Don't pretend, everyone knows you're the villain!

Hearing loud banging on the door and angry shouts from inside, 0561 was startled.

0561: "Host, why do you need to lock the door?"

Xi Mingzhu glanced at 0561 indifferently, "I don't want to implicate others."

0561 looked blankly bewildered, "Huh?"

Xi Mingzhu didn't reply and walked straight towards the bedside table.

0561 also realized what Xi Mingzhu was up to, no wonder he locked everyone outside.

After last night's ordeal, everyone realized one thing—mirrors are dangerous.

Just as Xi Mingzhu opened the drawer and was about to touch the mirror, 0561 couldn't help but remind him.

"Dear host, we've only survived one more day. Would you like to reconsider?"

Offering sacrifices upon arrival is not much different from offering sacrifices on the first day of arrival.

"It's just one more day of life, it doesn't matter." Xi Mingzhu said coldly, staring at his hand that was about to touch the mirror.

"If it were just one day away from the three-year deadline, I would not hesitate to take a knife and threaten those three outside to come in and smash the mirror."

These words were spoken casually, yet they carried a chilling undertone.

He, Xi Mingzhu, is not a savior; he has never been so kind as to try to save people.

From the day he entered the world of alchemy, his master warned him: Alchemists are not lacking in money or connections; it's just that everyone who gets close to them is after their own interests. Never get caught up in the complexities of human relationships and morality; only by remaining cold-hearted, detached, and alone can one avoid being taken advantage of.

Lin Yue helped him last night; although he didn't ask for it, it was still a genuine favor.

If he could smash the mirror today, he would have repaid his debt of gratitude. Even if he failed, he left himself an out; there was more than one room, so they could find another way out.

As my fingertips touched the mirror, a chilling cold swept over me; the moment I picked up the mirror, it felt as if I were surrounded by a snowstorm.

“I want to go home…” a sad female voice rang out.

As Xi Mingzhu picked up the mirror, a beautiful hand, identical to the one from the previous night, wrapped around her and instantly pulled her into the mirror.

0561 screamed in terror, "Host!!"

The sphere that tried to follow was bounced away by the mirror, and the system was rejected by the mirror world.

When Xi Mingzhu heard 0561 shout, he thought to himself: Sure enough, breaking a mirror isn't that easy. No wonder no one survived.

Standing amidst the swirling snow, Xi Mingzhu was enveloped in a bone-chilling cold that nearly froze him. Fortunately, his Soul Fire was still usable, which was one of the few pieces of good news for him.

The chill on his body was dispelled by the soul fire, and the endless wind and snow stretched as far as the eye could see.

A vast expanse of white, utterly silent.

It seems we've already entered the world of the painting "The Unreturned Traveler on a Cold Night".

Is it also a rule of the instance world that 0561 can't follow in? If I die here, will everything end completely?

Alchemy has stagnated.

A long-determined act of self-destruction.

The requirement of forced survival.

It seems that something inside me has crumbled since this unlucky system brought me into this world.

Xi Mingzhu wandered aimlessly through the wind and snow.

Suddenly, he remembered what Lu Tiannan had told him before he entered the dungeon: "Brother, I'll be waiting for you to come out of the dungeon at home."

"Brother, come back safe and sound, and I'll lend you my good luck."

Speaking of which, Lu Tiannan is still waiting for him.

Whether it's genuine or feigned...

Without Shen Yi, wouldn't that guy be causing trouble for the protagonist?

Xi Mingzhu pinched her thigh in surprise. Why would she think of Lu Tiannan at a time like this? How strange.

However, that guy was the first person he met here.

Honestly, Lu Tiannan's good luck isn't working very well. He should be thinking about how to leave this place.

Xi Mingzhu clearly remembers that there was a courtyard in the painting "The Unreturned Person on a Cold Night", and the faint light emanating from the courtyard was a real scene in the midst of a snowstorm.

Combined with what that woman said—"I want to go home."

We need to find that courtyard.

Xi Mingzhu kept using his soul fire to dispel the cold, and the blizzard couldn't harm him for the time being.

But as he walked, his physical fatigue and hunger grew stronger, as if he were gradually being assimilated into the world depicted in the painting.

Ignoring everything else, Xi Mingzhu simply scooped up the snow with his hands and ate it.

The snow melting in my mouth couldn't quench my hunger, but the snow water flowing into my stomach made me feel a little better.

"Am I really going to die here?" Xi Mingzhu thought to himself, and a feeling of resentment suddenly welled up in his heart.

Suicide is acceptable, but it must never be a helpless wait to be killed. Xi Mingzhu had once shone brightly; he couldn't bear to wait for death in such a suffocating way.

Xi Mingzhu slowly exhaled a puff of white mist and continued walking forward.

He walked for a long time but still couldn't see the end, so he stopped and looked around.

Snow is everywhere.

Xi Mingzhu looked down at his clothes, which had been transformed into the attire of the woman in the painting, even the black lace gloves had been replicated on his hands.

Unfortunately, he didn't have hands as beautiful as that woman's. Although his fingers were slender and long, they had developed many calluses from refining elixirs and handling herbs.

If we can't find a way out, we'll really be assimilated...

Xi Mingzhu rarely felt nervous; it was a feeling he had experienced many years ago when he was refining new pills.

Later, as he became more skilled, there were no pills that he was so anxious about refining.

This feeling is something I haven't experienced in a long time and it's something I rarely get.

Xi Mingzhu pondered, carefully recalling the painting, and a question arose in his mind—did such a courtyard really exist? In this vast expanse of wind and snow.

Since they are people who have not returned, they have nowhere to go.

A fire ignited in his palm, and with a slap, it sank deep into the snow.

The surrounding area was filled with melted snow.

As the palm sinks in, more and more snow water accumulates.

Xi Mingzhu stared intently at the layers of ice until a huge mirror appeared beneath it.

Beneath the layers of ice covering the entire snowy landscape lies a mirror.

It turned out to be the case.

Xi Mingzhu saw the reflection in the mirror, dressed exactly like the woman.

The person in the painting is that woman, and also him.

Xi Mingzhu squatted down, a wisp of flame leaping in his right palm, his left hand covering the mirror.

A soft whisper escaped her lips, "I want to go home."

Suddenly, the mirror shone brightly, and the ice on it shattered, forming a huge vortex.

Xi Mingzhu swayed as the ice crumbled, eventually falling into the whirlpool.

"You damn mirror, spit me out! Waaah, how can you eat everything! How am I supposed to write my apology? Did you even consider me?! You selfish mirror!"

0561 stared at the mirror and howled madly, hoping that this thing would be smart enough to spit out its host.

Good news: it seems the prayers worked, because an hour later, its host appeared on the bed in the room.

Bad news: The host is unconscious.

Better news: The mirror is broken, and you will automatically exit the dungeon upon completion.

Even worse news: The host is unconscious at the exit of the first-floor instance and is being watched by a crowd.

0561 tried to get Xi Mingzhu back, but it didn't work.

Brave Ball, unable to face any difficulties!

0561 was crying and muttering next to the unconscious Shen Yi: "Will the host forgive me when he wakes up? I'm just a useless system."

"Waaaaah, host, I'm so sorry. If I could, I, 0561, would be willing to lie down with you at the dungeon exit and lose face, just to show my loyalty!"