Chen Xi parked her bike by the roadside, took off her helmet, and sat on the motorcycle staring at the experience center in a daze.

Under the blue sky stretched a straight road, with the vast Gobi Desert on both sides.

The experience center stood alone by the roadside, quietly watching the vehicles coming and going.

If she opened the repair shop here, business would be booming.

Chen Xi wanted to see whether this VR experience center was losing or making money.

If it wasn’t profitable, she could negotiate with the owner about subleasing.

She, Qin Zhan, and Liu Boyang took turns staking out near the experience center.

On the first day, they counted only seven people going in.

On the second day, only nine.

The third day was a weekend, and it went slightly better – a total of eleven people came.

Such a large venue with such pitifully low foot traffic.

Chen Xi could confirm that this owner was losing money, and there might be room to negotiate the sublease.

In the evening, Chen Xi went to her mother’s dormitory at the Dunhuang Research Institute to get some design drafts, planning to study them carefully at home.

She had sent her initial draft to Qin Lie this morning.

But she still hadn’t received his reply, and waiting until now, she was starting to feel uneasy.

On the way back, muffled thunder rumbled overhead.

Soon after, heavy rain came pelting down unstoppably.

Chen Xi was amazed by her luck.

She had encountered one of the maybe two heavy rainstorms a year, and in the middle of nowhere with no village ahead or behind.

Chen Xi accelerated through the rain and saw the VR experience center by the roadside in the distance – it was lit up late at night.

On this cold, rainy night, that light was utterly heartwarming.

Chen Xi sped to the experience center entrance and parked her bike under the eaves.

She took off her helmet and shook her wet hair.

Turning her head, she saw an SUV parked at the entrance of the experience center.

Before she could look closely, the center’s automatic sensor door opened.

Chen Xi approached and couldn’t help widening her eyes as she looked around, feeling like she’d stepped into the future.

The interior of the venue was very large, spacious enough for a 4S dealership with room to spare.

The space inside was divided into several areas.

Huge screens were visible everywhere.

There were also VR space pods and VR arcade games that Chen Xi had seen in shopping malls.

Chen Xi also saw two side-by-side motorcycle racers, one black and one white, with streamlined bodies that looked cool.

Most eye-catching was the giant dome screen in the center of the venue.

It looked incredibly expensive – completely different from the VR experience equipment in shopping malls.

The last time Chen Xi came, this giant dome screen hadn’t been built yet.

She had to face reality: the owner of this experience center wasn’t short of money.

Just having this giant dome screen here meant subleasing was out of the question – at most, she could negotiate with them to see if they’d share part of such a spacious venue with her.

Chen Xi had been inside for a while but hadn’t seen a single person – she didn’t know where the staff had gone.

She held her helmet and walked around half the venue.

When she turned to a space fighter, she kicked something over.

With a crisp collision sound, an empty bottle fell on the black marble floor tiles and rolled away under Chen Xi’s nose.

Only then did Chen Xi notice there was someone curled up in the space fighter.

Two long legs had nowhere to go and were boldly stretched outside the cabin, with a pile of empty beer bottles at their feet.

Chen Xi suddenly turned and met a pair of dark, deep eyes.

Those eyes were half-drunk and drowsy, and she didn’t know how long they’d been silently watching her.

“Why are you here?”

She asked irritably – even with her courage, she was startled.

Qin Lie had his elbow resting on the leather armrest, one hand supporting his forehead. Half his hard-lined face was hidden, and the gaze through his fingers was somewhat confused.

“Why are you here?”

He asked back.

Chen Xi’s hair was still dripping, “It’s raining, I came in to take shelter.”

Qin Lie looked outside through the tinted glass – the night was vast, and he couldn’t see anything.

He dejectedly lowered his eyes and became quiet again.

Chen Xi could see he’d had quite a bit to drink, but couldn’t help asking, “Did you look at the draft I sent you?”

Qin Lie nodded.

Chen Xi waited for more but had to ask, “How was it?”

Qin Lie didn’t speak – he seemed to have fallen asleep.

Seeing no one paying attention to her, Chen Xi wandered around the venue and finally stopped in front of those two cool racing bikes.

She reached out to touch the streamlined body and couldn’t help sighing, “What a waste, such a good location for a place like this.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

Qin Lie’s voice came from behind.

Chen Xi turned around to see that Qin Lie’s eyes had opened, and he was looking at her with an inscrutable expression.

Chen Xi looked around and said flatly, “So deserted, what a waste of this location.”

