Cao Yanhua desperately waved his arms at Yi Wansan. They were too far apart to see his face clearly, but Yi Wansan was also waving back, and from his body language, he seemed quite excited.

But this excitement was quickly doused by the cold water of reality.

How could they get him over here?

Yan Hongsha’s voice trembled as she spoke: “Luo Ren, think of something.”

Luo Ren’s brow was deeply furrowed. This platform was almost completely empty – except for that strange door and the broken rope that Mu Dai had used to pull him up earlier.

He tested the straight-line length of the rope and estimated it wasn’t enough – far from enough. Even if it were sufficient, with no way to anchor points on both sides, how could they build a bridge?

Yan Hongsha soon stopped urging. She felt she should be reasonable and not pressure others to do impossible things with her words – even a clever housewife can’t cook without rice.

Looking up, the sky seemed lower, and the cackling laughter gradually faded, transforming into long, ominous sighs.

The platform and corridor areas were no longer just eroding but shedding dust like powder, very quickly, so that Yi Wansan standing at the corridor entrance looked like he was floating in empty space on clouds.

Luo Ren looked at Mu Dai and the others: “I don’t have a good solution right now. Each of you think, each of you suggest something, immediately, hurry up.”

His tone was serious, not like he was joking. Yan Hongsha nervously swallowed: “What I’m thinking sounds ridiculous… it’s impossible.”

“Suggest the impossible too. Usually the way out of desperate situations is found within the impossible.”

Really? Yan Hongsha steeled herself and went all out: “If only Yi Wansan could fly.”

Luo Ren smiled bitterly – that was indeed impossible.

He looked at Cao Yanhua.

Cao Yanhua stammered: “Well, ancient times had those catapults, like seesaws – bang, press down one side and the other end flies… or like firing a cannon, stuff San-ge into the barrel and boom him over here.”

When he looked at Mu Dai, she was gripping that rope, murmuring: “Why are we only thinking about Yi Wansan coming over? Why can’t we go over there?”

Yan Hongsha was puzzled: “Is there a difference?”

There was, there definitely was. Luo Ren pondered – he always paid attention to Mu Dai’s words. Her approach was strange; most of the time she couldn’t give clear answers, but what she offered was often the correct starting point.

Why can’t we go over there?

Luo Ren suddenly thought of something: “Mu Dai, you’re skilled in light martial arts. Can you do somersaults in the air?”

“Yes.”

“Not upward somersaults, but forward ones, the kind that cover distance.”

Mu Dai stared at him, seeming to think of something too, her eyes brightening: “Yes.”

Luo Ren said: “I have an idea.”

His method initially sounded fantastical, but upon careful consideration, seemed… feasible.

First, extend the rope.

Second, tie one end of the rope around Mu Dai’s waist and use Mu Dai to go fetch Yi Wansan.

Third, Luo Ren and Cao Yanhua would provide the launch power, joining their four hands, throwing her diagonally upward like “launching” her, hurling Mu Dai from one end of the platform toward the other. Mu Dai would use this force to somersault in mid-air, and after several flips, might be able to get infinitely close to Yi Wansan.

If the rope was long enough and Mu Dai was skilled in martial arts, she could try her best to grab hold and get a foothold at the corridor entrance, then bring Yi Wansan back.

It sounded straightforward when explained, but imagining it made it seem dangerous at every step, causing cold sweat to break out on Yan Hongsha’s spine.

The key was Mu Dai. Luo Ren looked at her: “Can you do it?”

Mu Dai’s lips were dry. She quickly ran through the process in her mind: as long as the rope was tight enough, she should be fine – at most some bumps and bruises, nothing fatal.

“I can do it.”

What good was that? Cao Yanhua jumped up: “We don’t have rope.”

“Give me all the cotton and linen clothing you’re wearing.”

Cao Yanhua cupped his hands around his mouth, puffing out his cheeks, shouting to Yi Wansan on the other side. On this side, Luo Ren had spread out three or four pieces of undergarments in front of him – shirts and pants.

