SES Chapter 234 Part 2

Cao Yanhua snapped to attention, grabbing the rope at his waist as both men anchored themselves.

In midair, Mu Dai streamlined her body, arms tight, minimizing drag. As her momentum slowed, she flipped once—then again—hurtling toward Wan San.

Not enough. She was still short by a distance and began to fall.

“Step back! Get back now!” Yan Hongsand screamed.

Without hesitation, Luo Ren and Cao Yanhua dove backward, clinging to the rope.

With a thunderous crash and a burst of eerie laughter from above, part of the platform collapsed. Without Yan Hongsand’s warning, both men would have fallen to their deaths.

The tunnels were collapsing too—splitting apart. One passage vanished entirely, crushed by falling rock. Another section slammed against Wan San’s side like two collapsing skyscrapers propping each other up in a fragile balance.

Wan San was thrown backward into the tunnel by the tremor, only crawling back out after a long moment.

Thankfully, Luo Ren still had weight on the rope. Gritting his teeth, he hauled Mu Dai back up. She climbed quickly and soon rolled onto solid ground, exhausted.

She lay there gasping for breath, then stood to rejoin them—only to freeze.

She heard Xiao Qi’s voice: “If you refuse the path to survival… then none of you will leave.”

A creaking sound echoed.

The strange door began to sway, black decay spreading inward like mold, devouring the remaining blue sky.

Cao Yanhua shouted, “Brother Luo!”

The rope wasn’t enough. As the cliffs crumbled, the distance widened, and the exit shrank.

Luo Ren’s throat tightened. His arms trembled.

He wanted to save everyone—but if Wan San couldn’t make it, he didn’t want the rest to die here too.

Wind carried dust through the air. No one moved. They avoided each other’s eyes.

Cao Yanhua finally said through clenched teeth, “Brother Luo… I know you can’t say it. I’ll be the bad guy—someone has to—”

Before he finished, Wan San roared from across the gap: “Go! Just go!”

Yan Hongsand’s eyes stung. Wan San shouted again, “Why are you hesitating? You know you need to leave!”

He grabbed a handful of gravel and hurled it toward them. “What are you waiting for? Go already!”

After a moment of rigid silence, he turned and walked back into the tunnel.

Luo Ren said quietly, “Let’s go.”

He took Mu Dai’s arm and led her toward the door. Tears streamed down her face as she struggled. Cao Yanhua urged them forward. “Anyone here would make the same choice. Don’t waste his sacrifice.”

They reached the door—but stopped together. Only half remained, still shrinking.

“Let’s wait a little longer,” Mu Dai whispered.

The wind howled. Yan Hongsand couldn’t help it—she turned around.

Wan San had come back out. Alone at the tunnel entrance, watching them.

She broke down crying. “We promised—five of us, alive, sealing the evil together…”

Luo Ren’s grip tightened.

He turned. “If this disappearing door didn’t exist, would we still try everything to save Wan San?”

“Yes,” Cao Yanhua answered immediately.

“Then we’ll pretend the door doesn’t exist.”

He strode toward the cliff again.

From there, they devised a new plan—one that required Wan San to enter another tunnel, find Yan Hongsand’s dream, and force her awake with a nightmare. If he succeeded, a violent wind would eject him back into reality—just as it had done to the others before.

Wan San understood. He leapt across to the other tunnel, risking his life.

Inside the dreamscape, he raced through one illusion after another until he found the right nightmare—an underwater scene from Yan Hongsand’s past. He triggered the awakening.

A violent wind tore through him. He released his jacket as a signal.

Back in reality, the team prepared. Mu Dai launched again.

This time, as Wan San was hurled back by the storm, she caught him in midair.

…

Mu Dai woke later beneath a bright sky, lying under a red quilt on a rattling cart. Someone was singing badly up ahead—an off-key version of “True Heroes.” She rested against Luo Ren’s shoulder, smiling quietly.

Their journey through the Four Mirage Towers was finally over.

Later, at a bar called “Fate’s Gathering,” they discussed the experience. A mystic suggested that the real “exit” might never have been the door—it might have been the moment they chose to stand together.

Nearby, Yan Hongsand struggled to make latte art under Wan San’s guidance while Cao Yanhua begged Wan San to update his new online comic, Cao Jiefang’s Journey to Find His Master.

And so, life went on.

[End]