Pumpkin City, once filled with the bustle of everyday life, fell quiet again. The lights stopped flickering, the smoke stopped drifting, and the people running through the streets froze in their original expressions and poses. The swaying branches, falling leaves, and even the Players in pursuit all came to a standstill.
Only Xu Huo, Tang Ming, and Wang Ling, who held time-related items, could still move in this space, which had completely become a backdrop.
Tang Ming didn't even have time to settle the score for being forced to his knees earlier. He had spotted a beam of white light that hadn't been there before, shining from the direction of the Sunshine Tree Villa neighborhood. His eyes lit up with immense delight, and he rushed toward 12th Street in a frenzy. But before he could take more than a few steps, his body stiffened in midair. Then he disintegrated into a cloud of dust, along with the item he wore, and drifted down to the ground.
The sight terrified Wang Ling. He immediately turned to look at Xu Huo, only to find that Xu Huo was looking back at him.
"Don't move," Xu Huo said. Then he skirted the two streams of time power ahead of him and made his way to Sunshine Tree No. 12.
The lights were still on at Sunshine Tree No. 12. Even from outside, Xu Huo could hear laughter and chatter from within: a child asking for another candy, a father sternly refusing, and a mother gently trying to soothe the child. It seemed to be the only sign of life in the frozen Pumpkin City.
Xu Huo stepped forward and knocked.
A bespectacled middle-aged man opened the door and smiled at him. "You're here. Come in and sit down."
The hostess poured the tea,