Techniques and Dao

Chapter 155 Mobius
Jane thought for a moment and said, "There is indeed a type of magic that belongs to a branch of white magic. It is usually used for defense."

Mieying immediately pressed, "Why don't you tell me about it?"

He replied simply, "We call it Möbius magic. This magic itself doesn't have much offensive power, but it can greatly slow down arrows or bullets shot at us, or even stop them in mid-air."

She tore a piece of paper from the table beside her, then tore it into a strip along the edge. The strip was white on one side and had colorful patterns on the other.

Jane twisted one end of the paper strip 180 degrees, then joined the ends together and held it up, saying, "The shape of this paper strip now is a typical Möbius strip."

She used a wand to draw a black line along the center of the paper strip, which traveled from the front of the strip to the back and then back to the front.

“Normally, paper has a beginning and an end, a top and a bottom. But now, the paths created by the lines I draw will travel on both sides of the paper, and the straight lines on this paper will be endless.”

Looking at the ring-shaped paper strip, Mie Ying immediately realized, "I understand now! No wonder we drilled hundreds of miles underground but didn't see any lava. So we were probably careless and just went around in circles!"

She rested her chin on her hand: "Now you've explained the bottomless pit. But wait a minute, I clearly demolished this house just now, so how did it get back to normal? Doesn't this mean time has gone backwards?"

"There is no time travel here. I am now certain of that."

Hua Sheng continued, "Do you remember, even the Sui Xing Sha that can achieve near-time travel effects doesn't actually travel through time. Instead, it directs the wearer's senses to another era. That's why we couldn't directly attack its original form back then. If time travel were so easy, the Sui Xing Sha wouldn't be considered a supreme treasure."

"I understand what you're saying. But given the current situation, it doesn't make sense!"

Hua Sheng analyzed, "At first I didn't understand, but Jane mentioned the Möbius strip and the Enchanted Forest. I gradually came to understand what happened. In short, someone used magic to extend the path that led us and Jane to this cabin. That is to say, when Jane was ahead, they managed to delay Jane's time, and when we were ahead, they managed to delay our time. Until our time was running parallel in this cabin, and then we met."

Jane nodded and said, "The Möbius magic can indeed extend space, and if used properly, the effect is just as you described."

Mieying looked bewildered: "I think that only extends the distance, it can't make a short time longer or a long time shorter, right? How can one minute become ten minutes?"

“Let me give you an example,” Hanamori said, pointing to the red and black coasters on the table.

He first arranged the three red coasters from top to bottom in a straight line.

“These three red coasters represent the beginning, the middle, and the end. And now, we are in the end stage. Now, let me explain what just happened.”

Mieying and Jane leaned closer to the table, listening intently.

Hua Sheng pointed to the coaster at the starting point and said, "Initially, the three of us were at the starting point, and we saw this wooden house. So Jane got out of the car. Mie Ying and I were still by the car, and Jane was a distance away from us because she was about to knock on the door of the wooden house."

As she spoke, Hanamori moved the coaster representing "start" to the left and the coaster representing "pass" to the right, so that the two red coasters were offset by one position.

Then place a black coaster in front of "Start" and behind "Pass".

"At that moment, I guess it was the instant I turned around and asked Mieying in the car about the time. Jane and I were back to back for a brief moment, and the space in front of us changed."

“Magic cannot manipulate time. But in terms of space, magic and magic are similar; both can manipulate space. When I looked back at the cabin, it was no longer the original ‘red coaster.’ Similarly, when Jane, who had her back to us, turned around, what she saw was no longer the real scene.”

Hua Sheng pointed to the two black coasters on the table and said, "What Jane and I each saw were 'black coasters' created using magic."

Mieying took a deep breath.

"You mean, hallucination?"

Hua Sheng replied, "It's not just an illusion. This shouldn't be limited to the so-called illusionary or profound level of immortal arts; it's very likely equivalent to a Lingxiao-level spatial transfer technique. Like the hidden compartments in a magician's box." "In that case, the wooden house I demolished wasn't the one Jian knocked on the door?"

"Correct!"

Hua Sheng clapped his hands and said, "Not only that! Something must have happened after Jane first knocked on the door, causing Jane's time to be slowed down. Because Jane entered this room after us."

Mieying asked in surprise, "You said Jian knocked on the door, but didn't actually go inside?"

"Because we arrived at the house, passed through the bottomless pit, and spent a lot of time in the house, I dare say that the real Jane must have been delayed by something, which delayed her entry into the house."

Hua Sheng asked Jian, "You weren't just knocking on the door of the cabin for the first time, were you? What happened after you knocked the first time?"

Jane asked in surprise, "Huh? Didn't you tell me to go back to the car?"

"Yes! This must be it!"

Hua Sheng and Mie Ying exchanged a glance and said, "When Jian first knocked on the door, I was asking Mie Ying for the time. At that moment, the space between us changed, and the connecting path was cut off."

Mieying shouted, "We never called you!"

"Huh?" Jane exclaimed in surprise. "Didn't you say your wound hurt and I ran back? But when we got close to the car, Hua Sheng said it was nothing. He went back into the car to treat you and made me wait outside for a while. Then he said your shoulder injury was healed."

Hua Sheng replied, "We didn't say that. Mie Ying's shoulder injury was caused by Tianji Zi's immortal technique. After her immortal body was damaged, it's difficult to heal quickly with ordinary immortal techniques."

“That’s right!” Mie Ying pulled at his collar, revealing the bandage on his shoulder wound, with faint bloodstains seeping through the gauze.

"Huh??" Jane's eyes widened.

Hua Sheng said, "So that's the difference. You've returned to the fake 'black coaster' space, but because the creator was worried about flaws, he didn't let you directly contact the fake versions of us. At the same time, the real me and Mie Ying also entered another fake 'black coaster'."

Hanamori pointed to the black coaster on the table and said, "We will arrive at the red coaster, which represents 'the end,' before you. But once we enter the final location and find no one in the room, we will leave. If the other side tries to close the entrance to the room, you, who are outside, may not be able to get in."

"Should I come in too?" Jane asked.

Hanamori continued, “Yes, the spellcaster had to prolong the time it took for us to enter the real wooden house, so we entered the Möbius magic you mentioned, which is what we Easterners often call the bottomless pit. During this time, the illusions you saw of us might have told you that everything was fine. Then you left the black coaster and returned to the red coaster that represented ‘passing through,’ and everything you saw after that was real, and you started walking towards the house.”

Mieying said, "I understand. After the magic ring passage allowed Huasheng and me to enter the real wooden house, it was then that Jane started walking this way!"

Hua Sheng nodded.

Jane understood Hanamori's analysis and said thoughtfully, "That is, when I knocked on the door for the second time, the real you opened the door and let me in."

Mieying then said, "Hua Sheng, I understand what you're saying. But what evidence do you have to prove that we didn't actually travel through time?"

Hanamori replied, “If we traveled through time, we should be in the same place as our past selves right now. We are inside the house, and our past selves are outside. But after so much time, shouldn’t we have come and demolished the wooden house by now? But nothing has happened yet.”

Mie Ying quickly looked out the window and found that all the windows were covered in grime, making it impossible to see anything outside.

She ran to the door and pulled the handle, but the door was already locked and wouldn't budge!

(End of this chapter)