On the surface of a clear lake, there is a dark-haired boy lying quietly on the lake. A few moments earlier, he had been hit by an "unmanned" truck dozens of meters away, and had fainted before he could feel the pain, and the reason why he could clearly remember that he had been hit by the car was because under the circumstances, although he had no way to control the movement of his body, he was still conscious at that time.

"Am I dead?" The boy muttered, "Where is this?" He looked at the endless water and the towering trees growing on the water, and froze in place for a moment.

A few hours earlier, a gentle breeze had swept the boy's cheek and awakened him from his sleep, but when consciousness returned, he could not open his eyes anyway, could not perceive everything around him, could not concentrate on his thoughts, and could only feel the pain of his body as if it were being burned by flames.

An hour earlier, the burning sensation of the flames had faded, and he could feel as if he was on a clear plane, which he could tell with the palm of his hand that it was actually a surface of water, but he still had to wait for his own eyes to see it. After a few more minutes, his mind gradually became able to concentrate and recall his experiences today.

Dozens of minutes ago, another warm breeze blew, and the boy could clearly feel that the strength of his body was gradually recovering, and his arms and thighs were able to move more freely.

And just now, a few minutes ago, his mobility and senses had basically returned to normal, and he slowly opened his eyes, but the sunlight was too dazzling, and he had to block the sunlight with his hands in order to observe the surroundings.

He looked into the distance, and what he saw was still the same scene as his surroundings, all on the water, no land, and no mountains, and the only thing that existed was the towering locust tree that was estimated to be surrounded by dozens of people. So he looked up at the sky again, it was all blue, only a few puffy clouds were moving slowly, and the most attractive thing was the two suns hanging high in the sky.

"Two suns, no wonder the sun is so dazzling."

At first, when the boy woke up, he was a little surprised to find that he felt the same when he was lying down, and that he was indeed on the water, but then he found that no matter how he moved, he could only stir up ripples in the water, and he would not sink, so he was gradually relieved. In addition, even if he jumped up and splashed on the surface of the water, he would not wet his clothes, and the water droplets that jumped on his clothes slid directly off his clothes as if they were lubricated.

Lu Yu leaned down, wanting to see his current appearance through the water, but his reflection on the surface of the water was the same as usual, there were no bleeding wounds on his body, and there were no abrasions, but the dark circles on his eyes were a little heavier, and his mental state did not look very good.

"Could it be a dream?" Lu Yu sat on the water, quietly watching one after another swimming fish slowly swim past him, "Maybe it's just a dream within a dream." ”

He could not touch the fish through the water, and the fish seemed to know that the man sitting on the surface was no threat to them, so they stopped for a moment as if they were playing with them as if they were playing past.

He raised his hand to see the time on his watch. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he hurriedly reached into his pocket, but he didn't touch the purple ball, and the only thing left in his pocket was the marble that he had been carrying with him. He felt a little lost, because he thought that his ordinary life was about to change, but there was some joy, after all, the absence of the little ball meant that what he experienced in the morning was just a dream, and it was all a dream......

No, he suddenly realized a problem, that is: if the purple ball that existed in reality could not be brought into the dream, then why could the marble be brought into the dream? But he thought about it again, after all, in dreams, you can do whatever you want, so the appearance of that marble should be just accidental, or don't underestimate the probability of chance and the power of dreams. After a while, Lu Yu felt that it would be boring to stay like this any longer, if it was a dream, then there should be some other events happening, it was better to look around. So, Lu Yu no longer sat and observed how many fish would pass by him, but planned to explore the surroundings.

"Anyway, let's take a walk around first."

The ripples in the water rippled evenly, forming a regular pattern in circles and circles, and Lu Yu slowly walked towards the locust tree, wanting to see if there was anything around the locust tree. But when he walked up to the locust tree, he only found that there were some words and patterns engraved on the tree that he was unfamiliar with, and he forgot what it meant. Then he circled around the locust tree, and when he reached the shade of the locust tree, he found an old man with white hair and white beard playing Go with him.

