The Abyssal Garden: No Room for the Idle

The time for hiding was not abundant.

After a dull chime of the bell.

The announcement echoed bizarrely across the entire campus, "Now, the game has begun."

And at this moment,

In the playground, numerous students, including teachers slowly lowered their hands, their eyes slightly reddened, and their shadows under the hazy light appeared eerie, elongated, and twisted like monsters.

Only Ma Liang's eyes carried a hint of godliness, his body exuded an aura of nihility, his shadow too twisted and faded, but his originally innocent gaze had slowly vanished, and a profound consciousness was gradually restoring.

Now, he was no longer the elementary student Ma Liang, but the true will of a god had returned; all his past memories had also surfaced.

Su Buxian's earlier conversation also appeared in his mind.

"At such a critical juncture," Ma Liang pulled out a lollipop from his pocket, extended his hand, and drew out a piece of paper rolled around a thin tube.

It bore a location.

"This time, it seems an interesting person has come..."

"But he probably doesn't know yet," he looked at the Sky Dome and surrounding Abyss Monsters, and everything in the school, "what this place signifies and what will happen when he contacts me."

Ma Liang slowly began to walk, progressing amid Abyss Demons.

Meanwhile, Su Qi was sitting in... their original first-grade ninth class classroom, he sat at a desk, and threw aside the curtain.

Looking at the painting in front of him, now smeared with blood.

"Choosing this place to hide is indeed a bold choice," Luo Shenfu mused, "Is it because the most dangerous place is the safest?"

This was the classroom they had stayed in, where ordinary people wouldn't choose to hide.

"No."

Su Qi paused, "I just find the hide and seek game uninteresting."

"Compared to cat and mouse, I prefer to take a defensive position and mount a counterattack."

Luo Shenfu was startled, "What are you going to do? Don't be reckless."

"This place, its rules are everything, once the game starts it means the cats have absolute control, it can't be countered just with strength... and there are many of them..."

Su Qi, "It's okay, we have people too, and who says we have to fight them."

A group of demons, three demigods, and Ma Liang, a true deity, had to obey... all the rules of this space.

Otherwise, they would all be subject to extreme punishment by the Black and White Bear.

It was said before that this is a very special place; all extraordinary beings here, demigods, or even gods, seem to be bound by certain rules.

And Su Qi naturally knew this answer.

That is... the Old Days, which can erase all existence.

Now, Su Qi still had limited understanding of this place, but he believed he would soon get the answers.

The door gently moved.

A figure pushed open the door and stepped in, Ma Liang looked at Su Qi sitting in front of his painting, and softly spoke, "Can you see it?"

"Through that unclear blood and the chaos and abnormalities mixed in, capturing the real painting into your view."

Su Qi said, "Don't say it... I really can't."

Ma Liang calmly said, "Because it has been devoured by the Old Days, disappeared from existence, even if you see it, you won't retain any memory."

He looked at Su Qi, "Since you could enter this place, you should know about the Old Days."

Su Qi gestured with his fingers, "I know a bit."

"That's enough, and likewise,"

Ma Liang softly said, "As long as you can depict this painting, you can leave this school."

Su Qi stroked his chin, "Copy a painting that doesn't exist?"

"It seems unlikely, but based on my observations... it seems that over time, clues about the painting will gradually appear through various incomplete pieces."

"Oh? What have you noticed?" Ma Liang looked at Su Qi with interest.

"In the classroom, the books, the blackboard, etc., all had fragments; that's one," Su Qi muttered to himself, "and at the playground, the flags wafting in the middle, the mechanical doll making movements, and the graffiti on the walls, all had parts of the painting, that's two."

Ma Liang's eyes slightly changed.

Everyone was trying hard to follow the mechanical doll's movements since they were extremely difficultקנ minor lapse or mistake would result in extreme punishment, yet he still noticed those minutiae.

"And... based on those fragmented parts," Su Qi paused, "this game should be the third, which is the last step."

"The remaining parts of the painting... should be... "

Su Qi looked outside, "among those Abyss Demons."

Ma Liang also listened to the dull sounds outside, the muffled movements, the smashing sounds, softly saying, "You really are an interesting little fellow."

"And different from others."

"But still, I have to ask one more question," Ma Liang looked at Su Qi, "I feel two quite contradictory forces from you."

"One is..." he pointed slightly.

The World Tree Withered Leaf on Su Qi began to float, flickering with a gleaming golden-red light.

"Your Heavenly Destiny People identity."

"The other is..." Ma Liang pointed again.

The sleeve button on Su Qi's arm automatically unhooked, revealing a totem that was emitting dark energy.

"Your Abyss Power."

Su Qi was not conscious of being seen through; if the other party could fully see through him, he wouldn't have pointed out only these two aspects, after all, things like Immortal Path, Angels, Ancient Gods weren't mentioned at all.