"Activate? It shouldn’t be, at least not within the Lake Bai Dao area."
Feng Yuan thought for a moment before speaking, while Meng Binglan frowned, feeling something off about that answer. Dou Yanlan looked at Feng Yuan and said,
"If possible, how about dismantling those ancient ruins? Since the World of Mirrors is so dangerous, I fear the ancient ruins are no better."
Upon hearing Dou Yanlan’s words, the Lord of the Mirror Realm glared angrily at Dou Yanlan, but Agunas stepped between them, blocking the Lord of the Mirror Realm, who turned away in anger and continued to smash things on the ground to vent its dissatisfaction.
Scratching his head, Feng Yuan said helplessly,
"Do you really need to be so thorough? I can assure you, nothing accidental should happen with the ancient ruins, and that’s its only wish. Can’t you just..."
Dou Yanlan seemed to understand something and, looking at the Lord of the Mirror Realm with apology, said,
"Sorry, I overlooked that point."
"How can you not understand that doing this could easily endanger others?!"
Li Xiaowei shouted, somewhat angry. Agunas, also somewhat irritated, looked at her and said,
"What danger could there be? The ancient ruins should be under its control. Now that it has followed him, what more do you want to do? Can’t you even leave it a memory of the Mythical Era?!"
Meng Binglan pondered for a moment and said,
"If we can ensure that no such city-swallowing accidents happen, keeping them may not be a bad idea..."
Li Xiaowei was somewhat puzzled; she didn’t quite understand why they should keep this potential danger. Meng Binglan looked at her and said,
"Have you forgotten that it is a Divine Beast from the Mythical Era? In the modern world, aside from the ancient ruins, there’s not a single thing related to it left. If she hadn’t deliberately activated it this time, such an incident might not have happened."
Li Xiaowei was stunned; she had completely forgotten or rather, she wasn’t very aware of how important these traces of the past were for a creature like the Lord of the Mirror Realm, which came directly from the Mythical Era. After all, the Divine Beasts she had encountered and learned about were almost all from the modern era.
Even creatures like those from Lorraine Tower had seen the world evolve step by step into its current state over a long period, and everything about the modern world was familiar to them.
"Sorry... I didn’t consider your feelings."
Li Xiaowei bowed and apologized to the Lord of the Mirror Realm, who turned its head and glared at her before continuing to smash things. Those items it destroyed were instantly restored to their original state and returned to its hands.
In the dark world, the Lord of the Mirror Realm curled up, glancing around at the passing steel behemoths, the bizarre creatures wielding fire sticks, and the despicable villains...
Burying its head in its folded arms, the Lord of the Mirror Realm was softly crying. That evil crocodile might be crafting another nefarious plan, that detestable black lizard must be lurking in some corner, sneakily watching it, pleased to see it distressed.
Even though it didn’t want to show what it probably hoped to see, it was tired... Maintaining that world was already exhausting, and now its only haven was gone, surrounded by various monsters...
"What’s going on with it?"
On the bus, seeing the Lord of the Mirror Realm curled up and not knowing what it was doing, Xiao Ji curiously poked his head out to look. Noticing that it didn’t react at all, Qi Chen asked worriedly,
"What’s wrong with it? There’s not some problem, is there?"
"Could it be unaccustomed to the new environment? It seems that some Spirit Beasts do fall ill after leaving their habitats. Could it be... but that seems not quite right?"
Dou Yanlan turned and looked at the slightly heaving, curled-up body of the Lord of the Mirror Realm, speaking doubtfully. At that moment, the three of them were in a vehicle arranged by Meng Binglan. Originally, this car was meant to pick up someone from Mingyang County Station. Since the high-speed railway stations near Lake Bai Dao had been blocked, the researchers who came later could only get off at the nearby city’s high-speed railway stations and wait for a special car to pick them up.
As for traveling by Spirit Beast flight? The blockade of Lake Bai Dao hadn’t yet ended, and if it weren’t for Feng Yuan’s own special permits and circumstances, he and his companions likely wouldn’t be allowed to leave Lake Bai Dao.