Lu Yu noticed that the old man was carrying two shackles on his back, one was strangely shaped, firmly piercing into the collarbone like a sharp knife, and the shape also had a barb as sharp as a scimitar, while the other shackle was mediocre, looking like it was just an auxiliary tool to strengthen the previous shackle.

Although the old man didn't look back, he also seemed to notice that someone was coming, made a silent gesture to Lu Yu, and pointed to the position opposite him, as if signaling Lu Yu to sit down.

Lu Yu didn't think too much, just sat opposite the old man, and observed the old man in detail to clean up the mess.

Although he didn't know much about Go, he had watched his father play against the elders of the family when he was a child, and he had learned a lot of relevant knowledge while watching, so he was still able to barely understand the game at this time.

After a while, the old man finally left the last son and ended the endgame, and Lu Yu on the side saw this, sighing and amazed.

With a wave of his hand, the old man put away the chessboard and replaced it with a pot of tea and two teacups.

"Come, tea." The old man poured a cup of tea and handed it to Lu Yu.

"Thank you." Lu Yu took the tea with both hands, took a sip, and could feel the matching rich tea aroma blooming in his mouth, "This tea is really delicious." ”

"Do you know where you are now?" The old man took a sip of tea and asked.

Lu Yu thought about it for a while, and directly replied that dreams might not be good, how could anyone be so sincere when dreaming. So he replied, "Probably a fairyland, right?" ”

The old man smiled and did not answer.

Seeing that the old man didn't answer, Lu Yu asked again: "It's just that this fairyland is really true, and the scenery is too monotonous, no wonder it is said that 'immortals don't eat fireworks in the world'." ”

"Whether it's a fairyland, a dream, it's okay for you to say what's in your heart."

Lu Yu was surprised: How could this old man know what I was thinking. But then he thought about it, the things in the dream were what he imagined, so it was only natural that the old man could read his own thoughts.

"But if I tell you that you're dead now, but your soul wanders here, would you believe it?"

Lu Yu was stunned for a moment, and almost didn't hold the teacup in his hand: "Ahaha, old man, are you kidding?" ”

The old man shook his head.

"It's just that it's too hard to convince, that's not how the joke is made, old man."

When the old man heard this, he just said lightly: "Believe it or not, I just see that you have some doubts in your heart, and I will remind you a few words." ”

Lu Yu grinned and didn't say anything, he didn't completely believe what the old man said, and at the same time, he didn't completely deny the old man's words. Indeed, what happened today at the end of the day was too fantastical: hallucinations, girls who suddenly appeared, ice slag shattered on the ground, car accidents...... He didn't expect everything, he just felt that it was just a dream, but everything he felt here was so full of reality, it clearly didn't look like it should appear in a dream.

Seeing Lu Yu's expression of wanting to speak and stopping, the old man said again: "Although you are dead, it is not impossible to 'resurrect' at the moment. ”

As soon as he heard this, Lu Yu was confused again, and just wanted to speak, but was interrupted by the old man.

"Don't worry, listen to me first. The place you are in now is called Mirror Lake, and it is a corner of this entire void. The Void is the junction between the living and the dead, and when a person dies, he will become a wandering spirit to reach the Void, and if the Wandering Soul wants to die, it also needs to go from the Void to the Underworld in order to be reborn. And this mirror lake, except for me and this big locust tree, usually no one appears here. ”

"As for the way to get out of this void, tsk, since you're here, it's not impossible for me to help you." Looking at Lu Yu's suspicious eyes, he paused, and then said, "Don't be bothered, you can treat it as a dream, whether it's real or not, if it's a dream, you should treat it as a game, and there will be nothing to lose by doing what I say." ”

"But if it's true...... If you don't do what I say, I'm afraid you won't be able to change the status quo. ”

Lu Yu nodded.

"Very good, the children can be taught."

Seeing that Lu Yu had recovered a little bit, he continued: "In fact, it is just the rules of the Void Realm that can let you leave and return to the human world, and I am just responsible for pushing the boat down the river. In a few moments, I will open a door for you, and after passing through that door, you will be able to go directly to a place where you can see the true face of the Void - the Lost Trace of Sand City, and in that place, as long as you can complete the trial given to you by the gatekeeper there, then you will be able to 'rise from the dead'. ”

When Lu Yu listened, he noticed the sentence "As long as you complete the trial, you can come back from the dead", so he asked, "What if you can't complete the trial?" ”

"Then you can only stay here forever, or die."