He had Mu Dai and Yan Hongsha help, stretching the clothes tight. His dagger made cuts at the edges of the garments, tearing them into strips. Soon there was a small pile of cloth strips beside them.

He taught the two: “One person grab each end, stretch the strips tight, twist them spirally to make single cloth ropes, then thicken them – like twisting dough, twist two into one thick rope. Then use three thick ones, like braiding hair, braid them into a thick rope – this kind needs to bear heavy weight.”

He spoke quickly, making the atmosphere tense. Mu Dai and Yan Hongsha immediately began, working efficiently. When they were halfway done, Cao Yanhua, who had finished shouting, also came to help. Several people worked without wasting words, assembly-line style – combining one, twisting two, braiding three. The loose, useless cloth strips quickly became tight and solid ropes. Luo Ren was responsible for connecting the rope sections – all with knots suitable for high-altitude work, using sailor’s knots for same-diameter ropes and combination knots for different diameters.

After connecting, they pulled tight to test the strength. It was about half again as long as the original railing rope, but still didn’t look sufficient by estimation.

They’d have to try it first.

Luo Ren tied the rope end around Mu Dai’s waist, instructing her in a low voice: “Remember to grab the rope body with your hands to share the force, otherwise your waist will be uncomfortable.”

Yan Hongsha was so nervous she could barely breathe evenly: “Luo Ren, you must tie it tight. If…”

Luo Ren smiled: “I know what kind of person I’m throwing out there.”

The other end was secured to both Luo Ren and Cao Yanhua. Cao Yanhua maintained a horse stance, afraid his lower body wasn’t stable enough.

When they were about ready, Luo Ren rolled up his sleeves to his elbows, shook his hands, and joined his four hands with Cao Yanhua’s, crouching down. Mu Dai supported herself on their shoulders and stood on their wrists.

Yan Hongsha stood to the side holding Luo Ren’s dagger, vigilantly watching the surroundings. She was the guard – Luo Ren had instructed that if the fierce spirit suddenly appeared trying to do something, don’t waste words, stab it full of holes first.

They could begin. Yi Wansan on the other side was nervously clenching his fists. On this side, Cao Yanhua synchronized with Luo Ren, lowering their center of gravity, tensing their bodies, spreading their legs in a bow stance, silently counting: “One, two, three!”

They really used every ounce of strength, almost flying out themselves along with Mu Dai.

Before they could catch their breath, Luo Ren sharply commanded: “Feet grip the ground, hands grip the rope!”

Cao Yanhua’s heart jumped, and he quickly reached out to grab the rope at his waist, staggering with Luo Ren, their anchoring feet hooking together.

In mid-air, Mu Dai raised her arms up and together, her body forming an arrow shape to minimize air resistance. When her momentum was nearly spent, she did one somersault, then another, diving straight toward Yi Wansan.

Not enough – still short by a stretch. Mu Dai instantly began to fall. At the same time, Yan Hongsha roared: “Back up! Back up quickly!”

Not knowing what was happening, but fortunately they had cooperated countless times before. Luo Ren and Cao Yanhua almost simultaneously threw themselves backward in a rolling motion while desperately gripping the rope.

With a thunderous crash, accompanied by almost fierce laughter from above.

A large section of the platform collapsed. If not for Yan Hongsha’s warning, both Luo Ren and Cao Yanhua would have fallen.

The surrounding corridors hadn’t just collapsed – they had almost broken in the middle. When Luo Ren sat up from the ground, he could see clearly that the corridor Mu Dai had emerged from had completely collapsed and disappeared, as if a piece was missing. The mountain wall on the other side had collapsed over and crashed into where Yi Wansan was, like two skyscrapers about to fall, leaning against each other to maintain a fragile and temporary balance.

Yi Wansan had been shaken by this tremendous shock and rolled back into the corridor, taking a while to crawl out again.

Fortunately, the other end of the rope had weight. Luo Ren gritted his teeth and desperately pulled the rope back up. Mu Dai climbed up quickly and soon flipped back over the cliff edge.

