31: Chapter 31 Time Rift

The pickup truck had been driving in the darkness for three hours.

Chen Mo had not turned off the engine, nor had he stopped.

The road seemed endless; on both sides, the same wilderness, the same abandoned vehicles, and the same road signs appeared repeatedly.

But he knew the direction was correct.

Because inside his Pupil of the Sequence, those golden lines were becoming more and more intense.

The Reversal Tunnel was just ahead.

After driving for another half hour, a familiar intersection appeared ahead.

It was the location where the previous road sign had been.

But this time, the road sign was gone.

In its place was a slope extending downwards.

Just like last time.

What was different was that a woman was standing at the entrance of the slope.

Chen Mo slowed down, and the headlights shone on her.

Short hair, tactical vest, with two pistols tucked at her waist.

Lin Wei.

He had seen her before, at the entrance of Trading Post No. 1.

At the time, she wanted to cooperate to find the Old Driver, but he had refused.

How could she be here?

Chen Mo parked the car in front of her and killed the engine, but he did not get out.

Lin Wei walked over and stood by the car window.

"Chen Mo?"

Chen Mo looked at her.

His Pupil of the Sequence scanned her—human, E-rank, carrying the aura of fragments on her body.

It was the real Lin Wei, not a Ghost Shadow.

"Why are you here?"

"Waiting for you," Lin Wei said. "Old Zhou sent me."

Chen Mo was stunned for a moment.

"Old Zhou?"

"He said you would come here," Lin Wei said. "He told me to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"Old Li is not dead," Lin Wei said, her expression very serious. "He is waiting for you inside."

Chen Mo did not speak.

He had known that for a long time.

But how did Lin Wei know?

"Have you seen him?"

"No," Lin Wei said. "But my ability can sense his aura; he is still alive, deep inside the tunnel."

Chen Mo stared at her.

"Your ability?"

Lin Wei hesitated for a moment, then raised her hand.

A ball of light lit up in her palm—golden, very faint, but it truly existed.

"I can sense life," she said. "No matter how far away, as long as it is someone I have met, I can know if they are still alive."

Chen Mo looked at that ball of light.

His Pupil of the Sequence scanned it—it was a fluctuation of sequence energy, connected to the lines within her body.

It was a real ability, not a Ghost Shadow's disguise.

"Have you met Old Li?"

"I have," Lin Wei said. "Three months ago, he came to see me and said he wanted to take me into the Source of the Sequence. I refused."

"Why?"

"Because I don't trust him," Lin Wei said. "His eyes look wrong."

Chen Mo nodded.

He believed it.

Old Li's eyes were indeed wrong.

"So Old Zhou sent you here just to tell me this?"

"There is one more thing," Lin Wei said. "He wants me to go in with you."

Chen Mo was stunned for a moment.

"What?"

"He said you aren't enough on your own," Lin Wei said. "There are time turbulences deep in the tunnel; it is easy to get trapped alone. With two people, we can look out for each other."

Chen Mo looked at her.

"Are you willing?"

Lin Wei smiled.

"I am. I also want to see what is actually inside."

Chen Mo was silent for a few seconds.

Then he pushed open the car door.

"Get in."

Lin Wei sat in the passenger seat.

The pickup truck started and drove down the slope.

The tunnel was still as dark as ever.

But this time, Chen Mo could see more things.

His Time Perception was running at full power, and the flow of time within thirty meters around him was completely under his control.

Those previously invisible rifts were now clearly visible—like ripples of transparency, moving slowly in the darkness.

"Those are time rifts," Lin Wei said. "If you touch them, you will be transported to another point in time."

Chen Mo nodded.

He avoided those rifts and continued forward.

After walking for about twenty minutes, light appeared ahead.

It was not the exit of the tunnel, but a massive space—like an underground cavern, large enough to be half a football field.

In the center of the cavern, a massive stone was floating.

It was the same as the one beside Old Li's truck.

A stone carved with names.

But this time, those names were not static; they were flowing, as if they were alive.

"What is that?" Lin Wei asked.

Chen Mo did not answer.

He walked closer to that stone.

His Pupil of the Sequence scanned it—among those names, there were many he recognized. Old Li, Old Zhou, Zhang Lie, and...

Lin Wei's name was also on it.

"What do you see?" Lin Wei asked.

Chen Mo turned his head to look at her.

"Your name is on it."

Lin Wei was stunned for a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"It means you have died," Chen Mo said. "At least once."

Lin Wei's expression changed.

"Impossible. I have always been alive."

Chen Mo did not argue.

He continued to look at those names.

At the very top was still Zhang Lie.

But below Zhang Lie, there was a new name.

Chen Mo.

His own name.

Chen Mo stared at those two characters.

They were not carved on; they had just appeared, and the golden lines were still slowly coalescing.

