Quadruple split.

Chapter 2780 The Missing Puzzle Piece

"..."

And so, Yi Dong gazed at the inky black sandalwood reflected in the mirror.

"..."

So, the ink-black sandalwood in the mirror also stared intently at Yi Dong.

……

After a while
"..."

Looking at the man in the mirror, who appeared to be Mo Tan but was not the friend he had known for nearly twenty years, but someone else, Yi Dong remained silent for a long time before revealing a faint smile and breaking the silence with a light tone: "...Long time no see?"

Mo Tan in the mirror did not react, but just stared at Yi Dong, her gaze as deep and empty as a stagnant pool.

"So, how should I address you?"

Yi Dong seemed to have gotten used to the other person's silence a long, long time ago, so he simply continued the topic on his own, asking in a light tone, "Or should I just call you Mo Tan like before?"

Click——! ! !
The next instant, accompanied by a deafening cracking sound, the mirror in front of Yidong was instantly covered with cracks. At the same time, wisps of ominous, twisted, grotesque, and intangible black mist seeped out from the crisscrossing cracks, slowly and steadily drifting towards Yidong...

And then suddenly froze in mid-air just before touching the latter.

"Don't call me that."

With a cold and distant rebuke, Mo withdrew the overflowing original sin, then raised his right hand and stroked it in front of him, restoring the cracked mirror to its original state as he said coldly, "Leave, Yidong."

"Ah."

Yi Dong smiled and said with emotion, "If I remember correctly, you said the same thing to me back then. Tsk, how old were we back then? I had a fever after that, and I can't remember a lot of things."

"..."

Mo quietly removed his hand from the mirror and said calmly to Yi Dong, "Let's go."

"Does anyone want to chat with you?"

Instead of activating his 'blessing' to leave, Yi Dong simply crossed his arms and casually asked, as if chatting with a good friend about the evening's weather, "Bored?"

"Fortunately."

Mo nodded slightly and replied calmly.

"It's alright, it's alright."

Yi Dong nodded and smiled, "If it's not good, I can come and chat with you. As you can see, Mo Tan has quite a few friends now. Although I'm definitely the most influential one, comparatively speaking, if you don't even have anyone to talk to, I don't mind going over and helping you do some naughty things. Uh... you're probably doing something naughty, right?"

"Ah."

Mo answered without hesitation, saying calmly, "Very bad."

"It's okay if you're a little bad, since you weren't exactly a good person to begin with."

Yi Dong laughed heartily and said cheerfully, "Of course, if what you do is really too bad, I will still protest."

"I do not accept protests."

Mo also laughed and said calmly, "So, it's better to stay away."

"So, in your opinion, how far is considered far?"

Yi Dong yawned and calmly looked at the ink in the mirror: "The same as 'before'?"

"..."

Mo did not answer; he simply shook his head and then slowly closed his eyes.

As he closed his eyes, the magnificent mirror in front of Idon, which resembled a city wall, instantly melted away like ice and snow, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

……

Time flies, time flies
One second later

[Strange and unusual], the lobby
"Mo-chan!"

"sandalwood!"

Almost the instant he regained consciousness, Mo Tan was nearly knocked unconscious by the two screams that suddenly rang in his ears. Fortunately, Gu Xiaole and Xue Yin knew that he had mental problems, so although they almost sent him to his death with one scream, they did not rush over immediately, but carefully observed his appearance.

However, no matter how they looked at her, they couldn't figure out what state Mo Tan was in at that moment. To put it simply, they didn't know whether they should pounce on her.

Immediately afterwards——

Ferry Rice and Joe Rice appeared before Mo Tan.

Amidst fireworks, firecrackers, ribbons, gold leaf, and countless poop candies flying everywhere!

"Congratulations, young brother Mo Tan!"

Please share how you feel right now!

"A survivor?"

"Or is it a phoenix rising from the ashes?"

Or perhaps—

"Want a piece of poop candy to calm your nerves first?"

"Forget about the poop candy, buddy."

