“Do they still have time?”
Tang Qi squatted on the ground, with Song Wenwei standing beside her. You Hui and Ren Bahai had already gone ahead to block the knights’ advance.
“They should.” Song Wenwei crossed her arms. Behind them stood a wall made of sand and soil, and the scale from earlier was perched on a hole in the sand wall.
“Since the knights evolve when they get close to the door we came in through, why did the broadcast play a countdown earlier?” Tang Qi asked.
Ten minutes earlier.
The two had just separated from Lu Nan under the tofu stall and ran to the right. An old-fashioned flower shop separated the four of them.
“By the way, we’re supposed to be evil dragons, right? Smashing these Evil Dragon Eggs—isn’t that just slaughtering our own kind?” Tang Qi’s wild imagination raced through her mind.
“No.” Song Wenwei pointed at the long worm inside the egg. “What evil dragon looks like this?”
“That’s true.” Tang Qi tapped the egg with an iron rod, and out came another long, worm-like thing just like before.
Unlike the others, its entire body emitted a faint glow, especially eye-catching in the gradually dimming environment.
“Wenwei-jie…” Tang Qi’s expression lit up with excitement. She slapped Song Wenwei’s shoulder hard. “Look, it glows.”
No sooner had she spoken than the previously still worm lunged at her waving arm.
“Hiss hiss hiss…”
“Thud!”
Song Wenwei swung her long stick hard, smashing the worm instantly. Screws, scrap metal, and a glowing stone spilled out—it was a Mechanical Bug.
“Holy crap, that scared me to death…” Tang Qi clutched her chest with both hands and whispered, “Thanks, Wenwei-jie, for saving my life.”
She feared her voice would attract the slowly advancing knights, trapping them in another peril right after escaping the Mechanical Bug.
Song Wenwei patted her shoulder in reassurance. She checked to confirm the thing was dead before leaning in closer.
“It glows?” Song Wenwei picked the glowing stone out from the scrap metal.
“Yeah, yeah.” Tang Qi nodded and squatted beside her. “We smashed one just like this when we first came in—a worm with a glowing tail.”
“Keep smashing. These things must be useful. The knights didn’t react to us at all, so let’s keep going. We’ll smash all the ones in this area, collect these stones, and then meet up with Lu Nan.” Song Wenwei said.
In the silent Demon Space, only the knights’ armor clinking with each step could be heard. The two stuffed the glowing stone fragments into their pockets.
Tang Qi turned her head and asked, “Hey! Wenwei-jie, could these be the secrets the knights’ corpses are supposed to tell us?”
“Maybe, maybe not.” Song Wenwei wasn’t certain, but at least these things were definitely useful.
They were scattered around. Either they needed to collect a certain amount to summon something, or these stones would draw the knights to slaughter them.
After smashing all the Evil Dragon Eggs in front of them, their pockets were heavy.
“Wenwei, Tang Qi…”
Someone called from behind them. Song Wenwei tensed up slightly.
She hadn’t heard any armor clinking—this couldn’t be one of the knights’ skills, could it…?
She turned slowly and saw it was You Hui and Ren Bahai. She breathed a silent sigh of relief. She’d read too many novels.
“Did you smash some glowing stones too?” Ren Bahai asked, pulling a handful of fragments from his pocket.
“Whoa, do you two know how useful these stones are…” You Hui patted his bulging pocket mysteriously. “Collect 150 grams of this stuff, and you can summon the sleeping princess.”
“How do you know that?” Tang Qi eyed the faintly glowing stones in their pockets.
They’d all been smashing eggs—how did they find this clue?
Song Wenwei glanced sideways at them too.
“It was on the sand wall up ahead.” You Hui pointed to a spot in front. “You two don’t know—the thing’s like an art exhibit, exquisite and all connected.”
With that, they led the women there. After walking about four minutes, they arrived at a street remarkably similar to the one they’d been hiding in earlier.
“How is this place identical to the front?” Tang Qi looked around and concluded, “This can’t be some kind of mirror, can it?”
