Chapter Twenty-Four: The Sinkhole on Mirror Mountain Road

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City G, Jing Mountain Road Commercial Street.

The site of the ground collapse was packed with onlookers from the neighborhood, so tightly that not even a drop of water could seep through the crowd. Even internet celebrities had come to the edge of the pit to livestream and check in.

“Most of us have heard of or seen ground collapses online. They’re usually caused by excessive underground mining, lava subsidence, or geological issues. But the collapse we’re looking at today is rather peculiar. Geology experts have just completed their survey and concluded that this collapse fits none of the usual categories—in other words, it’s beyond anything we understand to be reasonable. So how did it happen? Let’s wait for further updates from the experts. Now, let’s have a look at this mysterious pit…”

Qin Xiaomo listened to the influencer’s introduction and became even more convinced of her own suspicions.

Jidou also squeezed closer with the crowd to peer into the hole. Some of the more curious onlookers even tossed a large rock inside to see how deep it was. The crowd fell silent, straining to hear how long it would take to hear an echo. Seconds ticked by, half a minute passed, yet there was still no sound. The silence grew heavier, and people began to quietly inch away. The more timid ones slipped out of the crowd to leave as quickly as they could: “Come on! Let’s get home. This place is too creepy.”

Standing on the outskirts of the crowd, Qin Xiaomo glanced around, hoping to find some trace that matched her dream. But all she saw were towering buildings, steel, and concrete—nothing bore the slightest resemblance. If there was any similarity, it had to be the bottomless pit.

“Jidou, let’s go,” Qin Xiaomo called from the edge of the crowd.

“Coming!” Jidou struggled to push her way out, then approached Qin Xiaomo, eyes shining with excitement. “I managed to crawl up to the edge and take a look. Good grief, it’s terrifying—pitch black and bottomless, not a sound at all.”

“No sound is a good thing. Imagine if something were to crawl out from inside…” Qin Xiaomo wasn’t exactly disappointed, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing without even a trace left behind. Still, at least everyone was safe.

“Stop, stop! Don’t say that. The way you put it gives me the creeps. I’ll go get the car.” Jidou tried to smooth down the goosebumps on her arms.

“Wait! Where did you get that mess on your clothes? It’s filthy. Let me wipe it off for you.” Qin Xiaomo pulled a tissue from her bag and stepped forward, but then suddenly stopped in her tracks.

“What is it?” Jidou noticed Qin Xiaomo’s face shifting from red to pale and followed her gaze. There, on her clothes, was a small patch of dark green slime. “Oh, I thought it was something serious. Maybe some kid dropped their popsicle on the ground and I brushed against it. Your expression nearly scared me to death.” Jidou took the tissue from Qin Xiaomo and started wiping it off herself.

Qin Xiaomo touched a bit of the slime and brought it to her nose. A strong fishy odor mixed with a hint of fruity sweetness hit her.

Jidou grimaced. “What are you doing? That stuff is disgusting and you’re sniffing it?”

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“Where exactly were you lying just now? Show me.”

“Right there!” Jidou pointed, and Qin Xiaomo hurriedly pushed her way back through the crowd.

On the rocky edge of the pit were a few drops of green liquid. In the unremarkable spot near the rim, if one looked further down the inner wall, there were small patches of the substance scattered along the pit’s side. Some had been absorbed by the rock, turning a deeper green and becoming less noticeable. The slime trailed down about halfway before vanishing, so no one had paid attention, assuming it was just a child’s dropped popsicle.

“Xiaomo, aren’t you overthinking things? Maybe it really is just popsicle.”

“Have you ever seen a popsicle that’s slimy and smells fishy?” Qin Xiaomo’s tone was unusually serious.

“So what do we do now?”

“Let’s go home. I need to log into the game and figure out what’s going on.” Qin Xiaomo grabbed Jidou and hurried off.

Deep in the crowd, a plainly dressed boy of about fourteen or fifteen leaned toward an older man beside him—a man with a goatee, clad in a white undershirt and draped in a gray Zhongshan jacket—and whispered, “Master, that lady noticed the green liquid. Do you think she knows about this too?” The old man, in his fifties, squinted and spun a yellow jade exercise ball in one hand while stroking his goatee with the other, saying nothing, looking for all the world like a typical gatekeeper.

A middle-aged onlooker turned and spotted the old man, sidling over. “Hey! Isn’t that Liu the Half-Immortal? Not manning your shop today? Everything’s been going wrong for me lately—when do you have time to read my fortune?”

“Go on, get lost, Li Mazi. You never pay for your readings. Settle your bill today or don’t bother coming back. You’re wasting my good tea leaves,” Liu the Half-Immortal retorted, spittle flying.

“You’re so stingy, old man. With our friendship, you’re still asking for money? Talking about money hurts our relationship.”

“If you dare to owe money for a fortune telling, that’s as good as owing the King of Hell himself. Careful—your life might be forfeit. Pay up soon,” Liu the Half-Immortal said, turning to leave.

A nearby woman, having caught the word “fortune telling,” perked up her ears to listen. When Liu walked away, she quickly asked the man, “Who is he?”

“He’s the most famous fortune teller around here. People call him Old Immortal Liu,” Li Mazi replied, watching Liu’s departing figure.

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“Is he any good? My daughter’s seeing someone new, and I want to find out if their horoscopes are compatible.”

“He’s good, all right—just miserly!” Li Mazi scoffed.

Back at home, Qin Xiaomo hurried to her computer. As expected, her character in the game was inside a black cave, but no matter how she tried, she couldn’t find an entrance or exit.

“Jidou, who designed this cave? How do I get out? I don’t even see an entrance.”

Jidou leaned in and studied the screen. “I helped Xiao Chen with part of Desert City, but I didn’t design this cave.” She grabbed the mouse and fiddled for a while. “How did you get in here?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking you. Oh, by the way, are there any cheats or walkthroughs for our game? Tell me everything.”

“The game isn’t even finished yet. When would I have time to make cheats? For the pittance we get each month, you think I’m that free?” Jidou rolled her eyes at the thought of her monthly pay.

“Do you think if I max out my level on the computer and then go into the game, I’ll already be invincible?” Qin Xiaomo’s eyes lit up.

“Give it a shot—maybe it’ll work!” Jidou crowded in, too. “Check if your next quest line is unlocked?”

“No, the locked maps and quest lines are still shrouded in fog—I can’t see a thing! I just restarted the game, and when I went back in, I appeared at West Bridge Lake. Was that black cave a bug?”

Qin Xiaomo looked at Jidou, her expression complex.

“My guess is, since this is a parallel world, it must be just one of countless spaces. Any account logging into the game enters a parallel world. It’s just that something went wrong with my game and it got noticed.” Qin Xiaomo carefully recalled everything she’d experienced these past days—none of it felt like the product of a designed game. It was a world with blood, flesh, and thought.