"The contents of these blind boxes are entirely random, without even a rough list of possible items, and yet they dare to sell for 1688..."
Wang Hui frowned slightly as he looked at the blind box purchase page his colleague had sent. Under normal circumstances, he would never waste money on what he considered an "intelligence tax." Yet, given the current situation...
He glanced at the diagnostic report in his other hand and suddenly felt a sense of ennui. Saving money seemed meaningless now. Perhaps he should indulge in a bit of folly.
With a casual tap, he placed the order and leaned back against the bus seat, closing his eyes to rest. No one could have predicted that just after his recent promotion, poised to make great strides, he would be diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis—ALS.
The disease, though not yet manifesting overtly, had begun its insidious work, causing muscle atrophy and a pervasive weakness. Soon, it would lead to swallowing difficulties and respiratory failure—an incurable condition with current medical capabilities.
"How ironic that someone like me, always resistant to the cold, would succumb to a disease of freezing," Wang Hui mused darkly as he stepped off the bus.
Near the outskirts, his parents had left him a house with a yard in a quiet neighborhood. As he turned into the alley, he immediately spotted a large box at his doorstep.
"Is this... the blind box?" he wondered, approaching it in astonishment. The box was roughly two meters long and over a meter high. Could it have arrived in just forty minutes since the order was placed?
"Pretty hefty..." he noted as he tried to lift it, estimating the contents to weigh at least two hundred pounds. Initially skeptical of the blind box, curiosity now piqued him about its contents. Its sheer size promised a potential return on investment.
"The allure of the unknown..." he chuckled softly, opening the gate and laboring to push the box inside inch by inch.
"If they'd delivered this when my symptoms worsened, I wouldn't have been able to move it at all," he thought, wiping away sweat and noting the "Lego" logo on the side.
"A toy brick company? Seems like a knockoff..." With a pair of scissors, he dismantled the box, revealing something that left him stunned.
Inside, a seamless glass dome encased a miniature landscape of mountains and rivers atop a rectangular metal platform. It resembled the "Christmas Snow Globe" toys from his childhood, only vastly larger.
Peering closer, he noticed a sun the size of a ping-pong ball moving within, surrounded by drifting clouds, astonishingly lifelike.
"Can toys be crafted with such precision?" Wang Hui marveled. Just the size and appearance alone seemed far beyond the thousand-plus yuan price of the blind box.
Circling the glass dome, he watched the tiny sun set, replaced by a small moon rising from the opposite side. The "sky" within dimmed as miniature buildings below flickered to life with lights.
"Is something moving in there, or are my eyes deceiving me?" Wang Hui squinted, but the dim interior made it impossible to discern. Retrieving a magnifying glass and flashlight from his cabinet, he returned to find the miniature sun had risen again, illuminating the dome once more.
"A minute for each day and night cycle?" Seizing the daylight, he observed through the magnifying glass. Countless tiny figures moved within—humans and animals—at such speed they became mere blurs.
"The time flows differently inside, making these tiny things appear unusually fast?" he pondered, as the sun set again, casting shadows.
Instinctively, Wang Hui placed one hand on the metal surface, with the other ready to switch on the flashlight. Suddenly, an irresistible force pulled at him!
He gasped, wind roaring past his ears as he plummeted downward swiftly!
...
"Have you all gone weak? Wield your whips! Tonight, we claim the greatest glory!"
In the miniature world, along the River Pinchuan, a troop of over a hundred cavalry galloped, their fervent shouts echoing. Ahead, three solitary figures ran desperately, but two legs could hardly outrun four.
In no time, the trio found themselves encircled. "Is this the end for us?" lamented a young girl leading the group, her sun-kissed skin a testament to her vitality and courage.
Zuo Qiu Yue, daughter of the Zuo Qiu clan leader, had once hunted large beasts alone at the age of twelve. Yet against such overwhelming numbers, even she despaired.
"Little Zuo Qiu brat! Where do you think you can run?" taunted the bald-headed leader of the pursuing cavalry, spurring his horse forward with a leering grin.
"Did you think you could ally with the Nalan clan to ambush us, not knowing they had already submitted to our Huyan clan? Hand over the sacred relic, and perhaps I might spare you some pain!"
His gaze roamed over Zuo Qiu Yue with vile intent, provoking a wave of nausea.
"In your dreams!" declared Zuo Qiu Yue's two female guardians, brandishing long knives defensively. "Master Yue, we shall fight to the death to open a path for you. You must return the sacred relic to our people!"
"I..." Zuo Qiu Yue's resolve hardened as she pressed the hidden relic beneath her clothing. "Even if I cannot return, I will not let them have it!"
In mere moments, the Huyan cavalry's encirclement tightened, their eyes burning with predatory desire as they eyed the three women like helpless lambs.
"Hey! Clutching that thing as if it could magically save you?" mocked the bald man, assured of victory, peering down at Zuo Qiu Yue from his mount.
"Even if the sacred relic could manifest power, only the leader of our Huyan clan deserves it. But... if you join my master Gui, perhaps the relic might even recognize you!"
His men laughed derisively, one quipping, "Our master Gui lacks a foot slave. Who better than the daughter of the Zuo Qiu leader?"
"Curse you..." Fury surged within Zuo Qiu Yue. Grasping the relic tightly with one hand, she drew her sword with the other.
"For dishonoring the Zuo Qiu clan, I will make you pay!"
But before she could act, a powerful roar resounded from the heavens! A piercing noise shattered the air, causing everyone's ears to throb. The bald man looked up, bewildered, as a beam of light hurtled downwards!
Could the sacred relic truly hold power? It was his last living thought...
Boom!!
A colossal force struck, tossing cavalry and horsemen alike as if they were leaves in a gale! The bald man, caught directly, was obliterated, incinerated into ash by the beam's fiery edge.
"What happened? What is that?"
"Divine retribution from the heavens..."
"The sacred relic has been activated!"
The Huyan riders, terror-stricken, retreated rapidly, teeth chattering with fear. Meanwhile, the two Zuo Qiu guardians rejoiced, dropping to their knees before Zuo Qiu Yue.
"Congratulations, Master Yue, on being chosen by the sacred relic! You shall restore the glory of the Zuo Qiu clan!"