Qin Lie looked at Chen Xi drowsily, watched for a while, then suddenly asked, “Have you experienced VR before?”

Chen Xi said, “Of course, there’s some in the mall.”

Qin Lie asked, “Have you experienced the ones here?”

Chen Xi shook her head, “Not interested. The biggest attraction here for me is the location – suitable for opening a repair shop.”

Qin Lie looked dispirited, swaying as he stood up, and walked toward the entrance.

Chen Xi reminded him from behind, “It’s raining outside.”

Qin Lie seemed not to hear and swayed toward the entrance.

The sensor door suddenly opened, and strong wind wrapped in heavy rain instantly poured in, cold and wet wind and rain slapping his face.

Qin Lie’s gaze fell on the motorcycle under the eaves.

He suddenly stopped and turned back to ask her, “Do you want to experience the equipment here?”

Chen Xi wasn’t interested and shook her head, “No thanks, I’ll go home when the rain stops.”

Qin Lie smiled, “Keep me company for an experience. After we’re done, I’ll give you an answer.”

Chen Xi looked at him blankly.

Qin Lie said, “The design draft you gave me – don’t you want to know what I think of it?”

Chen Xi smiled, “Alright.”

Qin Lie turned back and asked Chen Xi, “What do you want to play?”

Chen Xi patted the motorcycle racer beside her, “This one.”

Qin Lie took the VR headset off the white bike and handed it to Chen Xi.

The two straddled the racing bikes.

Chen Xi suddenly remembered something and asked Qin Lie, “Doesn’t this place charge money?”

“Charge for what?”

Qin Lie snorted and put on his headset.

He reminded Chen Xi, “It operates like a real bike. If you find it too stimulating, you can stop and adjust.”

Chen Xi curved her lips, “You haven’t seen me race, have you?”

She gripped the handlebars with both hands, leaned forward, and arched her back slightly like a little leopard ready to pounce.

Qin Lie smiled and said nothing more, leaning forward to grip the handlebars.

The LCD screens on both their VR headsets simultaneously flashed a string of blue light.

A mountain racing track appeared before Chen Xi’s eyes.

The sky was crystal clear, and beams of sunlight fell through the mountain forest onto the winding track, weaving together the scattered, bright light and shadow of early morning.

Chen Xi was stunned for a moment, almost believing she was really at the foot of a mountain – even her breathing seemed to carry a hint of forest air.

Ahead was a curvaceous referee who raised a flag toward them.

A pleasant female voice sounded in Chen Xi’s ear, “Racers, take your positions, prepare…”

Chen Xi couldn’t help glancing to the side.

The man on the racing bike wore a black racing suit, with a cold, angular face under the helmet.

Chen Xi turned back as the countdown sounded in her ears.

“Three… two…”

Chen Xi lightly pressed the accelerator. The racing bike made a buzzing sound that was frighteningly realistic.

“One!”

The referee waved the flag in her hand.

Chen Xi stomped on the accelerator, and both racing bikes shot forward simultaneously.

A breeze came from somewhere, lifting Chen Xi’s damp, long hair.

The feeling was like breaking through the wind in the mountain forest at dawn.

This was Chen Xi’s first time playing a VR racing game, so her movements were somewhat slow, and in the blink of an eye Qin Lie had gained the advantage.

She watched helplessly as Qin Lie’s bike took a commanding lead, occupying the best position on the track.

Chen Xi adjusted her state, quickly adapted to the directional control of this racing bike, and floored the accelerator.

Her bike shot out like a rocket, catching up to Qin Lie in the blink of an eye.

Chen Xi continued accelerating, overtaking Qin Lie to try to seize the advantage for the turn.

Qin Lie floored his accelerator, overtook her back, and squeezed Chen Xi out of the inside of the curve.

The two clung tightly together as they went up the curve, their speed frighteningly high, with wind howling in their ears.

The trees on both sides of the track flashed quickly out of view, with a thousand-foot cliff on the left.

One moment of operational error would send both the person and the vehicle tumbling down.

Chen Xi just glanced at the cliff and felt a chill, cold sweat breaking out on her back.

But she was only intimidated for less than half a second before Qin Lie had already left her far behind.

She bit her lower lip, floored the accelerator again, flew around the curve like lightning, and caught up again.

Finally, at the second turn, she squeezed Qin Lie out.

Around the curve, a rising red sun appeared in her vision, magnificent beyond words.

The vast world, mountains, and valleys seemed to be at her feet for her to ride across.

Chen Xi almost wanted to shout out loud to the mountains.

Qin Lie caught up from behind and quickly squeezed Chen Xi out of the inside lane again.

