Dream Walker: Feng Shui Master Bai Ya

Shang Muchen, who had just stood up, was still somewhat dazed, and everything around him seemed unreal.

Lan Shannan stepped forward and said a few words to Shang Muchen, probably to express his gratitude. Shang Muchen ignored him completely, only gesturing towards the stairwell to signal everyone to proceed.

A headache, like that of a hangover, lingered over Shang Muchen. He lost his panoramic vision from his trance state and could only see straight ahead, making him feel incredibly dizzy, as if someone who wasn't nearsighted was forced to wear glasses.

My body felt incredibly heavy, every step was a burden, and the simple act of lifting my leg, which was usually effortless, now felt like I was exerting tremendous force.

My limbs wouldn't obey me; I almost had to verbally tell them to move before they would reluctantly and unwillingly shift their position.

Xiao Jie noticed Shang Muchen's disheveled state and went forward to help him up, but Shang Muchen refused.

With slow, deliberate steps, Shang Muchen followed the last group into the stairwell.

The building in front of us looks like a clubhouse or property management office for a residential community, with a spacious lobby at the entrance.

Despite the lack of artificial light, moonlight streamed in through the empty, glassless windows, illuminating the tiled floor and making the large hall appear bright and spacious.

In the very center of the hall, there was a strange object.

The moment Shang Muchen saw this thing, he thought of the bronze sacred tree of Sanxingdui.

This is a sculpture resembling a tree, with an overall golden hue, but it exudes the luster and texture of a bronze alloy, rather than the rich, creamy sheen of gold.

The tree is about a meter tall, with a trunk about the thickness of a fist in the middle. It is not straight, but has some knots and bends, mimicking the natural feel of a real tree, making it very lifelike.

Eight branches grow out of the trunk, one inward and one outward, each branch pointing in a different direction.

These eight branches are of varying heights, thicknesses, and shapes, yet they appear remarkably harmonious overall, as if they had grown naturally.

Shang Muchen observed the striking yet perfectly formed bronze alloy sculpture, then suddenly realized and exclaimed, "Reflecting Spirit Platform Array!"

"That's right!" Ashiya Ninzaburo stepped forward, raised his foot, and kicked the tree trunk hard. With a crack, the tree trunk broke.

Shang Muchen felt it was a pity; the bronze sculpture was so exquisite that it was worthy of being displayed in a museum.

Strangely, once the trunk broke, the tree slowly decayed, collapsed, withered, and died like a real tree, looking like a pile of scrap metal, and finally disappeared into the void at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Good heavens! What is that?" Wu Biao's already round tiger eyes widened as he leaned closer to examine it. The ground was completely empty; the bronze tree had vanished entirely.

"Don't bother looking anymore, there's nothing left," Ashiya Ninzaburo said.

"This was obtained by Hideto Kurosaki from other civilizations through illegal channels; it should never have belonged to our world."

Once it is destroyed, it will have no basis for existence anymore.

"Other civilizations... aliens?" Wu Biao wrinkled his nose and pressed for an answer.

Ashiya Ninzaburo gave a disgusted look and didn't want to explain to Wu Biao.

Curly-haired Fang Xuan laughed and said, "That sounds really good."

"It would be so much fun to buy alien gadgets from alien networks online."

"Come on, do aliens use the internet too?" Wu Biao pouted and shook his head.

Shang Muchen suddenly remembered that Jilibeng had mentioned that aliens also had networks, and that they were far more advanced than human networks, capable of transmitting not only messages but also physical matter.

Did Hideto Kurosaki really buy this guy online from an alien network?

Filled with suspicion, Shang Muchen followed the group deeper into the building.

As Shang Muchen walked around the hall, he heard a strange noise of metal rubbing together.

Immediately afterwards, the voices of two more people came through, one of whom was undoubtedly Lu Mingdi.

Soon, a room with lights on came into view. Ashiya Renzaburo immediately panicked and reached out to grab a samurai sword from behind his back.

He brandished his samurai sword and sprinted towards the brightly lit room.

"Hey, where did this bastard pull out that knife from?" Fang Xuan asked Wu Biao in a low voice.

"Who knows?" Wu Biao shook his head.

"Real-world fluidized space folding technology," Xiao Jie explained in a low voice. "I've seen it in the internal publication of the 901 Research Institute."

It is said that Research Institute 901 has been able to compress entire buildings, and even massive objects like tanks and airplanes, into the size of a grain of rice, making them portable.

"Wow, just like Dr. Pym from the Ant-Man comics?" Fang Xuan asked in surprise.

No, the technological approaches are completely different.

The technological approach in science fiction comics is to compress the space between atoms, which is completely unreasonable and is equivalent to ignoring the weak force.

"The technology used in 901 is an extreme development of general relativity. What changes is the space that carries the object; the object itself remains unchanged," Xiao Jie explained earnestly.

"Don't talk nonsense," Wu Biao said dismissively. "My dad said that those old bastards at Institute 901 are just old swindlers who cheat people out of funding."

Xiao Jie didn't argue with him. He followed Ashiya Renzaburo and rushed into the room. The scene before them shocked them greatly.

Hideto Kurosaki, wearing glasses and a black suit, is operating a strange machine to open a cave in the void.

Shang Muchen immediately recognized that although the cave was only a little over one person's size, it was exactly the same as the portal he had just seen in the Blue Mountain South Illusion, the one that appeared in the interstellar war.

The only difference is that the portals in the illusion were red and blue, while this portal is now a mix of black and yellow.

"What the hell is this?!" Shorty Wu Biao jumped up and down excitedly, then shouted at Lu Mingdi, "Brother Lu! What are you doing?!"

When Lu Mingdi saw the newcomers, he was a little surprised and asked, "Glasses, Curly Hair, Shorty, what are you doing here?"

"Holy crap! Shang Muchen! How come you're with Shang Muchen?"

Kurosaki Hideto, standing to the side, tugged at Shikamei Kabura, shouting, "Hurry up! Let's go together! We're going to be late! The door's about to close!"

Ashiya Ninzaburo brandished his katana without uttering a word, and Kurosaki Hideto thrust it directly at him.

Seeing this, Kurosaki Hideto hurriedly pushed Shikamaru towards Ashiya, then stumbled to the teleportation portal and rushed in without looking back.

A dazzling golden light flashed, followed by a massive, invisible shockwave that swept through the room, overturning everyone and everything inside.

Shang Muchen was thrown over and flew out, crashing heavily into the wall and losing consciousness.

After an unknown amount of time, Shang Muchen finally woke up. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a place that looked very much like a prison.

Iron bars on windows, a soft bed embedded in the wall, upholstered walls, iron doors...

What happened?

With a splitting headache, Shang Muchen shook his head vigorously. He felt like his left brain was full of flour and his right brain was full of water. When he shook his head, his brain was all mixed up into a paste.

Clang.

The iron gate opened, and a man in uniform brought over a glass of water and a pill, coldly saying, "Take your pill, and come out for questioning."

Shang Muchen then realized that his clothes had been changed, and he was now wearing an old white prison uniform.

What's going on?

Despite his headache, Shang Muchen neither took his medicine nor drank any water. He hid the pills in his palm and followed the man in uniform out of the cell, where he was led to a place resembling an interrogation room.