Chapter 161: Spatial Isolation

Bai Li Pangpang flew back to the dormitory building, quickly stowing away his Forbidden Objects and swaggering over to Shen Qingzhu.

"How did it go?" Shen Qingzhu asked.

"What else? Everything's taken care of!" Bai Li Pangpang grinned. "And I even found the place where that thing is hiding."

Upon hearing this, Shen Qingzhu's eyes brightened. "Where is it?"

"In the second warehouse on the east side, but I'm too scared to go alone, so I was waiting for you guys," Bai Li Pangpang said earnestly.

As the two spoke, the doors around them began to open, and the recruits whose soul-bodies had returned to their physical forms were waking up from their slumber, confused as they walked out of their rooms.

"Shen-ge! Shen-ge!" Deng Wei spotted Shen Qingzhu in the hallway and hurried over. "I just had a nightmare! I dreamt that a spider trapped me in the sky, and no matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't wake up!"

"Hmm?" Bai Li Pangpang smirked, asking with a chuckle, "Do you remember how you escaped?"

Deng Wei paused, thinking for a moment before speaking uncertainly. "I think... I remember... a glowing sow flew up into the sky and then somehow came back."

Bai Li Pangpang: ...?

A sow flying up into the sky?

Here I am, stepping on the Radiant Light, wielding the Soul Cutter, saving all of you from danger, and in your eyes, it's just a sow flying up into the sky?!

As Bai Li Pangpang ground his teeth in frustration, Shen Qingzhu snorted coldly and slapped Deng Wei on the back of the head.

"A bunch of useless fools, your soul-bodies were taken away so easily, and you still dare to call yourselves guards? Go back to your homes and farm the land!" he said, his voice frosty.

"Shen-ge, I..." Deng Wei began, looking aggrieved, but when he saw Shen Qingzhu's icy glare, he bit back his words and remained silent.

"Now that all the recruits are awake, we have around 150 people we can mobilize. We should have enough to deal with that spider," Bai Li Pangpang said with satisfaction.

Shen Qingzhu fell silent for a moment before speaking slowly, "It's not that simple. That spider... it really does kill."

Bai Li Pangpang froze. "Didn't you say it was just a drill?"

"But people have already died, and their deaths were gruesome..." Shen Qingzhu's gaze grew serious. "Even with over 150 people, not everyone will cooperate, and even if we have that many, facing a powerful Chuan Realm entity, we will still have casualties.

We need to come up with a plan that can both eliminate the spider and minimize casualties."

Shen Qingzhu fell into deep thought.

Bai Li Pangpang looked at him in surprise. In his impression, Shen Qingzhu was always the type to rush in headfirst without thinking. He never expected that when an emergency arose, Shen Qingzhu would be calmer than anyone else.

But then again, when they were up against the Masked group, Shen Qingzhu had successfully ambushed the entire team. A person like him could hardly be considered reckless.

"By the way, where's QiYe?" Bai Li Pangpang asked, puzzled.

"He took some people to Building 3," Shen Qingzhu answered. "He said there's something mysterious in that building."

"Building 3? The girls' dormitory?" Bai Li Pangpang froze for a moment, then his eyes widened in realization. "Something mysterious in Building 3? Does that mean... Mo Li is in danger?"

Without another word, Bai Li Pangpang turned and ran toward Building 3.

"Wait, aren't you going to deal with the spider?" Shen Qingzhu called after him in surprise.

Bai Li Pangpang slammed to a halt, hesitated for a moment, then removed the black ring from his finger and tossed it to Shen Qingzhu.

"With over a hundred of you, you should be able to handle the spider. This is the Soul Cutter. It can sever soul-threads. You guys go ahead; I'll go rescue the damsel in distress!"

Shen Qingzhu caught the black ring and watched as Bai Li Pangpang's figure disappeared around the corner, shaking his head in resignation.

In Front of Building 3

Lin QiYe stood before the eerie, silent dormitory building, his brow furrowing slightly.

Although he was standing right outside, his Miracle Field's spiritual perception couldn't detect the building at all, as if it had been blocked from his senses. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

Cao Yuan stepped forward and tried to push open the dormitory's glass door. No matter how much force he applied, the door wouldn't budge.

He frowned, then pulled out his Starry Knife and struck the glass with the hilt. Several dull thuds rang out, but the door remained completely still, not even a crack appeared.

Helpless, Cao Yuan sheathed his knife and turned back to look at Lin QiYe, who was deep in thought.

Given their current physical strength, they should be able to break through the glass door with ease. The strange situation must have been caused by something within the building.

"The space here has been severed," Li Shaoguang suddenly spoke up from the crowd.

Lin QiYe turned to him, puzzled. "Severed space?"

"Yes," Li Shaoguang nodded. "My Forbidden Ruins have some connection with space, so I can sense what's happening in this building. Although it looks like it's in front of us, from a spatial perspective, it's not actually here."

"So how do we get in?" Lin QiYe asked.

"I'll give it a try," Li Shaoguang stepped forward, drawing a large machete from behind his back. This was not the standard Starry Knife used by the guards, but rather a large, red-tasselled cleaver from decades ago. With his slightly receding hairline, he looked like something straight out of a "fierce kitchen brigade."

Li Shaoguang stood in front of the door, took a deep breath, and swung the cleaver with force!

A blade of light, tinged with faint gray, struck the glass door. As the gray light spread, a soft sound echoed, as though something had cracked.

The glass door didn't break, but when Li Shaoguang gently pushed on it, it slid open, revealing a dim, shadowy hallway inside.

"Quick, come in. I can only cut through a small part of the space. It will restore itself soon," Li Shaoguang said, leading the way inside.

Lin QiYe and the others quickly entered the building. Moments later, the glass door eerily slid shut behind them. From the inside, the original pathway disappeared, and the external environment dimmed, turning into a strange, deep blue...

It was as if they had been submerged in the depths of the sea.

"This is the spatial distortion..." Lin QiYe approached the door and tried to push it again, but it remained immovable. The entire building seemed to have been shifted to another place, locked in this isolated space.

"Let's go up and see what's going on," Lin QiYe said as he turned and headed for the stairs. However, just after climbing half a flight, a shrill, piercing scream suddenly echoed from above, reverberating throughout the entire building.

The faces of Lin QiYe and the others darkened. They exchanged quick glances and sprinted up the stairs.