I'm Trapped in the Block

Mo Ling stared intently at the slime dripping from the small bottle.

It was transparent with a faint yellow tinge, and it dangled from the mouth of the bottle in a long, thin strand.

Old Xu seemed to treasure it. He poured just a little before immediately stopping.

"This stuff is precious; I’ve got to use it sparingly." He carefully used the cap to catch the slime on the bottle’s lip before screwing it back on.

Mo Ling looked at the slime, and his stomach churned.

The unique flavor still lingered in his mouth, refusing to dissipate. It carried waves of a floral fragrance that was quite refreshing.

But once your mind rebels against something, even the most delicious food becomes nauseating.

Mo Ling felt the sensation, once gentle in his throat, now spread down his esophagus, as if something slimy was clinging to his insides.

The feeling kept overlapping with the image in his mind.

The toad in the gloomy waterway.

Countless transparent blisters turning into tiny beads, rolling across its body.

The soft, gelatinous substance jiggling.

Finally, springing into his own mouth.

At the thought, Mo Ling felt nauseous all over again. His current misery was a perfect match for the pleasure he’d felt while drinking the tea moments before.

Mo Ling sat on the bed for a long time before he finally recovered.

’That was intense.’

Once he knew the liquid’s source, he could no longer bear to look at Old Xu’s flower tea.

Old Xu, however, didn’t seem to care. He savored it all by himself, sipping the flower tea with its added slime and praising it endlessly.

"It’s a shame you two aren’t having any. You can’t get this stuff anywhere else in the Abyss. Only here in Oasis City."

Then, he suddenly seemed to realize something. "Then again, Oasis City might not have it anymore in the future... Such a shame."

Although he kept trying to get Li Luo and Mo Ling to try it, they both remained on guard, even inching their chairs farther and farther away.

...

After the crisis, Oasis City officials instructed all residents to stay in their homes until further notice, pending the complete removal of the various candies.

Although the city was currently held together by candy, it wouldn’t last long in the desert’s sweltering heat.

The authorities were using various relics to reinforce the city, and Mo Ling could occasionally hear the bustling sounds of the guard patrols.

Li Luo led Li Xiangyi to their rooms.

Their rooms were right across the hall from each other, but when it was time to part for the night, Li Xiangyi refused to let go of Li Luo’s hand.

"I don’t know when we’ll see each other again," Li Xiangyi said, her face etched with grief.

"..."

"Tomorrow morning," Li Luo replied simply, after a moment’s pause.

Li Luo escorted Li Xiangyi back to her room. After a few words of instruction, she closed the door, even as Li Xiangyi gave her a pleading look.

Mo Ling watched the scene and sighed with emotion.

For Li Xiangyi, it was true that she didn’t know when they would meet again. Having lost her sense of time, every meeting was just a new image layered over the last.

In Mo Ling’s view, with her current, incomprehensible senses, Li Xiangyi should have stopped being a normal person long ago.

Yet she still seemed able to behave like a normal person.

’It’s as if something is constantly correcting her.’

’Could it be that the wish hasn’t ended?’

Remembering Li Xiangyi’s wish, a theory formed in Mo Ling’s mind:

’Because she wished to become human, no matter how distorted her senses become, she continues to live according to the patterns of a normal person.’ 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

As the price for using the Rainbow Shuttle, Li Xiangyi should have long since lost her right to be human.

But the Little Elf’s wish-granting power was constantly correcting her "future," forcing her to "exist" as a human.

The thought that the seemingly normal Young Lady was originally a powerful, unknown creature struck Mo Ling as utterly absurd.

No one would ever connect the sky-blotting Purple veil with this slightly odd Young Lady.

Mo Ling just hoped that Li Xiangyi could live a peaceful, stable life in Oasis City, just as her wish intended.

’Sometimes, forgetting the wish is for the best.’

After Li Luo closed the door, Li Xiangyi stood alone in the room, stunned. After a moment, she began to wander aimlessly.

Having no sense of direction was certainly a major impediment to daily life.

Fortunately, the room wasn’t large, and Li Xiangyi seemed to have a special way of determining where she needed to go.

But Mo Ling watched for a long time without figuring out what her method was.

Perhaps, just as the Little Elf had said, she was relying on intuition.

However, after a few laps around the room, Li Xiangyi seemed to grasp its layout and began to move about like a normal person.

’She has her bearings now?’ Mo Ling was a bit shocked.

Li Xiangyi began to walk around the room normally.

She placed her backpack on the desk, found the water dispenser for a drink, tossed her combat uniform into the washing machine, located the bathroom to wash up, and began to organize her gear and make her bed...

Her actions were indistinguishable from those of a normal person.

But Mo Ling soon noticed something odd.

When Li Xiangyi walked, she always moved in a perfectly straight line. Even when she reached a corner, she would just pivot abruptly and continue in another straight line.

She moved about the room this way, turning this way and that, methodically going about her tasks.

It was as if her path had been pre-programmed.

Mo Ling also noticed that every time Li Xiangyi passed the same spot, her path was identical, without the slightest deviation.

She would follow the exact same path, even if it meant taking a significant detour.

Moreover, her actions every time she reached a corner were also identical.

Yet she didn’t seem to find this strange in the slightest. As she grew more familiar with the room, Li Xiangyi’s expression grew increasingly relaxed.

’What is going on?’ Li Xiangyi’s strange behavior made Mo Ling all the more curious.

It was only after careful observation that Mo Ling noticed a subtle detail.

Behind Li Xiangyi, a shuttle was spinning at high speed.

But the shuttle was empty. There was nothing on it.

Wait, it wasn’t empty!

It was a thread!

Looking at the shuttle, Mo Ling finally understood.

’It’s a transparent silk thread! It marks every path she takes. As long as she follows the thread, she can return to any position she’s been to before.’

Mo Ling couldn’t see the thread, but he knew that Li Xiangyi’s room must be full of it by now.

Li Xiangyi was like a spider, weaving a thread wherever she went, creating a web. By following the web, she could find any place she had previously visited.

This thread was invisible and intangible to others; only the owner of the Rainbow Shuttle could perceive it.

’What would you even call this thread? A path-line?’ Mo Ling was deeply shaken.

The price of a relic doesn’t affect its ability. Li Xiangyi was exploiting this rule—using a relic to defeat a relic.

Now, Mo Ling no longer had any doubt that she could live a normal life in Oasis City.

Given enough time, Li Xiangyi could weave her "web" across all of Oasis City. The web would gradually expand to cover the entire city, and then she would never get lost here again.

’You really can’t underestimate any relic.’

Mo Ling, from within the Block, sighed and shook his head.

’Perceiving the world through a web... that’s truly a non-human perspective.’

...