This villain is too popular.

Chapter 431 Equivalent Scales, the Zodiac

[Nighttime, Changsheng County Bank]

In Changsheng County right now, the streets are unusually quiet, with only the wind rustling the withered leaves across the ground.

Suddenly, a layer of light and shadow, like ripples on water, appeared in a corner of the bank lobby.

As the light and shadow twisted and contracted, two slender figures finally coalesced.

These two people were none other than Jing Liuli and Caroline.

"How about it, Caroline? Isn't my 'Daydream - Like a Dream' amazing?"

As soon as the two revealed themselves, Jing Liuli began to boast smugly.

She raised her hand and waved it, her fingertips still retaining a faint trace of dream energy, like being wrapped in a layer of fine fluorescent light.

"Even a Calamity-level expert wouldn't be able to detect the energy fluctuations when we 'disappear' without careful sensing."

No wonder she's so proud.

Using the 'Daydream, Dreamlike' ability, Jing Liuli allowed her and Caroline to briefly 'disappear,' making it impossible for anyone to tell that they were still in the bank lobby.

Faced with Jing Liuli's arrogant little face, Caroline helplessly curled the corners of her lips, but quickly suppressed her smile.

Immediately afterwards, the tactical tablet lit up in her palm, and a blueprint of the bank's interior structure appeared on the screen.

"Let's not talk about that now. The Heavenly Dao said that nighttime is the key to breaking the cycle, so we need to find the 'passage' he mentioned as soon as possible."

Based on the clues she had gathered and the information left by the Heavenly Dao, Caroline had roughly deduced the situation in Changsheng County.

During the day, Changsheng County is a separate, stagnant space-time.

At night, Changsheng County is a flowing, ever-moving space-time.

At the same time, many 'monsters' that do not move around freely during the day are no longer subject to such restrictions at night.

It's as if Changsheng County is a world of the living during the day and a world of the dead at night, maintaining a delicate balance between the two.

What they are looking for now is the key that can break the balance.

As for where the key is, Caroline already has the answer in her heart.

It was inside this county bank that was capable of 'equivalent exchange'.

Caroline led Jing Liuli to the bank counter where the bank staff were.

Behind the counter, an old brass lock hung on the iron door; the lock cylinder was almost completely rusted.

Just as Jing Liuli was about to try using the Dream Threads, Caroline raised her hand, signaling her to step back.

Immediately afterwards, Caroline's right hand suddenly glowed with a silvery-white metallic sheen, and the skin at her knuckles cracked open, revealing the intricate mechanical structure inside.

Then, one of her fingers transformed into a lock-picking tool with gears, its tip shimmering with pale blue energy.

Click!

Without much effort, the copper lock clicked softly as the internal gears were precisely engaged, and the bolt snapped open.

"Wow, Caroline, your equipment has been upgraded again?"

Jing Liuli's eyes widened, clearly very curious about Caroline's ever-changing mechanical transformations.

In response, Caroline said indifferently, "It's nothing, just the new AI module you got at the Tianwu Training Base."

Caroline spoke as she pushed open the iron gate.

The next second, that familiar chill, a mixture of ink and metal, hit me.

Behind the iron gate was the staff's break room, where dim moonlight filtered through the blinds, casting strips of shadow on the floor.

The abacus and ledgers on the desk remained exactly as they had been during the day, except that the pages of the ledgers were moving on their own even without wind, stopping at the page that recorded 'exchange of rotten vine corpse cores'.

"Caroline, where do we go next?"

Jing Liuli lowered her voice, and her expression became serious, abandoning her earlier playfulness.

Since the Heavenly Dao only mentioned that the Longevity County at night was the key to their escape from the cycle of time and space, it did not say specifically how to escape.

Therefore, Jing Liuli is still somewhat of a mystery.

And although they only went from the lobby to the staff's backstage area.

However, Jing Liuli's dream ability still vaguely sensed something was wrong for a moment, as if something extremely dangerous was hidden in the background, making her very uncomfortable.

Caroline did not answer the question immediately.

She walked to the floor in the corner of the lounge and tapped the ground with her fingers.

The sound coming from the ground was hollow.

With this information, she immediately pulled up a diagram of the underground structure on her tablet, pointed to the area beneath her feet, and said, "The bank's underground vault should be in this secret passage. Let's go there."

"it is good."

