After the path was cut off

As Li Wangxiang was deep in thought, he suddenly felt a sensation of being ripped from his body and mind. This familiar feeling inexplicably startled him.

Since waking up from his coma, he had imagined countless times what it would be like to be summoned by Lord Huanyou, and he had also been on guard against this moment countless times.

And it finally came.

The spacious hall, the cold light of the jade bricks, and the sound of the wind passing through the hall.

Li Wangxiang slowly raised his eyes.

Not far away, Siam was also there. She had clearly just been captured here as well.

The vast, empty hall remained as cold as a bottomless ancient well.

Qing Shu stood in the center of the main hall, holding a broom that seemed to never finish sweeping away the dust.

There was another person standing next to him.

The man looked to be in his early twenties, with delicate features and a somewhat endearing appearance. However, his eyes were too lively, his pupils darting around as if he were never still. Even as he stood there, his shoulders were slightly tilted, exuding an irrepressible frivolity and slickness.

He was barefoot, with half of his trousers hanging down as if they had been cut off. This man was none other than the survivor of the Northern Star that Siam had brought back, except that his severed legs and gouged eyes had somehow been repaired.

When Li Wangxiang and Siam appeared, he still had a forced smile on his face, and his body was slightly leaning towards Qing Shu, as if he was trying to get closer to him, or as if he was trying to ask for something.

But the next moment—

When he saw Siamese's face clearly, his smile vanished as if it had been abruptly cut off.

He froze on the spot.

His eyes widened, his lips trembled, and the frivolity, slickness, ingratiation, and restlessness that he had been unable to suppress on his face vanished in an instant, as if he had suddenly seen a ghost in broad daylight.

"you--"

He instinctively took half a step back, his voice changing tone, as if something had suddenly choked his throat, almost preventing him from uttering the rest of his words.

"What are you doing here?!"

Siam had already stopped, but upon hearing the sound, he slowly raised his eyes and his gaze fell on him. But soon his gaze shifted to Qing Shu beside him.

Then, Qing Shu straightened up little by little, and the broom in his hand was put away at some point.

Siam didn't waste any words and knelt on one knee, as did Li Wang.

"Siam, Li Wangxiang. Greetings, Lord Huanyou."

Xiao Xiu hadn't reacted yet. Although he didn't know what had happened, he wasn't stupid. The person who was being treated so respectfully by the Siamese who had tortured him must be of high status.

He was slow to realize it, yet he did it in a very convincing way:

"Xiao Xiu Youfang greets Lord Huanyou."

Qing Shu's features have become blurred, and his voice has become higher and more distant.

"Get up, everyone."

"A survivor of Beichen, very interesting. What's your name?"

The Qi Refining cultivator's face turned deathly pale, his lips trembled, and he almost instinctively shrank back.

"I... I'm just a rogue cultivator..."

"I don't know anything..."

"It protected me on its own; it has nothing to do with me..."

As he spoke, his voice trembled with tears, as if even he himself didn't believe that these words could fool him.

"Huanyou" was not disturbed in the slightest by his few words of defense.

She just watched him quietly.

After a moment, he spoke softly:

"Do you want to go home?"

Upon hearing this, the Qi Refining cultivator froze instantly.

It was as if something had suddenly been pulled out from the deepest part of his soul.

He stared intently at the face, which was now so blurred that his features were indistinguishable, and his breathing suddenly became rapid.

"You know where I live?!"

"You know where I live?!"

"Returning to the Netherworld," Pingping said:

"That's a blue planet."

Before he could finish speaking, the young cultivator's eyes suddenly reddened.

As if he had finally grasped at some lifeline, he lunged forward half a step, his voice trembling, and he stammered:

"I'll say it!"

"I'll tell you everything!"

"I really will tell you everything!"

At this point, he seemed to suddenly remember something, abruptly turned his head to look at Siam beside him, and the excitement that had just arisen on his face immediately disappeared, and he even became cautious in his speech.

"That fairy..."

"I... I'm going to tell you the truth."

"I know these words sound disrespectful to you, even like nonsense... but I used to, I really thought so."

He swallowed hard, his voice trembling violently.

"My name is You Fang."

"I'm not from here."

"I am in a place called... Earth."

When he said the word "Earth," his voice softened, as if he was afraid that these two words would pull him back into that desolate place that no one could understand.

But "Huanyou" was not interrupted.

