The Pocket Watch

"Not a bad choice."

Li Nai said with a smile.

Facing Guo Gua's expectant gaze, he raised a hand and gently snapped his fingers.

Behind the shelves, a thick mist immediately surged forth, rapidly expanding. In an instant, the entire shop was engulfed by the mist, everything swallowed into the gloom, except for the smiling Li Nai.

But very quickly, even Li Nai's figure gradually faded, and the mist grew denser. Guo Gua slowly raised his head, his gaze following the towering mountain ranges of mist that rose before him, his pupils contracting, reflecting the overwhelming tide of mist crashing down like a tsunami.

Immediately after, the torrent of mist suddenly rushed forward, hitting him directly in the face!

That was absolutely not a vague, ethereal mist. Accompanying the substantial blow was a sinister, bizarre scent, impossible to describe. Exploding cells, cold ashes, empty terror... It was like a lone person screaming in the universe until death, their throat finally overflowing with bloody foam.

Even holding his breath was useless; this scent, along with an intense pain, surged in, sealed deep into his bone marrow by the torrent of mist. Guo Gua suddenly closed his eyes, the last image he saw was Li Nai's half-hidden, half-revealed smile in the mist.

This bone-chilling, maddening pain continued to transform, like an ice blade piercing his brain, slowly twisting its tip.

In the roaring impact, Guo Gua was momentarily thrown into a panic. Though his eyes were tightly shut, he still saw himself being flung into the air. All sorts of deafening noises echoed in his ears, as if all the clamor in the world was exploding amidst the clouds. He instinctively reached his hand upwards, and dazzling starlight shone between his fingers.

Then, the noisy clamor abruptly ceased. Guo Gua smiled, seeing his hand slowly descending, like a struggling fledgling flapping its wings. His soul stretched out in the starlight, while his body immediately fell downwards, like a falling white feather, plummeting straight to the ground.

White filled his heterochromatic pupils.

"Mom, it's snowing again."

Little Guo Gua stood in the snow, looking up at the falling snow.

No one answered.

"Mom is dead." He suddenly realized, asking in confusion, "Then what about me, why am I here?"

He looked up at the sky, the blizzard still falling. White flakes accumulated on his eyelashes.

"I remember now."

Guo Gua looked at the darkening sky, pressing down on his own body.

"I am... trapped here."

The sky grew even more silent, pressing down heavily. The melting snow formed obscure patterns, the clouds condensed into rigid angles. Before his eyes was a gray ceiling.

Warm twilight streamed through the window. Guo Gua numbly lowered his head, an ancient bronze stream of light flashing past his eyes.

Li Nai raised his hand, and the suspended pocket watch swayed gently. An obscure bronze chain wrapped around his fair wrist, exuding a mysterious and ancient beauty.

"The item 【A Pocket Watch】, a total of fifty thousand yuan." Li Nai smiled faintly, "Be gentle with it."

A tear traced his cheek. Guo Gua removed half of his mask, only to wipe a hand full of fresh blood.

But he laughed, taking the pocket watch with his blood-stained hand.

"Thank you, sir, what a truly convincing and spectacular performance."

Guo Gua put half of his mask back on, pulled his cloak, and winked mischievously at Li Nai, revealing a meaningful smile.

"Though I cannot compare to the shop owner, the next act will be for the clown magician to take the stage!" Guo Gua's voice rose, "Esteemed audience, please look forward to it—!"

His white cloak flared, Guo Gua laughed loudly, turned, and vanished into the gray twilight.

The door gently chimed.

"Oh, you're back." Li Nai tapped his fingers lightly on the table, smiling, "You still remembered the way to sneak back, I thought you'd forgotten me?"

The large door opened, and a fluffy Maine Coon cat leaped in, after a short sprint, it made a graceful jump, landing beside Li Nai's hand and looking at him, letting out a helpless "meow."

The sunlight dimmed. Li Nai looked up at the sky, giving a meaningful smile, and stroked Zhi Tian Cat's ear.

"Well, you're back just in time." He said nonchalantly, "Have all the rumors been leaked?"

