Chapter 1154: Air

“N-Nine… Sister Nine…” Qiu Shiliu asked in a daze, “Did you see that… the thing that just darted out…”

Bai Jiu remained silent for a long while on the other end before replying in a distant voice, “I saw it.”

“You saw it too? I thought I was hallucinating… That thing just now…”

“Shiliu.” Bai Jiu immediately cut her off, “Don’t speak yet. Open the door behind you.”

“Huh…?”

“Now.” Bai Jiu’s tone left no room for refusal.

“Okay… I—I got it…” Without questioning, Qiu Shiliu turned and opened the door, revealing an old, dilapidated house on the other side.

“Don’t think about anything. Go inside now,” Bai Jiu instructed again.

Jiang Shi could clearly see the gravity in Bai Jiu’s expression—she seemed extremely tense.

Yet, judging by the voice, Qiu Shiliu had already escaped danger. He couldn’t fathom what Bai Jiu was so worried about.

“Alright, alright, Sister Nine, that really scared me… You saw it too, right? That woman just now, she came out and—”

“Don’t—!”

Before Bai Jiu could finish, Jiang Shi’s left eye plunged into darkness, as though something had gone wrong in Qiu Shiliu’s space. A startled cry followed.

“Dammit…” Bai Jiu frantically examined Jiang Shi’s head, but the other side was nothing but darkness and faint rustling sounds. Qiu Shiliu was nowhere to be seen.

“Sister Nine… what’s wrong?” Jiang Shi asked.

“That fool Shiliu…” Bai Jiu muttered anxiously, “She forgot she’s floating in mid-air right now by sheer willpower. The moment she believes ‘people can fall,’ she will fall.”

According to Bai Jiu’s reasoning, when Qiu Shiliu first entered this space, she subconsciously assumed she was in the vast cosmos. Her subconscious had ingrained two beliefs: “people float” and “there’s no air to breathe.”

“What?!” Jiang Shi was stunned. “Then Shiliu, she…”

Both realized the severity of the situation and fell silent. After what felt like an eternity, Qiu Shiliu’s voice finally crackled through Jiang Shi’s left eye again—

“Damn it, that scared the hell out of me…”

“Thank goodness… Shiliu…” Bai Jiu’s tension eased slightly. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Sister Nine, thanks to you…” Qiu Shiliu replied. “If you hadn’t told me to open that door right away, I’d be done for.”

After some rustling on the other end, Qiu Shiliu’s face reappeared. She seemed to have placed the small “walkie-talkie” inside the door, managing to project her image.

Through the tiny frame, Bai Jiu saw Qiu Shiliu gripping the ground with both hands. Behind her stretched an endless starscape, but two hands were reaching into the door, as if clinging to the edge of a cliff.

With a grunt of effort, she slowly pulled herself through the doorway, rescuing herself from the brink of a fatal fall. Gasping for breath, she turned and shut the door behind her.

Then she stood up slowly, examining the plain building before her.

“What is it?” Bai Jiu asked. “My view’s limited—I can’t see clearly.”

“It’s…” Qiu Shiliu struggled to describe the house, as it was utterly unremarkable. “Sister Nine… how should I put this… Have you seen those ‘crumbling temples’ that show up in dramas all the time? It’s pretty much like that…”

“A crumbling temple?”

“Yeah… pretty much…”

Qiu Shiliu walked forward cautiously, taking in the bare interior. The place was spotless, furnished only with a makeshift stove of stacked bricks and a bed of straw. Nothing else.

“Be careful. Let me know if anything happens,” Bai Jiu said.

“Don’t worry, this place looks… really… too…” Qiu Shiliu frowned, searching for the right word before settling on, “Too safe.”

With that, she moved to the other side of the room and found a rusted blue metal door.

She reached out and pushed it open. Warm sunlight flooded in, bathing the walls, the floor, and her face in golden light.

Qiu Shiliu’s eyes widened. In an instant, she froze.

The house stood halfway up a small hill, and from this vantage point, she could see a cluster of earthen houses scattered below. Twilight seemed to have passed; wisps of smoke rose from some of the rooftops. People moved about, voices chattering and laughing.

Qiu Shiliu swallowed hard, then took a deep breath. Instantly, fresh air filled her lungs. Dizzying oxygen rushed through her veins, awakening every cell in her body. Her pores seemed to relax all at once.

Her eyes turned red in an instant. When she raised a hand to her face, she realized tears had already streaked down her cheeks.

“Shiliu… what’s wrong?”

She didn’t want to cry, but the sensation was overwhelming. Tears streamed uncontrollably as her entire body trembled.

“Sister Nine… I… I don’t know how to explain…” Qiu Shiliu choked out between sobs. “I feel like… I’m really alive. I’m watching the sunset… I’m breathing air… I’m seeing smoke rise from chimneys… There’s a tiny village right in front of me.”

“Breathing… air…?” Bai Jiu sounded puzzled. “Haven’t you always been breathing…?”

“No… Sister Nine…” Qiu Shiliu struggled to articulate. “Just one breath here, and you’ll realize everything you’ve inhaled all these years was fake… Just one breath is enough…”

Bai Jiu’s eyes flickered. Her lips parted slightly as a strange thought surfaced in her mind.

She could only hope Shiliu wouldn’t realize it too. Otherwise…

“Sister Nine… have I… escaped?”

The question stunned Bai Jiu. Her hands, cupping Jiang Shi’s face, tightened slightly.

Of course… A bizarre space that could lead anywhere—why couldn’t Qiu Shiliu have stumbled into the real world?

Any real world would do… Shouldn’t she be allowed to live properly now?

Logically, Bai Jiu wanted to deny it, to say, “You’re mistaken, it’s all an illusion.” But emotionally, she wished for nothing more than Qiu Shiliu’s escape. There was no reason for her to keep suffering here.

If she could stay there—even in a secluded mountain village—she’d be the first person ever to leave this place.

A tangled mess of emotions swirled in Bai Jiu’s chest. Within moments, she made her choice.

“Shiliu, forget about Xuanwu. Find a way to—”

“Sister Nine, I must be close to Xuanwu’s secret now,” Qiu Shiliu interrupted. “Tell me what to do.”