Chapter 1322

While Qin Ding Dong, Di Niu, and Jin Yuan Xun were busy destroying the "men" on either side, Chen Jun Nan kept his attention on the direction they had come from.

He sensed that something unusual was happening in the distance, and the entire corridor was gradually falling silent.

"Something doesn't feel right…"

Qin Ding Dong and Di Niu both stopped what they were doing and looked at Chen Jun Nan.

Chen Jun Nan found it difficult to describe the feeling. Although there was nothing in the corridor, he just knew that something was coming.

It was an unfounded "intuition," but Chen Jun Nan knew that his survival up to this point had relied on that very "intuition."

He walked over to one of the "men," grabbed a piece of wood fragment from it, and threw it with all his might toward the direction they had come from.

The piece of wood flew farther and farther in their line of sight, gliding quietly through the air without any strange occurrences.

But a few seconds later, the entire piece suddenly began to shake, as if it had collided with something invisible.

Then, more and more things rushed in, battering the wood piece in midair, causing it to spin wildly with a series of crackling sounds.

Those things had no shape and moved extremely fast.

"Run!"

Chen Jun Nan shouted, turning back to grab Qin Ding Dong and bolt away. Although nothing was visible, it was clear those things were right behind them.

In the nick of time, Jin Yuan Xun used "yue qian" to follow closely and escape.

Di Niu wasn't so lucky. She was just a second too slow when she felt something touch her brow, instantly immobilizing her. Her mind began to cloud over, and she stood frozen, head bowed.

As he ran, Chen Jun Nan glanced back at Di Niu, a chill running down his spine. He had noticed earlier that something was off.

Many "Can Yu Zhe" and "Sheng Xiao" were standing motionless in the distance like statues, which meant some major event had occurred that even the "Sheng Xiao" and "Can Yu Zhe" couldn't control.

But where could they run to now?

And how far had those things chased them?

With no visibility at all, he knew getting caught was inevitable, so their only chance of escape was to try something unconventional.

Chen Jun Nan looked ahead at the seemingly endless corridor and at the "men" on both sides that weren't fully destroyed yet. They were already in the "mian shi qu."

In a flash of inspiration, he came up with a plan.

"Xiao Jin!" he said while running and pulling Qin Ding Dong along, "Keep your eyes on me!"

"Huh?"

No sooner had he spoken than Chen Jun Nan changed direction, dashing through one of the "men."

Jin Yuan Xun quickly followed with "yue qian," teleporting inside, and Chen Jun Nan slammed the door shut behind them.

The three of them stood there tensely, blocking the door, but still clueless about what they were fleeing from.

"Oh man… bro…" Jin Yuan Xun said with a puzzled look, "What was that thing? Is Di Niu sis still alive?"

"Shh! Quiet!" Chen Jun Nan cut him off, tilting his ear to listen for sounds outside the door.

The outside was eerily quiet, so there was no way to tell if those things were still there.

"I don't know what happened to Di Niu either…"

"This feels a lot like 'Tian Ma Shi Ke'…" Qin Ding Dong said from behind.

Chen Jun Nan nodded after hearing that, turning to face them. "It does seem similar, but how could 'Tian Ma Shi Ke' affect even the 'Sheng Xiao'? Damn!"

Before he could finish, something in the room caught Chen Jun Nan's eye.

The other two jumped at his outburst and quickly turned to look in the same direction. But the room was basically empty—just an empty space with some spikes on the floor and some very old bones in the corner.

The only odd thing was that standing in there, you could always hear faint sounds of fighting.

"Why are you yelling like that?" Qin Ding Dong asked, confused. "I thought there was someone in here…"

"No, if there were people in here, we'd be in trouble." Chen Jun Nan glanced at the spikes on the floor, then up at the ceiling and a strange handle by the door. "What a coincidence—this seems to be our 'mian shi fang jian'."

"Your 'mian shi fang jian'…?"

"I must have stumbled into this by accident, coming full circle." Chen Jun Nan looked up at the intact ceiling. "I'm about to kick the bucket, but I still end up back where it all started."

As they talked, none of them noticed that something strange was seeping in from under the door, as if invisible things were slipping through the gap at the bottom.

"This room looks all set up…" Chen Jun Nan glanced up at the ceiling again. "Just as I thought… If we fail, we'll end up right back here on the second floor next time."

But as soon as he finished speaking, he realized the other two weren't responding. A sense of dread washed over him, and he slowly turned around to see Qin Ding Dong and Jin Yuan Xun standing still, heads bowed.

He let out a cry, trying to escape, but suddenly felt a cool touch on his brow, as if something had brushed his forehead.

Chen Jun Nan felt everything was over. His mind grew foggy, like he had just woken up after sleeping for three days, unable to remember who he was or where he was.

Yes… who exactly… was he?

Why had he been desperately rushing around on something that seemed like a "train"?

He felt himself sinking into dark water, with all his senses and reason left on the shore, going deeper and deeper, farther from those so-called "people."

But was that so bad?

As Chen Jun Nan sank further into the black water, watching the light above grow smaller, his thoughts began to relax.

He wouldn't have to worry about all those troublesome things anymore. No more waking up every day to faces full of scheming and strife.

No more endless toil in a dim, foul-smelling world.

He wanted to rest, and maybe have some spicy tripe.

If that wasn't possible… well, soybean milk with fried dough sticks would do.

As Chen Jun Nan closed his eyes in the dark water, all his sad thoughts stayed on the surface. Just as he was about to rest peacefully, he noticed some bright lights starting to appear in the blackness.

They surged toward him from all sides, like sharks that had been starving in the water. Chen Jun Nan sensed something was wrong and opened his eyes, trying to swim away in the dark water. But after turning a little, he realized the glowing orbs—about the size of basketballs—surrounded him completely.

There was nowhere to hide, no way to escape.

A few seconds later, the orbs rushed at him. When the first one touched his finger, it burst like a soap bubble with a pop, flooding his mind with countless images.

Then all the orbs converged, merging into his body.

It was a strange sensation for Chen Jun Nan. Every time he was about to lose his mind completely, a flood of orbs would appear, touching him and pulling him back from the brink with bizarre images. But the more memories returned, the more he wanted to let go.

So, in that dark water, he went mad and then regained sanity, only to go mad again.

In this back-and-forth struggle, his memories spanned over seventy years.