Right now, the most shocked person in the room was Li Yinyi. She knew exactly how distrustful her brother was. Seeing him so easily give him, almost made her think she was having a dream. This store was truly full of surprises.
Suddenly, Shou called out to her from the side. "Uhm, how long do you plan on watching?"
Li Yinyi tilted her head. "Well, I guess until he is done?"
"Are you sure," Shou tried reaffirming her thoughts, "You do know we are closing at midnight, right?"
"Ah!" Li Yinyi screamed out and looked outside the window. She saw the sun had already set, leaving only an orange hue, resting at the bottom of the horizon. "Why didn't you tell me sooner! Quickly, open a core for me, come on, let's not waste anymore time!"
"What happened to watching your brother?"
"He will do fine on his own, worst thing that can happens is he dies." As she talked, she already held her hand above one of the golden-glowing little cubes and quickly fell into a slumber.
Zhang Yong, watching that ecstatic little girl mention her brothers death so casually, was at a loss for words. However, he had to admit, he was interested in seeing what the girls side of the story was. He had felt an unbearable itch the whole time while watching Li Yangyi play. If possible, he'd just love to enter the illusory world right now, even at 10 times the cost!
Too bad, the owner was too inflexible, and he could only postpone the idea to tomorrow.
Another screen soon appeared right next to Li Yangyi's. On the screen, the first thing that appeared was a woman wearing a mask, only the red eye of hers exposed.
"Is... Is that the witch," Zhang Yong muttered. he too, upon staring at that woman, felt an incomparable sense of dread run down his spine. It was like the natural law of the world weighted upon him, making him realize that humans may not be at the top of the food-chain as initially believed. "Such a heavy suppression, and I am not even witnessing it up close." He drew a sharp breath and before he realized it, his clothes were drenched in sweat. Any thoughts of opposition he bore disappeared without a trace.
Currently, that very witch had a confused expression. She looked at the smiling girl standing in front of her. Though for Li Yinyi, it may have been a day already, the witch simply saw her revive for the third time without any repercussions.
"I said we should talk, so let's talk," Li Yinyi said proudly and placed her hands on her hips. Indeed, she had already entered this world once and could now quickly adapt to the changing environment. She wanted to go in for a hug, but she feared that she may burst into flames once more.
The witch lifted her hand, but after few seconds, she let it fall again. The woman squinted her eyes and carefully scrutinized Li Yinyi. She came closer, and when she stood in front of Li Yinyi, she appeared incomparably tall, towering over her like a monolith, her shadow casting a deep imprint. The blood-red eye continued to stare wordlessly at the young girl.
Zhang Yong felt his muscles tighten. "Run!" he shouted at the screen.
But Li Yinyi was no such girl. Instead, she remained steadfast with an innocent smile and waited for the masked woman to move. The witch extended her hand (she wore a black glove, hiding her skin), almost touching Li Yinyi, but as they were about to connect, the witch's pupils sharply constricted, and she jumped back like a threatened cat. Silently, she returned to the house, leaving Li Yinyi for herself.
"Interesting," Shou muttered, only loud enough for Si to hear. He was sure the witch would attempt to capture her, like she did originally. Seeing her walk away silently was certainly novel to him. He pondered on why she did so, but failed to find an answer. If Si didn't mess up the witch's personality while programming, then this memory of his wasn't as simple as he thought. "Maybe I should enter and see for myself when I have the time..."
Zhang Yong breathed a sigh of relief. He thought he was about to witness a murder. Thankfully, the tension scattered when the witch retreated.
However, contrary to his expectations, Li Yinyi did not go away—rather, she followed the witch, while shouting for her to wait. It looked like she was taking a casual stroll, frolicking in her personal summer garden.
The witch stopped walking and turned around. She returned to her usual state, an unreadable puppet-like creature. This time, she didn't even bother lifting her hand. The familiar viscous liquid appeared in front of her; The glow on it was blinding. This time, it didn't immediately fly out—instead, it seemed to condense even more, gathering more energy out the air. It turned bigger and bigger, until the small droplet grew to the size of a walnut.
The coagulated flame flew straight toward Li Yinyi. A series of flashes broke through, one brighter than another, and swallowed her whole. White light engulfed the world, as if another sun had spawned; A natural disaster which no mortal could hope go against—it stayed for long, in fact, it never seemed to leave. There came no noise, only a silent ringing in one's ear, which nobody would notice if they didn't pay attention. But every spectator would have felt that instinctive call of apocalyptic doom crawling beneath their skin as the blaze burned their eyes away.
The light dissipated in the air, skillfully controlled by the witch, it left no imprint on the ground this time. But her actions did not go unnoticed, as in the sky all the looming clouds had evaporated, leaving only endless blue.
The witch walked forward. There were no signs of Li Yinyi; Like she had vanished together with the light. The witch struck her hand out and waited. A sudden rainfall poured down, evidence of the clouds that once existed. She waited, little drops of water dripping down her stoic mask, her hand still hovering in the air.
Moments later, when her black robe was drenched, sticking to her curvaceous figure, and rainmist made it hard to see where left or right was, the air churned. First appeared the clothes, and slowly a bubbly girl formed, unbothered by her death a few seconds ago.
Before Li Yinyi's body recreated itself, the witch decisively grabbed her and dragged her into the burnt house. She had an uneven gait and every step, she took slowly. They both disappeared behind the fog, unnoticed.
Zhang Yong, "..."
For a long time, he could do nothing but bear witness to the incredulous spectacle he had witnessed. He didn't know what to comment on: The oppression he felt from the witch? Her domineering magic? Li Yinyi coming back from life? Or the store that created such absurd setting?
He broke out his stupor due to the voice from another screen. There, he heard the unaffected Li Yangyi say, "Well, how about I get rid of the witch for you?"
"Cough, cough!" Zhang Yong almost choked on his own tongue. He had never met a person with a greater death-wish. Not even Wang Jing, lying unconscious on the ground, could compare.
Li Yangyi who was even about to swear an oath, heard a deep voice from the back of his head. "...Little Yangyi, I would think long and hard about the decision you are trying to make."