I run a Taoist temple in a bizarre world.

Chapter 1 A Dilapidated Taoist Temple

"Ah Le, Old Wang is dead, how dare he not reply to messages?"

Across from him at the round wooden table, Yu Xun, his best friend of many years, looked left and right, his expression feigning dissatisfaction.

Chi Le looked down at the chat box on her phone.

[Old Wang, same place tonight, it's rare for me to treat you to barbecue while I'm looking for my son.]

The call was not answered.

"No reply to messages, no answer to calls."

Upon hearing this news, Yu Xun picked up a skewer of kidneys, took a big bite, and mumbled something indistinctly.

"What's wrong? Could it be that Old Wang didn't die, but instead secretly hooked up with a rich woman and is ignoring us two poor buddies?"

Chi Le took the kidney from Yu Xun, smiled, and didn't say anything.

"But this guy has been acting strangely lately; his mental state isn't quite right."

"He keeps talking to me about time travel, about places shrouded in thick fog, and ghostly things rustling in the fog..."

"I wonder if this guy's been reading too many novels lately."

He, Yu Xun, and Lao Wang knew each other in college.

With the help of being in the same dormitory, they quickly became familiar with each other and had a good relationship.

Even after they started working, they kept in touch and would occasionally meet up.

Chi Le's hand, which was reaching for the lamb skewers, froze for a moment before quickly returning to normal.

"Time travel, dense fog... Old Wang really said that? When did it happen?"

"Hiccup... It seems like it's been just these last few days, but I can't quite remember."

Yu Xun gulped down a large glass of ice-cold beer, let out a satisfied burp, and continued speaking.

"However, I remember what he said very clearly."

Old Wang described it so vividly; could a science guy who gets sleepy in literature class really be this good?

Chi Le handed Yu Xun a skewer of lamb, signaling him to continue.

"Old Wang said that when he lay down in bed at night and opened his eyes again, everything around him had changed."

"I wasn't in the bedroom, but standing on a muddy path shrouded in thick fog."

"There are a few lights in the distance, and you can make out the shape of some houses."

At first, Lao Wang thought he was just dreaming, and a very real dream at that.

"I thought I should at least go and see what the house looked like, so I walked towards the firelight."

"It's better if he doesn't leave, because once he does, he always feels like there's something nearby."

"thing?"

Chi Le, who was somewhat distracted, asked in confusion.

"According to him, he didn't know what the hell it was. He just got scratched on the arm by that thing, and then he woke up and went back to bed."

He didn't notice Chi Le's distraction.

Yu Xun downed a full glass of ice-cold beer and continued speaking.

"At first I thought he was having a nonsensical dream and was going to dabble in time travel."

"Until he showed me the injury on his arm."

"With such a deep wound, Old Wang can't possibly have masochistic tendencies, can he?"

"We were planning to get together tonight and ask Lao Wang if he's been under any pressure lately, but I haven't heard from him today..."

Yu Xun shivered, perhaps because the beer was too cold and he drank too much at once.

"Do you think what Old Wang said might be true? Maybe he really did time travel..."

Chi Le remained silent, his eyes fixed on the plastic wine glass in his hand, lost in thought.

After a moment, he spoke.

"Don't overthink it. Tomorrow's a holiday, let's go to Old Wang's house and see what's wrong with him."

Yu Xun forced a smile.

"Yeah, that's ridiculous."

After calling the boss to settle the accounts, Chi Le and Yu Xun parted ways.

Back in her rented room, Chi Le rubbed her temples, Yu Xun's words still echoing in her ears.

"Old Wang..."

"But, can Old Wang get to that place too?"

"If even Old Wang could travel through time, then what about the others...?"

Chi Le drew back the curtains.

He lives on the 5th floor, where the room has a good view; on a clear day, he can see the bustling high-rise buildings of the city center.

Unfortunately, there is some mist in the air now, as if the pool and the tall buildings are separated by a veil.

All he could see were colorful neon lights, like paint spilled from a basin.

Standing by the window, Chi Le gazed into the hazy distance, reflecting on the past twenty-two years of her life.

He has accepted that his world is just an ordinary world.

