Volume 5
295 Crack in s.p.a.ce

That narrow path disappeared slowly as a new environment appeared before me. This was not the Split Zone.

I looked around blankly. This place…

There were tall buildings, ma.s.sive traffic and large crowds.

The sky was blue with white clouds. The air was refres.h.i.+ng. It felt lively.

In a r.e.t.a.r.ded move, I rubbed my eyes hard.

My vision blurred a little, but I calmed myself down as I began to take in the sights.

I was back.

I was standing somewhere totally foreign to me. It wasn"t near the school or the hospital.

It was a traffic junction.

This felt foreign to me. I didn"t remember this place at all, nor could I recognize it.

The only thing I could be sure of was that this was the real world.

Am I really back?

I crossed the road as I looked at the crowd.

I stopped right in the middle of the road facing a car that was speeding its way towards me. I was uneasy, and I didn"t know why I had to use such an extreme method to find the answer.

I kept my eyes on the car as it approached me.

When it was about to reach me, it screeched to a stop, honking loudly.

I widened my eyes in surprise, wanting to call out in joy. But my spirits were dampened as I saw someone crawling through my legs.

That person pa.s.sed right through me.

He didn"t crawl in between my legs, he crawled right through the both of them as if I was non-existent. He crawled through my body just like this.

Two individuals rushed out from the car, calling out loudly.

A crowd then began to congregate. Some of them were calling the police and some were calling an ambulance.

Some others were looking at the spectacle as they pointed at the scene.

n.o.body saw me.

n.o.body could touch me either.

I laughed at myself as I looked back at the car. "So you didn"t stop for me… None of you can see me at all…"

If this were a dream, I knew that I wouldn"t be able to wake up. If this was real, then I was back in the real world as a wandering spirit. No one could see me now, and the only difference was that Gaoqin Jiuye was not here with me this time.

Being thrown back into the real world so suddenly, I didn"t know how to handle the situation at all. This was somewhere foreign yet familiar to me. Exhaustion suddenly overwhelmed me.

I sat down on the sidewalk like an abandoned child while I tried to a.n.a.lyze the situation as best as I could.

Firstly, I can be sure that this wasn"t a hallucination nor was this a dream.

One scenario has been eliminated.

Secondly, I"m not back for real, since n.o.body could see me here. Was I still being tested on that narrow path?

No, that"s impossible. Li Qing didn"t warn me about this. I believe that Li Qing wouldn"t keep things from me.

There was only one possibility left, and that is, I"ve arrived in that crack in s.p.a.ce, again.

It was Old Man Fan who helped us arrive in the crack in s.p.a.ce previously, and we weren"t able to take a good look at it because we had been in such a rush to return.

Would it be any different this time?

I happened to glance at my feet as these questions ran through my head.

I was barefoot.

My eyes widened slowly as I looked down at my own foot.

I saw something that I couldn"t believe was true.

I reached out to touch it, but it did not help the situation at all.

The split symbol on my left ankle had disappeared.

There was always this nagging feeling of something worse that could happen after going through a terrifying experience.

But today was the day I was the most terrified in my entire life.

I no longer belonged to the Split Zone if I was without a split symbol.

But I did not belong in this world either. Who am I then…?

You"ll enter another dimension in the illusion shortly, and I can"t predict what you might see there. But remember this, don"t believe anything or anyone no matter what you see. Don"t trust anything there. I believe you"re able to do that. Lastly, this is the most important. You might make a mistake here. Once you enter that dimension, don"t turn around no matter what happens, even if someone is calling out to you. Don"t turn around until you see Scorpion Ray glow on your wrist.

Just continue going forward and you don"t have to pay any attention to anyone who tries to obstruct your way. There"s also no need to avoid anyone who tries to attack you, because n.o.body would be able to hurt you as long as Scorpion Ray is with you.

You can move freely once Scorpion Ray starts glowing, and you"ll be able to walk out of that illusion and find me shortly after. I"ll then tell you how to work together with me to break this illusion. But before that, don"t stop for anyone or anything else, and don"t turn around for anything. You have to remember this.

If you don"t, your consciousness will end up in that crack in s.p.a.ce and you"ll wander like a homeless soul for all eternity…

Li Qing"s words replayed themselves in my head and it only got louder and louder…

I began frantically searching for my scorpion insignia split symbol on my leg.

But it was just a pale, ordinary leg. There was nothing on it.

Did I really end up in the crack in s.p.a.ce because I turned around on that narrow path…?

I couldn"t believe this…

I began to have a taste of what it meant by having to go through eternal solitude.

Eternal solitude was when no one in the world could see me or touch me.

n.o.body would know what I said or did either.

n.o.body would be able to communicate with me here, and I would never be able to return to the Split Zone.

The split symbol on my ankle was gone, and I couldn"t feel an ounce of MF in me.

I was just a wandering spirit.

A thought struck me, and I bit down hard on my tongue.

There was no pain…

I finally understood what it meant to be in eternal solitude.

I couldn"t even die in this crack in s.p.a.ce.

"Nie Zun."

"Jiao S."

"Gaoqin Jiuye."

As if insane, I shouted their names loudly, but to no avail.

Am I going to stay like this forever?

I can"t die and there"s n.o.body else around for company. Am I going to live like this here in the crack in s.p.a.ce forever?

What kind of sinner deserved such a punishment?

I had been ostracized all my life, and I"ve been losing people I care about after arriving in the Split Zone. I didn"t seem to be able to keep anyone in my life, and I"ve never felt secure.

I"ve already had enough of solitude, but in the end, I had to have solitude as my only company till the end of time.

No, it isn"t till the end of time. This punishment had no end.

Why…

Just why…

Why did it have to be me ending up here in this crack in s.p.a.ce? I was so afraid of solitude. I"m not living here, but I can"t die here either.

Can the heavens tell me what I"ve done wrong, apart from killing Gao Qi, for me to deserve this…?

Can you imagine what life would be like if you merely stayed somewhere, not doing anything?

It would be an endless horror story.

One couldn"t escape from it. It would drive a person insane. It was a punishment that can drive people to the edge of their sanity.

What did I do wrong to deserve such "treatment"?

I began attempting to stop people in their tracks like a madwoman. I wanted to get them to notice me. I wanted to get them to look at me.

No matter how I cried out, how loudly I bawled, how much I pulled and screamed, n.o.body could hear me.

n.o.body could see me.

Everything just pa.s.sed right through me.

As I was about to give up, I thought of something else.

What would happen to Gaoqin Jiuye now that I didn"t have a split symbol?

There was a split symbol contract established between us, but it hasn"t been undone since I did not insert my splitting key into his split symbol. What would happen to him now that my split symbol had disappeared on its own?

I looked down as I thought of the splitting key. I tried looking for it around my neck, but there was nothing there.

Even my splitting key was gone.

But what use would a splitting key be without a split symbol?

What would Gaoqin Jiuye be thinking…

I had no idea what would happen to him, and I felt helpless at that. If I had a tragic ending, I just hoped that I wouldn"t have to drag anyone else down with me.

But as someone who shared a split symbol contract with me, what would happen to Gaoqin Jiuye? Would he be affected by me? How would he be affected?

I would really go mad if guilt and worry were heaped upon this eternal solitude.