CHAPTER 1790: CHAPTER 1784: A PALE WORLD

Hearing her voice, Dairya just now noticed that besides herself and "Mr. Pillay," there was another person here. She hopped over to the old woman and looked at her with curious eyes: "Granny, have you been living here all along?"

The old woman’s smile became warm as she listened to the innocent question. She chuckled and said, "I’ve lived here for a long time, indeed for a long time."

"How long?"

"As long as it takes for you to grow up."

"That’s a long time..." Dairya seemed to be pondering the time it takes to grow from a child to an adult. However, she wasn’t entirely sure and asked again, "Can you do magic?"

"Of course."

"Then could you show me some magic?" Dairya became excited again, asking with eager anticipation. The animals at the door laughed loudly, as if Dairya had asked a question that needed no thought. The old woman did not refuse her, nodding her head. Then she beckoned with her finger, and the books on the front bookshelf flew out one by one, floating in mid-air and arranging themselves neatly, then started turning pages with a "whirr."

"Hm?" Dairya was astonished, but Tang Ye was confused, squinting his eyes. He didn’t sense anything unusual, and the old woman had no distinguishing traits from an ordinary person. Yet this so-called "real magic" was being performed so naturally, which he couldn’t understand. However, thinking about it, he realized he didn’t need to dwell on it since it wasn’t real, just an illusion that indeed gave a miraculous feeling.

"Did you see that?" After all the books were flipped by an invisible force, the old woman retracted her finger, and all the books returned to their original places. She then looked at Dairya’s tiny face and smiled.

"Y-yes, I saw." Dairya was terribly shocked, and her speech stuttered. Nevertheless, she quickly asked again, "Is there an old grandpa here who can do magic too?" While asking, she scanned around but didn’t see any old grandpa.

The old woman smiled helplessly and finally explained, "There’s no old grandpa here."

"Oh, okay..."

"Come here, your clothes are all torn. Let’s change into something else."

Dairya nodded and stepped over, placing her book on the adjacent table. Tang Ye noticed that the book, which originally had the title "Hepney’s Dream Forest," had somehow changed to "Mr. Pillay’s Grocery Store," with the cover also turning into an illustration of a grocery store building.

He smiled silently, saying nothing, and watched as the old woman wrapped a piece of fabric around Dairya’s head and gently lifted it. Her tattered clothes transformed into a finely crafted dress, prompting Dairya to exclaim in surprise. Meanwhile, the animals outside clapped their paws in applause.

"It’s amazing!"

"Do you like it, child?"

"I do!"

"Hahaha..." The old woman laughed cheerfully, seemingly affected by Dairya’s joy.

"Are you hungry, child?"

"Huh? How did you know?"

"I can do magic, after all."

"Oh, just like Mr. Pillay, you know my name too... I think I mentioned my name just now..."

"Don’t worry about that. Let’s go out and have a look. There is lots of food outside; you’ll like it here."

"Then let’s go."

"Okay! Mr. Pillay, are you coming?"

Dairya readily accepted the old woman’s invitation, her curiosity about the "Dream Forest" surpassing even her intrigue about "magic." She then looked at Tang Ye, inquiring if he would join, remembering that it was him who brought her here.

But Tang Ye smiled and shook his head, declining her. He saw everything around him starting to whiten. The two women didn’t seem to notice, and things that didn’t belong to him were slowly disappearing, while his belongings returned to him, bringing back old memories.

"No need, you go out with the granny and take a look. I’ll wait here for you."

"All right, we’ll be back soon."

"Go ahead."

Under the guidance of the old woman, the two walked out the door quickly, as the whiteness around them increased, beginning to crawl upon the doorframe. Tang Ye realized upon turning his head that his view wouldn’t change anymore; he only saw the doorway, yet he felt the motion of turning his head.

As the whiteness grew, until the end, Tang Ye heard a scream, but didn’t know where it came from. A giant spider limb appeared in his vision, followed quickly by an enormous spider revealing itself!

It was within the white area, and beneath it, the white-covered region showed cracks, spreading as if the white was going to cover everything, causing the world to break apart!

Tang Ye tensed up, ready to fight at any moment, but the spider ignored him. Its forelimbs fiddled with the spots where the cracks appeared, occasionally making sorrowful sounds. It seemed to want to fix the cracks, yet was unsuccessful.

Seeing the whiteness about to cover Dairya and the old woman, Tang Ye suddenly shouted, "Hey!"

He wasn’t sure whom he was calling. Both the old woman and Dairya turned their heads.

"Mr. Pillay."

"Is there something you need?"

Tang Ye gestured to Dairya that he wasn’t calling her, then addressed the old woman, "You’re really not Lu Xiaojie?"

"Sorry, I’m not." The old woman, sure of herself, wasn’t the Lu Xiaojie Tang Ye spoke of.

Tang Ye’s expression wasn’t disappointed, merely saying, "Well then, have fun."

"Mr. Pillay, shall we go now?"

"Go ahead."

Watching the elder and child exit through the door, Tang Ye’s smile gradually faded as the white outside engulfed their figures. The cracks quickly spread in his field of vision. Along with the roar of the giant spider, the scene crumbled, dissipating, and Tang Ye glimpsed something else.

It was a fortification made up of writhing tentacles!

He was half-lying down, limbs entwined by tentacles, surrounded by odd liquid, submerged in it.

"Am I back?" Tang Ye questioned, watching as a layer of white frost began coating his vision, knowing it was time to leave!

In the distance, over dozens of kilometers away, a long caravan drove on the desertified earth. At a massive basin, the leading off-road vehicle spotted a cocoon not too far ahead. The cocoon wasn’t large, about four meters tall, with an irregular shape. From afar, it seemed unimposing, but it was the caravan’s target!

As the first vehicle halted, the ones behind gradually stopped. A crowd of people got out, equipped not only with weapons but varying photography equipment. Shortly after the caravan halted, a man in camouflage with a tablet walked to the front, puzzled as he looked ahead.

"What’s going on up there?"

"There’s a checkpoint."

"Who are they?"

"Not sure, but from how they’re dressed, they don’t seem to be from Cloud Gorge Base."