Only the last curve remained.

Chen Xi pushed her speed to the limit, suicidally overtaking while turning, forcibly passing Qin Lie from the outside lane.

Qin Lie wasn’t to be outdone either, pushing his speed off the charts. Chen Xi had only overtaken by half a car length before he pushed her back.

The two pushed against each other around the curve, seeing the finish line halfway up the mountain in the distance.

Chen Xi gritted her teeth and pressed toward Qin Lie again, trying to force him to slow down.

Qin Lie gave no ground.

Chen Xi suddenly lost control of her direction and collided with Qin Lie.

Both bikes lost control simultaneously, crashing toward the mountain face on one side.

In a whirl of confusion, Chen Xi’s body on the racing bike lost balance.

Reality and virtual completely overlapped – for a moment, Chen Xi felt she was going to crash to death.

She cried out and fell to one side.

Chen Xi almost tumbled off the racing bike, but fortunately her arm was grabbed by Qin Lie, maintaining her balance.

She closed her eyes and gripped Qin Lie’s arm back, pulling herself out of the dizzying confusion.

All around was silent except for their heavy breathing.

After a long while, Chen Xi slowly opened her eyes, and her vision returned to reality.

“How was it?”

Qin Lie’s voice came to her ears.

Chen Xi’s chest was still heaving violently as she gasped, “Too exciting.”

Too exciting!

Completely beyond her imagination.

Compared to the VR experience in shopping malls, this was on a completely different dimension.

She recovered for another while before realizing she was still gripping Qin Lie’s arm tightly.

She let go of him and silently removed her headset.

The spacious hall suddenly became unusually quiet.

“Your turn.”

She set down the headset and looked at Qin Lie.

“Mm?”

The drunkenness in Qin Lie’s eyes had unknowingly disappeared as he looked deeply at Chen Xi.

Chen Xi said, “What you promised – give me an answer.”

Qin Lie said, “Mm.”

He got off the racing bike, opened a huge LCD screen, and fiddled with his phone for a moment.

Chen Xi walked over and stood beside him.

A woman suddenly appeared on screen wearing black leather, with black hair and black eyes, riding a motorcycle, with an explosive figure.

This was a classic character from the game Tunnel – the first person to discover the space-time tunnel in the main storyline.

“Joey, I’ve used this character.”

Chen Xi said with her arms crossed.

The scene changed, and a second character appeared on screen – a woman wearing a European medieval court-style nightgown.

Thick golden hair cascaded like a waterfall over her shoulders, and her gentle, large eyes seemed capable of melting all the cold and evil in this world.

This was a classic character from the medieval map.

The protagonist was persecuted by locals as a witch and hidden by this gentle woman.

Chen Xi liked this character and couldn’t help asking, “Who designed this character?”

“Me.”

Qin Lie’s voice was flat.

Chen Xi looked at him with surprise.

She couldn’t imagine such a gentle character coming from the hands of such a cold, rough man.

The scene kept changing, with Tunnel’s classic characters taking turns appearing on screen.

The last image was actually what Chen Xi had sent to Qin Lie this morning.

Mingsha Mountain, with a sunset-reddened background.

A barefoot woman standing in the desert, in a blood-red dress with flying hair, holding a huqin that gleamed coldly, transformed by the woman’s mysterious yet slightly cold aura into a bloodthirsty weapon.

The screen froze on this image, and Chen Xi looked up at the screen.

Though it was her own work, for a moment she was still shocked by the intense colors and murderous aura on screen.

Qin Lie looked at Chen Xi and asked, “Which one do you like best?”

Chen Xi said, “My own.”

Qin Lie’s expression was indifferent. “This is the worst one.”

Chen Xi laughed lightly, unconcerned.

Qin Lie said, “Yet it amazed me.”

He was shocked the moment he first saw this painting.

In terms of how refined or professional it was, Dawn’s artists could achieve perfection.

But there was something in this painting that made his heart suddenly race for a moment.

He’d pondered all morning – what amazed him was probably in the character’s face.

The eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, expression – it wasn’t typical anime style, nor the pure classical charm of murals.

What she gave him was complex and mixed, an indefinable feeling.

Simply put, it was a sense of mystery, a kind of intensely beautiful style.

Like the molten gold sunset blazing like fire, burning Mingsha Mountain.

No matter how many picturesque landscapes exist in this world, none could compare to that burning intensity.

Chen Xi turned to look at Qin Lie, her expression slightly surprised.

Qin Lie said, “But Chen Xi—”