80: Chapter 79 This world is too sensible

Kaban slapped himself while lamenting, looking exactly like a humble customer service agent terrified of getting a bad review for a wrong order: "The control system suddenly malfunctioned just now, causing the main gate to lock incorrectly and startling the Eldest Princess! This is my grave dereliction of duty! I deserve to die!"

Pei Duo was startled by this sudden grand gesture and instinctively took half a step back.

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"Malfunction?" Xu Mo looked coldly at Kaban's slightly exaggerated performance, the reflection glinting off his lenses, "So coincidental? It malfunctions right after we enter?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Exactly that coincidental! This broken system is old and in disrepair!" Kaban bowed and scraped humbly, "I have already cut off the power supply, and this broken building will be permanently sealed! To express my apology, for the rest of the journey, I will use the full strength of my clan to satisfy every request of the Eldest Princess. Just say the word, and I will pluck the stars from the sky for you!"

The livestream chat instantly exploded, everyone joking that Kaban must have been scared witless by the Underworld Son of Heaven, who was currently playing mahjong upstairs.

Pei Duo looked at Kaban's swollen and red cheeks, her anger dissipating by more than half. With her brother keeping watch upstairs, these maya gods probably wouldn't dare do anything too severe; it was likely just a 'scenic spot accident'.

"Forget it, I wasn't hurt either." Pei Duo waved her hand, not wanting to make things difficult for this unlucky fellow, "Let's continue touring. I was startled just now and feel a bit thirsty."

Kaban acted as if granted amnesty, scrambling away to lead the way.

The group proceeded along the bustling street. A sense of relaxation washed over Pei Duo as she looked at a stall selling strangely colored beverages by the roadside, letting out a sigh:

"Sigh, if only I could have a cup of brown sugar pearl milk tea from that 'Meow Starman' shop outside Jiangcheng University right now. All the drinks here look like foot-washing water. If I could get an iced one, seven-tenths sweetness, less ice, that would be even more perfect."

The moment the words left her mouth,

Xu Mo and Lin Sa, who were walking ahead, suddenly stopped in their tracks.

Around the corner less than ten meters ahead, a skeleton dressed in maya attire was slowly pushing a dilapidated wooden cart.

The style of the cart was completely out of place with the surrounding ancient architecture. On the worn-out awning, five large characters were written crookedly in Chinese—

* * Meow Starman Milk Tea * *.

And on the wooden table, covered in scratches, were exactly three cups of milk tea, no more, no less.

The cup walls were coated with glistening water droplets, clearly indicating they were freshly made cold drinks.

Pei Duo froze. She rubbed her eyes, thinking she was hallucinating.

"This..."

She quickly walked forward and took a cup with a trembling hand. The familiar packaging feel, the familiar straw insertion hole. She inserted the straw and took a sip.

The rich brown sugar flavor exploded on her tongue. The pearls were soft and chewy, the sweetness was exactly her favorite seven-tenths, and even the amount of ice was precisely controlled to be 'less ice'.

"How is this possible?!" Pei Duo's eyes widened, and she looked at her teammates in astonishment, "Even the taste is exactly the same?! The texture of these pearls is definitely unique to that shop!"

The surrounding passersby and vendors didn't seem to find anything strange. Instead, they stopped what they were doing and showed Pei Duo bright and ingratiating smiles.

The smiles were too standard; the curve of everyone's mouth looked as if it had been copied and pasted with a single click, as if Pei Duo wasn't a passerby, but a deity they had worshipped for many years.

"Maybe my brother arranged this?" Pei Duo looked uncertainly at Xu Mo, "Brother might have moved the entire recipe of that shop over here? After all, he is the Great Emperor of Fengdu..."

Xu Mo didn't speak, merely staring at the milk tea. A chilling glint flashed behind his lenses.

This bizarre 'coincidence' quickly infected Lin Sa.

As a battle enthusiast, Lin Sa had been bothered by the slight chipping on her blood kiss dagger when it forced open the door earlier. She walked along, affectionately stroking the nick on the blade, muttering casually, "Tsk, this so-called S-rank isn't durable either. It would be great if I could sharpen it with a piece of top-grade Abyss Obsidian, even if it was just the size of a fingernail..."

Before she finished speaking,

"Hey, beautiful lady."

By a pile of garbage on the roadside, an old maya scavenger suddenly called out to Lin Sa. He tremblingly pulled out a stone as black as ink from the pile of junk.

The moment the stone appeared, the air around them instantly solidified, and visible white cold air billowed out.

"I've been using this piece of scrap stone as a table leg for hundreds of years; it's very hard on the feet." The old man reluctantly shoved the stone into Lin Sa's hand, "I see it has fate with you, I'll get rid of it for you, free of charge! Don't be polite!"

Lin Sa took it instinctively.

A chill that pierced the soul spread through her fingertips—top-grade Abyss Obsidian, and an entire piece the size of a basketball!

Lin Sa was completely stunned. Looking at the rare treasure in her hand, and then at the old man who had turned back to rummage through the trash, she felt a strong sense of unreality.

Xu Mo, who had been observing silently, finally stopped walking.

He pushed up his glasses, his gaze locking onto a simple gambling stall ahead. A group of skeletons was gambling there using primitive bone dice.

"Pei Duo, lend me a coin."

Pei Duo instinctively pulled out a modern coin and handed it over.

Xu Mo took the coin and walked to the gambling stall. Without even looking at the rules, he casually threw it onto the 'Triple Sixes' section, where the odds were almost impossible.

"I will win," Xu Mo said softly, his tone terrifyingly certain, "And it will be a clean sweep."

The dice cup was lifted.

There was no suspense.

Three bright red sixes faced straight up.

"Wow—!!"

Exaggerated gasps erupted from the surroundings, countless eyes full of adoration fixed on Xu Mo. The stall owner smiled broadly, unhesitatingly pushing over a pile of heavy, pure gold chips, as if losing money brought him immense joy and honor.

"Too smooth..."

Xu Mo looked at the golden chips in his hand, ignoring the excited cheers and celebrations of the two people beside him. His gaze turned completely cold, like ten thousand years of ice.

Was this reasonable?

"Come with me."

Xu Mo abruptly grabbed both of them, ignoring that they were still admiring their spoils, and forcibly dragged them into a deserted, shadowy alley nearby.

"Xu Mo, what are you doing? You're hurting my wrist." Pei Duo rubbed her wrist, completely bewildered.

Xu Mo stared intently into their eyes, his voice suppressed to a low level, carrying a chilling dread:

"Wake up."

"We very likely... never left that House of Fear."

In the dim alley, the cheers from outside sounded muffled and false, as if separated by a thick layer of cotton.

Xu Mo leaned against the moss-covered brick wall, his fingertip pushing his glasses up. The lenses reflected an icy texture under the faint light.

He looked at Pei Duo and Lin Sa, a calm expression that saw through everything etched on his lips.

"Don't be fooled by these milk teas and gold coins. There is no market here at all."

Xu Mo spoke extremely quickly, directly tearing away this warm facade: "If I'm not mistaken, everything before us is an illusion generated on the spot by this house based on the thoughts in our minds."