After the purple pillar of light disappeared, the night wind poured in, making the curtains flap noisily.
Ning Rongrong remained by the window, staring into the distance for a long time. Only after the lingering mist had completely dispersed did she slowly turn around. Her gaze settled on Lin Mo again—or, more precisely, on the flickering purple characters still glowing in his right eye.
"The things in your eye," she said, pressing her lips together. "What are they, exactly?"
Lin Mo closed his eyes and silently thought, "Close." The display vanished. When he opened his eyes, he saw Ning Rongrong looking at him with a complicated expression: wary, yet curious, with a hint of fear hidden beneath her curiosity.
"The system," he answered honestly. "I don't know how it got here, either. When that bronze mirror exploded, it burrowed into me on its own."
Ning Rongrong frowned. "A system? What kind of Soul Tool is that?"
"It's not a Soul Tool." Lin Mo thought for a moment, unsure how to explain. "Just think of it as... a talking tool."
Ning Rongrong was clearly unsatisfied with that answer, but she didn't press him. She began looking around the studio again, her gaze moving from the oil paintings on the walls to the chandelier overhead, from the bronze artifacts in the glass cabinet to the old-fashioned radio in the corner, its standby light still glowing.
"This place," she said slowly, "really isn't an illusion?"
"It isn't."
"Then how did I get here?"
"I don't know."
Ning Rongrong stared at him, as if trying to find some sign of a lie on his face. After a long while, she asked quietly, "Do you know the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"
Lin Mo shook his head.
"Then do you know what a Soul Master is?"
He shook his head again.
Ning Rongrong's expression grew complicated. She fell silent for a few seconds, then suddenly raised her right hand. Rainbow light gathered once more, and the exquisite seven-story pagoda appeared in her palm. Four Spirit Rings rose from beneath her feet and slowly revolved around her body, yellow, yellow, purple, purple, shining faintly.
"This is the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, the inherited Martial Soul of our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect." As she spoke, she lifted her chin slightly, carrying the pride she had been born with. "I'm a direct descendant, and I was born able to cultivate. I'm a level forty-two support-type Soul Master. These four Spirit Rings—the yellow ones are a hundred years old, and the purple ones are a thousand. Do you understand?"
Lin Mo looked at the rings of light and remembered the system's mention of a "Spirit Saint" and "level 76." He asked, "Is level forty-two considered strong?"
Ning Rongrong froze, then blushed faintly. "I... I suppose it's all right. I'm only twelve. I'll definitely reach level seventy or higher someday."
"What about someone at level seventy-six?"
Ning Rongrong's expression changed. "Level seventy-six? That would make him a Spirit Saint. Why are you asking?"
Lin Mo pointed out the window. "The purple light just now. The system said it was caused by someone named Shi Nian, a level seventy-six Spirit Saint. He'll arrive in that direction in forty-eight hours."
Ning Rongrong's face went deathly pale.
"Shi Nian?" Her voice trembled slightly. "Shi Nian, the one with the Residual Dream Martial Soul? The owner of the Illusion Wisdom Skull?"
"You know him?"
"He hunted the Shrek Seven Devils!" Ning Rongrong blurted out, then realized she'd let something slip and hurriedly clamped her mouth shut.
But Lin Mo had already heard her. "The Shrek Seven Devils?"
Ning Rongrong pressed her lips together and said nothing. She withdrew her Martial Soul and folded her arms across her chest, looking like she didn't want to talk. But her slightly trembling fingers gave away her nerves.
The silence stretched on for a long time.
At last, Lin Mo spoke first. "Are you hungry? There's still noodles in the pot."
Ning Rongrong froze, clearly not expecting him to ask that. She wanted to say no, but her stomach betrayed her with another loud growl.
Her face grew even redder.
Lin Mo said nothing and turned toward the kitchen. When he came back with a freshly cooked bowl of noodles, he saw Ning Rongrong crouched in the corner, cautiously reaching out to touch the old-fashioned radio.
"Don't be afraid. It won't bite."
Ning Rongrong snatched her hand back and glared at him over her shoulder. "Who said I was afraid?"