There is no martial arts like those in novels that allow one to become a god through physical means.

There was no mysterious or extraordinary power, nor any ability to hear celestial whispers.

There were no nine dragons appearing in the sky above the mountain.

All that exists is ordinary and normal.

Until recently, I had a sleep that was no different from any other time...

As always, sparse, twinkling stars hung in the pitch-black night sky, as dark as black velvet.

Chi Le yawned, putting an end to her wandering thoughts.

"Since things have come to this, let's wash up and go to bed. We'll go to Old Wang's house tomorrow."

After a quick wash and changing into her pajamas, Chi Le lay down on the bed.

A slightly chilly night breeze seeped into the room through a deliberately left crack in the window.

Under the slight intoxication of alcohol, sleepiness washed over me like a tidal wave, and my eyelids felt as if they weighed a ton...

I felt nothing.

When he opened his eyes again.

The familiar ceiling has disappeared, replaced by thick wooden beams.

A quick glance around revealed mud walls made of mud bricks, most of the smooth mud layer used for decoration had peeled off.

But in the corner of the wall, there is a complete mural depicting an old man with a cane.

It was covered in a layer of dust, making it look a bit old.

The roof is covered with blue tiles, but unfortunately there is a large hole, and when the wind blows, broken tiles fall down from time to time.

The bluestone slabs underfoot were fairly flat, but a lot of weeds were sprouting from the gaps between the bricks.

Chi Le could almost smell the stale scent of dust mixed with withered grass.

The only two things that are somewhat acceptable.

There was only an offering table in front of him and a statue of a deity behind the offering table.

The altar was fairly clean, as if it was used from time to time.

A small pile of incense sticks was scattered on the left side of the table, and an antique-style incense burner was placed in the center.

Inside, there were still a few incense sticks that had burned out, leaving only thin wooden sticks.

As for the statue, it was made of clay, and its face was no longer visible, and its colors were dull.

This place seems to have once been a Taoist temple, but it has long been abandoned, leaving only ruins, old age, and a graveyard-like silence.

"We've come here again."

Looking at the familiar furnishings before him, Chi Le sighed with emotion.

This was his fourth time visiting this dilapidated Taoist temple.

Every time, I fall asleep at night and then open my eyes to find myself standing here.

"If it's about time travel, who can travel to another world just by sleeping in their house? After staying for a certain period of time, or if they want to go back, they can return to their original world."

"But to call it a dream feels too real, and you can't do whatever you want with it."

Having failed to conjure something out of thin air on the table, Chi Le reached out and brushed his hand across the altar, feeling the rough texture of the wood beneath his fingertips.

"This Taoist temple isn't very big. I've already figured it out from the previous visits. Apart from a few broken bones outside the gate, there's nothing special about it. The only thing I haven't been to yet is the outside."

Brushing the dust off his hands, Chi Le was quite curious about what the outside world looked like.

He raised his head slightly.

Through the holes in the roof, one can see gray mist flowing and churning like drifting clouds.

He thought of what Yu Xun had told him that evening.

Thick fog.

"It was truly pitch black."

As he pondered this, he remembered something else Yu Xun had told him.

Ghostly things in the fog.

For some reason, I just stared at the thick fog.

He felt a strange sensation that sent chills down his spine.

It seemed as if a great danger was lurking inside.

This is also why he didn't step out of the Taoist temple the first few times.

Staying in the Taoist temple gives him a sense of security.

Chi Le rubbed the goosebumps that had risen on his arms, his gaze slowly shifting to the thin, old wooden door in front of him.

"We haven't seen him the last few times, we can't possibly run into him this time, can we?"

Bang bang bang!

A sudden, loud knocking broke the silence inside the Taoist temple.

The person knocking on the door seemed to be using all their strength.

The door panel shook violently, and the exaggerated deformation made Chi Le have an idea.

This door is going to shatter in the next second!

The door was still trembling, the vibrations growing stronger, and the knocking became increasingly violent and urgent.

Chi Le quickly stepped forward, instinctively bracing his shoulder against the door panel, beads of cold sweat appearing on his forehead.

"No way, my wish came true? Is this really not a dream?"