The moment the figure in black vanished, everything around them melted like an oil painting. The twisted city faded from Zhao Zhengbin's sight, and after a dizzying spin, he found himself back on the congested street.
Zhao Zhengbin braced himself against the car door with one hand and looked up blankly. The pedestrians on both sides of the street stood rooted in place as if they had lost their souls, staring dully at the emptiness ahead. Only after a moment did they come back to themselves and look around in confusion.
"Mom!" Zhao Zhengbin walked around to the other side of the car and supported his mother, who had just awakened as if from a dream.
"Mom, are you okay?"
"...I'm fine." The woman looked around as if searching for something. "Where did he go?"
"Who?"
"The person in the Black Cloak..."
Hearing that, Zhao Zhengbin became certain that what had just happened was not an illusion... He wasn't the only one who had seen that black-cloaked figure.
"Big brother, Brother Hu Jia??"
On the sidewalk, a seven- or eight-year-old child called out in confusion, apparently searching for something as well.
"What Brother Hu Jia?" the adult beside him asked, rubbing his temples in puzzlement.
"The big brother wearing a black cloak. He said he would always protect me..."
"You saw him too?" The adult froze. "It wasn't an illusion... It really wasn't an illusion??"
"I saw him too. He said he was talking to more than three hundred million people at the same time..."
"My God, that face in the sky just now scared me to death!!"
"Vishnu, right? I heard that black-cloaked person say it! He even told us to follow the directions to take shelter..."
"What black cloak! That was one of Great Xia's Night Watchmen! The