People are singing in the tide, but there is no crown

Short Distance...

She is like an abandoned kitten.

Especially that look, the emotions hidden in it made Ling An dare not look directly at it.

Perhaps in her eyes, all this was real and happening right before her eyes.

But how could Ling An not know that all this was just a fiction in the mirage.

Even the brief existence is just a flash in the pan in the mirage.

This mirage will eventually collapse.

Just as she blooms for one night, she will wither.

Until the end, the only one who will remember all this is Ling An.

But Ling An did not refuse, he just looked at her and said, "Okay."

"Really?" Duanli's eyes lit up instantly, just like the stars in the sky at night.

"Of course." Ling An nodded in agreement.

"Pink pinky." Duanli stretched out his little finger and looked at Ling An with a smile.

Ling An was helpless, this was just kindergarten behavior.

But he still cooperated and stretched out a finger.

He was tall and had thick fingers. Duanli could only hold his fingers with his small hands, mumbling something and shaking them heavily.

"Okay, now you can rest assured, right?"

"Ok!"

Duanli smiled happily. It was the first time Ling An saw her smile like this since he met her.

Ling An took her little hand and felt the faint warmth.

She doesn't quite control her abilities yet.

"Many people can't get close to me, they will all be burned by me, but you are different from them!" Duanli clenched his small palms tightly, as if he was afraid that Ling An would run away in the next second.

One man and one remaining elephant continued to move forward.

From the first moment he entered the mirage, Ling An did not find any trace of the Canxing Society, which was a bit strange.

He stood there for a moment, feeling it, and then showed a look of understanding.

In this mirage, there are two completely different timelines running in parallel.

My temporary separation from Chaomei and Changli was probably because we were separated into different timelines.

"What's wrong?" Duanli looked at Ling An curiously.

"There is an apparition ahead." Ling An pointed at the hazy figure that suddenly appeared in front of him.

……

"phantom?"

Chang Li stretched out his hand to touch the two phantoms that suddenly appeared in front of him, but his hand was empty.

She stood in front of the phantom, thinking silently.

There were two phantoms, one was tall and ferocious, and the other was the image of a little girl.

"What is presented in this mirage is my past memories..." Chang Li muttered to himself, "This little girl is me. But the tall figure next to her is someone I have never seen before."

She looked around and saw two phantoms, one big and one small, appearing on all sides. They were standing one in front of the other, or side by side.

"Since entering the mirage, the Drifter, Ling An and the Canxing Society have all disappeared, and the flow of time is extremely chaotic. If it is related to Master, then the ultimate solution may have to start with the existence of the mirage itself."

She came to a phantom where several phantoms that looked like exiles were surrounding a little girl and scolding her:

"You thief, you're still trying to quibble! Tell me, where did you get all this food?"

"These...these are what I found myself!" the little girl cried and retorted.

"Humph, a thief is a thief. Now he belongs to us!" The Exile Phantom said coldly, "Brother, I think this child is quite pretty. Why don't you take him back..."

"No, in this situation, do you know how much more food it would take to add another mouth?"

"Oh my god, where did the fire come from? How dare you do that!"

……

Changli stood alone in the open space and shook her head.

This was indeed a memory from her past.

At that time, she was displaced. Her village was massacred by a wave of elephants and she could only wander around to survive.

Fortunately, she has Lihuo by her side, so she can always escape from danger. But it is also because of Lihuo that she always gets herself covered in bruises.

There are many phantoms like this in the mirage.

Each one carries memories of her past.

But most of these are painful.

Because she had not had much time to laugh since her childhood.

Looking around, Changli's eyes gradually became firm.

She said to the empty mirage in front of her, "If this is also a test, then it is useless to me now."

The next moment, she no longer worried about the phantom of the past that appeared before her, but instead walked forward firmly.

……

In the secret room, on the chessboard.

The white piece falls on the chessboard.

Looking at the situation, the black and white pieces are entangled in an endless struggle.

If this could be compared to a battle, then the black pieces held by Chao Mei and the white pieces held by Xuan Miao Zhenren are fighting in full swing.

For a moment it was hard to tell who would win.

"Hahaha, that's it. How wonderful! I can still play a game of chess a hundred years after my death. I have no regrets at all!"

With a hearty laugh, Master Xuanmiao made another move.

On the other side, Chaomei sat quietly in front of the chessboard, carefully considering the game.

She had guessed that the person playing chess with her was none other than Master Xuan Miao, or rather, the residual soul of Master Xuan Miao.

This person is Changli’s teacher and also a close friend she met in Chengxiao Mountain a hundred years ago.

In this mirage, Master Xuanmiao waited for hundreds of years just for this game of chess.

Chaomei has long forgotten the other person's facial features.

But when it comes to the chess game, she seems to be assisted by God.

Compared to Ling An, who is a lousy Go player, her level is naturally much higher.

As for the missing Ling An and Chang Li, Chao Mei also had some guesses in her mind.

The game of chess played by Master Xuanmiao is not only about the chessboard in front of him, but also about the mirage itself.

What he wants to compete is who can be the first to break through the end of this mirage.

The black piece she is holding now is probably Ling An in the "past" timeline.

The white piece that falls on the chessboard at this moment is undoubtedly Changli who is on the "present" timeline.

The black and white pieces are fighting endlessly on the chessboard. In the mirage, whoever can break through the mirage first between Ling An and Chang Li will be declared the winner of the game.

This is a chess game that spans hundreds of years. Across the long river of time, two former good friends play against each other.

A hundred years ago, there was a woodcutter who watched a chess game and left behind a beautiful legend.

A hundred years later, the two were in different time and space, on both sides of the boundary between life and death, playing chess against each other from a distance.

Only this time, there were no spectators.

……

"This is... the deep courtyard where my master lived in seclusion." Looking at the last door in front of him, a hint of surprise flashed in Changli's eyes.

At this point, she could finally be sure.

This mirage was created by the immortal Xuanmiao. It is a mysterious place that reappeared before our eyes after hundreds of years.

A stone path leads directly to the gate of the courtyard.

On both sides, the phantoms of the old man and the little girl stood facing each other.

"You want to take me as your master? My friend, you followed me all the way here just for this?" said the old man's phantom.

"Yes! Everyone says that you are a hermit master. I want to learn from you and become stronger!"