2029.
"So beautiful..."
Bai Yanliang gazed at the dusk-hued Ye City, murmuring as the lights began to twinkle.
"Co."
Xun’s voice was always calm and steady, neither hurried nor slow.
Bai Yanliang followed her, turning towards the other side of the garden.
Xun pressed sothing unknown, and a door unexpectedly opened on the ground, revealing a deep cave.
Bai Yanliang cast an inquisitive glance at her, but could not find any answer in Xun’s eyes.
She was more emotionless than he was.
"Enter."
Xun spoke.
Should he trust her words?
Bai Yanliang didn’t think much about it; in fact, when he was willing to give his hand to Xun, he had already chosen to trust her.
Her power was unequal to that of humans; if Xun wished, she could kill Bai Yanliang dozens of tis.
Since she hadn’t done so, it at least ant that she temporarily bore him no ill will.
Bai Yanliang glanced at the cave, then looked up at Xun.
She just stood there, showing no intention of going in.
Bai Yanliang hesitated no longer and stepped inside.
The dark cave lood before him, and in an instant, his vision was stripped of everything save for the dimness.
"Boom—"
The door above quickly shut.
Bai Yanliang looked up, barely able to make out Xun’s lifeless gaze.
Soon, even the dim light vanished, as if he had entered another world — vast, oppressive, dark, cold, suffocating...
Was this the cave inside Ghost Head Mountain?
Bai Yanliang took a step forward in the darkness.
Suddenly, the surroundings started to tremble violently.
An earthquake?
No...
Specks of light appeared around, their ghostly white glow illuminating everything.
Only then did Bai Yanliang see the whole of this place clearly.
Indeed, it was a cave, but the scale of it was beyond his imagination, and its environnt was extrely strange.
Not the usual rocks or earthen walls, but silver-hued unknown tal.
Bai Yanliang tried to touch the wall, when suddenly, the silver unknown tal started to ripple!
Arm-thick tentacles reached out to Bai Yanliang, and he hurriedly backed away.
But those tentacles seed to have eyes, persistently pursuing him.
Helplessly, Bai Yanliang had to keep retreating.
Once extended to a certain length, the tentacles would suddenly retract, then another silver tentacle would sprout from the nearby wall.
What are these things?
Bai Yanliang stretched his body, twisting aside to dodge the tentacle’s assault.
"Whoosh—"
Just dodging to the left, another tentacle extended from the front.
Bai Yanliang leaned back, and the tentacle brushed past his forehead, recoiling between stretches to strike again.
There weren’t many of them, but their speed was incredible.
Bai Yanliang could only dodge while continuing to flee deeper into the cave.
This couldn’t go on; Bai Yanliang’s stamina had its limits, while the silver tentacles sprouting from the walls seed tireless.
While dodging and fleeing, Bai Yanliang suddenly noticed the number of tentacles decreased, and their attacks slowed.
Until, ahead, appeared a large, silver tal door.
Several tentacles extended towards the tal door, then abruptly retracted as they approached.
Stopping before the door, Bai Yanliang glanced back.
The tentacles had vanished, once again rging with the walls.
This cave was clearly artificially modified.
But... What is this tal?
Why can it extend and transform into tentacle shapes?
And this door, though not large, about three ters tall and not quite four ters wide, was etched with strange patterns and designs, mysterious and eerie.
Should he touch it again?
Bai Yanliang hesitated.
His legs still ached; what if more tentacles appeared?
But just then, the door unexpectedly began to open from the middle on its own...
"Boom—"
Perhaps due to long disuse, as soon as it opened a crack, Bai Yanliang slled a musty odor.
Inside, it wasn’t much different from the outside.
Empty, dark, and soon, ghostly white specks of light appeared again.
The light grew from faint to strong, gradually illuminating everything around.
In the light, Bai Yanliang looked around.
Yet at first glance, he saw...
A person, sitting on a chair directly in front of him.
Bai Yanliang’s heart tightened, nerves taut, staring at him.
But... after watching for a while, Bai Yanliang realized that the person on the chair... might already be dead.
He sensed no sign of life.
After a mont of silence, Bai Yanliang stepped forward a few steps, standing quietly before him.
This was a handso man.
Clad in a slender white work outfit, with neat half-rim glasses on his nose, his hair was a little long, reaching his shoulders, yet ticulously grood.
Was he really dead?
Standing before him, Bai Yanliang suddenly had an illusion that this person might open his eyes at any mont.
To prevent any misjudgnt, Bai Yanliang reached out his hand toward his neck.
At that mont!
The man before him suddenly raised his head, opening his eyes, gazing eerily at Bai Yanliang!
Bai Yanliang felt a violent shock, and retreated swiftly, hairs standing on end.
A zombie?
After retreating a few steps, Bai Yanliang noticed the man made no further movents, remaining seated in the chair, quietly watching him.
Moreover, his gaze had softened considerably.
Unlike that initial mont when he opened his eyes, he seed like a completely different person now.
Bai Yanliang and he continued a silent standoff, until suddenly, he smiled and said, "Hello, person from reality."
Bai Yanliang was taken aback. His voice was pleasant, deep and elegant, magnetic, but what attracted Bai Yanliang was not his voice, but his words.
He knows I’m from the real world?
"Are you Dr. Zhou?"
Bai Yanliang looked him in the eyes and asked.
"Oh? You know ? Which year are you from?" Dr. Zhou’s gaze was full of curiosity; it seed a long ti since he spoke, with a faint oddness in his words.
"2019," Bai Yanliang replied.
But Bai Yanliang didn’t believe his answer. "Dr. Zhou has long been dead."
"That’s correct." He laughed, admitting it without hesitation.
"You see," he said, suddenly turning his head, a transparent silver tube connected at the back of his head, "I am his replica, or rather, his clone."
He turned back, looking gently at Bai Yanliang, saying, "Even the one you know to be dead could also be fake."
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