Siam remained silent.

He became even more anxious, as if he was afraid that the opportunity he had finally managed to seize would slip away in an instant.

"I was originally... I was originally playing a game."

"That game is called 'The Moon Devours the Sun'."

"I really don't know why this happened. I just logged in and chose an initial identity—"

As he said this, his lips trembled, and his face turned even paler.

"My starting identity is that of a survivor of Beichen."

Li Wangxiang knelt to the side, his expression finally turning serious.

But Youfang was completely unable to stop himself.

"Each player starts with a starting item."

"It is...it is a fragment of an ancient treasure mirror."

"It can view the panel, see information, and even use that panel to learn skills, cast spells, and even—"

He suddenly stopped talking, as if he realized that he had spoken too incoherently, and hurriedly tried to make up for it.

"But that's not the point!"

"The main problem is that I can't back out now!"

"I tried it, I really tried it—"

"I can't quit, I can't go back, and I don't know why this is happening!"

His voice cracked at the end, as if he had finally broken down completely at that moment.

"Can anyone tell me what happened?"

"I really... I was just playing a game..."

When the last sentence was uttered, the entire Hall of Mastery fell silent.

Even the sound of the wind seemed to have softened.

You Fang himself felt as if he had been drained of all his energy, his body swaying slightly. If it weren't for the faint blue light protecting him still floating around him, he probably would have collapsed on the spot.

Siam turned his head and looked at Li Wangxiang, his lips twitching slightly.

"What a coincidence."

"The person to your right also came out of Beichen alive."

"If you want to go home, asking him will yield the same result."

You Fang's eyes lit up immediately.

"Dude?!"

"You're a gamer too?!"

Li Wangxiang glanced at him but did not change his expression.

"I don't understand what you're saying."

You Fang, however, seemed to have finally grasped a lifeline. Even Huan You and Siam stopped being afraid and became anxious.

"You are a survivor of Beichen, aren't you?"

Li Wangxiang had no choice but to admit it.

"You're a survivor of Beichen, so you must also be a player!"

"The information clearly states that, aside from his initial identity, Bei Chen didn't have any NPCs who survived the game—"

When he said the last word, he paused for a moment, as if he finally realized belatedly that this was not the place to say those things.

But the next moment, he immediately cast aside his hesitation and hurriedly said to Li Wangxiang:

"Dude, are you suffering from amnesia?"

"Try it, just call the system and say it silently!"

"It actually shows up as a control panel—"

"Then click Exit!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Li Wangxiang's fingers, hidden in his sleeve, tightened abruptly.

It felt like a thread buried deep in my heart had been pulled hard from afar.

But he showed no sign of it on his face; only his eyes were more subdued and calmer than before.

The moment the words left his mouth, Li Wangxiang's heart was thrown into turmoil.

Zhao Si'er.

Beichen.

The mirror deep within the sea of ​​consciousness.

The trial in a dream.

Fragmented thoughts were suddenly overturned and collided violently in his mind.

He didn't even have time to discern how much truth and how much madness was in those words; he just instinctively felt that he couldn't let You Fang continue.

"grown ups."

Li Wangxiang looked up, his voice a beat more tense than usual.

You can't trust him.

The hall fell silent for a moment.

Huan You ignored You Fang and slowly fixed her indistinct gaze on Li Wangxiang.

"Um?"

Just one word.

Li Wangxiang's back was already feeling a slight tension.

In that instant, he suddenly realized that his explanation had been too hasty.

It was so fast it seemed like he was guilty.

"Give it a try."

"Huan You" said calmly.

Li Wangxiang felt a slight dryness in his throat.

But inside the Hall of Merit, he had no other choice.

He could only grit his teeth and slowly close his eyes.

Call system.

The moment Li Wangxiang silently recited those four words in his mind, he almost thought that the depths of his consciousness would explode on the spot.

But there was nothing there.

There is no panel.

no respond.

There is no such thing as quitting.

Only the precious mirror, buried deep within the sea of ​​consciousness, remained as still as an old, completely dead object.

When Li Wangxiang opened his eyes, a thin layer of cold sweat had already seeped out on his back.

You Fang, however, became extremely anxious.

"How could there not be?!"

"You definitely have it!"

He almost instinctively lunged forward half a step, and with a flick of his palm, a fragment of a bronze mirror slid out.

