Though she said this, Qiu Shiliu’s eyes remained confused.

She knew she wasn’t a smart character, so she could only adopt the most foolish method—

That was to enter as many gates as possible, then try to leave behind all the information she discovered somewhere, praying that her teammates outside might see it through some fortuitous coincidence. After all, she was already unable to survive no matter what.

Thinking this, Qiu Shiliu turned around again and “moved” toward another gate not far away. The scenery within her sight began to fly rapidly behind her.

But after just a few seconds, she stopped her conviction, and all the surrounding scenery also stopped.

As expected, when people are in despair, they burst forth with inspiration they had never thought of before—

Just before entering the gate, Su Shan had instructed her that to explore this space, she needed to abandon all conventional knowledge.

If that was the case… Qiu Shiliu turned her head to look at the gate she had just probed into.

Then why had she chosen to move toward that particular gate just now?

There was only one reason—it was close enough to her. According to common sense, under time-limited circumstances, a closer gate would be easier to reach.

If this was really the case, combined with the condition that “it’s not oneself moving, but the space,” then the movement logic just now shouldn’t have been “I go toward the nearer gate,” but rather “Please let the nearest gate approach me.”

Qiu Shiliu reached up to cover her forehead, trying to quickly cool down her overheated brain.

In other words, it was precisely because the space had just received the command “Please let the nearest gate approach me” that the entire space moved, which also allowed her to ultimately stand before that gate.

“If this theory is really correct…” Qiu Shiliu exhaled. “I don’t need to randomly enter these gates at all…”

She let her conviction return to stability, then slowly closed her eyes.

If this space could accept such abstract commands, then theoretically she could be omnipotent.

She felt she should be the only living person in this strange space, and also the “god” here. Everything here could move according to her conviction.

At this moment, she pushed aside other thoughts in her mind and concentrated on repeating one phrase—

“Please let the most important gate approach me.”

The abstract description left Qiu Shiliu standing dazed in place for a long time. There were no changes in her surroundings. She could only continuously empty her thoughts, focusing entirely to enter a meditative state.

She didn’t know how much time had passed when she finally felt the whooshing sound of wind by her ears. The wind sometimes blew from the front, sometimes from the side, as if the entire space was rapidly moving and turning.

To ensure success, Qiu Shiliu didn’t open her eyes. She just kept her eyes closed and repeated that phrase. After just a short while, all the wind sounds vanished completely.

She waited a few more seconds before slowly opening her eyes.

The scene before her had indeed changed, but because she had kept her eyes closed the whole time, Qiu Shiliu didn’t know which direction the space had moved. She could only confirm from the numerous gates before her that she was no longer in the original direction.

But soon she discovered something strange.

There was no “gate” before her.

The nearest gate to her, according to common sense distance, was at least a hundred meters away, yet she had stopped in an empty place.

Was this because her conviction was insufficient… or had she deduced the wrong direction from the start?

Could it be that there was no such thing as an “important gate” in this place? In other words, was Xuanwu’s weakness not here at all…?

Just as Qiu Shiliu was about to close her eyes and think again, she discovered something strange before her.

In midair, very close to her, a point of light seemed to be floating.

Qiu Shiliu furrowed her brow and stared at that point of light, feeling that it was at most the size of a coin, with patterns flickering within.

“Could this be… a gate…?”

Qiu Shiliu slowly widened her eyes and slowly moved forward.

This point of light was really too small. It couldn’t be considered a “gate” at all—at most, it could only be considered a “hole.”

If it was the so-called “most important gate,” then how could one enter and exit, and how could one know what was inside?

Qiu Shiliu paused, leaned forward, and aligned her eye with the hole.

……

“Ninth Sister… it’s okay.” Jiang Shi leaned against the corner and said. “I’m fine… you go to Xuanwu’s side. Your ability is also very important.”

After hearing this, Bai Jiu sighed and said, “Why do you think I’m staying here?”

“How could I not know…”

Jiang Shi coughed twice and squeezed out a bitter smile. His only remaining eye also blinked, making the black hole on the other side appear even more strange.

“Ninth Sister, don’t waste your effort… I definitely can’t be saved. I might die at any time. You staying here is just wasting time.”

“But you said you didn’t want to die alone and lonely, that it would make you feel especially afraid.” Bai Jiu said expressionlessly and with an especially cold tone. “I’m here to accompany you in death.”

“I see…” Jiang Shi slowly lowered his head. “Thank you… Ninth Sister… Don’t worry, I don’t hurt now, so I don’t know when I’ll die either… It could be the next second, or it could be several more hours… Talk with me…”

Bai Jiu nodded. “What do you want to talk about?”

“I…” Jiang Shi thought for a long time, then shook his head. “Forget it… I’ll recite passages.”

“Good, you recite, I’ll listen.” Bai Jiu answered. “Don’t be afraid. I’ll be here with you the whole time.”

He nodded. “Storytelling, opera singing, and plays advise people, three main roads walk the middle path. Good and evil eventually get their due, the righteous path of the world… the righteous path of the world is… it is…”

As Jiang Shi recited, his expression became aggrieved, and his only remaining eyeball began to roll out tears.

Bai Jiu stood in place and looked, then bent down with a furrowed brow, reaching out to wipe Jiang Shi’s eyes.

“Don’t cry, Little Jiang Shi.” Bai Jiu said. “Your body doesn’t hurt anymore, but if you cry, your heart will hurt.”

But Jiang Shi’s tears couldn’t stop at all. He just lay on the ground sobbing.

Bai Jiu could only sit beside him, reaching out to stroke his hair. Although their body sizes didn’t look much different, Bai Jiu at this moment was like a big sister gently comforting Jiang Shi.

“Little Jiang Shi, don’t cry anymore. I know you’re most afraid of pain. It’s okay now, it doesn’t hurt.” Bai Jiu’s voice also began to choke up.

She reached out to wipe Jiang Shi’s tears. Just as she was about to say something, she suddenly discovered something unusual in the black hole of Jiang Shi’s other eye.

Bai Jiu held Jiang Shi’s head and carefully stared at the eye that had long been taken out by Xuanwu.

Then she discovered that in the next second, an eye appeared out of nowhere in the black hole.