Just as Hao Yun finished speaking, he heard a crisp sound again. But this time, instead of feeling Dream Jia's fingers on his face, he saw the dark space light up with a beam of light. It turned out that while Hao Yun was analyzing the situation, Dream Jia had found a desk lamp in the darkness and switched it on to illuminate their surroundings.

"Damn tomb! Can't you reflect on your own behavior? Even if I'm thrown into the wilderness after death, I'll never be buried with someone like you!" Dream Jia rolled her eyes and scolded irritably.

Hao Yun chuckled awkwardly, shrinking his neck, no longer daring to joke about the explosive situation they had experienced when they parted ways in life and death. Because he now saw that Dream Jia had somehow picked up the Life Equal in the darkness, with faint streams of golden energy flowing over it. Perhaps because she hadn't fully shaken off the embarrassment of remembering the scene where she kissed Hao Yun, Dream Jia didn't want to continue on that tangent. So, she rearranged her unnatural expression, intentionally avoiding eye contact with Hao Yun, and used the lamp to survey their surroundings.

After a quick inspection by the two, they found themselves in a room of about twenty square meters. Apart from a desk lamp placed in one corner, the walls were lined with shelves of various sizes. Due to the damp air and lack of sunlight over the years, these metal shelves were all rusty. The storage boxes on the shelves were covered with thick dust, making the whole room look even more old and dilapidated.

Hao Yun casually opened several storage boxes and found everyday items and clothes with obvious signs of use inside. Most of these items were for women and children. Seeing the items in the storage boxes, Dream Jia said in puzzlement, "Strange, how come these things are very similar to those in Sector N38 of Earth's timeline? Could it be that we've been inexplicably transported to another Earth-like world? Look at the furnishings in this room, it looks no different from a private underground storage room on your Earth."

Hao Yun didn't rush to answer Dream Jia's question. Instead, he checked several more storage boxes in hopes of finding some clues. The items he found in the other boxes were also very similar to the everyday items used by humans in the Earth world. What's more, even the product descriptions on these items were written in exactly the same language as in Sector N38 of Earth's timeline.

"No way? Could it be that we've really been sent back to Earth's world? Or perhaps we've been transported to Earth NX in the Dark Chain plane? After all, this storage room looks very post-apocalyptic due to years of neglect. Therefore, Hao Yun suddenly had a very bad idea: Could it be that the Balance Ring, after they killed Elina, immediately regretted it and did not cancel the purification operation against the Earth world? Could it be that after the Earth world was destroyed and turned into a deserted wasteland, the Balance Ring imprisoned the remaining energy of Hao Yun and Dream Jia here, trapping them here forever without hope?

Thinking of this, Hao Yun, who suddenly felt uneasy, immediately said to Dream Jia, who was listening outside the storage room door, "Let's go! Let's go out and take a look!"

Dream Jia whispered, "The door outside is locked from the outside. Moreover, there is no lock inside this door, so we can only break out forcibly!"

Hao Yun, anxious, didn't hesitate much after hearing this. He immediately gestured for Dream Jia to move aside, then took two steps back and prepared to kick the door open directly. The reason why Hao Yun was so confident that he could kick open this heavy door was because shortly after he and Dream Jia woke up, they were surprised to find that all the injuries on their bodies had healed. Not only that, but the power within them had also fully recovered. And their consciousness systems had also resumed operation shortly after they woke up.

Although Hao Yun and Dream Jia's systems currently showed that they were rebuilding modules, their systems had at least reconnected with the Yin-Yang Spirit Armor on their bodies, allowing them to use the armor's protective shield and flight functions normally. This was why Hao Yun was so confident in wanting to break out directly and check the situation outside. Because after the decisive battle with Elina, Hao Yun believed that as long as the enemies outside were not as powerful as Elina and the Balance Ring, even if the two sides were to fight head-on, he would definitely not be at a disadvantage.

But before Hao Yun could kick open the door, Dream Jia suddenly made a gesture for him to be silent, while pulling Hao Yun back: "Shh! Don't make a sound! It seems like someone is coming outside!"

Upon hearing this, Hao Yun immediately retreated back into the room, turned off the desk lamp, and took out the Phoenix Blade, preparing for battle while sticking close to the storage shelf in the darkness.

Click! Creak! As the external lock of the room's door was opened, this heavy door was soon slowly pushed open by something inside. Immediately afterwards, a turbid air mixed with hot waves rushed into this sunken room. Then, a figure of a medium-sized man appeared at the doorway of the room.

Seeing that Dream Jia did not feel any threatening energy from the figure, she suddenly shouted harshly when the man appeared and was ready to enter the room, "Stop! Don't move! If you move again, I'll shoot!"

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The male figure was obviously startled by Dream Jia's shouting. But from the man's body language, he seemed to be only startled by Dream Jia's loud voice, not because he was frightened by the sound of someone in the storage room. This made Hao Yun immediately feel a strange feeling—that this man seemed to know that there were people inside this room.

As Hao Yun guessed, after hearing Dream Jia's shout, the man was not completely scared off. Instead, after hesitating and stabilizing his emotions, he cautiously asked into the room in a very cautious tone, "Um, excuse me, is this Lady Dream Jia here?"