She was quite exhausted too, lying on the ground for a while, breathing heavily. After a pause, she got up to come over here, but after just a few steps, her body suddenly stiffened.

She heard Xiao Qi’s voice: “Since you won’t take the way out when it’s given, then nobody leaves.”

Creaking sounds came.

That standing door began to sway left and right. Black spots started devouring inward from the door’s edges, like rapidly growing mold. The remaining brightness and azure blue gradually shrank.

Cao Yanhua anxiously shouted: “Luo brother!”

The rope wasn’t long enough. With the collapse and erosion of the mountain walls, the distance between the two sides was still increasing. The exit was shrinking and would eventually disappear completely.

Luo Ren’s throat tightened. That spasm-like feeling in his arms came again.

He wanted to take everyone away, didn’t want to abandon anyone.

But if Yi Wansan truly couldn’t leave, he didn’t want the remaining people to all die here with him.

The fierce laughter gradually faded. The wind picked up, carrying dust from this world around them. No one moved, and their gazes deliberately avoided each other.

Cao Yanhua gritted his teeth and said: “Luo brother, I know you can’t say it, so consider me shameless. Someone has to speak up…”

Before he finished, Yi Wansan on the other side suddenly shouted: “Go! Go! You all go!”

Yan Hongsha’s nose stung. She turned to look at him. Yi Wansan stood at the corridor entrance, shouting: “What are you dawdling for? Sing whatever song suits the mountain you’re on. Don’t you know you should leave now!”

Suddenly becoming frantic, he bent down to grab a handful of sand and stones and threw them hard this way: “What’s with the tragic act? Are you leaving or not?”

After throwing, he stood frozen for a moment, then suddenly turned and went back into the corridor.

Luo Ren said quietly: “Let’s go.”

He sighed, grabbed Mu Dai’s arm and walked forward. Mu Dai struggled a bit, and when he pulled her along, tears suddenly flowed down. Cao Yanhua said: “Let’s go. If it were any of us today, we’d all tell the others to leave. There’s no other way.”

“Let’s not disappoint San-ge’s intentions. Let’s not dawdle anymore, and don’t look back – it’ll hurt to look.”

He wiped his eyes and strode forward, his lips trembling, eyes red as a rabbit’s, and he really didn’t look back.

Yan Hongsha also stepped forward. She could feel tears sliding down her cheeks, dropping to the ground one by one.

At the door, as if by agreement, everyone stopped. The door was only half remaining and still being devoured. Mu Dai said softly: “Let’s wait a bit more.”

As if they had to wait until the door shrunk to the absolute minimum that would barely allow a person through, or they wouldn’t be satisfied.

Wind sounds drifted by their ears. Yan Hongsha couldn’t help it and finally looked back.

She saw Yi Wansan – he had somehow come out of the corridor again, standing alone at that entrance, watching them the whole time.

She suddenly broke into tears, saying: “Luo Ren, Mu Dai, Cao Fatty, we agreed that all five of us would live and seal the fierce spirits together…”

Luo Ren’s grip on Mu Dai’s arm suddenly tightened.

We agreed that all five of us would live and seal the fierce spirits together.

This seemed like a bargaining transaction with the Phoenix and Luan clasp, a one-sided promise, like a poor boy wanting to marry a rich girl, swearing earnestly to the girl’s family: “I will definitely make her happy.”

What was the other party’s reaction? Did they approve? Did they believe? Would they just let you pass like this?

If the Viewing Four Mirages Tower was a trial, what exactly was being tested?

If there was a trial, there must be interference. What was this interference?

Luo Ren turned around and asked: “If there wasn’t this door about to disappear, wouldn’t we use every possible method and risk our lives to save Yi Wansan?”

Mu Dai was stunned. Yan Hongsha was still sobbing and didn’t answer. Only Cao Yanhua instinctively replied: “Yes.”

This door was the interference.

“Good, then let’s act as if this door doesn’t exist.”

