# 5
**Chapter 5: The Borderless Zone**
The moon was bright, the stars few.
The bell signaling the end of evening self-study rang, and students trickled out of the classrooms in twos and threes, laughing as they walked through the night. After a day of torment, this was perhaps their most relaxing time.
No homework, no teachers, a couple of good friends by their side, and the promise of a comfortable bed after a hot shower—what could be better?
Among the scattered crowd, a large group of over a dozen students suddenly surged forward, walking in neat, steady strides toward the school gate.
At the center of the group, a boy with his eyes wrapped in black silk was like the filling of a dumpling, tightly encased.
Such a large group naturally drew the attention of everyone around.
“Actually… I can walk home by myself, really,” Lin Qiye said, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly in resignation. “I can see—it’s just that my eyes are sensitive to light…”
“No need to say more, classmate Lin Qiye!” Jiang Qian interrupted, speaking with righteous conviction. “We promised your aunt we’d take care of you, and we intend to keep that promise!”
“Yeah, Qiye, we’re all going the same way anyway.”
“I’m on the way too.”
Lin Qiye: …
Honestly, he would’ve preferred to be left alone. After spending so long in the dark, he wasn’t used to being the center of so much attention—it made him uncomfortable.
Of course, his aunt and Yang Jin didn’t count. They were family.
Still, they meant well, and he couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He could only follow the group with a sigh.
“I’ll be turning right up ahead, but I can walk a bit farther with you.”
“I’m turning here. See you tomorrow.”
“See you.”
“…”
As they moved farther from the school, the students around Lin Qiye began to peel off one by one. A few minutes later, only five remained.
The once-noisy atmosphere quieted, and space opened up. Lin Qiye exhaled in relief.
“Do you guys think… the fog will really return and swallow Great Xia?” Li Yifei asked, glancing back curiously as he slung his backpack over his shoulder.
“Didn’t you hear the experts? The chance of the fog returning is tiny. Maybe it won’t change for the next hundred years. And as for what happens after that… we won’t be around anyway, so why worry?” Jiang Qian rolled her eyes.
“Come on, you know how unreliable those so-called experts are. What if we finally get into college, haven’t even had a chance to enjoy life, and then the fog swallows all of Great Xia? That’d be a total rip-off.”
“So that’s your excuse for slacking off and not studying?” Jiang Qian stepped in front of Li Yifei, serious now. “Let me remind you—Mr. Wang said if you come in last place again, you’re moving your desk right next to the podium.”
“Alright, alright, I got it,” Li Yifei said with a sheepish grin.
“Still, I don’t think the fog will come back,” Wang Shao said from the front of the group. “At the end of the day, it’s just a natural phenomenon. Once it hits a certain threshold, it’ll start to recede—like the Ice Age. When the glaciers covered the earth, they eventually melted as temperatures rose, ushering in a new era.”
“I’ve heard of that theory—it’s called the Natural Disaster Theory, right? It’s pretty popular these days,” Jiang Qian nodded.
“But what if… the fog isn’t a natural phenomenon?” Lin Qiye, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke.
Wang Shao blinked, then chuckled. “Qiye, you’re not buying into those so-called theologians, are you? You think the fog’s connected to supernatural forces?”
“It’s the 21st century—we’ve got to believe in science. There’s no such thing as ghosts and gods,” Liu Yuan chimed in.
Lin Qiye didn’t reply. Whether the world had things beyond science, he knew better than anyone—but there was no need to share that.
Li Yifei muttered under his breath, “Honestly, I think if that stuff did exist, the world would be way more interesting.”
“Why are we even talking about this? It’s not like we can do anything about it. Instead of worrying about whether the fog will return, we should just enjoy the three-day holiday coming up and sleep in,” Jiang Qian laughed.
“Yeah, holidays are the real deal!”
…
Meanwhile, in the old district of Cangnan City.
A man was carrying a warning sign, strolling unhurriedly down a quiet, dimly lit street. The old streetlights cast faint light, stretching his shadow long behind him…
He glanced at his phone, then stopped at a narrow intersection.
“This is the place…”
He muttered, setting the sign down and straightening it.
Under the flickering streetlight, the sign’s shadow flickered in and out of view. Against the black background, a few glaring red words stood out:
**—NO ENTRY AHEAD**
The man leaned against the lamppost, lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, then tapped his earpiece.
“Captain, third sign is in place.”
“Copy that. Begin.”
“Roger.”
Still holding the cigarette between his lips, the man stepped forward and bit down hard on his thumb!
A drop of blood welled up. He crouched and, with his bloodied thumb, drew a long horizontal line across the red words “NO ENTRY AHEAD.”
His eyes sharpened, and a strange aura erupted from his body!
He looked up at the dark sky and whispered, just loud enough for himself to hear:
“Forbidden Ruins—【Borderless Zone】.”
In the next moment, the blood streak on the sign faded rapidly, as if absorbed. Then the red words flashed with crimson light—
Before returning to normal.
The man sat down on the ground, exhaling deeply.
“Damn… drained again…”
At that moment, if someone were looking down from above Cangnan City, they’d see three points of light flash near the old district. These lights connected to form a dark red equilateral triangle!
The instant the triangle formed, half of the old district beneath it seemed to be erased from the map, fading from view…
Yet from the ground, the old district looked exactly the same.
At the same time, within the triangle, six crimson-black cloaks streaked across the sky like lightning!
The man in the lead looked up at the dark red sky, gripped the hilt of the blade on his back, and narrowed his eyes.
“Ghost-faced purge operation—begin.”