After a 'scan,' Caroline stepped into a loose brick on the floor.

In an instant, the smooth ground suddenly cracked open with a 'creak,' revealing the stairs leading underground.

The depths of the staircase were pitch black, with only a faint golden light shimmering at the very bottom.

"Caroline, are you sure we really want to go down?"

Gazing at the dark, secluded passage, Jing Liuli's voice trembled slightly.

However, it wasn't fear, but rather that her dream-related abilities were starting to stir.

As the secret passage appeared, Jing Liuli instantly perceived many fragmented 'dream scenes'.

A spinning golden scale, flowing pale green life energy, and a face wearing a golden mask, the eyes beneath which are devoid of warmth.

Although these images were fragmented, they only intensified her unease.

Noticing Jing Liuli's unusual behavior, Caroline blurted out her judgment at that moment, explaining why they had ventured into this unknown and strange place.

"Liuli, since Changsheng County at night is the intersection of multiple timelines on the island, how do you think the bank staff from different timelines managed to gather all the collected 'lifespans' and 'memories' together?"

Upon hearing this, a glint of light flashed in Jing Liuli's mind.

"You mean, this underground vault is one of the few places on this Longevity Island that won't get stuck in an infinite loop?"

Caroline nodded, indicating that this was exactly what she meant.

"In that case, let's go."

Although still somewhat wary of the eerie dreamscape emanating from the underground, Jing Liuli ultimately decided to go down with Caroline.

However, a large part of the reason for this is still due to trust in the Way of Heaven.

After all, the fact that the Heavenly Dao sent them to this county bank means that everything is under the Heavenly Dao's control.

Even if the sky falls, the tall ones have to hold it up; I am the short one, and the way of heaven is the tall one.

Caroline walked to the front of the secret passage and turned on the searchlight on her tactical tablet.

The bright beam of light had illuminated the damp steps below, making the interior clearly visible to the two of them.

The walls of the dark passage were covered with moss, and the air was sticky and damp, making one shiver involuntarily.

The two descended the stairs, and at the top, a massive iron gate appeared before them. Symmetrical scale symbols were engraved on the gate, with countless tiny points of light embedded in the gaps between the symbols, seemingly hinting at something. "This is the vault door?"

Looking at the unique vault door in front of her, Jing Liuli, who was very curious, immediately wanted to reach out and touch it.

But as soon as she reached out her hand, Caroline grabbed it.

"Don't worry."

Under Jing Liuli's puzzled gaze, Caroline took out a metal gear from her pocket, which was her spare mechanical part.

She tossed the gear toward the vault door, and then... something unexpected happened.

The gear neither hit the door nor bounced back. Instead, it suddenly passed through an invisible barrier half a meter away from the door, creating ripples like a pebble thrown into water, before disappearing completely from their sight.

"This is?!"

"It's a spatial illusion."

Caroline calmly provided her analysis, and through quantum analysis of these phantoms, images of bank employees transporting 'equivalents' into the vault quickly appeared on Caroline's tactical tablet.

"Liuli, the vault is currently in a superposition of multiple timelines. What we see is just one of its phantoms. Touching it rashly will cause us to be swept into the temporal turbulence."

"Then how long do we have to wait?"

Caroline didn't answer immediately. Instead, she glanced down at the smartwatch on her wrist for a moment before giving her reply.

"Midnight, because only at that time will the time and space nodes on the island complete their convergence."

"At that time, the phantom will dissipate, and the true physical vault will appear."

"And we still have two hours until that crucial moment."

Before she could finish speaking, a loud 'thud' suddenly came from above the stairs, as if someone had missed a step.

In the darkness, a familiar figure descended the steps, his azure eyes standing out starkly against the light.

"Heavenly Dao!"

Upon seeing the appearance of the Heavenly Dao, Jing Liuli shouted excitedly and ran over quickly.

"Where did you go yesterday? Why are you only showing up now?"

Tiandao smiled and ruffled her hair.

"Nothing, I just went to find something."

Jing Liuli asked curiously, "Has that thing been found?"

The Heavenly Dao nodded and slowly opened its palm.

The next second, a lifelike golden chrysanthemum suddenly bloomed in his palm, its petals layered upon each other, shimmering with a warm golden light, and even the stamens were clearly visible.

The golden chrysanthemum seemed to come alive, instantly filling the dimly lit passage with a faint fragrance and dispelling the biting chill.

