-meter-tall gray-furred fox-like office worker?"

-Impolite.

"Then let me add some adjectives: youthful-looking, cute, likable, fragrant and soft, charming, and elegant... a 24-year-old, 1.55-meter-tall gray-furred fox-like office worker."

"This is even more infuriating..."

"Stop arguing, let me rant a few more times—your memories should tell you that deceiving your own heart is useless; only when the heart triumphs over material things can true ascension begin. Even knowing this, you still use the foolish reason of 'I want to save her,' without any thought process, to open this seemingly incredible 'Secret Manual of Insight.'"

"Even after all this, you still want to shift the blame to the moth. Everyone thought you were well-prepared, but what was the reality? That dawn, you were just bored out of your mind, lying down in a chair and starting to flip through secret manuals, and you started to have your first insight as soon as you had a little memory of it—I think you were so bored that your brain was damaged."

-At that time...

Ai tried to argue, but could only manage to squeeze out, "That stupid bird lowered my intelligence."

"Do you realize that this sounds like you're head over heels in love?"

-I was wrong.

Ai felt as if her mistakes were being maliciously magnified, but she still couldn't find a suitable angle to approach the situation. After being bombarded by the door, she surrendered, saying, "I feel like I'm not even human..."

But even after being scolded like that, the problem is still not solved.

Ai looked up in confusion, her eyes brimming with tears, her voice weak and timid: "I still don't know how to get out... and besides, I really can't find a foothold."

"Of course you can't find a foothold. You have neither strong desires nor an willingness to integrate into this world. You are an orphan without parents (in fact), you have no relatives or friends even in the nest. Many people know you, but no one truly understands you."

Tsk.

The door made no attempt to conceal its contempt:

"Foolish fox, you think you can endure loneliness, but your shattered vessel tells you—it's a lie. You're just a cowardly, weak, sensitive, and fragile old man, all pretentious!"

"…mine."

Ai didn't refute, and the doorkeeper stopped arguing:

"Let's start solving this problem now."

Suddenly, Ai Yi felt something near her mouth and skillfully held it between her fingers, discovering it was a high-end cigarette.

"Stuff it in your mouth."

Ai obeyed obediently, then looked at herself in the light screen.

Beautiful grey fox ears and a large tail, a petite and pitiful figure, an expressionless coldness, and a childlike and cute appearance—plus a thick cigarette dangling from its mouth.

He stood on the scorched earth, silently exhaling a puff of grayish-white smoke, blurring the already indistinct outline.

He looked up at the sky—

Against the backdrop of falling snow, those pale blue eyes were devoid of any light, like inorganic matter, like dead iron, shimmering with an extreme inhuman quality.

The resulting contrast is almost insane.

"That's absolutely right!"

That's right, that's it. You have that "Grey" bastard vibe. You were born for this job!

The door became excited:

"Aiyi, to save yourself, become a wicked fox who tramples on order, manipulates all living beings, and plays with people's hearts!"

Ai: "?"