"Don't take another step forward."
A lazy warning drifted down from the top of the wall.
Forty-One, who had just stepped over the threshold, hurriedly pulled his foot back, clasped his hands, and stood properly on the small patch of bluestone paving behind the gate. The most important thing when working for the Relevant Department was to follow the rules, because many of the assignments handled by the department involved high-dimensional spacetime phenomena that could easily spiral out of control. "Rules" were the most effective way to deal with such loss-of-control events.
As he stopped walking.
The palace compound before him, though somewhat dilapidated yet still supported by its inner framework, swayed faintly like a mirage before shattering with a bang and changing into something else.
The winding corridors, nearly dried-up pond, arched bridge, temple, pavilions, stone statues, enormous scholar Tree, and everything else in the courtyard vanished without a trace. In their place was a deep, oval-shaped pit, with an unfamiliar giant Tree standing at its center.
The Tree seemed shrouded in a warped bubble of space and time. Although Forty-One stood at the gate and, in theory, was no farther from the Tree than the length of Xuanhuang Palace, he could not make out its appearance. He could only vaguely see several figures standing beneath it, apparently arguing about something.
The edge of the pit had sunk almost flush against the base of the surrounding wall. Chunks of rubble clung to the pit walls, and when the breeze blew through, they rustled down like they were falling off a cliff or into an abyss, producing long, hollow echoes as they struck the depths.
A cold bead of sweat seeped from Forty-One's temple.
He was absolutely certain that without that warning, if he had taken one more step, he