"This is……"

Caroline's pupils contracted slightly, and the quantum module in her brain suddenly emitted a 'beep beep' alarm sound, while the energy analysis of the golden chrysanthemum was displayed on her retina.

The life energy contained within this golden chrysanthemum is completely opposite to, yet mutually restraining, the 'rose' on the island of immortality.

If the rose represents 'death', then this golden chrysanthemum represents 'life and balance'.

"This is the 'key' I found yesterday."

The voice of Heaven was soft, yet it carried a reassuring power.

“Caroline, you should be able to sense it, right? It has a symbiotic yet antagonistic relationship with the ‘roses’ on the island.”

Caroline nodded.

"Rose symbolizes death, chrysanthemum signifies rebirth, and combined with the island's unspoken rules regarding 'equivalence' and 'balance,' therefore..."

Before Caroline could finish speaking, Tiandao smiled and added his own explanation.

"So, this is the essence of Longevity Island: an art of trading and being traded."

With that, Tiandao put away the golden chrysanthemum and placed it in his inner pocket.

"Guess where I found this flower."

Caroline thought for a moment and gave an answer on the spot.

"Banks correspond to exchange, and those golden chrysanthemums that symbolize life can only appear in county hospitals, right?"

As if he already knew Caroline would guess the answer, Tiandao smiled and nodded.

Then, the camera angles of the anime series began to switch, and the scenes jumped around instantly.

When they reappeared, they were back in the scene where Tiandao had just left the guesthouse the night before.

[Memories of Last Night at Changsheng County Hospital]

Instead of taking the bustling main street, Tiandao, after leaving the guesthouse, turned into a narrow alleyway covered with vines.

The Changsheng County Hospital at night is even more eerie than a bank. The white paint on the walls has peeled off, revealing blackened bricks underneath. The air is filled with a mixture of disinfectant and putrid odors, making one's stomach churn.

As soon as he stepped into the hospital, the light and shadow around him began to distort.

Immediately afterwards, the old and dilapidated waiting hall was transformed in just a few seconds into an abandoned space overgrown with pale purple rose vines. The thorns on the vines gleamed coldly, like countless small knives waiting for their prey.

"Roar!"

Accompanied by a piercing roar, one after another, rotting vine corpses dressed in hospital gowns poured out from both sides of the corridor. Their bodies were entangled in vines, and green eerie light flickered in their eye sockets.

However, these rotting vine corpses were three times faster than during the day, and their strength was much greater.

Then, with a slight sway of his body, an invisible vector force field unfolded around him.

Then, the attacking vines were instantly repelled by the vector force field, slapping against the wall with a 'smack' and breaking into several pieces.

Ignoring these 'minor monsters,' the Heavenly Dao's Star Eclipse Heavenly Eye emitted a pale blue light, piercing through layers of vines and locking onto the neonatal reception room at the deepest part of the hospital.

There is a faint life energy there, completely different from the predatory energy of the rose.

In less than ten minutes, Tiandao broke through the siege of the rotten vine corpses and arrived at the newborn reception room.

The room was covered in dust, except for the baby cradle in the center, which was clean. There was no baby in the cradle, only a blooming golden chrysanthemum with a single, glistening dewdrop clinging to its petals.

Above the cradle hangs a broken golden scale.

One end of the scale has broken off, leaving only an empty tray hanging from the other end. The tray is engraved with a line of small characters: [Zodiac - Libra].

Tiandao looked at the broken scales, a cold glint flashing in his azure eyes, and immediately reached out to pluck the golden chrysanthemum.

Just as his fingertips touched the petals, a large number of fleshy tentacles emerged from the surrounding walls and madly attacked the Heavenly Dao.

The feeling was as if this newborn reception room wasn't a cold building at all, but rather an 'organ' of some flesh and blood creature.

However, none of those fleshy tentacles could get within five meters of the Heavenly Dao before they were instantly strangled by the vector force field maintained by the Heavenly Dao.

Afterwards, Tiandao carefully put away the golden chrysanthemum and turned to walk outside.

Shortly after he left, the fleshy vines in the reception room began to grow wildly.

At the same time, a huge phantom, resembling a 'scale' or a 'tree', appeared above the county hospital, gazing at Tiandao as he walked out of the hospital, and then slowly disappeared a few seconds later.

(End of this chapter)