“You might be onto something.” You Hui nodded thoughtfully.
Song Wenwei examined the sand wall up and down. She reached out and touched it—her fingertips glided over soft, warm, coarse sand. The wall was indeed made of sand.
You Hui’s expression changed. “Huh, weird. It was lit up earlier, but now it’s gone—even the picture’s vanished.”
He touched the sand wall and muttered to himself, “It was definitely there just now…”
“Maybe there’s a time limit.” Song Wenwei suggested the possibility. You Hui and Ren Bahai had no reason to lie, so that left only this explanation.
“Makes sense. Since it’s gone, let’s go check out that scale up ahead.”
Ren Bahai led the way. Song Wenwei counted about twelve steps.
A massive hole had been chiseled in the middle of the sand wall ahead, with an Iron Scale placed on top.
“This is for weighing the stone fragments.” Ren Bahai explained.
He placed the fragments from his pocket on the scale, and the glowing stones dimmed noticeably.
The scale automatically displayed their weight: 66 grams.
“Once it exceeds 100 grams, it activates the array. Once activated, two people must stand in place.” Ren Bahai pointed to two circles on the ground, each just big enough for one person.
He’d drawn this conclusion from the murals on the sand wall. The wall depicted two figures standing rigidly when the array activated.
“Who’s standing?” Ren Bahai asked. He paused and said, “Here’s the plan: We two are stronger, so we’ll go find the rest of the fragments you need. You two stay right here without moving. Sound good?”
“Okay.” The women agreed in unison.
“By the way, how do we delay the knights?” You Hui scratched his head. “But they’re so slow—should be fine, right…?”
“We can’t guarantee they’ll stay that slow.” Song Wenwei watched the two slowly moving knights.
“True.” Tang Qi pondered.
What could slow someone down? The legs were key…
She slapped her forehead and grinned. “I got it! Hit the knights’ legs to make them fall. It takes time for them to get up.”
You Hui’s face lit up. “Yes! We can block their path with stuff to trip them.”
He exchanged a praising glance with Tang Qi. Not bad—they were sharp.
“You two are full of tricks.” Ren Bahai said. “Worth a shot.”
…
“We can’t say what happens when the countdown ends, but if the knights reach the shutter door, we all fail.”
Song Wenwei turned sideways. The first painting began to emerge on the wall behind her.
The sand wall darkened as if watered, deeper in color than the surrounding blocks. It drew itself slowly, gradually revealing light and shadow.
It depicted a three-headed, six-armed figure over two meters tall, clad in bone armor from some unknown beast, wielding a spear tipped with a bird’s beak.
Beneath it writhed ugly, winged long worms.
“This…” Tang Qi blurted out in shock, “This can’t be what these knights evolve into, can it…?”
Song Wenwei nodded. “Probably.”
Tang Qi choked for a moment. “Then we’re screwed. They’re knights, we’re evil dragons… We’re just the bugs skewered on her spear.”
“Yeah.” Song Wenwei watched the two ahead still hustling. “But no worries. If all six of us fail, the production team loses the cabin and homestay too. Great—we’ll have neighbors.”
“As expected of a great teammate. Wenwei-jie, great minds think alike.” Tang Qi replied, then caught on. “Wait—no! Wenwei-jie, you’re throwing in the towel, aren’t you…?”
“No choice. We have to stand here and can’t do anything. Winning or losing doesn’t matter much now.”
The second painting gradually appeared.
The princess had enormous, beautiful wings, twin dragon horns on her head, and sparse ink-black scales on her back and body.
The two women didn’t blink. In an instant, the wings vanished into thin air, and the scales shed from her body.
The princess in the painting had skin like congealed fat, snow-white as jade, every smile and frown captivating. Her exact appearance was indefinable.
She stood atop a valley, with a ceaseless river at her feet. Ten armored knights with swords and shields flanked her.