Still, she accepted the bowl.
This time, she ate slowly, sneaking glances at Lin Mo as she went. Lin Mo sat in the chair opposite her, not looking her way, simply staring out the window in a daze. The desk lamp cast a soft outline over his profile. He didn't look like a bad person.
, but her father had always said that the better-looking a man was, the more likely he was to lie.
Ning Rongrong hurriedly banished the thought and lowered her head to keep eating.
When she finished, she set down the bowl and suddenly asked, "Besides saying Shi Nian is coming, what else did that system of yours say?"
Lin Mo turned to look at her. He was debating whether to tell her about "having a child to delay the collision." But looking at the little girl in front of him, who seemed only twelve or thirteen, he just couldn't bring himself to say it.
"It also said," he replied, picking out what he could tell her, "that summoning people from your world could delay the collision between the two worlds."
"Summoning?" Ning Rongrong frowned. "Like the thing that brought me here?"
"Probably."
"Then how do I get back?"
Lin Mo fell silent for two seconds. "The system didn't say."
Ning Rongrong lowered her head and stared at her toes. After a long while, she said softly, "My dad must be frantic. And Grandpa Sword, Grandpa Bone... They're probably looking everywhere for me."
Her voice was calm, but Lin Mo could hear the tremor beneath it.
He didn't know what to say. Comforting people was never something he was good at.
Ning Rongrong looked up at him. "If Shi Nian really comes, what are you going to do?"
Lin Mo thought it over. "Even if I can't beat him, I'll fight. He might be coming for you."
"For me?"
"The system said that when male characters arrive, they instinctively hunt female summoned characters." Lin Mo paused. "You were the first to arrive, so you're probably his primary target."
Ning Rongrong's face paled further. But she bit down hard on her lip, refusing to show her fear.
"What about you?" she asked. "Can you beat him?"
"No."
"Then why fight?"
Lin Mo looked at her and suddenly smiled. "What else? Let him kill you?"
Ning Rongrong froze, then turned her head away. "I don't even know you. Why do you care whether I live or die?"
Lin Mo didn't answer.
The wind outside grew stronger. A clock chimed in the distance. It was two in the morning.
Ning Rongrong yawned and stubbornly fought off sleep. "I'm not tired... Soul Masters can go days without sleeping..."
She didn't finish. Her head was already nodding. She struggled to open her eyes, but her eyelids grew heavier and heavier. At last, she tilted to one side and fell asleep against the sofa.
Lin Mo stood up, took a blanket from the cabinet, and gently draped it over her.
Asleep, Ning Rongrong looked much smaller than when she was awake. Her pink-blue hair spilled across the sofa, and her long eyelashes trembled faintly, as if she were dreaming. Her right hand still clutched the token at her waist, her knuckles white, as though she feared that if she let go, she'd lose the last thing she had to hold on to.
Watching her, Lin Mo suddenly remembered himself at seven years old, clutching his parents' portraits at the funeral home after they had died in a car accident. He had held on just like this, gripping them until his fingers went numb.
He gently eased the token from her hand and set it on the coffee table beside her. Then he pulled the slipping blanket back up to cover her shoulders.
After that, he returned to his chair and stared out at the lingering purple mist. He didn't sleep all night.
Just before dawn, a faint rustling came from the sofa.
Lin Mo turned his head and saw that Ning Rongrong was awake, watching him with her eyes open. They held each other's gaze for a few seconds before she looked away and slowly sat up.
"You didn't sleep?" Her voice was hoarse with sleep.
"I couldn't."
Ning Rongrong looked down at the blanket over her, then at the token on the coffee table beside her. She was quiet for a few seconds before murmuring, "Thank you."
Just as Lin Mo was about to reply, a sudden pain pierced his right eye.
A purple display sprang open on its own:
[Side quest progress updated,] [Current target: Ning Rongrong] [Current favorability: 32 (increased)] [Time remaining for quest: 18 hours] [Hint: The key to building trust is sincerity. She comes from another world and is wary of everything. Making her feel safe is more effective than any words.]
Lin Mo silently cursed. Could this lousy system pick a better time to show up?
