Beside a bustling street in the prosperous Central District stood an inconspicuous little apartment. On the bed inside, a girl of peerless beauty lay motionless.
She had the classic oval face of a traditional beauty, with smooth, delicate contours. Her slender, curved eyebrows resembled crescent moons resting above her fair forehead, while her thick, long eyelashes fluttered faintly like butterfly wings. Her elegant nose was straight as a jade pillar, and her full, rosy lips were as tempting as ripe cherries.
Yet this breathtaking beauty was trembling all over. Large, crystal-clear beads of sweat continuously rolled down her smooth, jade-like forehead, trickling across her cheeks and soaking the pillow beside her. At the same time, she kept murmuring, “Brother Ling, Brother Ling, no! Please, no…”
Just then, the girl, who had been trembling with her eyes tightly shut, suddenly opened her fawn-like eyes. In an instant, her beautiful face, which had been pale and lifeless, seemed to regain its soul and come alive. However, the intense hatred burning in her eyes almost completely ruined that beauty.
The woman gritted her teeth and spoke in a voice filled with hatred. “I will never let you get away with this so easily. I will make you experience the pain and torment I once endured. I will make you feel what it means to wish you were dead!”
As she spoke, her expression suddenly softened, and a deep tenderness and longing appeared in her eyes.
“Brother Ling, this time, no matter what happens, I absolutely won’t let you get hurt again. We will live happily together. I swear I will avenge your terrible death and make the true culprit pay dearly for everything she has done!”
Li Li sat quietly on the edge of the bed, gazing into the distance as she planned the path she would take in the future.
She drew a deep breath and abruptly pulled herself away from her complicated thoughts, as though she had finally awakened from a long, drawn-out dream.
She knew she must never allow hatred to blind her, because in this apocalypse, a world filled with danger and challenges, there were still many more important things that she needed to accomplish.
Remembering the moments they had shared, Li Li couldn’t help smiling. In particular, she thought of the days she had spent with Brother Ling, when they had saved and comforted each other, finding peace in one another’s presence and helping each other become better people.
Suddenly, Li Li remembered the paradise she had glimpsed in a daze during her previous life.
That dreamlike, breathtaking scenery had lingered in her heart, impossible to forget. She also remembered how, in the end, the blood in her body had been absorbed by the wooden token on her chest.
She carefully took out the token, the keepsake Lu Ling had given her as a symbol of their love.
The moment she touched it, a strange sensation welled up inside her. Immediately afterward, a scene resembling a celestial paradise appeared in her mind.
Towering mountain peaks rose majestically into the clouds, surrounded by swirling mist. The vast, boundless sea surged with waves that crashed against the reefs along the shore. Colorful flowers bloomed across the expansive grasslands, swaying gently in the breeze and releasing waves of fragrance. A winding river, like a ribbon of emerald silk, flowed through a dense forest and continued toward an unknown distance.
Li Li was completely immersed in this breathtakingly beautiful scene, momentarily losing herself in it.
After an unknown length of time, she finally came back to her senses, excitement shining in her eyes.
She thought that if she could find that paradise, perhaps she could escape the suffering of the apocalypse and live a peaceful, happy life.
However, all of this was merely a beautiful hope. The road ahead in reality was still full of thorns.
Yet no matter what difficulties and setbacks awaited her, Li Li firmly believed that as long as she and Brother Ling supported each other and never gave up, a bright future would eventually await them.
Since touching the token caused that scene to appear in her mind, she wondered whether it might actually be a real, physical space.
With that thought, she tightly gripped the seemingly ordinary wooden token in her hand and lowered her voice as she tentatively said, “Enter!”
As soon as the words left her mouth, a miraculous scene unfolded. In the blink of an eye, she vanished from the familiar bed and appeared on the lush, green grassland she had seen in the vision, as though she had teleported there.
Next, she cautiously tried saying, “Exit!”
Once again, something astonishing happened. Almost instantly, she returned from the grassland to her original bed, moving as swiftly as lightning. This series of unbelievable experiences left her both excited and curious.
She then turned her gaze toward the bedside lamp, which emitted a soft, gentle glow. Staring at it, she silently thought, “Store!”
In an instant, the lamp seemed to be pulled by an invisible force and suddenly appeared on the grassland.
Seeing that the lamp had successfully been stored inside this mysterious space, Li Li could no longer contain her excitement and decided to enter again to investigate.
The moment she landed on the grass, a peculiar feeling welled up inside her.
It was as though faint sounds were coming from somewhere around her, but no matter how carefully she listened, she couldn’t pinpoint their source.
What secrets did this grassland conceal? Filled with curiosity, Li Li began exploring.
Suddenly, Li Li spotted a little creature that looked just like a fairy from a fairy tale. She immediately became wary and demanded, “What are you?”
“I am the Spirit of this space.”
“You are the current master contracted to this space.”
“Why did I form a contract with this space? Did it require all the blood in my body?”
“Actually, forming a contract with this place normally requires spiritual energy and a single drop of blood from one’s fingertip. However, this place is a land devoid of spiritual energy. The reason you were able to form a contract with it is that your blood contains an enormous amount of energy. Only by using all the blood in your body could you forcibly establish a contract with this place.”
The consequences of forcibly forming the contract were extremely severe. The place, which had once been filled with abundant spiritual energy, instantly lost all of it.
The spiritual herbs that had once grown here, each containing mysterious power, also lost their unique spiritual properties and became ordinary medicinal herbs with nothing more than their medicinal effects.
The spiritual beasts that had once possessed extraordinary abilities and commanded awe likewise regressed into ordinary wild animals because of the powerful energy fluctuations. They could no longer display the strength and miraculous abilities they had once possessed.
Even the spiritual fruits that had hung from the branches, emitting enticing fragrances and shimmering with spiritual light, had transformed into ordinary fruits with no special effects whatsoever.
It was worth mentioning that this place had originally contained a miraculous spiritual spring. Its water possessed astonishing magical power and could bring the dead back to life. Even someone gravely injured and clinging to their last breath could recover completely after drinking from it. It could even eliminate longstanding ailments.
However, after the forced contract was established, the spiritual spring’s miraculous power was greatly diminished. Now, all it could do was help ordinary people expel impurities from their bodies, provide some beautifying and rejuvenating effects, strengthen their physical constitutions, and accelerate wound healing.
Since the spiritual energy in this place had completely dissipated, I had no choice but to fall into a prolonged slumber, waiting for the day when spiritual energy would once again recover.
Nevertheless, even though this space could no longer be nourished by spiritual energy, it still held tremendous value for you, who live in a world devoid of it.
Here, you can safely store all kinds of food, and it will remain fresh for a long time without spoiling.
Furthermore, you can raise all sorts of animals and grow a wide variety of plants here without worrying about the lack of spiritual energy affecting them.
There is also a time formation within this space that does not require spiritual energy to function. Its time ratio is an astonishing 1:10! In other words, while one day passes in the outside world, ten full days pass inside this space.
Very well, I truly must go to sleep now. I sincerely hope you can survive and live well in this unique world.