Because they were just picking someone up, aside from the driver and a few staff members at the front, it was just Feng Yuan and a few others on the bus. Feng Yuan was sitting by the window, supporting his head with one hand and boredly looking at the scenery outside. Xiao Ji and the Lord of the Mirror Realm were squeezed into the seats near the aisle, while Qi Chen and the others sat across the aisle.
Hearing Qi Chen’s question, Feng Yuan looked at the Lord of the Mirror Realm and sighed,
"Really, I just wanted to give you a surprise, and even that doesn’t seem to work."
The other party did not respond and kept curled up, unresponsive to the outside world. Feng Yuan took a dark bead out of his pocket, held it in his hand, and gently touched the Lord of the Mirror Realm’s head. With a sense of resignation, he said,
"Take it, keep it safe for yourself."
Seemingly noticing something, the Lord of the Mirror Realm slowly reacted, his head slightly lifted, and after a while, suddenly hugged the bead as if treasuring it, looking around warily. Agunas, somewhat puzzled by the reaction of the Lord of the Mirror Realm, asked Feng Yuan,
"Just stabilized the World of Mirrors and took it away. Although the World of Mirrors had completed its mission long ago and shouldn’t exist up to now because of special reasons, but since it holds its only memory..."
Agunas swished his tail, pondering what his own memories were. Agunas felt confused; the ruins of Hamilon had long since vanished, and not every relic from the Mythical Era was as fortunate as the World of Mirrors. The Land of Time Tranquility? Although he was now carving out a part of that place to make his own lair, it seemed to be different from the past.
Drudgeon? That guy seemed to be doing quite well lately. Agunas realized he might not fully grasp Feng Yuan’s intentions as he looked at the way the Lord of the Mirror Realm cherished the bead, understanding that it must be the physical manifestation of the previously mentioned World of Mirrors.
"So, was it you who interfered with the power of the Cang Ming Dragon?"
Agunas looked at Feng Yuan and asked. The Cang Ming Dragon itself could not, or would not, do such a thankless task—taking such a vast space away and even materializing it. The difficulty was certainly considerable, especially since it involved a broken world, something even Gitalien couldn’t achieve. Though the Cang Ming Dragon was stronger than Gitalien, accomplishing this must have been challenging.
"Pretty much, isn’t it nice this way?"
Seeing new life in the eyes of the Lord of the Mirror Realm, Feng Yuan proudly said, Xiao Ji cuddled closer to Feng Yuan, rubbing his head against him. Unlike the distant Lord of the Mirror Realm, Xiao Ji preferred to snuggle next to Feng Yuan and watch the scenery outside the window together. After another glance at the Lord of the Mirror Realm, ensuring everything was fine, Feng Yuan wrapped an arm around Xiao Ji’s neck and pointed to the flying scenery outside, talking about all sorts of strange things.
Watching this, Qi Chen and Dou Yanlan exchanged a glance and smiled helplessly. The bus gradually left the boundaries of Dao Lake City along the rural road. This Lake’s Brave Ones event was, strictly speaking, a failure—they hadn’t determined the champion and final rankings. Not to mention, due to that unexpected event, a large number of people were forcibly retained in Lake Bai Dao. One wonders if those who initially allowed researchers to study the Ancient Ruins ever regretted their decision.
"In the end, we get to ride for free~"
Feng Yuan pulled back his ID and proudly said because the train tickets were sold out, the three of them could only use Feng Yuan’s ID to ride the high-speed train for free. Although Feng Yuan had no urgent tasks, communicating with Captain Yang to fabricate an urgent mission to return to Maomu City wasn’t a big issue.
Qi Chen looked at Feng Yuan speechlessly and said,
"You abuse your privileges, and he still helps you?"
"Hehe~ that shows it’s not really an abuse, right? How else could we do it? Open a Space Gate to go back?"
Feng Yuan said, glancing at Agunas. Agunas flicked his tail and responded,
"Although I don’t mind opening a Space Gate, are you sure you want to do that?"
"Forget it, traveling by vehicle has its own feel~"
"What twisted logic..."
Qi Chen looked at Feng Yuan speechlessly and said, shaking his finger. Feng Yuan replied smugly,
"The scenery of the journey is also important~ Don’t you think every time you travel by car, it feels different?"
Qi Chen looked at the clock on the wall and said,
"Let’s go, don’t make them wait for us again."