The Journey of Immortal Cultivation-Chapter 347 - 206: Strange Predicament_2
"You are trapped in a setup! Now, you have to figure out a way to escape from this situation!"
He tried to explain in the simplest terms and then gave her time to digest.
Her mind was in turmoil. It took her a full five breaths to grasp his meaning: "Are you saying this is an illusion? I’m trapped in an illusion?"
"You could say that. But this is more real than any illusion; everyone you encounter is flesh and blood, and you will bleed just the same if you are wounded."
"Every midnight, the things I experience will repeat over again, until the next midnight?" She thought about the state she was in when she woke up this morning and shivered as she asked another question, "But I don’t remember anything myself?"
"Yes!"
A hundred metaphorical grass-mud horses raced through her mind, but eventually, she sensitively latched onto the crux: "Wait a minute! If I am caught in this situation, why are you awake and aware?"
"I am in God Demon Prison, unaffected by this setup, able to watch with indifference." He paused, then added, "It’s just past 5 a.m. now; you have nine more two-hour periods to break out. If you fail, you will forget everything that happened today, and then wake up at the same time tomorrow to repeat it all, in an endless Reincarnation."
His voice contained a hint of pain.
Ning Xiaoxian was shocked. Time was indeed running out, and she needed to hurry. How could such a science-fiction event happen to her? Author, weren’t you writing a fantasy novel? Why has it turned into something supernatural?
"What number Reincarnation did I wake up to this morning?" She asked as she combed her hair.
He responded listlessly: "The seventy-fifth cycle."
Her hand gripping the comb tightened, and she stopped. She had failed seventy-four times before this?!
No wonder Changtian’s voice sounded both weary and disheartened. At the beginning of each cycle, he had to explain everything all over again to the clueless Ning Xiaoxian. By this seventy-fifth cycle, anyone would lose patience, let alone the proud Changtian!
Neither Xiaoxian nor Changtian wanted to endure a seventy-sixth cycle.
Come on! Ning Xiaoxian cheered herself on internally, quickly finished braiding her hair, left the room, and went downstairs. As Changtian had advised, she found a clean set of table and chairs in the inn and helped herself to a steamy Bun for breakfast.
She had just come downstairs when Tu Jin also emerged from another room and sat down next to her. She transmitted a message to Changtian: "Now, what should I do?"
"Look for something abnormal from all you have experienced," Changtian replied gravely. "From my observation, no matter who set up this Reincarnation Formation, it must have a flaw. Your task is to find this flaw and break the cycle."
"Easy to say. What does this flaw look like?"
His voice was low and clearly frustrated: "I don’t know. If I knew, why would I let you go through seventy-five cycles?"
If this were a game, the strategy he provided for passing the level was grossly irresponsible. Find something abnormal from all her experiences of the day? How enormous the difficulty! What’s the standard for abnormality?
"If the cycle is broken, what will happen to me?"
"I speculate that you should be able to escape this setup directly and then confront the originator of this whole affair."
She pondered for a while: "Have I tried changing certain things before? How about that magpie on the window lattice, have I tried that?"
"You have. One time, you killed it with your bare hands, but it made no difference to the cycle."
People rise early. By this hour, the tables and chairs in the inn’s lobby were almost fully occupied, clerks carried tea and served breakfast, bustling around busy as can be. While Xiaoxian and Changtian were talking, a customer at the table in front of her finished eating and stood up. Just as he took a step, a clerk rounded the corner and stepped right on his foot, tripping over him.
With a "clang," the cups and plates in the clerk’s hand flew out and shattered on the floor.
"You little bastard, how dare you bump into me!" The customer, a burly man, was not ready to let go even after tripping the other man. He spat on the ground, hoisted the clerk off the floor, and raised his fist, ready to strike. The Shopkeeper saw the trouble brewing and hurried over, bowing and apologizing profusely, and only then did he manage to gradually calm the man down.
She lost interest in how this disturbance dissolved into nothing. From the moment the clerk broke the dishes, her eyes widened in shock.
Changtian’s words had turned into reality.
Knowing in her mind was one thing, but witnessing it with her own eyes was quite another.
Indeed, everything he said was true. She was caught in an endless cycle of Reincarnation! As this thought flickered past, she felt as if she had stepped into the Demon Transformation Spring, her heart enveloped in extreme icy coldness.
She must find a way out, escape this Reincarnation!
Ning Xiaoxian licked her dry lips: "Have I ever prevented that clerk from breaking those dishes?"
"You’ve prevented it, but to no effect."
The sound of gongs and drums from outside the window grew louder. She heard the customers at the next table discussing: "Today is the Spring Day Festival, and the people of Spring City are to offer grand tributes to the Spring God. It’s a major celebration here! The procession for the festival is about to pass by."
She walked leisurely to the outside of the inn and looked around.
The town had refined buildings, and the streets were paved with fine stone pebbles. The inn she stayed in was a quaint building with black tiles and white walls. Here, everything nestled among green trees; the fragrant March air gave birth to a city full of blooming flowers, a gentle breeze brought fragrant wafts of flora, truly befitting the name of Spring City. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian.com to cast your recommendation ticket, Monthly Ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
