“Why get angry? I was just asking casually.” Lin Jiashu raised an eyebrow and smiled. Seeing that Qi Bai’s expression remained unchanged, he had no choice but to answer the second question.
“You just asked how it ended. Let me put it this way: in the end, no one really knows the outcome. But some big figure intervened, and this place became a forbidden zone.”
His tone suddenly grew heavier, carrying a certain lingering weight.
“This isn’t just a place that’s prohibited on the surface even if someone accidentally wandered in, they could never actually reach the rooftop! Over time, nobody goes to the rooftop of Building C anymore…”
At this, Lin Jiashu looked at Qi Bai and Chen Anlan with a probing gaze. “So, you two… went up there?”
Qi Bai felt a jolt in her heart, but on her face, she feigned sudden realization. “So it’s normal that we couldn’t reach the top floor? Everyone experiences the same thing?”
Chen Anlan let out a small sigh of relief. “Good, it’s not some ghostly trap… But how could an ordinary person enforce such a restriction? Could it really be a miracle of the God of Light?”
Seeing this, Lin Jiashu believed most of it and relaxed a bit.
It seemed the situation hadn’t reached the worst-case scenario!
“You stayed up there for so long were you just climbing stairs the whole time?” Lin Jiashu still sounded skeptical. He had always been curious and wary about this rooftop, and his mind conjured all sorts of fantasies.
“Otherwise? If we had actually reached the rooftop, we would have already seen what we needed to see. There’s nothing more mysterious to uncover, is there?” Qi Bai answered bluntly.
Lin Jiashu thought for a moment and realized he might be over-sensitive, but he didn’t want to let Qi Bai off easily.
Somewhat unceremoniously, he said to the two of them, “Since you’ve come this far, there’s no hiding the fact that you’ve entered a forbidden area. Why not come up with me one more time?”
He paused, then added, “It’s very safe by my side. Breaking through the restriction is no problem!”
The two exchanged glances. Qi Bai looked at Chen Anlan’s face and, seeing nothing wrong, formed an idea.
With someone clearing the way and a lucky protector at her side, why not get it done quickly?
She had a strong premonition that the secret of this rooftop could provide huge help in learning about the hetero-blooded.
Thinking of the mysterious reward for completing the task, the girl lifted her fair face and chirpily said, “Since you put it that way, and we are curious anyway, we’ll reluctantly accompany you!” Her whole being radiated clever energy.
Lin Jiashu was unusually pleased to see Qi Bai in such good spirits, feeling a sense of novelty and unable to resist moving closer.
Qi Bai sensed his movement, instantly becoming uncomfortable, and upon seeing his face again, her expression darkened once more.
How dare she, upon getting points, act so politely toward Lin Jiashu, that obsessive maniac!
The three walked toward the rooftop, two in front and one behind. Qi Bai soon felt a strange sensation appear around them again.
Having learned much of the backstory, this time Qi Bai paid closer attention.
Their footsteps blended with increasingly noticeable heartbeats, which gradually synchronized in rhythm, until finally they matched perfectly.
“Thump thump thump ” The sound was clear and rhythmic.
It was Lin Jiashu’s first time exploring the rooftop. Even though he had read the family archives and understood some of the history of this place, he had never encountered this situation before.
He held his chest, frowning. His usually smiling peach-blossom eyes were tightly shut, his slightly trembling eyelids revealing his internal struggle.
As they neared the eighth floor, Qi Bai peeked ahead and saw the upper and lower staircases, just as Chen Anlan had described densely lined with handrails, the end nowhere in sight.
Lin Jiashu finally made a decision. He took out a purple, irregular stone, engraved with numerous strange characters.
Soon, Qi Bai saw the plain-looking stone emit golden light.
Golden threads traced the characters on its surface.
“This…” Before Qi Bai could ask, the characters on the stone were fully illuminated, and in an instant, she, as if in a dream, found herself in a familiar space
A dilapidated stairwell, mottled and broken iron railings, the air faintly tinged with the smell of blood, constantly assaulting her nostrils.
Qi Bai restrained her excitement and glanced at Lin Jiashu, who couldn’t hide his astonishment.
“This is the building from fifty years ago?” Lin Jiashu’s words landed firmly. Though phrased as a question, the tone was assertive.
Qi Bai cast him a faint glance and said nothing.
Chen Anlan, however, had been walking normally on the original staircase, and now being brought to this obviously abnormal place, his heart filled with unease.
Hearing Lin Jiashu’s question, he hastily joined the conversation.
“Why did we end up here? Is it because of that strange stone?”
Lin Jiashu had been reluctant to answer, but now, the three were clearly in this together. After a pause, he said.
“The floors leading to the rooftop have secretly been restricted. Anyone without permission gets trapped in a looping staircase until they willingly exit. This talisman stone is a pass to break the restriction but unexpectedly, it has brought us into an Otherworld Realm!”
“Otherworld Realm?!” Qi Bai had never heard the term, and couldn’t help feeling puzzled.
Lin Jiashu smiled at her, appearing relaxed, yet his eyes carried unusual seriousness. He said, “The truth of this world is never what we see. Are you ready for this?”
Qi Bai felt a chill. Countless thoughts swirled in her mind, her expression darkening further.
“Just say it straight no need to beat around the bush!”
Lin Jiashu’s previously casual demeanor vanished, replaced with a hint of fanaticism in his eyes.
“This is a restriction set by someone powerful. Ordinary people like us are merely monkeys to be observed. The divine attendants are the true citizens here they can change the world, like this restriction.
Conversely, the heretics worship the hetero-blooded, who can distort and destroy the world. Their power gives rise to the Otherworld Realm.”
Qi Bai listened, secretly amazed.
This world was indeed a fantastical one, giving a reasonable basis for all the previously inexplicable phenomena.
But that was not all just having different power systems couldn’t fully explain the abnormal development of society.
After all, elephants don’t care if ants fear them so why would the truly powerful waste energy on the powerless commoners?
Then, who truly needs the citizens’ support?
Those with no power, or with weak power the financial elites!
The weaker the individual, the more they crave the support of others.