Chapter Fifty-Four: The Memory Space Finally Collapses

The old ghost began to melt rapidly, dissolving like a candle as she let out a piercing shriek.

"Ah! If I die, I won't let you off easily either!"

The old woman melted into a pool of thick, bloody water, which bubbled and emitted a red mist.

"It" squatted down and grabbed a handful of the bloody fluid. "Old hag."

It stood up, staggered back two steps, and burst into wild laughter. "Hahahaha! I told you, this is my domain, and the ultimate winner can only be me!"

"Only me!"

The next second, the box lid burst forth with a blinding light. "It" screamed as if scalded, dropping the lid to the ground.

Recoiling as if seeing something utterly terrifying, it rapidly retreated. "No... No, no! I've already won... I cannot die."

"No!!!" The golden light grew increasingly intense, resembling a miniature sun about to explode at any moment.

With a distorted expression, "It" grabbed the wall, as if being sucked in by something—it was the box lid.

She couldn't just let this monster go. Li Luyan lowered her gaze, her eyelashes casting a shadow that concealed the expression on her face.

Her eyes drifted toward the golden box lid lying flat on the floor.

If this monster survived, she would be in for a world of trouble. She had to get her hands on the box lid.

Shielding her eyes from the dazzling golden light with one hand, she rushed quickly toward the box lid.

"It" noticed Li Luyan's movement and roared with a look of bitter resentment, "Stop! You are not allowed to come over!"

Li Luyan stopped, a sarcastic smile curling her lips. "Get ready to die," she murmured in a low voice, while the female ghost's expression visibly grew uglier by the second.

"Just try moving an inch!" "It" rasped, its voice shattering and its pitch entirely warped.

Defiantly, Li Luyan raised the corners of her mouth, slowly spread her hands, and shrugged nonchalantly.

Strolling as if taking a walk in a garden, she approached the box and scooped it up.

The moment the lid flipped over, a piercing, ghostly beam of light shot outward.

The female ghost's distorted face instantly froze, and she let out a heart-rending shriek: "No—!"

The lingering, miserable echo faded into the air, but her silhouette had already been entirely sucked into the box.

With lingering fear, Li Luyan flipped the box lid over to take a look. The previously clean lid now bore the imprint of "Its" face, but this time, the face had eyes.

"It" had recovered its eyes.

Gazing at the box lid, Li Luyan flashed a bright smile revealing eight teeth. "Looks like... I've struck gold."

After storing the box lid in her space, the memory domain began to collapse even more severely. The wallpaper peeled away bit by bit like chunks of flesh.

Red light seeped in from above, tearing a massive gash into the memory domain, gaping like an open wound.

This was the sixth floor. Before long, the entire building would collapse, and the final exit lay right overhead—the tear in the memory domain.

She had to find a way up. Otherwise, would she simply vanish along with the memory domain, or would she return to the real world?

Who could possibly know?

So, how was she supposed to get up there? The situation was grim, leaving no room for deep thought; she had to resort to the most primitive method.

First, she dragged the table beneath the fissure in the memory domain. The red light beat down on the wooden table like molten iron spilled across its surface.

Still not enough...

With great effort, Li Luyan pushed the sofa over. A stain from braised pork with preserved vegetables was still visible on it, but it no longer emitted that enticing aroma; the stain had already molded.

As expected, nothing in the domain was normal. What normal grease stain could mold this quickly? Moreover, it emitted a nauseating stench, reminiscent of a month's worth of stinky socks paired with spoiled rice.

The real problem was how to hoist this sofa onto the table.

Li Luyan took a deep breath, fighting down the wave of rot radiating from the sofa. She grabbed the edges and heaved with all her might.

The sofa didn't budge an inch.

Xie Shuang: "..."

Gritting her teeth, sweat beading on her forehead, she tried again.

"Bang!"

The sofa finally flipped over, crashing heavily onto the table.

The wooden table emitted a groan under the unbearable weight, but miraculously held steady.

Li Luyan quickly scrambled onto the table, then leaped upward by stepping onto the wobbling back of the sofa.

Her fingertips barely brushed the edge of the memory fissure. If she just used a little more force...

Kicking off the wall with both feet for leverage, Li Luyan climbed upward inch by inch.

The instant her feet left the ground, the floor began to disintegrate rapidly, and the sofa dissolved into a pool of black, murky water.

Using her arms for leverage, she gave one final, powerful push and hauled herself up.

The next second, the fissure snapped shut.

She was back.

She was back in that initial enclosed room, a room resembling nothing less than a coffin.

As the saying goes, whoever tied the bell on the tiger's neck must untie it. She opened her palm, and the box lid suddenly materialized in her hand.

"Hey! How do we get out of here?"

Hearing Li Luyan's voice, the female ghost let out a malicious cackle, "Hahahaha... Hahahahaha..."

"You want to get out? In your dreams!"

"Fine." Li Luyan simply sat down right where she was, maintaining an indifferent attitude. "Of course you don't have to tell me... You must have seen what's in my spatial storage just now..."

"I can easily live here for a year or two without worrying about starving to death courtesy of you."

"With mutations being so severe outside right now, come to think of it, I should actually thank you." She suddenly grinned, revealing white teeth. What was meant to be a serious expression looked like a blatant insult in "Its" eyes.

"No!! Why should this be?! Get out of my domain!" The female ghost pressed her face fiercely against the box lid, her expression contorted. "This is my domain! Mine!"

"So ugly," Li Luyan remarked out of the blue.

"What?" The female ghost froze. "It" felt as though it had punched a mound of cotton, stopping dead in its tracks.

"I said you're hideous." She picked her ear with her pinky finger, completely ignoring the struggling female ghost inside the lid. "Is that hard to understand?"

"Aghhhhhh!!!" As if mortally insulted, the female ghost clawed frantically at the surface of the box lid with sharp nails, producing a grating, harsh screech. "How dare you say that to me!"

"Get out of my domain right now."

"All right." Li Luyan finally turned her head to look at "It," wearing an expression of utter helplessness. "But what should I do since I don't know how to get out?"

"Don't you have a spatial-type ability? Just tear open space and get out directly!" "It" declared self-righteously, as if Li Luyan should have naturally known how to do so.

Li Luyan felt a dark line cross her forehead. "My spatial ability is only level two. I've never even heard of this 'tearing open space' thing you're talking about."

Speechless as she was, upon hearing that her spatial ability could eventually develop to that extent, a spark of anticipation lit up her eyes, burning with the fervor of a devout believer.

"...The most primitive method, then."

"What is it?"

"Take a tool, smash the walls to pieces, and walk right out."

Hearing the female ghost's explanation, Li Luyan felt darkness descend before her eyes. After going through all that exhausting trouble to play the Four Corners Game, it turned out she only needed to destroy the domain to leave.

Then again, had "It" been roaming free at the time, it certainly would have come out to obstruct her even if she tried to destroy it.