Chapter 24: Dividing Forces into Two Routes

"How is it? Is it useful?" Ning Jing's voice came over again.

"The effect is very good, thank you!" Master Mind raised his head and said. Then, he turned to look at Qian Cangyi. "We don't have much time left. Step on my shoulder to go up, or you will definitely die."

"And you?" Qian Cangyi asked.

"I'll figure something out. Besides, didn't you say before that returning might lead to new discoveries? I want to go check it out; it's more convenient alone." As Master Mind spoke, he rotated his neck.

"Be careful." Qian Cangyi nodded. He didn't say anything like staying behind. He knew his current situation; staying behind would only make him a burden.

The purple smoke was gradually fading, almost reaching the point of being barely perceptible. It would completely vanish before long.

"Don't worry." Master Mind smiled, backed against the wall, squatted halfway down, and crossed his fingers over his knees. "Let's make sure we succeed on the first try."

Qian Cangyi took a few steps back to lengthen the distance. When his heel touched the wall, he started running forward. As he got close to Master Mind, he planted his left foot on Master Mind's knee and his right foot on his right shoulder, then jumped hard, using the wall as a final springboard.

We must succeed!

Qian Cangyi concentrated all his attention. After jumping, he got closer and closer to the darkness. At this moment, a peculiar sensation washed over him.

Gravity seemed to gradually vanish, and his heartbeat became labored. However, his body did not fall; instead, it continued moving deeper into the darkness.

Before long, gravity reappeared, but this time it came from ahead. In other words, Qian Cangyi was now upside down, and the original "up" and "down" had swapped places.

Realizing this, Qian Cangyi adjusted his posture. Fortunately, the increase in gravity was not obvious; it was much lighter. Therefore, his falling speed was considerably slower, leaving him plenty of time to observe the landing spot.

A flashlight beam shone onto the ground, illuminating the way for Qian Cangyi.

After landing, Qian Cangyi bent his knees and braced his hands on the ground ahead, landing safely. Then, a dull ache radiated from his muscles, though it was not severe.

Faint footsteps approached. Qian Cangyi turned his head and saw Ning Jing.

"Where is he?" Ning Jing asked.

"He said he'd find another way." Qian Cangyi stood up.

"How is he supposed to get across by himself?" Ning Jing continued.

"Are you ready?" Master Mind's voice came from above.

"No problem." Qian Cangyi looked up and replied.

"You guys go ahead and investigate; I can't cross over for now." Master Mind paused for a moment. "I've got to go, it's coming again."

"Are we really just going to leave him?" Ning Jing asked again.

"It's not leaving him. If our investigation yields new discoveries, we might be able to deal with the headless man. Helping doesn't always have to be done in an obvious way." Qian Cangyi dusted the dirt off his hands.

Ning Jing sighed.

Qian Cangyi looked up at the ceiling, then at the stairs on both sides, and began walking "downstairs."

"Are we going this way? This seems to be the direction we came from." Ning Jing was puzzled.

"Yes. If the two sides are symmetrical, we should be able to find a door here as well." Qian Cangyi nodded. "Behind that door, there might be what we're looking for."

...

On the other side of the spiral staircase, Master Mind was regulating his breath. His chest felt as if it were constricted and aching intensely. Behind him, the headless brute was in hot pursuit.

Master Mind took a deep breath and accelerated his sprint, putting some distance between them before slowing down until he came to a complete stop. He spun around and charged directly at the headless brute, like a soldier resigned to his fate.

As they closed the distance, the headless brute reached out with both hands, trying to grab Master Mind's head.

Master Mind had anticipated this attack. He jumped early, used the right-hand wall to boost his speed, and then contracted his abdominal muscles to swing his lower body upward. Dodging the vicious hands, he planted his feet on the creature's shoulders.

Now, Master Mind was standing on top of the headless brute. A choice lay before him: should he jump directly behind the headless brute, or use the creature's height to jump upward?

The fact that Qian Cangyi had managed to reach the other side earlier meant he could do it now too.

However, the headless brute would not give him much time to think.

Master Mind quickly made his decision. He chose to jump straight down, landing behind the headless brute.

When he stood up, a sharp pain shot through his chest, almost making it hard for him to breathe. Yet, he forced himself up and started running forward.

He felt a faint brush of air against the hair on the back of his head—light, but terrifyingly close.

Master Mind knew that if he had been even a fraction of a second slower, he might have ended up just like Xiao Tian.

"This is trouble!"

Master Mind struck his chest with his left hand, feeling slightly better. Then, taking a deep breath and ignoring the pain in his chest, he picked up speed.

...

While Master Mind was fleeing, Qian Cangyi and Ning Jing had stopped walking. It wasn't that they didn't want to run, but rather that they had reached the end.

A unique door frame stood in the middle of the staircase. It was small, just wide enough for one person to pass through. The material of the frame was unknown, but it exuded a glossy, pitch-black luster, full of mystery. Patterns representing different lunar phases were painted on both sides of the frame, and a crimson blood moon was depicted at the top. Inside the doorway, only a flickering red light, alternately bright and dim, pulsed.

Qian Cangyi walked closer and looked behind the door frame from the side. Beyond the frame was pure nothingness—endless black—and the spiral staircase was abruptly severed right behind the door.

"Is the Moon God inside?" Ning Jing's voice trembled slightly.

" vermutlich. Maybe going inside will reveal the reason, the reason why we came to this island." Qian Cangyi slowly reached out his right hand and gently touched the door frame, feeling a warm sensation radiating from it.

"Come to think of it, it doesn't feel like we walked for very long." Ning Jing brought this up.

"This is the correct path. No matter how long we walked on the spiral staircase, we could never reach the end. We ran for so long earlier, but we might just have been running in place all along." Qian Cangyi looked up at the darkness above.

"Should we go in now?" Ning Jing asked.

"Let's go in!" Qian Cangyi nodded heavily. Just as he extended his hand toward the red light, his body suddenly froze.

"Brother Mo An, thank you for taking care of all the way. You've helped me a lot, and I want to say I'm sorry." Ning Jing's voice came from beside his ear.

This is... Duan Ling's voice? Has Ning Jing been controlled by Duan Ling? Am I being controlled by Mo An right now?

Qian Cangyi found that he could not control his body. Two seconds later, his body moved of its own accord, forcibly turning around.

Ahead of him, Ning Jing kept her head down, a shadow seeming to cast over her face as the corners of her mouth curled into an eerie smile.

"Duan Ling, why are you saying sorry?" Qian Cangyi found himself speaking aloud.

"Actually, the reason Sister Ruoxuan came to Heifang Island was because I told her that Heifang Island could make wishes come true." Ning Jing gently pinched and rubbed the corner of her clothes between her right thumb and index finger.