The moments of farewell are always difficult.
Tang Sui watched the reddening eyes, her heart also aching with a dull pain.
As if sensing her sadness, strands of fire brushed against Tang Sui’s cheeks, as soft as cotton, with a gentle, comforting warmth.
The air, mixed with the scent of blood, lifted Tang Sui’s long hair. With a subtle shift of her head, Tang Sui met the gaze of the bat-winged woman.
For a fleeting moment as their eyes met in mid-air, Tang Sui paused, as if receiving a message. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, the turmoil in her gaze had subsided to the lowest ebb. At least, the gloom in her dark blue eyes had faded.
“There’s no need to be so sad. It’s not like we won’t see each other again.”
Tang Sui’s voice returned to its usual tone, with a hint of a smile. She swept her gaze over everyone, then leaped from the thirty-third step, descending more than ten steps to land on the tenth.
That was a level Bai Chenxiang could also reach.
Amidst the attention, she raised her right hand and pressed it lightly into the air. Her dark blue eyes were clear and bright, devoid of any fear of the unknown or gloom of death.
“I promise you all, if I am outmatched, I will retreat and stay alive. Correspondingly, everyone must also strive to complete the Sea God’s trial, live well together, and become stronger. So now, let’s cheer each other on?”
Tang San and the others exchanged glances. Even Bai Chenxiang, under Tang Sui’s smiling gaze, bravely stepped onto the staircase.
Everyone stood on the tenth step, forming a circle of varying heights. Each person extended a hand, placing it on the back of the hand of the person next to them, piling them up.
Tang Sui’s lips curved slightly. As the initiator, she called out the prelude: “Shrek!”
“Let’s go!”
The piled hands pressed down with force, the powerful final syllable echoing as they concluded.
Under everyone’s gaze, Tang Sui’s toes touched the ground, her center of gravity shifting forward, and she slowly ascended into the air, moving towards the pillar of light.
“Whoosh—!”
The flames surged, and the two human-shaped phantoms transformed back into energy, rushing into Tang Sui’s body.
Tang Sui reached out her hand to touch the pillar of light. The moment her fingertips made contact, she herself began to radiate a blinding light, making it impossible to look directly. Even Poseidon was forced to close his eyes against the intense glare.
When the strong light subsided, Tang Sui was no longer in the air. The golden pillar of light descending from the sky had transformed into a two-meter-high vortex churning with deep gray mist.
This discovery made Tang San and the others’ eyes light up, and a guess formed in their minds.
Perhaps, they could indeed retreat if outmatched, just like ascending the Sea God’s Light?
Thinking this, they felt their future filled with hope.
“Brothers, Sui Sui is already working hard, we can’t fall behind!”
Dai Mubai, as the leader, turned around, his gaze fixed intently on the long staircase leading up to the island. The others were also ignited with fighting spirit, as if an infinite will to fight had flared within them.
The internal competition of Shrek begins now!
…
After the blinding light before her faded, Tang Sui found herself in a new environment.
No, perhaps even the world itself had changed.
Tang Sui looked at the beautiful modern detached houses before her, and at the women walking along the green belts, pushing strollers, wearing knitted cardigans and trousers. Other people, dressed in casual modern attire or proper suits, were scattered about. Their three-dimensional facial features and hair colors, which were not black, immediately indicated they were not Chinese.
“Hey there! Kid, are you here to sightsee in town? Where are your parents? Letting a child wander out alone can be very dangerous.”
A worried female voice came from behind her, speaking in a language she had learned in her previous life, not Chinese.
Tang Sui turned her head. It was a woman with long, wavy, flaxen hair, wearing a light blue knitted cardigan.
The woman was currently looking at her with curiosity… Hmm. Tang Sui lowered her gaze, and upon seeing her knee-length skirt, which was not entirely out of place but had an oriental element, she understood the woman’s question.
Indeed.
Too foreign.
“Yes, I’m here with a youth travel agency. But my family isn’t with me, as I’m already an adult.” Tang Sui replied in fluent English.
Hearing that Tang Sui was an adult, the woman’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh! You’re an adult? Sorry, I know East Asians look younger. I thought you were in middle school, no, high school.”
Tang Sui glanced at the woman, who appeared to be around 1.75 meters tall, and thought of her own height of about 1.6 meters. She fell into a suspicious silence for a moment.
Looking youthful wasn't her fault, but being so short was truly regrettable.
However, the immediate priority was to figure out what world she had been transported to.
With that in mind, Tang Sui chatted a few more sentences with the talkative woman, gathering enough information about the town. She then thought for a moment and walked towards the edge of the town, as indicated by the woman.
This town had no designated official activity zones. The most public places were a church and a police station.
The church… forget it. A place with Western faith, she already had PTSD from angels. She’d rather go to the outskirts herself and see if she could obtain any other information.
After bidding farewell to the woman, Tang Sui walked step by step towards the outskirts of the town.
Why not find a secluded spot and fly away directly?
She had discovered this when she was observing the modern buildings around her: her spirit power and demon power were sealed, and she couldn’t sense anything.
The only thing that hadn’t changed were the fox masks and the others. Her physical fitness was still there, but she couldn’t contact the system.
The strong physique trained in the Douluo world allowed Tang Sui to walk through the town, which was about the size of half a Douluo City, in just half an hour.
Originally, Tang Sui had expected to see some road signs or maps to check the geographical location.
But…
An endless expanse of gray, paving a new world.
The town was like a penned-in farm animal, isolated from the world, similar to the environment outside the walls of the Slaughter City. However, here, there were fine gray dust particles, about the size of a fingernail, falling from the hazy sky.
That gray dust carried the scent of death, making Tang Sui inexplicably feel a sense of danger.
“Similar to an independent domain?” Tang Sui murmured.
The masks in her mental space began to chatter amongst themselves.
Fox Mask: "You were clearly making a clumsy lie before, and no one saw through it. It's very similar to the nightmare illusions you created, forming an independent 'world'."
Ape Mask: "These gray particles give me a dangerous feeling. Don't you dare touch them!"
Great Flying Out: "Interesting, the people in this town don't even realize there's a problem. More thoroughly brainwashed than you!"
Fortune God: "Illusion of consciousness. This is a bit like the young mistress's style."
Old Mask: "All humans encountered along the way, and all alive. No scent of other non-humans detected."
—So the question remains.
Why was she sent here?
To let her feel the warmth of human society again and return to the human family?
Tang Sui lowered her eyes, concealing her gloomy emotions.