"What is that trial?"

"As for what the trial is, the gatekeeper over there will explain it to you clearly, and it's not convenient for me to take someone else's work." The old man picked up the tea and took a sip, "Do you still have questions?" ”

Lu Yu thought for a while and said, "I want to ask the name of the old-timer, and why is the old-timer here, since you know the way to get out, why don't you leave?" ”

The old man was silent for a while, his smile gradually condensed, and his brows wrinkled unconsciously, Lu Yu thought he was angry, and hurriedly said, "I'm sorry, did I say the wrong thing." ”

"Nothing." The old man said, slightly stretching his frowning brows, "I just suddenly remembered the past, don't worry." Well, you ask my name, my name is Yun Huai, the cloud of Qingyun, and the locust is the locust of this locust tree. ”

"As for the reason why I'm staying here, it's because I made a mistake, so I'm punished for staying here well, well, I won't let me go easily with this thing on my back." He pointed to the shackles behind him, "So it's not that I don't want to go, I just want to go, but I can't." ”

"I'm sorry to remind you of an unpleasant past."

"It's okay, there's nothing pleasant or unpleasant, it's just a past where those who hear laugh and those who see laugh." The old man waved his hand, "It's almost time, if there is no problem, it's time to go." Not far from them, a large black circle suddenly appeared out of thin air, and the space around the circle seemed to have been cut away, looming.

"This is the 'door' that can take you to the Lost Wanderery of Sand City."

"Thank you, seniors, if you have the opportunity, I hope to meet again."

Lu Yu bowed to Yunhuai and walked towards the "door" step by step.

"By the way, there's one more thing." Just as Lu Yu had already taken a step towards the "door", Yun Huai stopped Lu Yu, "Boy, if you can leave the Void Realm alive, help me bring a greeting to Lu Yun." ”

Just before Lu Yu could react in surprise, he was sucked in by the "door", and in an instant, the entire Mirror Lake was violently shaken.

After the shock was over, everything was as usual in Mirror Lake, with fish, clouds, locust trees and two suns, but only a withered locust branch remained where the cloud locust stood before.

After a moment of dizziness, Lu Yu was taken by the gate to the vicinity of the sand city mystery.

"Wow-poof!"

He fell not far from the ground.

"It hurts." He touched his face, "Why isn't this portal on the ground?" ”

He got up from the ground in embarrassment, looked around, and found that it was originally on the side of the mirror lake, the water and the sky were the same, although the scenery within the field of vision was only so vast that it was like a water surface without boundaries and a towering giant tree, but at least it was a dream wonder, but compared to the current scene, the sky was full of yellow sand, a barren, no wonder the old-timers would emphasize "living" and going back before leaving.

"Speaking of which, why do Yunhuai seniors know Dad." Lu Yu muttered, "Forget it, just ask him when you see your father." ”

The sky in the middle of the void was like a curtain covered with a layer of blood, gloomy, and it was not surprising that even when a thunderbolt suddenly fell. Lu Yuxiang looked into the distance, but felt that his eyes seemed to be covered by some veil, and the scenery that he could usually observe clearly was now only visible, but he couldn't see clearly, and he could only faintly see that there were buildings like ancient ruins standing in the yellow sand not far away.

When Lu Yu just fell, he accidentally grabbed a handful of "yellow sand" on the ground, but after careful observation, he found that these things that looked like sand were actually miniature golden beetles, which frightened Lu Yu and hurriedly let go.

It's just that these small insects that make up the "sand" do not pose any threat to Lu Yu, and their behavior is like the fall of the sand, and the one that should stick to the hand is stuck to the hand.

Lu Yu continued to walk forward, about a hundred meters, before he gradually saw a group of people standing in front of the ruins, as if in formation.

