Lost

The young man known as Young Master Dong, whose real name was Ji Lan, was slightly taken aback.

He found Chen Miemie's voice somewhat familiar, but for a moment, he couldn't recall where he had heard it before.

"Sir, how should I address you?" Ji Lan felt that the person speaking must know him.

It wasn't strange for him to think this way. In Sixiang City's mystic circles, Ji Lan's strength wasn't top-tier, but for someone his age, he had a very wide network of connections.

If you asked which society in Sixiang City was the strongest, most people would say it was the lunatics from the Silver Moon Court. But if you asked which society had the best benefits, it was widely acknowledged to be the Return Society.

The Return Society was the society where President An of the Society Alliance originated, and Ji Lan, whose full name was An Jilan, was the heir to the Return Society.

"Young Master Dong, you really are a forgetful VIP. I'm Chen Miemie, does that ring a bell?"

Ji Lan's heart skipped a beat.

Wasn't he screwed?

How could he not remember the time he helped Hu Po put on an act to ruin a blind date? After he went home that time, his father, the current president of the Return Society, nearly broke his legs.

His father, An Hengyang, had been so angry he actually laughed. It was a matter between two Great Witches; how dare a troublemaking son like him interfere?

"So it's the city hero, Chen Miemie. Forgive my lack of manners. Everything before was a misunderstanding, I was actually just..."

"Why bring up the past? I've forgotten all about it. Young Master Dong, let's talk about how to get to your society instead. We're comrades from the same city, after all; I need to escort you back safely."

Ji Lan faintly sensed that something was off, but he couldn't hide his identity anyway, so he introduced himself.

"Brother Chen Miemie, my real name is An Jilan, and I'm from the Return Society."

Chen Miemie suddenly understood.

He had thought the Sun Never Sets Society was completely fictional, but it turned out the prototype was right here.

He knew a bit about the Return Society. It was Liu Bo's former society, one that worshipped the sun and held morning meetings six times a week.

"Fair enough, but what exactly is the reward you mentioned?"

"Time, mystical items, advancement materials—just name what you want. However, this firelight is too eye-catching. We'd better head back to the city quickly, lest the anomaly that attacked me earlier catches up."

In the quiet night, the firewood in the central bonfire crackled and popped.

Despite Ji Lan's inner anxiety, Chen Miemie and his group didn't move an inch.

"No rush. We're holding a bonfire party here. Visitors are guests, and we welcome everyone, whether human or anomaly. Wouldn't you agree, our extra friend?"

Originally, not counting Ji Lan, there were 5 people sitting around the fire.

They were Chen Miemie, Qinghua, Loop, Red, Origami, and Daidai.

Bobo wasn't in the outer circle; it was on the grill in the center. Pure Water had transformed into a small blood drop, hovering over Chen Miemie's shoulder.

And now, silently, a sixth figure had appeared.

"This is the first time I've seen a team like yours," the new figure spoke up.

Hearing this voice, Ji Lan's heart ran cold: It's over, it caught up.

Chen Miemie didn't chat directly with the new figure but turned to look at Ji Lan:

"Mr. Ji Lan, as a mature mystic, you should understand that it's time for you to pass out."

Before Ji Lan could react.

Qinghua's hand chop had already struck his neck.

He immediately and sensibly fainted.

The newly arrived anomaly clearly no longer paid attention to its old prey, Ji Lan; its attention had been diverted.

This entire circle was made up of anomalies! Anomalies happily throwing a bonfire party here!

Chen Miemie and the others were also observing it.

It was a sea-blue snail.

It carried a large snail shell on its back and was about as tall as a person sitting on the ground.

Its underbelly didn't secrete mucus, but a kind of liquid silk. On the path it had just crawled, it left a silver trail that shimmered briefly in the moonlight before turning invisible.

"Welcome to the party, new friend."

A set of tableware appeared in front of the snail.

They were a porcelain plate and bowl formed from stone; the plate held roast chicken, and the bowl held clear water.

"Thank you, this is the first time in my life I've attended a gathering like this. I am the Path-Mimicking Snail. I haven't felt your passives damaging me?"

"We are a new anomaly race of the new era, capable of independently controlling our own passives."

"What! A new race of the new era?" The Path-Mimicking Snail was visibly shocked.

The new era was a massive event, but not every entity was aware of it.

Outside the seven civilized races, many anomalies living deep in the mountains and old forests were isolated from information. They wouldn't receive a special notification just by looking up at the moon in the sky.

As the group chatted, they also sensed the abnormalities around them.

Logically, being this close to the Path-Mimicking Snail, its passive should have already activated.

But after chatting for several minutes, they couldn't find any sign of being attacked.

Since they couldn't feel it, they asked directly.

"Path-Mimicking Snail, are you hunting this man?"

The Path-Mimicking Snail shook its head slightly. "I am a pacifist. I wasn't hunting him down. It was just him constantly running up to me."

"A pacifist? You almost blinded the guy, and you call that peaceful?"

"The injury to his eyes wasn't my doing. He did that to himself."

"You saying that makes us even more confused."

"Alright, let me explain. I am the Path-Mimicking Snail. My passive is using my body and mucus to process trails that look very natural but lead to danger or loops.

This person thought he was escaping me, but in reality, after falling under my passive, he kept walking on paths that mixed falsehood with reality, returning to my side time and time again.

It wasn't me hunting him; it was him finding me over and over again.

He gradually realized something was wrong. In order to stop choosing the wrong path, he chose to destroy his own eyes, hoping that by not seeing clearly, he could avoid taking the paths he thought were right but were actually dangerous."

Chen Miemie's eyes lit up upon hearing this:

"Not bad, this ability of yours is great at leading people astray.

This guy also had some quick wits, decisively blinding himself. Sure enough, he found a new path, met us, and found a way to survive."

The tentacles on the Path-Mimicking Snail's head twitched.

"I don't think so, because blinding oneself and losing vision cannot break free from my ability.

On the contrary, I can feel that coming here and meeting you all is his most dangerous path."