After saying this, he pushed past Cao Yanhua and strode toward the cliff, stopping a few meters from the edge.

Yi Wansan hadn’t expected him to come back and looked over in surprise.

After a moment, Mu Dai and the others also came over. Yan Hongsha couldn’t contain herself: “Are we going to try again? Luo Ren, I can still cut up clothes.”

She looked down at her pants: “You can cut off both my pant legs.”

Mu Dai’s eyes were red, but she couldn’t help smiling, then shook her head: “No good, Hongsha. It’s not about how long you make the rope – I can only reach so far. Even if the rope is longer, I can only reach that far.”

Then what could they do? Cao Yanhua couldn’t help wanting to look at that door. Luo Ren told him to act as if the door didn’t exist – what did that mean? That door was slowly being devoured.

Luo Ren crouched down and used his dagger to draw a line segment on the ground: “At first, we thought Yi Wansan could come over. Later, we decided to have Mu Dai go over, but Mu Dai can only go this far…”

The dagger tip carved a mark at the middle section of the line.

“What about the remaining section?”

What about the remaining section?

Mu Dai had done her best. She had said it clearly – she could only reach that far.

Cao Yanhua blurted out: “One section of road, two people walk it. My little master can walk this much at most. The remaining section can only be walked by San-ge.”

Luo Ren pressed: “How does he walk it?”

Cao Yanhua stammered: “He… he gets a running start in the corridor, then jumps out, maybe he can… jump a section.”

Luo Ren was torn between laughter and tears: “Cao Fatty, this isn’t motorcycle jumping over the Great Wall. Yi Wansan is an ordinary person – he doesn’t have an engine attached to his body.”

This sentence suddenly reminded Mu Dai. She grabbed Luo Ren’s hand, her excited voice trembling: “Luo Xiaodao, dreams! When dreams are startled awake, there’s a strong wind. I and Hongsha were both blown out by the wind!”

Even though they had already come out, those dreams were still there.

Yi Wansan was a bit confused.

That door had been devoured to only the size of a small washbasin, like a blue eye, but those people weren’t looking back at it.

Mu Dai was doing splits, horizontal splits, bending forward to touch the ground. He had seen this posture before – she was stretching ligaments. In her words: before a fierce battle, one must stretch muscles and bones.

Yan Hongsha was helping Luo Ren reinforce that rope, carefully checking the tightness of the knots.

And Cao Yanhua was shouting to him, like telling him a story.

San-ge, let me tell you something interesting.

Do you know, if you enter someone else’s corridor, you absolutely can’t meet that person. You can only enter their dreams…

My little master said that dreams, one by one, are like giant soap bubbles. If you wake up naturally, those soap bubbles will slowly float up to the sky…

If you’re startled awake, that’s terrible – people get blown out by strong winds…

Yi Wansan’s palms gradually became sweaty.

He understood.

The reason Cao Yanhua wasn’t speaking directly was probably to avoid the fierce spirits’ attention.

Someone else’s corridor…

He turned to look. Actually, every corridor entrance was very far away, but just now, when Mu Dai tried to approach him, the mountain wall where this corridor was located had collapsed a section. The section representing “wood” had completely fallen away, and another mountain wall had crashed over, actually bringing the distance closer.

According to the sequence of “metal, water, wood, fire, earth,” the entrance that had been brought closer should be Yan Hongsha’s.

What he needed to do was find a way to enter that corridor entrance from his current position, seek out Yan Hongsha’s dreams, then make her “startled awake.”

Yi Wansan looked toward that corridor entrance. It wasn’t too far, but there was a gap in the middle that needed a foothold. If his legs went weak, this life would probably be finished, but fortunately, although the mountain wall was still shedding dust, it was rough. If he went all out without stopping, the chances of success were still quite good.

Right, the chances were good. Although he had no martial arts skills, in his past life of petty theft, climbing high, stepping low, and scaling walls was still easy for him.

He shouted to Cao Yanhua: “Really? Well, since I’m idle anyway, I’ll go take a look!”

