Of the twenty-three people, half could not help feeling a surge of emotion, their expressions shifting.
The eerie Hong Kong-style tenement building bore the marks of countless years. Standing beneath it felt like being pinned beneath the gaze of a terrifying shadow monster.
The sharply contrasting patches of black and white on its walls clustered in the shadows, like raised scales on a monster that might fall away at any moment.
Yet strange as it was, no one sensed any supernatural presence or danger.
This was everyone's first visit to the Black and White Building in the Real World. The terrifying building they remembered now looked ordinary, with only a hint of gloom.
Li Guanqi used a Detection Sin Artifact to conduct an initial probe at the foot of the building. A ring of ordinary employees surrounded him, watching nervously with dry, itchy throats.
The detector's beeping rang through the night as midnight approached, sounding faintly eerie in the silence.
"Nothing..."
It was a perfectly reasonable answer.
Li Guanqi put away the Detection Sin Artifact. Though he had detected nothing supernatural, his brow remained deeply furrowed.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the Restart Ritual officially began.
Gu Xingjian first took out an unremarkable Compass and walked around the base of the building, checking something. His face betrayed no emotion, as though he were merely going through a routine chore.
Ji Li stood closest to him, and the seven-colored light in his palm was already showing signs of breaking free.
Everyone formed a wide circle around the two men, their expressions strained as they watched uneasily.
The process took only about a minute. Gu Xingjian seemed to confirm something, then put away the Compass and produced two objects before everyone, one in each hand.
In his left hand was a slightly