Night Fog

(The previous chapter was adjusted and revised, but the outcome remains the same and will not affect subsequent reading.)

Li Ran rummaged through Wang Gan's body and found a peculiar item.

It looked like an irregular, near-hexagonal Rubik's cube, with mirror fragments embedded on its surface that shimmered with the iridescent, oil-slick colors of a painting.

Li Ran's reflection within those mirrors appeared distorted and fragmented.

While he was puzzled, a line of text from a system panel appeared.

Mirror of Truth: A mirror that can peer into the real world; it is said that those who have glimpsed the true world through it have gone mad.

"A mirror that drives people mad?"

Li Ran frowned deeply and held the strange mirror up to his eyes. How had this thing not been crushed by the Demon Shadow Stomp?

"Could it be that equipment and items are immune to external damage?"

Peering into the strange mirror, Li Ran saw a fragmented world, much like looking through a kaleidoscope.

After watching for a while, Li Ran still couldn't discern anything useful.

"Nothing strange here."

"Is this a quest item?"

Thinking of this, Li Ran recalled one of the residential complex rules Grandpa Ge had told him about.

The madman on the rooftop of Building No. 4.

"Someone went mad after seeing the real world, and there's a madman on the rooftop of Building No. 4—doesn't that line up perfectly?"

"So, this thing is actually a quest item."

After pondering for a while longer without finding any clues, Li Ran tucked it away into his spatial inventory.

"Anything else?"

Li Ran fished a pair of glasses off Wang Gan's body.

Sure enough, the equipment remained completely unaffected. He finally reached a conclusion: it was just like playing a video game—even if you burn a boss to ashes, the loot it drops will still be there.

X-Ray Glasses: Need an explanation?

"Wang Gan, that pervert, he even has something like this?"

Li Ran wiped the glasses clean and put them on.

"Holy crap!"

The exterior wall of a nearby house turned transparent before his eyes, and he could see the entire layout inside without any obstruction.

"How magical."

As he focused his gaze, he found he could even adjust the viewing distance.

"Huh, there's actually a girl taking a shower."

"Sorry, my mistake."

Before he could feast his eyes, Li Ran saw the girl open a blood-red maw and swallow a rat whole, nearly making him vomit.

Afterward, Li Ran tested the functions of the X-Ray Glasses for a while.

Within a range of one hundred meters, he could see through up to five walls; any more than that and the view became blurry.

There was another aspect that surprised Li Ran: besides X-ray vision, these glasses also featured thermal imaging, effectively acting like a wall-hack cheat in an FPS game.

"This is a god-tier tool for peeping!"

Li Ran clicked his tongue, the smile on his face growing increasingly perverted.

Beyond peeping, Li Ran realized that the [X-Ray Glasses] could be utilized to their maximum potential on the battlefield; with X-ray vision and thermal imaging, no enemy would have anywhere to hide.

"Is that it?"

Li Ran searched Wang Gan's corpse for a while longer, but found nothing else of use.

"This serial killer only carries perverted junk; he doesn't even have a decent piece of equipment. What a failure!"

Li Ran cast a disdainful glance at the corpse.

Fortunately, the recent quest reward had included a piece of special equipment.

The reward had been deposited directly into his personal storage space.

Opening his storage space, Li Ran immediately noticed the special equipment.

Gloves: Great Blade Gloves (Fine) (Set 1/4)

Requirements: 700 Mysterious Power, 200 Strength

Stats: Mysterious Power +50, Strength +50, Constitution +50

Effect: Passive Skill: Blade Strike: Increases critical hit rate by 20% within ten seconds of attacking a target.

2/4 Set Effect: Stealth attacks, ranged attack strength increased by 10%!

4/4 Set Effect: Physical attack skill damage increased by 10%!

"Holy crap, it's actually a set piece?"

Li Ran was instantly thrilled; looting the corpse hadn't yielded anything good, but the reward certainly had.

However, his excitement quickly faded.

The stats of a single set piece were actually on par with a piece of Fine-grade equipment.

Only by collecting a two-piece or four-piece set could one trigger the set effects.

