Above Dimensions
Chen Ling suddenly realized that he had been in a cognitive blind spot before.
He subconsciously thought that the Red Dust Base was the core of the Red Dust Domain, the most important place that couldn't afford to be lost... just like the Aurora Base was to the Aurora Domain.
But at this moment, Chen Ling found out he was wrong...
To the Lord of the Red Dust Su Zhiwei, the most important thing wasn't the Red Dust Base, but the "Red Dust Domain" itself. That's why she hid the entire Domain in a higher-dimensional world, hidden on a Small Flower that no one cared about.
If that were the case, Su Zhiwei couldn't possibly hide inside the Red Dust Domain... On the contrary, she needed to be in a lower dimension than the Red Dust Domain, and "larger" than the Domain. Her location could only be... the Gray World.
It was the Lord of the Red Dust who protected the Red Dust Domain... not the Red Dust Domain that hid the Lord of the Red Dust.
At this moment, most of the clues connected together in his mind. So the Red Dust Base itself wasn't in Willow Town. Willow Town might just be a passage connecting the "lower dimension" and the "higher dimension"? Then the mountain forest where he was picked up by Li Qingshan back then, strictly speaking, was actually the exit of the Floating Life Painting's exclusive "staff" passage...
Then what was the path that he and the other Dusk Society members entered through? A back door?
Just as Chen Ling was shocked by this, Yang Muquan moved again.
Yang Muquan stood among the white flower bushes and gently stomped his foot on the ground. A corner of a massive painting scroll extended from the distance to the feet of the two. After wrapping around their figures, it rapidly gathered together, and finally actually shrank into a gray leaf, dotting the Small Flower carrying the Red Dust Domain.
The breeze blew past the white flower bushes, and the figures of the two were no longer visible. Only a single, most inconspicuous Small Flower swayed silently in the wind.
...
At the same time.
Three figures swept out of the Red Dust Main City one after another and arrived around Willow Town.
"What is this place? It looks so remote." Jian Changsheng looked at this quiet small town with white walls and gray tiles, and asked in puzzlement.
Jack of Clubs and Heart 9 exchanged a glance, tacitly not continuing the conversation. The two of them couldn't even recognize the way back to the Theater House, how could they recognize a nameless small town outside the Red Dust Main City?
"There are hundreds of small towns like this around the Red Dust Main City. The name or whatever isn't important."
Jack of Clubs pointed to a mountain forest in the distance,
"They went over there."
"Walk faster, don't lose them."
The three set off again, rapidly approaching the mountain forest. Because Yang Muquan was following Chen Ling, the three of them didn't dare to follow too closely, and could only trail far behind. Fortunately, Jack of Clubs's dove had left a mark on Chen Ling. As long as the distance wasn't extremely far, Jack of Clubs could locate Chen Ling's position.
The three landed consecutively amidst the lush mountain forest. Heart 9's gaze swept over the surroundings, just about to open his mouth and say something, when Jack of Clubs's brows suddenly furrowed.
"Strange..."
"What's wrong?"
"The mark disappeared here."
Jack of Clubs's gaze swept over the surroundings. Following the last location the mark stayed at in his mind, he came under a tree, but didn't find anything unusual, nor could he see the figures of Chen Ling and Yang Muquan at all.
"The mark disappeared?" Jian Changsheng's mouth opened into an "O" shape, making a bold guess. "That spotted dog didn't slaughter Six of Hearts here, did he? I was wondering why he didn't go to the Red Dust Base, and instead brought the person to this barren wilderness... This place is too suitable for murder and dumping bodies!"
"...Even if the person died, the mark would still remain, allowing us to find his corpse."
"True, that guy isn't that easy to die... If he was really slaughtered, the Red Dust Domain wouldn't be far from death either."
"Then where could they have gone?"
Heart 9 squatted down, carefully pondering in front of the pile of fallen leaves on the ground for a moment. "The footprints vanished into thin air here... They must have been teleported away by some means?"
"Very likely. Only teleportation could instantly move them out of the range where the mark is effective."
"But now that the mark is gone, how are we going to find the Red Dust Base?"
Just as the three were frowning in bitter thought, a white dove with blood-colored Markings dyed on its body flapped its wings and flew down from the tree. With a gentle shake in Jack of Clubs's hand, it changed back into the letter paper.
On the front of the letter paper was exactly the "Need backup?" Jack of Clubs had left earlier. Below it was a four-word answer written by Chen Ling with fresh blood:
——[Everything is Under Control].
"Everything is Under Control?" Jian Changsheng clicked his tongue. "Control what... Now the mark is gone. Even if he infiltrates the inside of the Red Dust Base, we can't locate him! He himself is imprisoned, and we can't go save him. Isn't this just purely giving himself away for nothing... I didn't expect that Six of Hearts would also have a day where he plays himself to death."
Jack of Clubs pondered for a moment, suddenly as if discovering something, and flipped the letter paper in his hand over...
A second line of small blood-colored characters appeared in front of everyone:
——[If there's an accident, look for Liu Qingyan].
...
Chen Ling opened his eyes again, and his feet were already stepping on solid ground.
At this moment, he had already detached from the Comic Frame. Beneath his feet were large, smooth marble tiles, reflecting the painting scrolls hung on both sides of the wall, extending all the way to the end of his vision...
At the top of this long corridor was a semi-hollow arched dome. Through pieces of Glass-like material, one could see the leaden gray sky outside.
Inside the corridor was a colorful and vibrant corridor world; outside the dome was a dangerous and monotonous gray world.
In a sense, this place was even more magnificent and spectacular than the Louvre before the Great Cataclysm.
"This is..." Chen Ling blankly looked around.
"We usually call this place 'Floating Life Palace' or 'Architectural Institute'... but to the other eight major Domains, this place has another name." Yang Muquan paused for a moment and slowly spoke,
"Red Dust Base."
"How did you guys do this?" Chen Ling pointed at the translucent dome. "Is this really the Gray World, or somewhere else?"
"Of course it's the Gray World. It's just that we are currently within the Domain of the Chief Hall."
"...Chief Hall?"
"The Domain of the Nine Monarchs can prop up a Domain; although our Chief is only at Rank 8, it's not a difficult task to prop up a piece of his own Domain within the Gray World."
Yang Muquan didn't explain much to Chen Ling, and headed straight for the end of the corridor. Although Chen Ling was no longer bound by the picture frame, there was no other path to take besides moving forward here, so he could only helplessly follow.
"Why didn't you lock me in the picture frame anymore?"
"Here, you have no way to escape." Yang Muquan spoke faintly with confidence.
"Alright... then where are we going now?"
"To see the Second Hall."