But he’s not here today.” The Daoist smacked his lips. “He went fishing before dawn, said the earlier you go, the more likely the fish are just waking up, and that’s the best time to bait the spot…”

“Your master is absolutely right.” Adam Carter nodded repeatedly. “Especially around four in the morning—if you bait the spot then, the fish—”

He suddenly cut himself off.

He hadn’t come to Yunlong Temple to discuss this!

The young Daoist, clearly a new fishing enthusiast himself, was listening with great interest. Seeing Adam Carter stop mid-sentence, he looked at him in confusion. “Why did you stop? I’ve just started fishing too, but I haven’t caught anything yet!”

“Daoist, I actually came to ask you something important…”

“I know, but I can’t help you. You’ll have to go to the hospital’s psychiatry department.”

“……”

After Adam Carter persisted in his questioning, the young Daoist finally nodded helplessly and said, “Alright, wait here. I’ll go see if I can find someone for you.”

“Thank you, thank you! How much do I owe you? I’ll pay.” Adam Carter said hurriedly.

“No need, just wait a bit.” The young Daoist put his phone back in his pocket, not at all worried that Adam Carter might be some criminal who’d steal all the statues from Yunlong Temple, and headed straight to the backyard.

Adam Carter sat in a round-backed chair, sipping warm tea, looking around. He felt the place was elegant and tranquil, peaceful and pleasant.

A thought arose in his mind: If he stayed at Ping’an Huayuan, he would inevitably encounter the shadowy anomaly in the future.

So, could he change locations?

Would the pressure he’d face in the future be much less?

Maybe the danger brought by the shadowy anomaly could be resolved without a fight!

After a brief hesitation, Adam Carter’s eyes flashed, and he called out in his mind: “Simulator!”

A huge dial floated before Adam Carter’s eyes, casting his surroundings into utter darkness. An electronic voice sounded: “Welcome to the Perfect Life Simulator!”

“Your wallet’s Yuan Jade balance is 7. Each personal life simulation costs 1 Yuan Jade. Do you wish to proceed?”

“Yes.”

“Do you wish to use Yuan Jade to bring real-world items into the simulation game?”

Five options appeared on the dial:

Option 0: Your body.

Option 1: A wallet containing personal identification, bank cards, and credit cards.

Option 2: A mobile phone.

Option 3: A bunch of keys.

Option 4: A half-used notebook.

These were all the items Adam Carter carried with him.

And none of the items in or around the Sanqing Hall were among the options.

This showed that Adam Carter could only bring things he actually owned from reality.

He skipped this option directly.

“Loading talents…”

“Loading game…”

A screen appeared before Adam Carter’s eyes. On the screen, he was kneeling in the Sanqing Hall with its three great doors wide open, facing the Three Pure Ones, his back to the real-world Adam Carter outside the screen.

Outside the hall, ancient trees towered, their branches spreading wide, covering the eaves and ridge beasts.

The sky was gloomy, dusk settling in.

The scene was majestic, yet carried an inexplicable sense of eeriness.

Adam Carter felt a bad premonition.

Suddenly, his consciousness was sucked into the screen.

The electronic voice sounded: “Your future life has been successfully loaded!”

Chapter 7: The Imperial Bell

Adam Carter opened his eyes and looked at the imposing statues of the Three Pure Ones sitting in the dim hall, as well as the somewhat droopy-eyed Buddhas and Bodhisattvas on either side.

Candlelight flickered on both sides of the hall, the lamps glowing lushly.

Standing there, he inexplicably felt a chill winding around him.

He lowered his head and looked around. The lighting was dim, as if he were in the hall at night. All the furnishings were as before, but there was no sign of the Daoists of Yunlong Temple.

He had no idea what time it was.

Adam Carter felt his pocket and found his phone, as well as a palm-sized notebook.

Ever since experiencing the simulator, he had reinforced his habit of keeping notes, determined to continue this good practice, and never let the notebook leave his side.

It seemed that his future self had kept up this habit.

Adam Carter felt a bit more at ease.

With the notebook, he could find out what he’d experienced recently and what had happened in the outside world.

Just as he was about to open the notebook for a look, a crimson light suddenly shone in through the open doors of the hall, enveloping the clay statues and the kneeling Adam Carter on the meditation mat.

What was that?

Did the lanterns outside the hall light up?

Adam Carter looked up and suddenly saw, under the crimson glow, the paint on the faces of the clay statues was ‘melting’…

Droplets of colorful, viscous liquid slid down the faces of the clay statues.

On the face of each statue, where the paint had peeled away, there was a pitch-black single eye.

That eye seemed to squirm, slowly focusing its gaze on Adam Carter.

A chill ran down Adam Carter’s spine. He didn’t bother with the notebook anymore, grabbed it, and turned to run—

But the moment he stood up, layers of thick, mud-like darkness spread from the feet of the clay statues, smothering the crimson light and flooding toward Adam Carter!

He suddenly froze in place.

Half-turned, he saw, above the dark sky outside the temple gate, countless blood-red ‘lanterns’ rising. The lanterns were like a river of stars, covering the low mountain where Yunlong Temple stood.