"Get back here, you!"
With a slap, a ginger-yellow talisman landed squarely on Victor Wang's forehead. In the stone hall, drowsiness overtook him like a student nodding off in class, and when he finally blinked his eyes open, he was back in the maze-like Hall of Lost Paths.
Hu Tao stood nearby, clearly fuming, arms akimbo with the low heel of her right shoe tapping rhythmically on the floor. As Victor Wang came to, she scowled and scolded him:
"You! You! I only agreed to bring you here because your spirit seemed stable, and look what happened! Didn't I tell you not to let your thoughts wander?!"
"So, all those illusions just now… they came from me?" Victor Wang realized he was still standing within the very same doorway of the Hall of Lost Paths, hadn't taken a single step beyond it, and his right hand—along with his torn clothing—was perfectly intact.
"That wasn't an illusion. I already told you: this place is where the ley lines are most chaotic, and also where we deal with the departed. The ley lines can manifest your obsessions with absolute realism. Everything you saw was real—and if you'd died in there, that would've been real too!"
Hu Tao summoned a crimson Staff of Homa, jabbing its tip toward the doorway as she continued. "You had just shed your protective 'shell' when the ley lines latched onto your strong obsessions. If you died, you definitely would've become a vengeful spirit."
Victor Wang scratched his head sheepishly. "But I didn't really have any obsessions with that stuff… Maybe one of them, but the rest? I didn't even recognize them!"
Hu Tao looked even more pissed. "Didn't recognize them? If it's not obsession, then it's karma—those you've killed returning as resentment. There's no such thing as seeing someone you don't know!"
Could it be that people usually come here before they've died, so they don't encounter this phenomenon…
So maybe it's the other way around: everything I saw were people—or things—that killed me? Because they're tied to death, they're even deeper-rooted in my subconscious than my current obsessions?
Whatever the case, Victor Wang could only keep protesting: "I really didn't recognize them."
"Mm-hmm. Sure. If you say so."
An angry Hu Tao… was still really cute. But definitely better when she's not mad.
Desperate to change the subject, Victor Wang asked, "So that talisman… that's what woke me up?"
He held up the yellow talisman he'd peeled off his temple. The characters on it had faded completely, its energy drained.
"That's right. It was made long ago by the Adepti. There aren't many left… and now there's one less."
"Sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen..."
"Forget it. A promise is a promise. I will get you to the 'Boundary'."
"Am I even safe to keep going after this?"
"This is exactly when you should go! Your obsessions have been purged and you won't be picked up by the ley lines for now. Wait any longer and we might have to waste another talisman. Now get moving."
Crossing through the door of the Hall of Lost Paths again, the scene beyond now matched the game quite closely: a towering cliff, a waterfall across from it, and a deep pool below.
Hu Tao leaned over the edge, peering into the depths. "You need to jump down here."
Without hesitation, Victor Wang leapt. Splash!
"Hey!"
His quick reaction actually caught Hu Tao off guard. She had meant to wait until he started questioning her before revealing that he only needed to deploy his wind glider mid-jump to reach the far side… Now she'd have to get wet too.
They swam across to the other side, entered a long winding corridor built from ruins, and eventually the space began to brighten. The once eerie black mist gave way to something softer—holy, even. White mist filled the air, serene and ethereal.
Exiting the tunnel, they stepped onto an expansive open platform, made of crumbled stone tiles and ruined architecture. Beyond it, clouds swirled, and radiant golden light poured down from the sky, making the entire scene feel like a celestial paradise.
Even the 'translucent people' wandering the platform didn't seem that frightening in such a setting.
"This is the true edge of the 'Boundary'. But what you want to see is a bit further." Hu Tao pointed westward to a large, irregular cave in the mountainside. From within, a glow of mingled white and golden light flickered.
This platform was vastly larger than its in-game counterpart. There were easily several hundred translucent figures scattered about. Victor Wang couldn't help but ask, "Are all of these 'people' ghosts?"
"Strictly speaking, yes. But here, there's no difference from the living." Hu Tao stepped forward and greeted one of them warmly. "Hey, Sister Lan!"
"Hu Tao. And this one is... a guest?"
"My name's Victor."
"I'm Lanxi. It's quite rare to see the living here, but with Hu Tao around, I feel reassured. There's not much here to offer, though."
"Don't worry, you're too kind… Pardon me for asking, but how long have you been here?"
"A long time. So long I've lost count. Are you looking for someone?"
"Uh…"
Under Hu Tao's suspicious gaze, Victor Wang explained, "Just checking on something. A man named Ning Gu died two days ago. I suspect he had lingering regrets. If you've been here all along, would you happen to remember him?"
"Only a few people have come in the past two days… just three middle-aged men." Lanxi turned slightly and pointed toward them. "I don't know their names yet, but you can see for yourself."