Then, ignoring his subordinate's suddenly stiff body, Li Nai chuckled and snapped his fingers once more.

The ground moved with the sound, continuously extending outwards; the walls folded out, expanding upwards and outwards, stained with the ancient, obscure colors that only time could create; several rooms separated, growing independently into distinct chambers; the backyard expanded again, bamboo fences twisted and rose, and blood-red flowers crawled out from beneath the earth.

In the lush garden, labyrinthine paths intertwined, and the water level in the central pond rapidly rose.

Amidst the shaking of heaven and earth, Zhi Tian was violently shaken and thrown to the ground, his tea-colored pupils still astonished by everything happening—currently, Li Nai's shop could completely be called a miniature manor.

And he had witnessed "it" transform into this shape step by step.

When everything was about to conclude, Li Nai gently raised his hand again.

Thus, a Gothic-style bell tower rose from the ground, its sharp spire piercing the sky. On the tower, a giant clock face with clear markings, its second hand ticking step by step.

Just as it turned to the hour, the bell on the tower's peak resonated, shaking all of Heng Xin. Bats flew past, and countless people looked up, fearfully gazing at the sky.

Li Nai's raised hand naturally lowered, resting on a small alarm clock that had suddenly appeared on the table.

"This must be the new 'household item' that appeared after selling this R-grade merchandise."

Li Nai looked at it with interest, touching the clock face exposed to the air.

Zhi Tian propped himself up on the table, his tea-colored eyes cautiously observing the exquisite, toy-like alarm clock on the table.

"Shopkeeper." He questioned, "This is...?"

"Can't you tell? It's a clock." Li Nai said strangely.

"I mean, does it, like that dice, have any special functions?"

"Since it's a clock, it's naturally related to time." Li Nai chuckled softly, "Zhi Tian, you've leaked all the information here to the other party, and you're still brazenly asking about new items, aren't you afraid I'll get angry?"

"...Really, you're scaring me again."

The young Zhi Tian Zuo Zhu looked at Li Nai, sighing helplessly.

"To the shopkeeper, it actually doesn't matter, does it?" Zhi Tian said calmly, "Even if the other side racks their brains to throw in however many cards—to you, it's just an extra round of fun."

"Don't say that, it makes me sound like a bad person."

Li Nai propped his chin, his fingertips touching the diligently ticking minute hand, smiling leisurely.

"I'm still very much looking forward to it... I really want to see what choices everyone will make, and what outcome they will reach?"

Zhi Tian frowned, a subtle, ominous premonition rising within him. Just then, a sudden knock on the door sounded. He turned his head, his excellent eyesight allowing him to clearly see the person knocking.

It was that child named Jie Chuan.

What was he doing here?

Zhi Tian narrowed his eyes, seeing Jie Chuan's expectant and excited gaze, his cheeks flushed from excitement and running, and immediately understood.

—This child must have accomplished something big and came to seek praise from Li Nai, the master he always held in his heart.

Still just a child. Zhi Tian shook his head, looking at Li Nai, "Shopkeeper, shall I open the door for Jie Chuan?"

Li Nai didn't answer, his finger paused on the minute hand, and Zhi Tian's heart inexplicably tightened.

"...Shopkeeper?"

Li Nai smiled, then slowly applied pressure, pressing the still minute hand clockwise.

At first, the clock hand whirred slightly, but with just a small movement, the surrounding scene began to change rapidly.

The leaves outside the window aged at a visible speed, the clouds shifted as if a hand had stirred white dye and spun it rapidly. And Jie Chuan's face outside the door was like flickering old film, the rosy color drained from his face, his bright eyes became dim, quickly turning pale in just a few short seconds, exuding a gloomy, anxious, and stubborn aura.

—The flow of time was accelerating!

Moreover, it wasn't just faster than normal, but in this shadowy world, just one second that had passed was equivalent to a month of rushing time...

Li Nai was, through that clock, forcibly turning time towards the future!

Zhi Tian suddenly realized what Li Nai was doing, exclaiming, "Shopkeeper, Jie Chuan is still outside...!"