"That over there!" Someone shouted at Lu Yu, "Hurry up!" You're the last one who knows it, and you're the one who delays everyone's process! ”

"Are you calling me?" Although Lu Yu was puzzled, he still quickened his pace and came to the group of people, so that he could see the appearance of this group of people. On the left was a group of people on the left and a man on the right, and on the left were men of his age, children and adults, and on the other side was a tall man in armor and holding a spear.

"This person should be the gatekeeper that Yunhuai's predecessors said, but his face ......" Lu Yu looked at that person, but he couldn't see what he looked like at all, and could only see a black mist that seemed to cover that person's face.

"What's the problem!" The man in armor yelled at him.

Lu Yu didn't say much, just silently walked to the back of the queue.

"Given that someone is too incompetent and came too late to hear what I just said, then I'll repeat it now, you have all listened carefully to me, if someone comes to ask me after entering the ruins or doesn't follow the rules, the consequences will be very tragic!" As if he had all his strength, he shouted to everyone, many of whom covered their ears because of his loud voice.

"Listen, you dead people are just a group of poor homeless ghosts wandering into this void forged by the Soul Master, and it stands to reason that you should be immediately tortured to the Underworld, cross the Spirit River, cleanse your souls, and become a part of the Mi Hai. But Master Soul took pity on you and won you a chance to be reborn. ”

"In this void, it is completely different from the realm where you lived before - that is, the human realm, here ignores some of the physical laws you have, but constructs rules that only belong to the void, and a special energy that is everywhere in the void is called soul embers, which are formed by the remnants of those who have died before due to too deep obsession and wandering here over the years, and these soul embers will also form some soul beasts through continuous convergence."

"And the soul beast has a condensed soul core in its body, and a large amount of soul ember energy is condensed in the soul core, if you can successfully absorb the soul ember energy and become an existence between the living and the dead, then you can obtain the qualification to be reborn again."

Everyone looked at each other, although they wanted to discuss something, but they were forced by the strong coercion brought by the gatekeeper, and they did not dare to say a word.

"That." A girl who was not very tall raised her hand, "Will it have any impact if you become an intermediary?" ”

"After becoming an intermediary, you will no longer be the same as ordinary people, although the structure of your body is the same, but your physical fitness will be much stronger than that of ordinary people, and even more, you will specialize in special abilities due to the difference of some soul cores. The only difference is that by becoming an intermediary, you will have a shorter lifespan, no matter how well your Ember can adapt. In addition, not everyone here can become an intermediary, as I said just now, only those who can adapt well to the soul ember and can obtain the soul core have a chance to become an intermediary, as for the person who can adapt poorly to the soul ember, it is just that they will experience the feeling that life is worse than death, and I will help you reduce the pain and break it with one blow. ”

"As for those who have not been able to obtain the soul core, you can only obediently go to the underworld, after all, it should be so, but if you insist on wandering here and are unwilling to leave, I will not drive you away, but the favorite of wild soul beasts is the lonely soul wandering in the outskirts of the void world, when your soul is torn apart by them, you may wish to choose to die long ago instead of staying here."

The girl timidly said "thank you", and the gatekeeper nodded.

"Well, I've repeated the basics again! Next, I'll briefly explain the rules for you to capture the soul core in the ruins later! There have to be rules for everything! Again, he used the same size as he had just said.

"Considering that you, as a lonely soul and wild ghost, have no ability to deal with soul beasts for the time being, so in the ruins that were originally used to hunt soul beasts, there are now only two spirit-level soul beasts, so that the large number of spirit spirits that appear present will not be eaten up."

"Secondly, there are more than thirty soul cores hidden in the ruins, if you find them, you can absorb the soul ember energy as long as you contact them."

"The third point is that you can fight each other inside the ruins, but not outside the ruins. Even if you are in a geisman state now, you can still let other people's souls fly away, but there is no infighting in front of me. ”

"In the end, you only have two hours, and when the time is up, everyone will be forcibly moved out of the ruins."

"Above! It's all the rules, got it! ”

"Ming...... Understood......" only a few replied weakly.

"Do you understand?" He roared again.

"Understood!" They made a loud noise.

"Good! So, hunting, begin! ”