He Ao turned in the direction the boy's shadow was pointing.
Behind him, among the neatly arranged corridor doors that had seemed to stretch to the end of time, a void had appeared at some point.
Within that void, a staircase leading to the Upper Layer faintly emerged.
And He Ao clearly remembered that staircase had not been there just moments ago.
Faint, illusory mist slanted down from the stairs, obscuring most of the steps.
Sure enough, it was possible to "ask for directions."
He Ao turned back, looked at the empty space before him, and smiled. "Thank you."
With that, he turned around, glanced at the Physical Fitness stat in his vision—95.
He took out a strip of jerky and bit down on it, then stepped onto the staircase shrouded in mist.
Behind him, the children on the wall watched him leave, then all rushed toward the child holding the green leaf and began to roughhouse.
A faint, hazy green glow shimmered softly over the leaf.
The children's shadows vanished from the wall.
The corpse lying on the ground also completely disappeared at that instant.
The entire corridor returned to silence and emptiness.
In a stretch of gray mist, figures moved swiftly about.
Deep within the mist was a small circular clearing, revealing a pitch-black floor that looked as though it had been paved with polished marble.
A pure white Ceramic Puppet, about fifty centimeters tall with transparent long hair, sat crouched in the center of the clearing.
Her proportions resembled those of a normal human child. She wore a long red dress, hugged her knees with both arms, and porcelain-white, spotless skin showed beneath the hem of her dress.
She sat there while the surrounding crowd circled around her, yet no one looked at her.
After a