Mo Tan smiled wryly and waved his hand, politely declining the candy that Ferry eagerly offered. He shook his head and said, "To be honest, I'm a little tired right now, and my head is like a complete mess."

Joe shrugged and raised an eyebrow. "I totally understand how you feel, buddy, totally understand."

"You definitely need to rest now, after all, it's hard for anyone to adapt to the feeling of going from 'normal' to 'extraordinary' right away."

Ferry grinned, then changed the subject: "But you absolutely must know what Miss Gu and Miss Xueyin have done for you. They sacrificed an entire morning, risking being interrogated by their families and agents, to bring you here, trying to pull you out of your own daze. How moving! How touching! How—"

However, Gu Xiaole interrupted Ferry with a worried look on her face and said seriously, "None of that is important. The important thing now is that Mo-chan needs to rest, right?"

"In that case, it's more important to let Tan get some rest than to let the two of us take credit."

Xueyin stretched and yawned before lazily saying, "Perfect timing! I suddenly have an inspiration. If nothing else is urgent, I'd like to go back and write a song."

Ferry and Joe exchanged a glance, then Ferry suggested, "In that case, let's send you two back first, then move the shop back to City B, and let Brother Dongzi take Mo Tan home to rest?"

Yi Dong: "...What the heck is 'Little Brother Dongzi'?"

"Don't worry about the details." Gu Xiaole, who first brought up the abbreviation 'Dongzi,' changed the subject somewhat guiltily and asked the twin shop managers, "Why can't Mo-chan come with us?"

Ferry turned to look at Gu Xiaole and said earnestly, "Because we need to perform some relatively detailed examinations on him, it's not suitable for ladies to observe."

"Wow!"

Xueyin's eyes immediately lit up, and she exclaimed in surprise, "Will there be something really amazing?!"

"will not."

Joe gave a negative answer without hesitation, and casually said, "In short, neither of you is really suitable to stay right now... Remember, in the last round of attempts, either of you caused Mo Tan's condition to worsen."

Gu Xiaole: "..."

Xueyin: "..."

"Let's have a proper talk later."

Mo Tan turned to the two girls and gave them a weak smile, then pointed at Ferry and Joe: "How about we listen to the experts first? After all, my head is a mess right now, and I may not be able to process too much information at once."

"..."

"..."

So, after exchanging glances, Gu Xiaole and Xueyin nodded at the same time, though they seemed somewhat reluctant.

"Thank you for your cooperation, both kind ladies."

Ferry clapped his hands cheerfully, then walked to the fireplace in the corner of the living room, casually sprinkled a handful of suspicious powder into it, and then gestured for the flames to turn emerald green after the fireplace had turned emerald green: "After you go in, you will be back in front of the [Strange and Unusual] store in City B. You can leave on your own then. Next time you come, I guarantee you can go straight into the store without having to undergo any additional tests."

"If Sister Xiaole comes along, I wouldn't mind having a few more candies."

Xueyin chuckled and stuffed the mouse, which had somehow transformed back into its original form, into her pocket. She then playfully said something to the Rice brothers before turning to Motan: "Well then, I'll go back and write a song for you now."

Without waiting for Mo Tan's reply, she bent down and stepped into the green flames in the fireplace, disappearing after a burst of brilliant light.

"Take care of yourself. If anything happens, you can contact Dongzi or me."

Gu Xiaole gave Mo Tan a gentle smile and said in a somewhat complicated tone, "When you're feeling better, remember to let your sister know you're safe. If anything happens... um..."

Mo Tan smiled gently: "I will report back if anything happens."

"Uh-huh!"

Gu Xiaole nodded vigorously, then sniffed hard, and disappeared into the flames while holding the restless black paper figure.

……

"Then, let's confirm it one more time."

After watching the two girls leave, Ferry breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Mo Tan, whose expression was gradually becoming serious, to ask, "How are you feeling now?"

"You must tell the truth."

