The child arrived, carrying a kettle of boiling water. He squatted down and started to search for ants, but after looking for a while and finding none, he heard his mother calling from behind. He answered her and then tipped his kettle over.
The boiling water flowed along the cracks in the pavement. To Lu Yin, it was a raging flood, and a scalding one at that.
He scrambled out of a crack and climbed to a raised section of the street. Soon, he was completely surrounded by boiling water on all sides and could only stand on the highest point of a brick while waiting for the water to cool before he moved on.
This was the destiny of an ant. Even with the courage and strength to shoulder immense burdens, the gap between an ant and a human child was so vast that it could not be overcome, just like the gap between Lu Yin and Obscura. While it might seem that he had the strength to fight against a two-law Immortal, Obscura was far more than that.
Also, where was he? Some corner of Manifest City? If he wanted to leave, he needed to touch the city’s gate.
As for taking control of Manifest City, he had no idea how to do that. At the very least, it was impossible for a mere ant.
But if it was impossible for an ant, what should he do?
Lu Yin looked to either side. In addition to himself, there had to be other creatures who had entered Manifest City and were unable to leave. Snails, turtles, ants: did everyone who entered the city become some sort of creature?
Countless huge droplets crashed down as pedestrians stepped into the hot water with splashes, cursing as they walked away. Lu Yin was drenched by the droplets.
Where had the people of this city come from? Had they always lived in Manifest City? Or was this place like the tablet world, existing in an endless loop?
Listening to the surrounding clamor, this was not Lu Yin’s first time viewing a street from this particular perspective. Back when he had first visited the Celestial Frost Sect and participated in their Sky Beyond the Sky trial, he had ultimately turned into a grasshopper and had needed to hop across a street. He had died multiple times while experiencing the bustling crowd, being trampled to death again and again, all from a grasshopper’s viewpoint.
However, at that time, he had actually been confronting just a single person: the Celestial Frost Sect’s Progenitor Bai Wangyuan. Through the Sky Beyond the Sky trial, he had projected an imprint of his own invincibility upon all cultivators who managed to reach the final step of the trial. Anyone who could reach that step was not an ordinary person, and Bai Wangyuan had wanted them to fear him. That was why he had forced them to experience being trampled to death again and again, all so that, when they finally faced him, they would be forced to bow their heads.
At that time, Lu Yin had only broken free from the trap because of the Origin Progenitor’s Sutra.
This time was different. Manifest City had transformed him into a manifestation of his inner aspect. This was not a method of intimidation, but rather one to ensure that a creature could see itself clearly. What else there might be to the matter, Lu Yin did not know. Still, for Manifest City to accomplish even this was truly terrifying. It essentially had the power to reduce a two-law Immortal to nothing. This was likely the true level of power that this mirebound artifact possessed.
If Lu Yin were to be trampled and killed in this place, would he truly die? He could not be sure. Che’s words were not guaranteed to be true, and Kang Tian was too weak to be a reliable example. Still, Lu Yin did not want to risk testing it.
Finally, the boiling water cooled, and he quickly moved away. He followed the cracks between the paving stones to reach the middle of the street so that he could see into the distance. He was searching for the city gate.
He could not see it. The city was huge even to humans, let alone an ant.
Still, even if he could not find it by looking, he could still listen.
This thought prompted him to move close to a nearby vendor. He then waited quietly. As the vendor spoke with passersby, it was inevitable that the city gate would come up.
Thus, Lu Yin stayed in the cracks between the paving stones beside the vendor, waiting quietly.
Day after day passed. He did not know how much time went by, but one day, as the sun set in the west, the shadows on the ground started to writhe. Lu Yin glanced at them, but he simply thought that the wind was rustling the leaves, so he ignored it. However, the shadows began to writhe more and more frequently, and they got more and more violent.
He turned to look at the wall. The writhing shadow was that of a green leaf. When he looked over, the leaf writhed even more exaggeratedly, as though it had gone mad.
It was undoubtedly a creature.
Was it possible for a creature to become even a green leaf? That was a horrifying thought. If even that was possible, then if a creature who entered became a leaf that was fixed in place, how could they ever leave?
The first thing Lu Yin considered was to wonder if Che might have set a trap for him.
The leaf writhed frantically, almost tearing itself apart. It was greeting Lu Yin. He hesitated, climbed up the wall, and found a position relatively close to the leaf.
"You are an outsider, right? An outsider?"
"That’s right."
"I knew it! Great. Please, please save me and get me out of here! I am fixed in place. That creature has some kind of problem! It stuck a bamboo stick through me so that I can’t move."
"You could move before?"
"Yes."
"Aren’t you a leaf? Even if you could move, it should have been because the wind blew you, right?"
"No, I can move on my own. I am a leaf, but I can move. It seems that you’re new here, so let me tell you this—I have even seen a chair move by itself. It scared those creatures so badly that they fled in a panic, saying that it was haunted. In the end, they burned that chair. Pity."
Lu Yin understood. It seemed that, no matter what one became when they entered Manifest City, they would still be able to move. Manifest City was not a dead end; there would always be a sliver of hope, even if one was transformed into a chair.
Wait, what sort of creature could become a chair? Whose inner aspect would be a chair?
"Quickly, save me! I’ve been trapped here for far, far too long. Time passes in this strange place, but my own condition never changes. I feel no hunger, no thirst, nor my body aging as it used to."
"What’s wrong with these people?"
"People? Are you referring to the creatures in this city? How do you know that they’re called people? Do you recognize them?"
"I am the one asking the question. If you want to leave, just tell me."
"Fine, fine, fine. I understand. You’re asking about these ‘people,’ right? What about them?"
"Have they ever changed?"
"What do you mean?"
"Aged or died."
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"I am absolutely sure, because I’ve become an heirloom for this vendor’s family. Back then, his great-great-great grandfather was the one who stuck me here."
The leaf sounded heartbreakingly bitter over its fate. Lu Yin sympathized with it. However, this city also appeared like an ordinary world. Even the people should be real, right? "How did you get in here?"
"I do not know. I woke up, and I was a leaf."
"Was Che the one who brought you in? Or did you find this city yourself?"
"I truly don’t know. Please, save me and get me out! Even if you just set me free, it’s fine. I really don’t want to be stuck here forever. To be honest, I even envy that chair. If I had known, even being burned would have been better than staying here forever."