William Clark stood there in a daze for a long time before he finally came to his senses, still utterly confused—he had no idea what had happened, nor did he know where he was now. Even from a distance, he could sense that glowing object, as if he and it shared the same origin.

"What... is going on?" William Clark felt as if some surreal event had descended upon him.

Then, as if he already knew what to do, he reached out and made a pulling motion beside him, and to his astonishment, a door appeared in the void!

Bright light streamed in from outside the door, and a carpeted hallway appeared before him.

William Clark was stunned again—it was the hotel staircase.

He didn’t think any further and dashed out, clattering down the stairs.

Life-changing events, strange encounters—he couldn’t care less about any of that! His parents had just died, and the fact that he was still alive was enough for him. If he really had died just now, he didn’t know how Emily Clark, that big girl with a bad temper and difficult personality, would survive alone in this world.

He ran all the way to the first-floor lobby, plopped down on the sofa, glanced nervously at the stairs, took a few deep breaths, looked around, and finally poured himself a glass of water.

The earthquake was obviously fake; the geological structure of Jingguan couldn’t possibly produce such a big quake. All of this was caused by that space and the glowing object. And he still had no idea what had happened.

That glowing object couldn’t speak, and no one had told him what was going on—he didn’t even know if it was good or bad.

After finishing a glass of water, he gradually calmed down inside.

Judging from his experience, it seemed unlikely to be a bad thing, but he couldn’t see any sign of benefit either.

He took out his phone for a glance—the time showed it was already the next morning, and the signal was full.

He had spent the whole night unconscious.

No calls, no messages.

William Clark couldn’t help but sigh. He hadn’t come home all night, and that girl hadn’t even sent a single message—was she really his only family left in this world? What happened to sticking together through thick and thin?

Just as he mustered up the courage to go back upstairs and investigate, his phone rang.

It was Emily Clark calling.

William Clark quickly answered, “Hello?”

“I called you last night to ask why you didn’t come home, but you were out of service,” Emily Clark said bluntly, though her voice sounded a bit tired. “You’re okay, right?”

“Of course I’m fine, I just... something came up here last night, I was busy until late, so I slept at the hotel,” William Clark explained, a little embarrassed.

“You didn’t go out drinking, did you?” Emily Clark frowned, but didn’t press further. She went straight to the point, “Are you coming home for lunch? Should I order takeout for you?”

“...There’s still food in the fridge, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll come home and cook,” William Clark checked the time—it was only 10:30, and it was a short cab ride home.

“Okay.”

With that, Emily Clark hung up.

William Clark put down his phone, shook his head helplessly, stood up to leave, but couldn’t help glancing back, taking a deep breath, suddenly feeling both physically and mentally exhausted.

As he walked out and was locking the door, he couldn’t resist turning back, step by step making his way to the warehouse door.

The door was tightly shut, looking no different from yesterday.

William Clark took a deep breath, gripped the doorknob, hesitated for a long time, then finally gritted his teeth and opened the door.

Inside was pitch black, the space seemed endless, and an oval-shaped glowing object floated silently, shrouded in a misty aura.

William Clark swallowed hard, almost imperceptibly.

Looks like he’d have to buy new sheets, bedding, and toiletries!

Might as well just report this to the government.

Soon, he was back home.

Emily Clark was lying on the sofa, wearing light blue denim shorts and a plain white T-shirt, the hem tucked into her shorts, her long, snow-white legs crossed, holding a book in her hands.

She was 1.7 meters tall, with long legs, good looks, and high intelligence—just a cold personality and a bad temper.

William Clark greeted her, but she barely responded, and William Clark didn’t mind. He washed his hands, rummaged through the fridge for ingredients, and went into the kitchen to start preparing.

This apartment was nearly 200 square meters, bought about ten years ago. Back then, John Clark and Helen Adams, both professors, had been expanding their off-campus tutoring business, earning a good income, and the apartment was quite cheap at the time—now it was worth a fortune.

Unfortunately, later the government cracked down, and Yizhou University, as a nationally renowned institution, quickly responded to national policy, forcing the two professors to close their tutoring business.

William Clark chopped the meat, the knife tapping rhythmically against the cutting board, his mind focused.

It was a special time, and he was already too exhausted inside. So even though something so unbelievable had just happened, he was too tired to think much about it.

These past ten days had taught him not to overthink. Because if he couldn’t help but dwell on things, just staying in this house for a few days, any object could trigger the grief of losing his parents, could bring back old memories. He would stare blankly for ages, wasting time, unable to pull himself out.