Chapter 13: Bewildering and Obscure

One year ago? How would I know? Wait, should I let Mo An take control?

Qian Cangyi’s mind raced with conflicting thoughts.

"Stop talking!"

Just as he hesitated, a shout cut through his internal monologue. He turned to see it was Intelligence.

Intelligence was screaming at the top of his lungs, his expression entirely transformed, as if he were a completely different person.

"I beg you, please, stop talking." Intelligence’s face was etched with sorrow, his eyes rimmed with red.

Qian Cangyi frowned, a realization dawning on him. The one speaking was clearly not Intelligence, but Zhang Sibo, the character Intelligence was portraying. Why would Zhang Sibo not want Rou Guang to continue? Qian Cangyi was taken aback; furthermore, he didn't understand why Intelligence would choose this moment to let Zhang Sibo emerge.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind. Wait, could it be... that this wasn't intentional on Intelligence’s part, but rather that Zhang Sibo’s consciousness had forcibly seized control of his body? Qian Cangyi found this far more likely than Intelligence deliberately letting the character take over.

Upon hearing those words, Rou Guang froze. Her eyebrows drew together, her lips pressed into a thin, tight line, and the corners of her mouth pulled back in raw fury. She strode up to Intelligence and swung her right hand with all her might.

*Slap!*

The palm landed heavily across Intelligence’s face. Intelligence stumbled back two steps, then raised his hand to gingerly touch his left cheek. Even though Qian Cangyi knew that Yan Ruoxuan was currently controlling Rou Guang and Zhang Sibo was controlling Intelligence, he was still shocked. The situation was spiraling out of control.

The slap was not the end of it. Rou Guang lunged forward, her hands clawing at Intelligence’s throat, roaring:

"It’s all you! It’s all because of you!"

The savage expression on her face was more terrifying than the skull they had encountered earlier. Qian Cangyi and the others rushed over to pull them apart, but even with her hands restrained, Rou Guang continued to kick at Intelligence.

"Calm down, Yan Ruoxuan!" Xiao Tian, being the strongest, easily pinned her down.

Rou Guang refused to relent, as if the Zhang Sibo played by Intelligence and the Yan Ruoxuan she portrayed shared a grudge of eternal hatred.

"Get away! Get away from me!" Rou Guang shrieked, pointing her right index finger at Intelligence’s face.

Intelligence covered his face with his left hand, his right arm hanging limp at his side. He kept his head bowed, occasionally glancing at Rou Guang, only to look away the moment their eyes met.

However, as Ning Jing let go, the situation veered into further chaos.

A sob escaped Ning Jing’s lips. She retreated while crying, tears streaming down her cheeks. She wiped her eyes with her left hand and said in a tear-choked voice:

"Can we stop fighting? Can’t we just be like we were before?"

"Why do we have to fight? Weren't things fine before?"

As she spoke, Ning Jing sank to her knees, her sobbing growing louder.

At that moment, Qian Cangyi realized his own body was no longer under his control. After stepping back a few paces, his hands spread wide, and he began to speak:

"Everyone, calm down. We need to focus on solving the problem."

"The question is, what problem are we actually facing? It’s how to escape this place. What happened a year ago is completely irrelevant. Since no one wants to know, let’s leave it alone."

"Yan Ruoxuan, do you know a way out of here?"

Having said this, he turned to look at Rou Guang.

*Is this... Mo An speaking?* Qian Cangyi was astonished. He suddenly understood the situation with Intelligence and Ning Jing; both had been overcome by their characters’ influence. Currently, of the five, Xiao Tian was the only one whose body was not being controlled by his role.

Xiao Tian looked somewhat at a loss, only able to continue holding onto Rou Guang.

"If I knew, I would have led you all out long ago," Rou Guang snapped back fiercely.

For a moment, the clearing fell back into silence, broken only by the occasional sob from Ning Jing.

Suddenly, Intelligence crouched on the ground, pulled out a notebook, flipped it open, and tore out a sheet of paper. He held it up, tore a strip off the edge, then turned to look at Qian Cangyi and said:

"I think I understand what we’re dealing with. Do you know what a 'Möbius strip' is?"

He waited for an answer, but no one responded.

Qian Cangyi knew what it was, but he could not control his own body to answer. He wasn't sure about Rou Guang and Ning Jing, but they were in the same predicament, and Xiao Tian chose to remain silent.

Seeing no response, Intelligence continued:

"I once read about this concept in a science magazine."

"Typically, a piece of paper has two sides: the front and the back. For an ant to get to the other side, it must climb over the edge. But a Möbius strip has only one side; an ant can crawl over every part of the surface without ever crossing an edge."

"Creating a Möbius strip is quite simple. Like this..."

As he spoke, he held the strip of paper by both ends, brought them together, but gave the right side a half-twist before joining the ends. He pinched the joined section with his right hand and smiled.

"That’s it. That is a Möbius strip."

"Look at my finger."

He placed his left index finger on the paper and began to trace it until he had traveled a full circle and returned to the starting point.

"See? This is a topological structure. Of course, we don't need to understand the math; we just need to know that a higher-dimensional space can create an infinitely looping environment for lower-dimensional creatures."

"By the same logic, if we add another dimension to a Möbius strip, a new term emerges: the 'Klein bottle'."

"I can't demonstrate that right now, but you only need to understand that we are like the ants on that Möbius strip."

He was interrupted by Rou Guang.

"What nonsense are you spouting?" she said, her voice dripping with disdain.

Intelligence ignored her, as if he hadn't heard, and continued:

"No matter how we walk, we can never leave because we have fallen into a loop beyond our comprehension."

"Do you remember what was written in the notebook? The bizarre disappearance of the corpses, the infinite loop—it can all be explained by the Möbius strip."

He grabbed the paper strip and began to slowly tear it down the middle.

"If you cut a Möbius strip down the center with scissors, it ends up as two linked paper circles that pass through one another."

"As ants, we have no way to cross from one loop to the other. That is why the corpses disappear. Someone—perhaps the Moon God—is closing and separating these loops. It can toy with us as easily as a human plays with ants."

"We... it is impossible for us to find a pattern and escape!"

By the end, his tone was absolute, laced with a sliver of utter despair.