The former small-time hoodlum Xiao Jiang seemed to reappear. He spat twice into his palms, rubbed his hands together, gripped the edge of this corridor, and tentatively stretched one leg out, trying to step as far as possible.

Yan Hongsha watched with her heart in her throat. When Yi Wansan suddenly moved, she quickly closed her eyes and asked: “Did he make it? Did he make it?”

No one had time to answer her, so she had to open her eyes again.

Thank heavens, Yi Wansan was already standing steadily at her corridor entrance. He waved this way, took off his outer shirt and tied it around his waist, saying loudly: “Clothes are lighter than people!”

After saying this, he crouched and entered the corridor.

Clothes are lighter than people? What did that mean? Speaking in riddles?

Only Luo Ren understood.

If both sides acted simultaneously, they needed the right timing. If one side was early or the other was late, it wouldn’t work. If he guessed correctly, when they really encountered strong wind, Yi Wansan would release his clothes first, and his clothes would be blown out by the wind first.

That would be a signal, reminding them: it was time.

Luo Ren said quietly: “We should get ready.”

Yi Wansan’s calves were trembling a bit. He was running rapidly through Yan Hongsha’s dreams, rushing into one bubble world after another, then rushing back out.

Yan Hongsha was no longer in the corridor. Collisions in the real world could no longer wake her up. He needed to quickly find a nightmare, a nightmare that would truly startle Yan Hongsha awake.

It felt like he was back in the wave shadow maze he had experienced before, hoping to rush into nightmares, but what he encountered didn’t seem to be them.

He ran desperately, telling himself to hurry: maybe if he moved faster, he could still make it in time to enter that door?

The next moment, Yi Wansan suddenly stopped.

This was…

The seabed of Five Pearls Village?

Strange, still deep sea currents, brown elongated seaweed, white bones and animal skulls spread across the seabed. There was a standing figure, swaying back and forth, pushed by the sea current to face this direction.

That was Yan Hongsha’s uncle, Yan Jiuxiao.

Yi Wansan’s heart suddenly jumped. He remembered hearing Yan Hongsha talk about this nightmare about Yan Jiuxiao. She said that after being frightened awake, she found herself connected to a phone call.

This was it, no mistake. Yi Wansan held his breath, his hand pressed on the knotted clothes at his waist. He had to time it right – when that strong wind blew him up, he had to untie his clothes first.

The seawater flowed almost silently. Yan Jiuxiao’s body in the diving suit stood upright in the water, his body being pushed upward by buoyancy, his calves wrapped in circles of seaweed.

Damn it, why don’t you crawl? Didn’t you say you could crawl on the seabed?

Yi Wansan was anxiously desperate. The next moment, a thought suddenly popped into his head.

If you won’t crawl, I’ll crawl. Anyway, with the diving suit and helmet, whoever wears it looks the same!

He strode over, removed the equipment from Yan Jiuxiao’s body, and put it on himself. Yan Jiuxiao’s corpse, freed from the seaweed’s restraint, floated slowly upward, while he bent down and plunged his hands deep into the sea sand…

One step, two steps…

A hurricane suddenly arose. The diving suit on his body instantly dispersed like cotton being blown away. His face and eyelids were pulled and distorted by the wind. Yi Wansan gritted his teeth and suddenly untied the clothing around his waist.

Rolling, with nothing to rely on all around, his internal organs seemed to be tumbling out. His whole person was like paper unable to find direction in a strong wind. The next instant, the surroundings suddenly brightened, and vaguely, he seemed to hear the screams of Yan Hongsha and Cao Fatty.

Had he succeeded? Had he failed? Would he die?

…

Yi Wansan felt his body falling uncontrollably, and then suddenly, a pair of slender arms embraced him.

Mu Dai opened her eyes.

The sky was very bright, cold wind blowing on her face. She was covered with a big red quilt with scattered peony flowers, and her body was swaying underneath, as if on a cart.

