Qing Ling frowned slightly. "What are you trying to say?"
"Quite literally, this Gujia Village isn’t the same one we visited before." Gao Yang stretched his body. The sunlight was just right, a gentle breeze brushed his face, and the village appeared peaceful and harmonious, exuding vitality, yet it felt strangely unreal.
"Could there be two Gujia Villages?" Qing Ling persisted.
"Use your imagination," said Gao Yang, his ideas bolder from his experience with crossing dimensions. "Perhaps an inner world, an outer world, or maybe we’ve traveled back 30 years to a past version of the village."
Qing Ling shook her head. "Your brain really isn't working right."
"Gao Yang!"
A familiar, headache-inducing voice rang out. Gao Yang turned to see Wang Zikai running toward him along the narrow dirt path between the pond and the vegetable fields, followed by Officer Huang and Pang Jun.
Wang Zikai threw an arm around Gao Yang's shoulders. "I knew you wouldn’t just drop dead!"
"Where did you all go?" Gao Yang asked.
"We landed in a small grove," Officer Huang said, surveying their surroundings before quickly spotting the stone monument at the village entrance. He frowned. "Things just got more complicated."
Gao Yang briefly shared his thoughts with Officer Huang. After listening intently and pondering for a moment, Officer Huang made a decision. "Wang Zikai, Pang Jun, take Qing Ling and try a different direction. Gao Yang, come with me to the grove. I want to show you something."
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"Alright." Gao Yang, unsure what Officer Huang was planning, followed him.
Soon, they arrived at the small grove. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows that flickered and vanished. There was wind in the woods, but halfway through, the wind stopped.
Officer Huang halted. "We’re here."
Gao Yang looked ahead. Another twenty meters and they would emerge from the grove onto the country road leading to the city.
"I remember the patrol car was parked by the roadside. Where is it? This really isn’t the same Gujia Village." Gao Yang said.
"It’s more than that." Officer Huang pointed toward the edge of the woods. "Keep walking."
Gao Yang stepped forward and instantly felt a strange sensation.
The air around him thickened, gravity seemed to shift, and as he kept walking, he found it hard to believe his eyes. Though it should have taken only ten seconds to cross the grove, no matter how far he walked, the exit remained about twenty meters away—like a horizon that you approach but never reach.
Despite the bright daylight, a chill crawled over Gao Yang, his hair standing on end. He took a deep breath and broke into a run, sprinting for what felt like ages.
It was useless.
He was still about twenty meters from the grove’s edge. Gao Yang turned, and there stood Officer Huang, as if he had been following the entire time.
"You..."
"I swear, I haven’t moved an inch," said Officer Huang.
"From your perspective, did I move?" Gao Yang asked.
"You did move… but how should I put it?" Officer Huang smacked his lips and attempted to explain using professional terminology. "You know about perspective, right? It’s something artists and photographers use."
Gao Yang nodded.
"From my view, the perspective between you and the scenery ahead is distorted. You’re walking forward, but with a blink, it’s like you haven't moved at all..."
Gao Yang walked back easily, returning to Officer Huang’s side, puzzled. "Why is this happening?"
"I don’t know," Officer Huang said. "If it weren’t for Pang Jun throwing a fit about leaving, we wouldn’t have discovered this ‘magical barrier.’"
A few minutes later, Officer Huang and Gao Yang returned to the village entrance. Before long, Wang Zikai, Pang Jun, and Qing Ling returned from the west side of the village.