"I didn’t expect there to be such a peculiar crossover point hidden within Tianchang City. I just don’t know what kind of world this really is." Li Yi stood by the window, carefully observing this new world. This world was clearly a modern one as well, but the level of technology didn’t seem high. The cars on the road were rather old-fashioned, and the architecture seemed stuck in the 1990s. After observing for a while, he didn’t gather much more information. "Let’s go out and take a look." Li Yi decided to walk around, to see this world with his own eyes, and then try to find a way to destroy this building. As for whether this avatar of his can return to Earth or not, it’s not important. At worst, dying here wouldn’t affect him. As he turned around to retrace his steps, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, his gaze fixing intently on the dining table from before. There had originally been three bowls of rice and three dishes on the table, but now only a few empty plates remained, as if someone had come and eaten everything at some point. The plate that had held the braised fish had only a fish head left, intact, its grayish-white eyes seemed to stare in Li Yi’s direction, a sense of unease and eerie atmosphere lingering around. The scattered bodies of Evolvers told the story that this building was not simple. These Evolvers, like Li Yi, could come to this world using food as a medium. By right, they shouldn’t be trapped to death here; at the very least, they could walk out of this building into the outside world. "So is this building problematic in this world too?" Li Yi noticed at this time that his position was some distance from the area where normal people were active, at least three kilometers apart. Although there were many old residential buildings around, they were all dead silent, empty of people. This was an abandoned or perhaps a sealed-off area. "Just like World No. 36, places with supernatural incidents that can’t be dealt with are sealed off. It seems the people of this world know the danger here, so what I have to do now is find a way to escape from this residential building?" Content orıginally comes from 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹•𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖•𝗇𝗲𝘁 Li Yi did not act rashly; his experience as a messenger told him that there was also some kind of incomprehensible eerie force in this world. After a brief contemplation, he tried to walk out of the room. Li Yi found himself in the dim hallway. The hallway was silent with only this place showing signs of habitation, while the rest was abandoned. It was exactly the same as when he first entered the building. He quickly went down the stairs. Soon, Li Yi reached the first floor. But when he looked outside, his expression turned grim again. Outside the hallway was not the outside world, but a room, arranged exactly like the one he had just left. Similarly, there was a dining table with three eaten-clean empty plates, and three empty bowls. When he walked out of the hallway, he realized he was back in the same room again. It was like an infinite loop, trapping Li Yi here. However, Li Yi did not find this surprising. If this building were so easy to escape from, those Evolvers wouldn’t have been trapped to death here and would have long since gone to the outside world. Then, he went to the window, trying to climb out and jump from the building. But the window was shut tight, and Li Yi couldn’t open it. He took a deep breath, raised his fist, and punched. Even though he was just an avatar, the power he unleashed could easily flatten a building. This punch hit the window, causing the whole building to shake violently. Cracks constantly appeared along the walls, but the window did not shatter, and the cracked walls began repairing at an unimaginable speed. Indeed, there was an incomprehensible force entrenched here. This power didn’t belong to Cosmic Energy; it was somewhat like an eerie force. "I really don’t like these eerie worlds. It feels like my combat skills have nowhere to be used, and I have to rack my brains to solve puzzles," Li Yi no longer tried to break through with force. If power alone was enough to leave, these Evolvers would have left long ago. So he calmed down, refraining from destroying anything, lest he missed his chance to leave through reckless action. "Maybe the supernatural items from World No. 36 could have some effect in this world." Li Yi instinctively touched his wrist, remembering the many black letter papers he had collected, thinking they might help him leave, but then he realized he was just an avatar without anything, empty-handed. He had no choice but to turn his attention to the Evolvers who were trapped and died here. Li Yi collected some relics from the bodies, finding quite a few things. Some powerless smartphones, a Battle Saber made of Transcendent metal, Nanometer Metal Clothes, and a Storage Ring from the Xuanxian Continent. But what struck Li Yi was that the Storage Ring had Nutrient Liquid, a Nutrition Tank, and some Elixirs. Which meant, this Evolver didn’t die of starvation here; they were murdered. If they had starved, the Storage Ring wouldn’t have food left. This implied the building wasn’t just about trapping people; some terrifying danger appeared at some point. If Li Yi stayed here long enough, he would face the same danger and likely be killed. Though dying as an avatar didn’t matter, the demise of the avatar would mean Li Yi would no longer explore here, signaling the failure of this operation. He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. The dusk was settling outside. According to Li Yi’s assumption, if he was safe during the day, then the night must be dangerous. "It was eating that bowl of rice that brought me to this world through some sort of medium. So, the key to breaking the cycle lies on this dining table." His gaze returned to the cleaned-empty plates. The fish head, with its remaining skeleton, still stared with grayish-white eyes at Li Yi, its lifeless gaze warning him that death was approaching if he didn’t find a way soon. Li Yi then walked into the kitchen, thinking that since the table’s food was eaten, perhaps he could cook up a new tableful, restoring it as before, and maybe satisfy some condition to leave. But after circling the kitchen, he found it empty. No ingredients to cook with, making his idea evidently flawed. However, Li Yi turned on the kitchen faucet, and found clean, cool water flowing out. "In desperation, clean the dishes?" Such a curious thought popped into his head. But Li Yi did exactly that. He took all the empty plates and bowls from the dining table and washed them clean in the kitchen, discarding the eerie fish head in the trash. All in all, it was worth a try; if it didn’t work, there was nothing he could do. Having done that, he explored other areas, looking for anything unusual. As he looked out, nightfall was near, and a premonition told him if he didn’t find a solution, he likely wouldn’t survive the night. He made several careful rounds inside the house. When Li Yi opened a room’s wardrobe, he was stunned. The wardrobe was filled with garments made of red and green paper, clearly not meant for the living but intended as offerings for the deceased. Most unsettling, these had signs of use. Who would wear paper clothing outside? "The cold rice on the table, the paper clothes in the wardrobe... I’m starting to understand," Li Yi took a deep breath, "This is essentially a house for the dead, a mansion for souls. It’s daylight now, so the owner isn’t present, but at night, when the living sleep and the dead appear, that’s when the terror begins." "I hate this ghostly place. Next time, I should let Yang Wei come here. He’s better suited for handling this supernatural stuff." It’s certain that this world also has hauntings. But it’s unknown whether the ghosts of this world can be killed. If they can, then there’s no problem. Li Yi left the paper clothes untouched, searching elsewhere. In the corner of another room, he found something. A grayish-white paper umbrella. Li Yi tried to pick it up, discovering it was just a regular paper umbrella, not some supernatural item. He could easily destroy it, but chose not to. "The paper clothes and paper umbrella might be the key to leaving here." This thought arose in his mind. Li Yi’s idea was simple: if this was a mansion for the dead, it meant the dead could come and go freely, so he just needed to become like the dead to leave. The dead, in this case, wasn’t literally so—just needed the mansion for souls to perceive him as dead. Having eaten death’s food and worn death’s clothes, if night fell, he might indeed become a real dead person.