“Wow, this is high-tech— it even changes…” Tang Qi exclaimed, then reacted. “Wait, is this the evil dragon princess or the human one?”
Song Wenwei shook her head. “Can’t tell whose side she’s on.”
“Wait, 148.2 grams?” Tang Qi leaned toward the hole in the sand and checked the scale.
She pointed at the pan. “Hey, wasn’t it 48.2 earlier? How’d it become this? Is this scale totaling everything? As long as it hits 150, we’re good?”
“Must be something Lu Nan did over there.”
—
Meanwhile.
You Hui and Ren Bahai hauled wooden boards and benches from the stalls, placing them on the knights’ path. They’d expected the knights to trip like before, but this time, the steel boots crushed everything instantly.
“Do you feel like they’re faster…?” Ren Bahai frowned, watching the knights’ steps lighten as they neared the shutter door.
Their armor seemed weightless now, their steps nimble, sword swings quicker.
The closer to the door, the faster they moved.
“No good—we need something big and iron.” Ren Bahai said.
They had to step it up.
He pointed to an iron-sheet tricycle nearby.
“How about we use this tricycle to try?”
“It doesn’t even have wheels—how do you know it’s a tricycle…?” You Hui gaped.
He stared at the cart bigger than both of them, lost in thought.
No wheels—did they have to carry it?
“Hurry up, no chit-chat!”
“Oh.”
The two grunted and heaved the iron-sheet cart. It was a vendor’s cart—thick, heavy, with an iron rack for seasonings that clattered to the ground as they moved.
“Put it here, here.” You Hui panted.
“Okay.”
The knight was about ten steps away—good distance.
They backed up dozens of steps, in case the knight suddenly went berserk and slashed them.
As long as the knight tripped on the cart and slowly got up, they’d buy lots of time.
But unlike before, this time the knight’s foot was like an indestructible shield—it pulverized the cart in a flash.
“Damn…”
Ren Bahai exchanged a glance with You Hui.
They said in unison—
“We can’t stop them!”
—
Lu Nan bent down, searching the ground for the stone fragment they’d missed earlier.
The glowing long worm would be obvious in the dim light, as long as nothing blocked it—easy to spot.
She picked up the worm, flung it to her feet, and smashed it with a stone. The body cracked like plastic, spilling fragments inside.
Lu Nan collected the stones, meticulously checking to ensure none were left behind.
“Doesn’t this place feel exactly like where we were earlier?” Gu Yue frowned, scrutinizing their surroundings.
She’d thought the buildings on both sides of the sand wall were too similar when they’d passed it—eerily so.
She’d dismissed it before, but now Gu Yue was certain: it was identical, down to the tofu stall they’d hidden behind.
Lu Nan nodded. “It’s not similar—it’s the same. This must be mirror symmetry.”
“Mirror symmetry…” Gu Yue mused. “We saw four knights at first, but now there are only two on the street. Are those other two the same as these?”
“Probably not the same.” Lu Nan walked slowly, heel-to-toe with each step, like a childhood game.
She said, “With four people missing, those four must be on the other side of the mirror.”
Gu Yue could feel her heartbeat, thudding one after another—bang bang bang.
No wonder they hadn’t seen the other four since they hid—the other four companions were no longer there but on the other side of the mirror.
“No more talking.” Gu Yue patted her hand; the countdown time in her mind was almost up.
If the two of them kept chatting, they might not make it in time.
Gu Yue said, “If we keep talking, I’m afraid we won’t have time. Let’s hurry and run now.”
Lu Nan shook her head and stopped in place, showing no intention of running.
“There’s still time.” Lu Nan no longer walked as she had before. She relaxed her legs and said calmly, “The time we have on the scale is enough. We still have over forty seconds.”
“There’s no scale here!” Gu Yue shouted.
She only knew that it was the final step—just one last step away.
The knights drew closer and closer to the shutter door, now less than three meters away. They were in great danger.
“There is.” Lu Nan said.
Gu Yue gave her a deep look.
“Twelve steps.”
