Chapter Forty-Six: The Cloak That Cannot Be Removed

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“What’s going on?” Lily was completely at a loss as to the sudden, spine-prickling sense of dread that had overtaken her.

Unconvinced, she tried again, only to be rewarded with the same result, a cold sweat breaking out across her brow.

“Calm down, Lily, calm down. Analyze and think.” Lily stopped trying, forcing herself to remain composed, to consider carefully why she was unable to leave.

“First... I can sense the change, which means the way I’m using to leave is correct.”

She employed the process of elimination.

“Second, generally speaking, I should return to my original position in the real world.”

“I sense enormous danger—that’s what made me stop trying to go back.”

“Either there’s something wrong with the way I’m returning, or it’s extremely dangerous where I’ll end up… My situation after returning… I remember I fell into the very center of a fissure during an earthquake, unable to move.”

Lily recalled what had happened to her just before she arrived here.

“Wait… where’s my backpack?” It dawned on her for the first time that her backpack had vanished at some point—something that had never happened before.

Last time she visited that world, her backpack had been securely fastened to her back.

Without it, Lily had lost her supply of water and food. If she didn’t reunite with Ander and the others soon, she would die of thirst or hunger.

Because the transitions between her experiences had been so seamless, and because she had been lost in thought and on high alert while following Firefly, she’d utterly failed to notice that her backpack was missing.

With a sigh, Lily acknowledged this as a persistent flaw of hers—a simple thing that could have been easily noticed, yet when she was too deeply absorbed in something or lost in thought, she would completely overlook it.

Returning to her analysis, Lily finally made a judgment:

She felt the latter was more likely. After all, this world had not yet shown her any real malice; there was no reason for it to give her abilities only to harm her.

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That meant if she returned to her original world, the situation would be extremely dangerous.

What could have made her position in the real world so perilous? Was it the recent geological disaster, or had some monster drawn near?

Though she had only caught a fleeting glimpse, Lily judged the depth of the pit she’d fallen into was probably not fatal. Could there be further dangers beneath the fissure? Or perhaps the disaster had caused even more changes—collapsing buildings nearby, the ground splitting even further.

What she feared most was the presence of a monster—no, more accurately, a supernatural creature at her location. That would mean Ander and the others would encounter it as well, which would be incredibly dangerous.

“Supernatural creature” was a term Lily had learned from the knowledge she’d acquired. It referred to a class of non-human beings that had gained extraordinary abilities or forms—like the monster she’d seen on the dormitory rooftop, pushing heaps of ruined cars, or the dragon-like beast perched atop the art museum, reminiscent of something from a science fiction film.

Though her thoughts were now clear, she still couldn’t return; she couldn’t possibly remain trapped in this space forever. She would have to improvise.

———————————

When Ariel awoke again, she sat up in a daze, her gaze unfocused.

She could only vaguely remember being on a rooftop just now, and she seemed to recall seeing a large bronze door—after that, she remembered nothing.

“Where… am I?” she murmured.

Glancing around, Ariel found herself lying in a room that could only be described as cavernous, with nothing but an ordinary wooden stool inside.

Outside the window, moonlight as thin as gauze struggled to pierce the mist, barely illuminating one side of the room.

It was an unfamiliar place, so Ariel didn’t move rashly. She listened intently for a few seconds, and finding no unusual sounds, she cautiously tried to stand, intending to reach the window for a quick look—to see if she could determine her location, though she didn’t hold much hope.

As she pushed herself up with one hand, something tugged at her unexpectedly, causing her to lose balance and sit lightly back down. Confused, she looked at what she had pulled and failed to recognize what it was at first.

A garment? A piece of cloth? Such intricate and beautiful embroidery… What is this design?

Ariel had seen Liu Shiqin’s strangely styled cloak before, but she had never paid it much attention, nor observed it up close. So she failed to recognize that the cloak now draped over her shoulders was nearly identical in form to Liu Shiqin’s.

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The only differences were in the color scheme and the patterns embroidered on it.

For now, Ariel had no way of knowing any of this. She was merely startled and frightened—who had put this cloak on her?

Unlike Lily, Ariel had received no explanations or hints about any abilities or items she gained—and this wasn’t unique to her. In fact, everyone traveling the same path as Ariel, the so-called Guests’ Path—including Liu Shiqin—had never been provided with any reminders or explanations.

That was why those on this path were most likely to meet with sudden and violent deaths in the early stages.

Some might encounter forbidden entities, others would wind up in places best left unvisited.

Or they might simply become lost in that world of vivid, overwhelming color, never to reappear in reality.

The cloak formed a loop fastener at Ariel’s left shoulder, but try as she might, she couldn’t undo it. After several unsuccessful attempts, she finally gave up on removing the cloak—whoever had put it on her—and carefully stood, moving to the windowsill on the room’s shadowed side.

There, she saw a “wall”—on it, mist rolled and surged, directionless and chaotic, swirling as if it would never cease.

With growing dread, Ariel hurried to the window on the other side, where the moonlight shone in. There, she saw a cityscape cloaked in gentle fog beneath tranquil moonlight, the architecture nearly identical to what she remembered of Dunlun City.

Her heart pounded wildly.

“Am I… am I really back???”

Her voice was still soft and uncertain, but her eyes were alight with hope.