"Master Hu, I swear I'm not lying—I only remembered just now. I have to see this person one last time." Without waiting, Victor Wang strode over to check the figures.
He was back within a minute.
Lanxi, clearly used to this, maintained a gentle, neutral expression. "No Ning Gu?"
"No. With the way he died, I wouldn't be surprised if he turned into a vengeful ghost, but…"
"How did he die?" Hu Tao cut in.
"…Possessed by evil, killed by the Conqueror of Demons. Left his daughter all alone."
"Oof… that's rough. But neither that evil spirit nor the Adeptus would've allowed him to linger as a ghost. How's the daughter?"
"She's been taken in by an organization founded by Ningguang."
"Then there's nothing left to worry about. Come on, let's go see the Boundary."
They left the platform and followed a floating path westward. After two minutes, they reached the glowing cave from before.
"One more confirmation: I'm only here to show you the 'Boundary'. You're not expecting me to assess whether it can break the Khaenri'ahn curse of immortality, right?"
"Right."
"Okay, here we are! Don't bother trying—only the dead can pass. To the living, it's a solid wall." Hu Tao patted the shimmering barrier, which rang like glass. "See? This is the real 'Boundary'."
"?" Victor Wang glanced at her mischievous face, then at the barrier she leaned against casually.
So, this entire journey had been pointless?
If he couldn't go further, then he'd gained nothing. He hadn't even managed to improve Hu Tao's opinion of him—possibly made it worse.
He reached out hesitantly. Under Hu Tao's unbothered gaze, his fingers touched the barrier—and it rippled like water, pulling him in.
"Eh?!" Hu Tao panicked. She grabbed for his hand but was stopped cold—her touch was rejected by the light. The two were instantly separated.
"What?! No way! No way! What's going on?!"
None of the records left by the 77th generation of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor ever mentioned a living person entering the Boundary. Every risk assessment had been minimal—yet this anomalous guy shattered them all…
They'd found a wild ghost wandering Wuwang Hill for years—fine. But for a living man, whose spirit was supposedly tougher than most, to be captured by the Boundary and then enter it… was this the reincarnation of a death omen? Did he just have a vendetta against mortality itself?
"This is bad! Real bad!"
She summoned her Staff of Homa, seriously tempted to blast the 'Boundary' apart—but how could a mortal contend with ley lines? And even if she could… that wouldn't be the right move…
"What happened? Where's that young man?" Lanxi arrived, sensing something wrong.
"He… he went into the Boundary. It's all my fault—my first-ever career accident! I'm not worthy to be the parlor master anymore…"
"A living person? Impossible—unless… no, he seemed alive to me. I've been stationed here for ages, seen many stumble across this place, and not one of them ever made it through."
"Past experience means nothing now. The facts are right here…"
Hu Tao looked visibly shaken. Those who knew her understood that despite her bubbly exterior, she took her work extremely seriously. The Wangsheng Funeral Parlor meant everything to her.
Lanxi patted her shoulder. "Don't panic. Li Ce was about to depart anyway—let him go in and check."
"Will that work?"
"It's worth a try. If not, we'll think of something else."
Lanxi's calm demeanor steadied Hu Tao. She nodded and suddenly thought of Zhongli, the parlor's guest consultant—an elder who seemed to know everything. If nothing else worked, she'd ask him. But for now, abandoning Victor was not an option.
Soon, a middle-aged man in a green-and-white adventurer's outfit arrived with Lanxi.
"I was planning to stay a few more days… but if I can help someone, might as well make that my last contribution. Though… that bitch sure got the last laugh. Waited so long for her and she never came."
"We agreed not to bring that up around Hu Tao…"
"I can't help it! I'm still pissed! I risked my life out there making money while that whore cheated on me! Damn it! I regret not dragging her to the grave with me!"
Lanxi's face turned cold. "Your emotions are becoming unstable."
"I chose to go on my own, so I wouldn't become a vengeful ghost and sully the master's hands!"
Struggling to stay composed, the adventurer said:
"Hu Tao, you've seen so much of life and death. Even though you're young, you're wise and optimistic—one more story like mine won't shake you. I'm leaving with my regrets, but you all—don't mind me."
Hu Tao nodded silently.
Ghosts created from positive obsessions were rare. Most were steeped in resentment. The truly corrupted had to be forcefully sent off by the Wangsheng Parlor, exorcists, or even the Adepti. Li Ce had once carried little resentment, but time had worn him down.
"If I still have consciousness once I'm inside, I'll do everything I can to get that kid out!" Li Ce strode boldly toward the barrier. Hu Tao and Lanxi said their farewells from behind.
As one hand slipped into the light and his body began to disappear, he turned back and shouted:
"Lanxi, I hope you get to meet the one you're waiting for! If only my wife had been as faithful as you…"
"Li Ce…"