The lens is no more than half the size of a palm, with a broken edge and mottled ancient seal script on the back, with a faint, ethereal light flowing across it.

"Look!"

"Have you seen this before? This is the starting item!"

"Every player gets one!"

The moment Li Wangxiang saw the broken mirror clearly, his pupils suddenly contracted.

That aura.

That texture.

The ancient seal script marks faintly visible along the broken edges—

It is from the same source as the precious mirror that Zhao Si'er stuffed into his hand that day.

No.

It's even possible that they were originally broken pieces from the same mirror.

In that instant, something seemed to explode in Li Wangxiang's mind with a "buzz".

What's even more terrifying is that Huan You's gaze is still quietly fixed on him.

No rushing, no coercion.

But it was more unbearable than any interrogation.

Li Wangxiang's throat moved slightly, and he was almost about to speak.

At that very moment, a cold thought suddenly swept through the deepest part of his consciousness.

Do not respond.

The empty hall was eerily quiet.

However, Huan You did not ask any further questions.

The blurry human figure, whose face was almost indistinguishable, simply stood quietly in the hall, its gaze sweeping over You Fang, Li Wangxiang, and Siam, as if it had seen everything it needed to see.

After a moment, it spoke softly:

"Wandering".

The Qi Refining cultivator shuddered and quickly raised his head.

"I will keep an eye on your return home."

"Until you find the Dharma, you shall remain in this world."

You Fang's eyes lit up instantly, like a drowning person finally grabbing onto the last piece of driftwood; his lips trembled slightly.

"Really?!"

"Huan You" did not look at him, but continued:

"Siam, Li Wangxiang"

"Which of you two will lead him to familiarize himself with this world?"

Upon hearing this, Li Wangxiang's heart sank.

He almost instinctively felt the urge to refuse.

You Fang is a survivor of Bei Chen, which already makes him conspicuous. Now that he himself has been ordered to the Abyss of Corruption, if he continues to keep this person by his side, it would be tantamount to voluntarily nailing the name "Bei Chen" to his forehead, which would lead to endless troubles.

Not to mention, the broken mirror in You Fang's hand and the precious mirror that Zhao Si'er gave him clearly came from the same source.

The closer you get to such a person, the more dangerous it is.

However, Siam is not a good place to go either.

She had clearly been eyeing the Youfang line for a long time. If the person were really handed over to her, no one could say for sure what she would do next.

The thought only crossed his mind before Li Wangxiang made up his mind.

I won't answer.

Meanwhile, Siam had already raised its eyes first.

"I--"

She had barely begun to speak when all the color drained from You Fang's face.

"No!"

He almost screamed out loud, lunging forward half a step, his eyes fixed on Li Wangxiang as if he had grasped the last chance to survive.

"Fellow villager!"

"Don't pretend you don't know me!"

"Please, please don't send me to that she-devil—"

Upon hearing this, even the Siamese man's eyes darkened slightly.

You Fang, however, couldn't care less; his voice was practically cracking with anxiety.

"You have no idea what she did to me!"

I'm begging you!

"I've barely survived until now, please don't let me fall into her hands again—"

By the end, his voice was almost choked with tears. The barely maintained composure he had shown when facing Huan You had completely vanished at this moment.

For a moment, no one spoke in the entire hall.

Li Wangxiang stood there, feeling even heavier in his heart.

This person is very troublesome.

But you just can't shake them off.

You Fang's face was deathly pale, and his voice was almost pleading.

I'm begging you...

"Don't leave me with her—"

But before he could finish speaking, Siam had already looked up.

"This disciple is willing to take on this person."

Her voice was calm, revealing neither joy nor anger. The crying, pleading, and accusations of You Fang calling her a "female demon" that had just occurred to her were not worth her attention at all.

"I have just taken on the task of establishing a sect in the old site of the Sundial Master, and I am currently short of manpower."

The hall fell silent for a moment.

Huan You didn't look at You Fang, but just nodded slightly.

"Can."

As soon as that word was uttered, You Fang's expression froze.

It was as if even the last glimmer of hope was extinguished by life at this moment.

"No--"

He had barely uttered half a syllable when the surrounding light and shadows flickered slightly.

In the next instant, Siam and You Fang disappeared from the Hall of Mastery.

In the empty hall, the sound of the wind once again swept through.

In the blink of an eye, the once vast Hall of Mastery was left with only Li Wangxiang and "Huanyou".