"Whew...... Heh......"

Try to calm down and breathe gently.

Manami felt as if she was in the mouth of some kind of giant beast, and in the dark, something seemed to be watching her.

When she was in a situation of visual obstruction, her higher-dimensional perception was somewhat enhanced, and coupled with the full use of imagination, the girl felt that her skin was oozing sweat little by little, and even the originally solid floor under her feet seemed to become viscous, as if she was in the mud, or stepped on some huge, slimy tongue.

"Be calm, be calm......"

Manami Mizuhara comforted herself, and turned back, trying to make sure that the stairs she came from were still in the protection of the light, but the moment she turned around-

"Ahh

Manami Mizuhara's eyes widened.

Because no matter how much she looked, the staircase had disappeared into the darkness, and only a boundless, dark and dreary world was left in front of her!

"No, no, no, no, no, no!"

Manami Mizuhara ran in a hurry, rushing in a panic on the floor of the second floor.

She fell, as if she had been swept down by a dark mass of mud, but then got back up. Then he fell and got up again.

She didn't know what she had encountered, she didn't know where she was, the world in front of her had become a void with no outline, and it seemed as if there was only a silhouette, and the great and desolate fear took over her body and mind, making her feel like she was struggling in the mouth of a giant beast.

Finally, just when there was only a huge and inexplicable fear left in her mind, her elbow was in a panic, and she rested on a corner of the wall, and a crisp voice came:

"Click."

The lights are on.

The darkness was dispelled.

When the lights came on, the fear seemed to go away with the darkness.

There was only an ordinary second-floor room left in front of me.

- White walls, plain sofas, nothing else.

Manami Mizuhara lay in horror against the corner, breathing heavily, feeling that the sweat had clung to his clothes and his skin.

The room in front of her was so ordinary, even so ordinary that she almost hallucinated, as if it wasn't the object of her great fear just now.

Could it be that everything just now was just my own delusion?

As soon as this weak thought came to mind, Manami Mizuhara immediately smashed it.

- How could it be!

Fang Cai's huge and inexplicable fear was definitely not because of simple claustrophobia, or anything else!

Manami Mizuhara gritted her teeth, feeling the careless malice of the great being behind this.

She pushed herself to her feet, turned her head, and saw a large text hanging from the wall:

"Want to know...... Is there a meaning in life? Think...... Is it truly alive?

"-What does that mean?"

After reading out the passage word for word, Manami Mizuhara, who was puzzled, looked down and saw a small map posted on the wall under the words.

On the map, a topographic map of the vicinity of Tokyo was drawn on a scale, and in the center of the map, in the center of a deliberately marked circle, the name of the place was prominently marked:

"Mt. Arana".

"Aranayama? Why does this place name always feel a little familiar......"

Manami Mizuhara searched for the memories in her mind, and a moment later, when the memory from two days ago was activated in her mind, the girl showed an incomprehensible shocked expression, and all kinds of intricate things that she had experienced in the past seemed to be connected into a line-

Because the shock was too strong, for a moment, she ignored the sweat on her body and everything she had just experienced, and her thoughts were completely immersed in memories.

“…… Araname Mountain - Isn't that the place where the hundred-meter-high 'Divine Tree' is located that has been circulating on the Internet during this time? That sacred tree is said to be the incarnation of the gods...... And the pendant that the store manager gave me is also in the shape of a tree carving, can it be ......

“…… The root of everything is actually there! ”

……

Just when the girl locked her eyes on the Wild Mountain because of someone's bad taste, in the depths of the Wild Mountain, the "root" was holding her chin and meditating carefully.

"Hmm...... Sure enough, as I thought, as long as I accept my evolutionary blood, even if it is less than one percent of the potency, I can establish a certain 'connection', and through this 'connection', I can completely manipulate the other person's perception and emotions, so that the other party will fall into the abyss in an instant, or ascend to heaven.

"However, without the aid of the sensory pendant, it would not be able to reach such a level of clarity, which is also one of the characteristics of the Shenmu clone, and the pendant made of its branches is like a signal booster, allowing me to create all kinds of perceptions with my fingers......

“…… Sight, hearing, touch, smell...... All human perceptions of the outside world come from the five senses and six senses, and the world to which the senses point is the absolutely real world for them. What if it were possible to manipulate the sensation so easily...... It is not impossible to create a 'second world' that is absolutely true to ordinary people. ”

Xi Gu pondered, and after a moment, shook his head again.

"It's still not enough, it's still too crude and very unstable...... It's not enough to construct a near-completely real 'second world' ......"

“…… Let's keep looking......"

Xi Gu's thinking and research are still ongoing.

Tokyo, Katsushika-ku.

As one of Tokyo's poorest wards, the area, like Arakawa Ward, exudes a dilapidated and desolate atmosphere.

Despite this, Katsushika is home to high-rise buildings and mansions, and at the end of a blue-gray street, a red-and-white building stands so cleanly painted that you can't help but marvel at its size from the outside.

- This is the "Fazhuang", which was a place of family inheritance of the Xieyang Chinese family a few decades ago, but because of the family's misfortune, it was transferred to a certain company, and later changed hands several times, and now it is the residence of the religious corporation "Bliss Ming King Association", where the head of the sect and the senior members of the elder group live, and where the monthly "pilgrimage" is held.

And today, it is the day of the "pilgrimage".

Dressed in gray robes, the members of the Meiokai register the list of visitors at the "Hosho", and the believers who enter through the door are both plainly dressed ordinary believers and extravagantly dressed celebrities, but no matter who they are, they respectfully write their names on the registration desk in front of the door, and then hand over the offering money wrapped in oiled paper to another member of the house next to them for safekeeping.

"Next."

The insider who filled in his name behind the registration desk didn't look up, but at that moment, a soft voice fell into his ears.

"Excuse me, I don't have an offering money, can I go in?"

The registrar's hand holding the pen immediately froze, and his face was angry, wondering where did such an unruly person come from, but when he raised his head and saw the owner of the voice, he was immediately stunned.

- Whether it was him or the people around him, they all looked sideways, not for anything else, just because of the beauty of the girl.

"When, of course you can!"

The registrar shouted—

"I have an additional qualification to participate in the pilgrimage this month, please wait a while, and I will show you around when the time comes!"

Looking at the girl's nodding and greeting, as well as the envious and jealous eyes of both believers and internal members next to her, the registrar couldn't help but laugh happily, picked up the pen again, and asked the girl:

"Excuse me, your name is ......"

The girl smiled slightly, and the smile on her face seemed to be more magnificent than the cherry blossoms.

"Mio Ito."