In other words, Li Ran had to obtain another piece of the Great Blade Set to trigger the two-piece attribute.

He would need to collect three more to trigger the four-piece special effect.

"Sigh, got my hopes up for nothing." Li Ran sighed.

"Where am I supposed to find so many Wang Gan to kill? And even if I kill this monster, it might not even drop a set piece."

Thinking of this, Li Ran felt a dull ache in his gut.

Connecting the appearance of Wang Gan's demonized Great Blade Demon form to this Great Blade Set, it was obvious the two were linked.

Only by killing Great Blade Demons would these drop, and even then, it wasn't guaranteed.

"If I could return to the real world, it would be great if this dungeon could reset. I could come back and kill him every time it resets until I farm the whole set."

But the reality was that whether he could even survive to return to the real world remained unknown.

Would the dungeon reset after he left?

And if it did reset, would Su Bingyao still remember him?

No one could give him an answer, not even his golden finger.

"Am I getting cocky now? Expecting too much is never a good thing."

Li Ran patted his face, forcing himself to calm down.

He had actually developed a sliver of attachment to the Weird World, a thought that terrified even him.

The night had grown deep, and it was time for Li Ran to return.

If he didn't go back now, his wife would get angry.

Before heading home, he made a trip to the Happiness Supermarket.

This time, he could calmly take the elevator back to his apartment.

"Daddy, you're back!"

"Look what Daddy brought you."

Li Ran pulled out a brand-new set of brushes and handed them to Li Ziyang.

"Thank you, Daddy."

Li Ziyang hugged the set of brushes, jumping up and down with joy.

"You're the one who spoils him. Come and eat."

Su Bingyao, wearing an apron, placed a basin of hot mutton soup on the table. Her hair was tied up high, with a few strands falling against her beautiful profile, giving her back a sense of dignity and domestic grace.

"With such a lovely wife, what more could a husband ask for?" Li Ran said dotingly.

Su Bingyao shot him a playful, reproachful glare. "Smooth talker. Did you find it?"

Su Bingyao was referring to the marriage certificate she had hidden.

The golden finger hadn't provided any specific hints for this task, and the only clue Li Ran currently had was that the marriage certificate was not in the house.

Li Ran was also frustrated; it was incredibly annoying how the golden finger's hints failed him at critical moments. It was usually accurate and timely with task reminders, but whenever it came to marital issues, it was either "you're on your own" or "this question is out of syllabus." What was the point of this golden finger!

He hadn't found the marriage certificate, but he hadn't returned empty-handed either.

His son had a gift, so how could his lovely wife not have one?

Like a magician, Li Ran produced a large bouquet of roses and presented them to Su Bingyao.

Su Bingyao's mouth parted slightly, her face filled with pleasant surprise.

"Wow, Mommy is blushing!" Li Ziyang shouted.

A rosy flush crept up Su Bingyao's cheeks. She held the roses in both hands and took a sniff, then rolled her eyes at Li Ran. "You say the company is struggling, yet you go and buy roses. Isn't this a waste of money?"

"Besides, I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm long past the age of liking flowers."

Although Su Bingyao complained and acted dismissive, Li Ran could truly feel that she was happy from the bottom of her heart.

Su Bingyao set the flowers aside and ladled a bowl of hot mutton soup for Li Ran. "Go wash your hands first."

"Alright."

Li Ran loved this feeling; it felt almost like a dream.

A wife who supported and understood him wholeheartedly was something every man dreamed of.

Midnight.

Night fog descended like dark clouds pressing down on the border, as if the entire residential complex were being swallowed by a colossal black beast!

The black mist seemed to possess a life of its own, darting wantonly throughout the complex.

Having failed to find the marriage certificate, Li Ran still could not get into Su Bingyao's bed.

At this moment, a wisp of black mist squeezed through the door crack into the room, circling the bed once before flying toward the tatami mat.

Li Ran, lying on the tatami mat, was already snoring softly.

The black mist hovered above Li Ran's head.

After a long while, it finally dissipated.

"Yi... yi... ya... ya..."

A milky, infantile sound drifted out from one of the rooms.