Chapter 1101: Pig Eyes
Lin Sanjiu abruptly came to a halt, looking around in bewilderment.
"What do you mean?" She swallowed her amazement and asked, "Are you saying that the Astral Plane was created by someone"s corresponding condition?"
"No, no, what I mean is... this Astral Plane might be an illusion."
"An illusion?"
"For example, while we were inside the real Astral Plane, we accidentally entered someone else"s corresponding condition..." Bohemia s.h.i.+vered as she continued, "If that person"s corresponding condition happens to create an illusion of the Astral Plane right before our eyes... then we"ve been spinning in a virtual image..."
"Are you saying that we"re like ants trapped in a box? Only in this case, the inner side of the box presents itself as the Astral Plane?"
"Yes, but the box has boundaries, while corresponding conditions inside might not."
Lin Sanjiu pondered this idea back and forth.
"Are you making this guess solely because the Concrete World Branch disappeared? It seems a bit lacking in evidence."
To call it lacking in evidence would be polite; it seemed like an unfounded case of paranoia.
She asked while gazing at the endless cosmic starlight around her. You could find various layers of colors here, as if numerous exotic-colored diamonds were slowly turning under the light, creating a dazzling and dazzling opera-like brilliance. Some colors were even completely unfamiliar to her.
How could such an astonis.h.i.+ngly realistic scene be created by corresponding conditions?
"Keep in mind that if we were deceived within the Astral Plane, the corresponding condition would simply need to project external scenes into its interior." Bohemia seemed to have guessed her thoughts and continued, "The disappearance of the Concrete World Branch is an unimaginably significant event... I"ve never heard of Higher Consciousness buildings disappearing like this. Moreover, there were other things that disappeared along with it."
"What?"
"You listen."
Lin Sanjiu focused and listened for a while. After Bohemia"s voice fell silent, the only thing enveloping her ears was the dead silence like a dark dome. The dazzling stars in the distance seemed to be living in a silent drama, gliding noiselessly across the sky, with only those closer making a slight sound as they pa.s.sed by.
"It"s too quiet..." she muttered.
"Yeah, no kidding. We can"t even hear any pa.s.sing conversations!" Bohemia had completely retreated into her own light now, sounding as if her stomach was growling, "I suspect something is off in this place."
To verify this guess wouldn"t be difficult; Lin Sanjiu hesitated for a few seconds before she decided to take the risk and rushed toward a nearby crimson star. That star wasn"t flying particularly fast, and its color looked like countless strands of red velvet melting in the sunlight. It was a pure, intense red, and the long tail of light trailing behind it was soft. If she were just about to become someone"s meal at random, she would be incredibly unlucky... Lin Sanjiu didn"t hold back and shouted at the crimson star, "h.e.l.lo! Are you on your way somewhere?"
Startled, the crimson star came to an abrupt stop and quickly distanced itself from her, as if it were on guard, "What are you doing?"
The fact that they could interact with someone meant they weren"t trapped inside someone"s corresponding condition—when she heard the words spoken in response, they seemed almost unreal, given how tranquilly they had fallen on her ears. Lin Sanjiu breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to think of an excuse, the crimson star had already run out of patience and turned away, saying, "Sorry, I"m not interested in market research questionnaires."
Wait, there were market research questionnaires in the Astral Plane too?
Before she could ask another question, the crimson star had already disappeared into the distance. Lin Sanjiu looked down at Bohemia, who was hidden within her starlight, and asked, "Aren"t you being overly suspicious?"
"Is that so?" Bohemia pondered skeptically for a moment, "Well, no one ever said the Concrete World Branch couldn"t move."
"Let"s not speak until we"re sure next time!"
Bohemia felt upset and grumbled something inaudible. Lin Sanjiu couldn"t help but feel a little troubled as she thought about how she had returned to her initial problem—where to find Magus since the Concrete World Branch had disappeared.
As she pondered, she flew aimlessly forward. It was difficult to describe the sensation; it was as if you were urgently searching for a pen, but you couldn"t find it no matter how hard you looked. Then, upon picking up the pen, you would experience a subtle, faint doubt mixed with a surprise, thinking, "How could I have not seen it?" It was as if... she had been deceived by some kind of clever barrier.
"Come on," she had obviously unknowingly stopped in place when she heard Bohemia urging, "You"re just standing still. The grand prize won"t come looking for you here."
1
"Ooh..."