Dream Jia was greatly surprised to recognize her own identity solely by the man's voice. However, she didn't rush to respond but maintained her vigilance in the darkness, holding the Equality of All Beings poised. Unexpectedly, her silence seemed to embolden the man even more. Straightening up, he took a deep breath and cautiously asked again, "Um... may I ask, Lady Dream, has Lord Haoyun also come with you?"

Upon hearing this, Haoyun was taken aback. He hadn't made a sound since the man appeared. Considering the man's ordinary aura, Haoyun doubted he had the ability to detect his presence in the pitch-black room. Moreover, the mysterious man clearly had the aura of an ordinary person. Haoyun was certain they had never interacted before. So why could this man accurately call out both his and Dream Jia's names?

As Haoyun pondered these questions, the man lifted his hand and pressed something on the wall outside the door. With a crisp click, a storage room lamp overhead lit up. Haoyun and Dream Jia could finally see the strange man clearly. He appeared to be around thirty-five years old, with a typical Eastern face. Despite his sturdy build, his casually styled middle-parted hair, stubbly face, and round glasses on his nose gave him a somewhat scholarly air.

Seeing the man's friendly demeanor and stiff body language due to nervousness, Haoyun realized he posed no threat. He sheathed his sword and stepped forward, asking, "Do you... know us?"

"Um, um! I believe... we should know each other, right?" The man stood awkwardly at the door, replying with a questioning tone.

Dream Jia, no longer holding her guard, adopted a commanding tone and asked, "Should know each other? What do you mean by that?! Who exactly are you?!"

"Um..." The man scratched his head in embarrassment, still unsure how to respond to Dream Jia's questioning. At the same time, he hesitantly stepped into the storage room, standing nervously before Haoyun and Dream Jia.

After a quick inspection at close range, Haoyun and Dream Jia confirmed once again that they had never seen this man before. Dream Jia resumed her guard and pointed her gun at the man, demanding sharply, "Speak! Who are you?! How do you know our names?! If you're fooling around here, don't blame me for shooting blind!"

The man quickly stepped back, hands raised high, and replied nervously, "Please, don't shoot! I'm just an ordinary person! I really mean no harm!"

Then, after ensuring Dream Jia had no intention of attacking him, the man relaxed slightly and adjusted his glasses before saying, "Um... how should I say this? I'm actually just an ordinary writer. Um... perhaps, I should say I am a writer?"

Seeing the man unsure even of his own identity, which seemed absurd to Haoyun, he frowned and asked, "A writer is a writer. How can you not even confirm your own identity? Are you making up lies right here to fool us?"

Seeing Haoyun's reaction, the man hastily waved his hands again to calm him down and replied, "No! I'm not! Lord Haoyun, please don't misunderstand! I've just always had doubts about my own identity. But overall, I suppose I can indeed be considered a writer! Oh, by the way! My surname is Sen, um... my pen name is Shiguang Chouxia. You can just call me Shiguang Chouxia."

"Shiguang Chouxia?" Haoyun and Dream Jia exchanged glances, admitting they had never heard this name before.

The man waved his hand, indicating that names were not important, and continued, "Although we've never met, theoretically speaking, we've actually communicated many times. Because... "

The man paused briefly, organizing his thoughts before continuing, "Because I'm the author who often communicates with you two across space. This novel, with you two as the main characters, was actually written by me."

"What? You're that disembodied voice that always pops out of nowhere?" Haoyun and Dream Jia exclaimed in disbelief.

"That's right. Um... how should I put it? Although this sounds very mysterious, it really did happen. You two can think back; when you were talking to me, didn't it all feel very natural, as if my existence was perfectly reasonable? And you never doubted the idea of communicating with the author of this novel?" the writer said.

Haoyun carefully recalled each scene of dialogue with the author and realized that indeed, every conversation had felt natural and entirely logical.

"I thought that being able to talk to the author of the book was just some kind of prank or something. Why didn't I realize how strange and unreasonable this thing was?" Haoyun wondered.

"A prank is an interesting way to describe it. So, Lord Haoyun, have you ever thought about who might be manipulating this prank behind the scenes? Why would that person orchestrate such a prank?" the writer asked.

Haoyun furrowed his brow in thought, feeling thoroughly perplexed. Finally, he replied in a confused manner, "I don't know. I really can't think of anything about it. I just feel that everything we've discussed is very logical and there's nothing to doubt."

The writer shrugged, indicating that Haoyun's statement was just as he had imagined.

Dream Jia continued, "Wait a minute! If you're the author of this book, then aren't you the one behind all this? The prank of talking to us across space, isn't that your doing? Why are you beating around the bush with us?!"

The author smiled wryly in response, "Lady Dream, as you can see, I'm just an ordinary person. Where would I get the ability to orchestrate such a prank that spans cosmic distances? Besides, I'm actually a passive participant in this prank."

Haoyun and Dream Jia were both confused by the author's words. However, they were certain that the author held a lot of information that could overturn their understanding. So, Haoyun raised his hand to signal everyone to stop the aimless conversation and reorganized his thoughts before asking the author, "Since you claim to be a passive participant, then who is the real mastermind behind all this?"