She felt her arms were stiff – heaven knows, the moment before, she had been holding Yi Wansan tightly.

There was singing drifting from ahead. Listening carefully, it was a very old song, “True Hero.”

“Grasp every minute of life, embrace your beloved friends with passion, let sincere words and happy tears flow in our hearts…”

She had never heard such off-key singing, with the huffing and puffing of an ox mixed in between.

Who was this?

Mu Dai felt strange and wanted to sit up to look. As soon as she moved, her waist suddenly tightened. Turning her head, she saw Luo Ren looking at her and smiling, his index finger pressed to his lips as if telling her to be quiet.

Then he leaned to her ear, breathing softly: “Terrible, isn’t it?”

“Mm.”

“I’ve been listening for a while.”

Mu Dai laughed.

Before her eyes were the familiar mountain shapes of Phoenix Ridge. Wild birds rustled through the tree shadows in the forest. She rested her head on Luo Ren’s shoulder, said nothing more, and quietly listened to the worst but most unforgettable personal concert of her life, her thoughts slowly drifting back to the Viewing Four Mirages Tower.

This journey, this experience, seemed ready for a temporary conclusion.

Some time later, in the Gathering and Parting as Fate Wills bar, Mu Dai and Luo Ren were warming themselves by the fire pit, chatting with Shen Gun about this experience.

Shen Gun said that the exit of the Viewing Four Mirages Tower might not be a concrete door, but could be a certain moment – like the moment Mu Dai finally caught Yi Wansan, the moment they decided to advance and retreat together. That strange door might have been the fierce spirits’ trick, just an interference.

So those experiences in the corridors, were they real or fake?

Shen Gun answered ambiguously: If you think they’re real, maybe they are real.

Mu Dai disagreed: But Cao Fatty stopped being a thief afterward, but in reality, these things haven’t changed.

Shen Gun shrugged: Yes, but that might be because his changes deviated from the track of real life. If ultimately there was no deviation, just some minor adjustments, maybe it really was true.

Mu Dai wanted to say more, but Shen Gun found her annoying.

Alright, Little Pocket, any more questions and you won’t be cute anymore. Whether it’s real or fake, I only ask you: if you re-experienced the first half of your life, was there anything you did that you felt guilty about?

Mu Dai thought about it and shook her head.

She had intervened, she had tried her best. Some things, even if the results were still regrettable, she had no regrets.

Shen Gun said: That’s right. Having a clear conscience is enough. Fierce spirits always have fierce words, maybe the Viewing Four Mirages Tower also has secrets for entry and exit, like having a clear conscience, advancing and retreating together.

While they were chatting, Cao Yanhua and the others were crowded together behind the bar.

Yan Hongsha was frantically trying to learn coffee latte art from Yi Wansan, the entire tabletop a mess.

Yi Wansan said: “Er Huo, if you want to drink, just tell me and I’ll make it for you. You’re really not cut out for this. Why force yourself?”

Yan Hongsha said: “I enjoy it!”

And Cao Yanhua was running around the bar in circles: “San-ge, update it! Hurry up and update!”

The cause of this had to be traced back two weeks ago. To comfort Cao Yanhua’s melancholy about missing Cao Jiefang, Yi Wansan told Cao Yanhua he had decided to serialize a comic online called “Cao Jiefang’s Master-Chasing Chronicles.”

He showed Cao Yanhua the first draft. In the picture, a Hummer H2 SUV was driving away in a cloud of dust, while behind the car, a pheasant with a tag around its neck was trembling its little legs, chasing frantically. Unfortunately, it ultimately couldn’t match the modern vehicle and eventually fell far behind. The pheasant stood in place for a long time, its small eyes brimming with sad tears.

Yi Wansan patted Cao Yanhua and said: “From here, our Jiefang embarked on a gorgeous yet arduous journey of chasing its master. Just wait – the day I finish serializing it, when you open the door, I guarantee you’ll see our Jiefang carrying a little bundle!”

So…

“San-ge, hurry up and update!”

[End]