The man in black deliberately let Ning Yitao find her way alone in the interlayer of the time rift, stalling for time.
In their first face - to - face confrontation, the man in black was in the dark while Ning Yitao was in the open.
Trapped and unable to escape, Ning Yitao lost the first round of the confrontation.
Trapped by the trap, Ning Yitao could see nothing but boundless darkness, a sticky feeling like indissolvable ink.
She tightened her lips, her eyes oozing coldness. Her originally cold and detached temperament suddenly turned into one of hostility.
Ning Yitao tried to grope in the darkness, searching for a way out.
But as time passed, there was nothing but darkness in this place. It was completely empty. The man in black was deliberately provoking her.
Her brows furrowed deeper and deeper.
This was her first encounter with the man who had always been hiding behind the scenes, and it had already given Ning Yitao a sense of frustration.
Ning Yitao knew well that with her current strength, she was no match for the mastermind behind the scenes.
She couldn't even break through the trap he had set.
Ning Yitao looked solemn. After this program, she was extremely dissatisfied with her current abilities.
The darkness in front of her was like a fog, obscuring her vision and making her feel irritated.
Ning Yitao felt the fluctuations in her body that were connected to Liu Qiaoz.
Liu Qiaoz was not in immediate danger of life at the moment, but she was in great discomfort and fear.
Liu Qiaoz was being threatened.
Ning Yitao silently recited the meditation spell, trying hard to calm down. She knew that she couldn't be hasty now. Only by staying calm could she find a way out.
Ning Yitao sorted out her thoughts in her mind.
The only thing she could be sure of now was that the mastermind behind the scenes didn't know that she and Liu Qiaoz had signed a contract.
Judging from the mastermind's usual style, the high - probability reason for his appearance in front of Liu Qiaoz was that he wanted to turn Liu Qiaoz into a new pawn in his hands.
Liu Qiaoz was extremely talented. With a little guidance, she could become a top - notch figure among the evil spirits in the illusions.
The mastermind had taken so long to discover her, probably because he had been misled by the complex energy in this land.
Ning Yitao took some comfort from this.
The method of this contract was developed by her during her peak period.
The contract between Ning Yitao and Liu Qiaoz would remain undiscovered unless they told anyone. This was Ning Yitao's confidence in her own strength.
Now she could only hope that Liu Qiaoz could keep their secret. Otherwise, Liu Qiaoz would only face death.
Ning Yitao stopped struggling in vain. Since the mastermind didn't want her to leave this place, he definitely wouldn't leave her a way out in this pitch - black area.
Ning Yitao knew that if she wanted to get out, she had to find another way to break through.
The only connections Ning Yitao had with the outside world now were Zhaocai and Liu Qiaoz.
Actually, Zhaocai and Liu Qiaoz were already connected in an invisible way, but they didn't know it.
But it didn't matter. Ning Yitao would let Zhaocai know.
Now that Ning Yitao was trapped in the interlayer of the time rift, she could only rely on Zhaocai.
Her being trapped here just happened to greatly lower the mastermind's vigilance.
The connection between Ning Yitao and Zhaocai became stronger.
She sat cross - legged on the ground and closed her eyes to meditate.
Seeing her actions, a flicker of confusion flashed across the man in black's eyes, but he didn't take it seriously. He just thought that she had finally given up struggling. He continued to interrogate Liu Qiaoz and said,
"My conditions are out. Now it's up to you to choose whether you're willing to make a contract with me."
***********
Although Liu Qiaoz was weak in strength, as a child, she knew how to distinguish good people from bad people.
A child's intuition was very accurate.
When Liu Qiaoz was on the swing, she saw from afar the man in black surrounded by a cloud of black air.
Even though her instinct might make her feel a sense of affinity for people full of evil aura, she only felt repulsion towards this evil - looking visitor.
From a distance, Liu Qiaoz smelled the stench of conspiracy.
Before the man got close, Liu Qiaoz jumped off the swing and instinctively ran towards the classroom behind her.
She had to hide and not be found.
But as soon as this thought came to her mind, it was instantly sensed by the man in black.
The man in black wasn't in a hurry. He still walked towards her unhurriedly. His steps were even a bit leisurely. He raised his eyebrows and watched Liu Qiaoz's fleeing back with a smile on his lips.
He murmured,
"What a disobedient child. Disobedient children must be punished."
All the scenery in his wake stood still, frozen in place.
Liu Qiaoz ran forward with her head down, passing through several illusions in a row, and finally hid in the deepest illusion she had.
She hadn't even shown this illusion to Ning Yitao.
This illusion was a separate space she had carved out. It could be said to be her exclusive little home, and the environment inside was built according to her own ideas.
This was also the small house in the forest of her dreams.
Everyone would leave themselves a way out, and she was no exception. This space was her way out.
But what Liu Qiaoz thought was safe wasn't really safe.
Only a few minutes had passed.
Hiding inside the house, Liu Qiaoz felt a strong wind blowing outside, followed by a violent storm.
The sun that had been shining brightly when she first came in disappeared, and the symphony of birdsong and insects' chirping vanished in an instant.
What followed was a dark sky, rolling black clouds, strong winds violently shaking the trees, and continuous thunder rumbling. The originally clear sky suddenly darkened.
The storm came in an instant.
The lightning and thunder outside seemed to split this small house.
The heavy rain poured down. The green grass and fresh flowers in the fields swayed helplessly in the rain. The humid air was mixed with the fragrance of grass and trees, faintly wafting in the air. The birdsong and insects' chirping were drowned out by the sound of the torrential rain.
Apart from the sound of the rain, everything seemed to have fallen silent.
The cold rain fell patter by patter, bringing with it a chill that made people shiver involuntarily.
Liu Qiaoz's face darkened. She was still relatively calm at this moment and impatiently said,
"You're really persistent."
There was someone walking on the road outside. The sound of footsteps seemed sticky. Her ears were filled with the ticking sound of water.
The starry - sky lamp placed in Liu Qiaoz's room was the only source of light.
The sky outside completely darkened.
Liu Qiaoz heard the footsteps getting closer and closer.
She turned her head and wanted to tear open another illusion to escape.
But she found that her innate ability couldn't open the illusion no matter what.
A sense of crisis engulfed Liu Qiaoz.
Her instinct kept telling her to run, to run.
But her movements were frozen in place.
Liu Qiaoz held her breath and tried to squeeze her body into the corner, hoping that she could hide herself and not be found.
Liu Qiaoz could already feel that the footsteps were behind her.
But now, not only could she not escape, but she couldn't even turn her head to see who the person who wanted to harm her was.
She was now trapped in place.
Liu Qiaoz fell into panic.
She had just found a sense of belonging today. Was she going to lose her life here?
"Am I really unworthy of happiness?"
As she thought about it, tears welled up in Liu Qiaoz's eyes.