Joe added in a lighthearted tone, then said seriously, "It's gentlemanly to avoid causing ladies extra trouble, but if you want to truly resolve this issue, at least tell us the truth."

Mo Tan nodded slightly and said calmly, "Right now, I'm in pretty good condition, both physically and mentally. The only problem is that I have a hard time concentrating on anything, and my mind wanders more than ten times every half minute."

"I see."

Ferry stroked his chin and continued, "So what do you think is the reason for this phenomenon?"

“My mental state has become problematic; to be precise, I have been forcibly ‘knitted’ together.”

Mo Tan leaned back on the sofa, gently massaging his temples with his right hand, and mused, "But this is only temporary. I can feel myself remaining 'awake'. If this continues, I should return to 'normal' within two hours."

Yi Dong twitched the corner of his mouth and asked curiously, "So what are you now?"

"This directly escalates to a philosophical question."

Mo Tan chuckled dryly, then spread his hands and said crisply, "The answer I can give is that I am obviously 'Mo Tan' now, and I will theoretically be 'Mo Tan' after I return to normal in two hours. But whether 'Mo Tan' exists or can continue to exist is questionable."

Ferry and Joe whistled simultaneously and said in unison, "Are you sure this is something we can hear?"

"First of all, you could say you saved my life."

Mo Tan smiled faintly at the two brothers and said in a very carefree manner, "Secondly, I do need some sufficiently 'professional' opinions and suggestions."

The Rice brothers exchanged a knowing smile: "Understood."

"After Yidong found 'me' for the third time, I had gained a certain understanding of my current situation and also grasped some ideas."

Mo Tan casually grabbed a bottle of juice from under the table, unscrewed the cap, and gulped down about half of it. Then, like a middle-aged office worker who had downed an ice-cold beer after a long day at work, he let out a long sigh of relief and continued, "Actually, I've been studying my mental state and its various derivative problems for a long time, but..."

Ferry blinked. "But what?"

"But after studying it to a certain extent, I vaguely realized that I could no longer solve... or explain the problem through 'pathology'."

Mo Tan looked intently at the twin shop managers in front of him, who he had known for a long time but had never had a frank conversation with before, and said softly, "I am missing a key piece of the puzzle, a very key, irreplaceable piece of the puzzle, and before I get it, all my inferences and speculations are fallacies, which are neither valuable nor meaningful."

Joe twitched his lips, revealing a cryptic smile: "Your thinking is absolutely correct, but unfortunately, that so-called 'key piece of the puzzle' is not the answer you can find. Or to put it another way, by the time you can find the answer on your own, it may be too late."

"You're really smart, buddy."

Ferry looked at Mo Tan with admiration and said with a smile, "To be honest, few people with your brains, knowledge, shrewdness, and outstanding execution ability can resist the temptation to pursue the truth. After all, for most exceptional people, it is perfectly normal to fall into obsession in the process of pursuing certain things, let alone your own affairs."

“This is not a joke, buddy. We can tell you with certainty that if you were to actually go after that…so-called crucial piece of the puzzle, you would probably be dead by now.”

Qiao suppressed her smile and said to Mo Tan seriously, "Your choice is absolutely correct. What's even more commendable is that you've managed to maintain a precarious balance and live a normal life without digging too deep."

Mo Tan shook his head, unable to hide his helplessness, and said, "I thought I would continue to live a normal... or rather, a relatively normal life, but..."

"But you've stumbled upon a game called 'Innocent Realm,' buddy, and we all know that it's definitely not just a simple 'game.'"

"If you tell me now that you're ready to quit [The Realm of Innocence], then maybe..."

"I'm sorry, but as you expect, even if you sell the game pod right now and never touch that problematic game again, which is full of conspiracies and schemes, your situation will not improve."

"In fact, it is the delayed suppression that will cause it to erupt faster, more violently, and more powerfully."

"Then now I..."

"It's a little embarrassing to say, but given your current situation..."

"...Theoretically, we can only wait to die."

Bang-!
The next second, Yi Dong overturned the table in front of the four people.

Chapter 2771: The End