What?
Lin Sanjiu suddenly s.h.i.+vered and almost doubted whether she had misheard. "Who won"t come here to find me?"
"Magus," Bohemia replied puzzled, "Who else?"
1
Lin Sanjiu breathed a sigh of relief. Her thoughts had been circling around the grand prize all day, and it had probably started making her a little delirious. Bohemia had never heard Lin Sanjiu mention Ji Shanqing, so there was no way she could say the words "Grand Prize."
"It doesn"t matter where we go; let"s just keep moving forward," Bohemia urged, unaware of the scare Lin Sanjiu had just experienced. "Look, isn"t there a light spot in the distance?"
This was nonsense because every star could be considered a light spot. Lin Sanjiu was about to dismiss it when she realized she had seen a standard light spot ahead: bright white in color, unmoving, and distinctly different from the radiant and lively stars. It looked plain and unremarkable.
"I think that"s a gas station," Bohemia said as if it were the most normal thing. "Let"s go and check it out; maybe we can find out something."
There were gas stations in the Astral Plane as well?
Curious, Lin Sanjiu flew straight towards the gas station. In the silent universe, there was nothing but the sound of her flying, coming in waves as if she was breaking through the tranquility of the sea.
To think of it, even though she was flying forward, there was a sense of gradually sinking. However, individual spatial awareness was highly inaccurate in the vast emptiness of s.p.a.ce. Not to mention s.p.a.ce, even when a person"s ear balance was disturbed, it was difficult to determine whether one was ascending or descending even in an airplane.
After sinking for a while, the light spot seemed to get closer and closer. Lin Sanjiu gradually relaxed. She turned her head to look in other directions, only to be startled when she turned back.
The light spot was gone, replaced by a figure she was very familiar with.
The person had dispelled the starry form and their golden curly hair still seemed radiant from this distance. Their waist, calves, and ankles were as slender and graceful as she remembered. Just a back view was enough for her to know who it was.
"Magus!"
Lin Sanjiu shouted softly and accelerated to head straight towards the figure. Almost at the same time she rushed out, Bohemia yelled, her voice unusually loud, "Don"t go!"
"Why?"
"Why what?" Bohemia was momentarily surprised, and now her voice was no different from before. "I didn"t say anything. Isn"t that Magus ahead? Aren"t you going to her?"
Had she misheard it again?
Lin Sanjiu hesitated for a moment and couldn"t make herself move. Instead, Bohemia started to panic. "Hurry up! Magus is right there ahead of you. Haven"t you forgotten why you"re here?"
Magus was hovering in mid-air, as if deep in thought, and hadn"t moved. Just a few seconds were all it would take to reach her if Lin Sanjiu accelerated, but she didn"t want to move for some reason.
Ever since Bohemia mentioned the possibility of someone"s corresponding condition, certain things had started to blur and deviate from their original course. Phrases like "market research" and "gas station" persisted in her mind.
As she was thinking about this, she suddenly heard a series of dull thuds, as if someone was punching something. Lin Sanjiu was about to look up when Bohemia spoke again, this time with extreme impatience and a hint of frustration, "Hurry up and get over here!"
Her words jolted Lin Sanjiu as if she had been electrocuted.
Since earlier, Bohemia had been hiding within Lin Sanjiu"s starlight, and it had been quite a while since she saw her. All she could hear was her voice. Along with this thought came the recent series of dull thuds. Lin Sanjiu couldn"t bear it any longer, so when Bohemia didn"t antic.i.p.ate it, she abruptly turned to the left and swiftly flew out, at the same time looking up at the universe above.
She probably would never forget this sight in her lifetime.
The pitch-black cosmos, which should have been endless above her, appeared as if someone had wiped off a layer of paint, revealing a spherical layer of transparent gla.s.s. Beyond that transparent gla.s.s was a gigantic, unfamiliar face. Compared to Lin Sanjiu, it was like a person looking down at a mouse. On this person"s face, those two small, seemingly half-shut eyes were overshadowed by their dark pupils, giving the impression of a pair of greedy pig eyes.
"Wake up quickly and stop going forward!" Bohemia"s voice resonated loudly, but it was difficult to tell where it was coming from. Lin Sanjiu looked down and realized there was no longer the figure of that golden-brown star in her starlight, and she couldn"t find her anywhere in the distance. "If you keep going, you"ll bring him into your own consciousness!"