Ning Rongrong saw the glowing characters. She stared for a moment, then suddenly asked, "What does that favorability mean?"
Lin Mo was silent for two seconds, then decided to tell the truth. "The system wants me to put you at ease within twenty-four hours. Favorability measures my progress."
Ning Rongrong's expression changed.
"So you were nice to me because of a quest?" Her voice was calm, but not quite normal.
Lin Mo looked at her. "At first."
"And now?"
Birds chirped outside. Dawn was near, and morning light slipped through a gap in the curtains, casting a long, narrow beam across the floor.
"Now," Lin Mo said, "I just want you not to be afraid."
Ning Rongrong stared at him for a long time.
Then she suddenly smiled. It wasn't the strained smile she'd worn before, but a genuine one, faintly cheerful. She quickly suppressed it and put on a stern face. "At least you know what to say."
She stood up, walked to the window, and pulled the curtains open.
Morning light flooded the room, brightening every corner. The distant skyscrapers gleamed gold in the sun, and boats were already moving along the Huangpu River, trailing long white wakes behind them.
Ning Rongrong watched it all and said softly, "This world... is actually quite beautiful."
Lin Mo walked over to stand beside her, and together they looked out at Shanghai.
"You'll have plenty of time to see it," he said. "There's no rush."
Ning Rongrong glanced at him but said nothing.
The corner of her mouth lifted just a little.
Just then, another shrill howl came from the distance, like the one from the night before, but closer and sharper.
They both looked up.
In the direction of the suburbs, another pillar of purple light shot into the sky. This time, it was twice as thick as the one from last night, and it lasted a full five seconds before disappearing.
The system's voice rang out right after:
[Warning] [The Plane Rift continues to expand.] [The arrival of target "Shi Nian" has been brought forward again.] [Time remaining: 36 hours.]
The smile vanished from Ning Rongrong's face.
Staring at the lingering purple light in the distance, Lin Mo suddenly asked, "Does Shi Nian have any weaknesses?"
Ning Rongrong thought for a moment, then said slowly, "His Martial Soul is Residual Dream, and he excels at creating illusions. But while he's maintaining one, he can't move."
"What else?"
"And..." Ning Rongrong recalled what she'd heard at Shrek Academy. "His Illusion Wisdom Skull is said to strengthen his mental power, but it also has a drawback. If his illusion is forcibly broken, he'll suffer a backlash."
Lin Mo nodded and said nothing more.
He silently calculated the time.
Thirty-six hours.
A day and a half.
Ning Rongrong stood beside him and suddenly tugged at his sleeve.
Lin Mo looked down at her.
Her eyes were bright, but not in a normal way. They shone with the light of someone forcing back her fear and stubbornly holding on.
"You'll protect me, right?" she asked.
Lin Mo looked at her and suddenly remembered how she'd looked asleep last night, clutching her token; how she'd turned her head away when she said, "I don't even know you."
He nodded.
"I will."
Ning Rongrong let go of his sleeve and looked away, pretending to admire the view outside.
A few seconds later, she said quietly,
"Then... I'll help you, too."
Her voice was soft, but Lin Mo heard her clearly.
Outside, the morning light grew brighter and brighter. A new day had begun.
And they had thirty-six hours.
The system suddenly displayed another prompt:
[Detected that host and target have reached an initial agreement to cooperate.] [Hidden quest triggered: Complete at least one effective cooperative training session within 36 hours.] [Reward: 200 Basic World Origin Points.] [Failure penalty: None.]
Ning Rongrong leaned over to look at the glowing characters and frowned. "Effective cooperative training? What does that mean?"
Lin Mo thought about it. "Probably means we have to practice fighting together."
Ning Rongrong froze, then seemed to think of something. Her face flushed faintly.
But she quickly put on a stern expression and pretended nothing was wrong. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."
She turned toward the door, took two steps, then stopped and looked back at him.
"Hey, does your world have anywhere we can fight?"
Lin Mo looked at the little face trying so hard to stay composed in the morning light. He suddenly felt that the next thirty-six hours might be far more interesting than he'd imagined.
Before you continue