"Your name is on it too," Lin Wei's voice came from behind him.

Chen Mo nodded.

"What does this mean?"

"It means we will all die," Chen Mo said. "It is only a matter of time."

Lin Wei was silent for a few seconds.

"Then are we still going in?"

Chen Mo turned to look at her.

"Yes."

He continued to walk forward.

Deep in the cavern, there was a passage leading downwards.

At the end of the passage, something was glowing.

Golden light.

Very bright.

Chen Mo quickened his pace.

At the end of the passage was a smaller cavern.

In the center of the cavern stood a person.

Old Li.

He had his back to them, facing a mural on the wall.

On that mural was painted a door—a golden door, exactly the same as the one in the Source of the Sequence.

"You have come," Old Li turned around.

His face had changed.

It was not the face from before, but... an unfamiliar face. Young, clean, without any trace of the years.

"This is what I looked like at twenty," Old Li said. "Time reversal brought me back here."

He took a step forward.

"Do you know what is behind this door?"

Chen Mo did not speak.

"It is the core of the sequence," Old Li said. "I have been searching for it for twenty years."

He reached out his hand and stroked the door on the mural.

"But I cannot go in. Because I do not have the Pupil of the Sequence."

He turned his head and looked at Chen Mo.

"You do."

Chen Mo gripped his cleaver tightly.

"So you want me to help you open the door?"

"Correct," Old Li said. "Once the door is opened, I will share half of what is inside with you."

Chen Mo looked at him.

He looked for a long time.

Then he smiled.

"Do you take me for a fool?"

Old Li's expression stiffened for a moment.

"What?"

"How many people have you eaten to live until now?" Chen Mo took a step forward. "Share half with me? Would you share yourself with others?"

Old Li's expression changed.

"You..."

"Stop pretending," Chen Mo raised his cleaver. "Today, you are a dead man."

He rushed forward.

Old Li raised his hand, and the surrounding air instantly solidified.

Time stopped.

Chen Mo's body froze in mid-air, maintaining the posture of swinging his blade.

Old Li walked up to him and looked at him.

"I gave you a chance," he said. "You did not want it."

He reached out his hand, grabbing towards Chen Mo's eyes.

Just at the moment his hand was about to touch, Chen Mo moved.

Prediction.

Seven seconds of Prediction was enough for him to see this moment.

At the very moment Old Li raised his hand, he had already activated the Infiltrator.

The one standing where he was now was just an afterimage.

The real him was behind Old Li.

He swung his blade down.

Old Li could not dodge in time and was struck in the shoulder.

Golden liquid gushed out.

He let out a miserable scream and turned to run.

But Lin Wei had already blocked the passage entrance, dual pistols in hand.

"Don't move."

Old Li looked at her, then at Chen Mo.

Countless expressions flashed across his face—anger, fear, unwillingness.

Finally, he smiled.

That smile was very eerie.

"Do you think that by killing me, it is over?"

His body began to glow.

Brighter and brighter, brighter and brighter.

Then—

Boom.

He exploded.

The shockwave sent Chen Mo flying, slamming him into the wall.

He struggled to climb up and looked at Old Li's position—

There was nothing left.

Only a fist-sized golden stone remained, lying on the ground.

Chen Mo walked over and picked up the stone.

【Obtained: Time Core】

【S-rank Materials, can be used to refine time-type items】

【Current Status: Inactive】

Chen Mo looked at the stone.

S-rank Materials.

Old Li had eaten so many people, and in the end, this was all that was left.

He put the stone into his pocket and turned to walk towards Lin Wei.

Lin Wei was leaning against the wall, gasping for air.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Lin Wei shook her head. "Just a bit startled."

Chen Mo nodded.

The two of them walked back along the passage.

When passing the stone carved with names, Chen Mo took a glance.

His name was still there.

Lin Wei's name was also there.

But Old Li's name had disappeared.

Chen Mo did not stop.

He continued to walk forward, out of the cavern, out of the tunnel, and onto the road outside.

The sky had already brightened.

The sunlight shone on his body, warm and cozy.

Lin Wei stood beside him, looking into the distance.

"Where to next?"

Chen Mo thought for a moment.

"Trading Post No. 1," he said. "To find Old Zhou."

Lin Wei nodded.

The two of them sat in the pickup truck and started the engine.

The pickup truck drove onto the road, heading in the direction they had come from.

In the rearview mirror, that tunnel entrance became smaller and smaller, finally disappearing from view.

Chen Mo gripped the steering wheel, looking at the road ahead.

Old Li was dead.

This time it was for real.

But there were more things waiting for him.

The core of the sequence.

That door on the mural.

And those names carved on the stone.

Each one was an answer he was looking for.

The pickup truck drove faster and faster.

Ahead, the lights of Trading Post No. 1 flickered in and out of sight.