In many long nights that felt like endless torture, Wu Xie gazed despairingly out the window. In the cold, lonely room, neither the moonlight nor the sound of rain outside could offer him a glimmer of hope. He felt that his life was like a circular city wall, trapped within its confines, angrily banging against the inner walls, feeling that it was all for nothing. His anger stemmed from the desire to see everything beyond the wall, feeling that this stone barrier was keeping him from the truth. Beyond the wall lay the clear and undeniable facts.

So he struggled to climb out. As he hated the act of climbing the wall, the moment he poked his head over the top, he finally saw the true nature of the world. The most terrifying thing was not anything he saw—not the outer layers of walls that continued to enclose him, nor the hellish furnace. It was the absence of everything, the truth he so desperately sought, replaced by a meaningless expanse of gray mist, filled with endless and indeterminate possibilities.

One should not inquire about things one does not wish to know. He was in despair, terrified of everything he was fighting against, unable to explore, vast and intangible. It was like the universe that physicists in cutting-edge science perceive, coming to understand the “impossibility of understanding itself.” Searching for a specific water molecule in the ocean, with only a lifetime to do so.

He needed a deity. After the waves of despair crashed over him, he often found himself in need of a savior, a divine power independent of the world to provide him with an answer—a solid, powerful, and definitive answer. Everything originated from this thought; he meditated and hoped for the appearance of this deity, while reason led him to a desperate awakening, understanding that it was all impossible.

This mist was the enormous deity, hidden within and omnipresent in the fog, naturally unwilling to dissipate it merely for the curiosity of a small boss. However, when he contemplated this, Wu Xie suddenly became aware of a terrifying method, perhaps the only way to disperse the mist. For his enslavers, this mist was always omnipresent; they extracted tributes, balancing everything. This world was based on such a relationship; in economics, they wished for everything to be balanced and devoid of change. Only when the world became uncontrollable would the hidden forces of control truly intervene.

Thus, in mythological tales, all demons never directly attack the realm of the gods; they first begin to destroy the human world—wars, plagues, massacres, floods… He now faced a similar situation, this mist controlling everything, intervening in far too many matters.

For this mist, they had not encountered an opponent for a long time; opponents could not find their whereabouts. If the shepherd could not be found, they could only attack the sheep. Who were their sheep? We are their sheep. Wu Xie suddenly let out a cold laugh and involuntarily hummed the theme song of “Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf.”

The first step of Wu Xie’s plan was to create a demon himself, to let it attack him. They all had their weaknesses and were aware of them, so this demon would surely achieve great victory. No one could destroy themselves more efficiently than oneself.

The demon will set fatal traps, and these sheep will resist, using all their strength to fight against the demon, but they will ultimately fall into an irretrievable state, led into this trap. Unfortunately, the demon’s traps appear naive and laughable to the watchers in the mist. They can easily destroy these traps.

Will they destroy them? No, their target is the demon; the destruction of everything else is irrelevant. What they want to annihilate is the demon itself. Rebuilding a world is far too easy; the lives of these lambs are merely a redistribution of benefits for them.

Let the demon take this world. As long as the demon manifests in this world, everything related to the demon will be investigated and cleared up in an instant, and the demon will be erased in a flash. The assassins in the mist will lie in wait within the trap, waiting for the demon to come and collect its spoils.

But the demon will not appear either. Because the demon does not exist at all. Under the eyes of the opponent, some absurd and utterly ineffective schemes, more side issues, and more unexpected events unfold. This is the first layer, enough to confuse the opponent and make them think and respond.

Of course, this is not Wu Xie’s goal. The entire plan slowly spreads and perfects, with each link tightly connected. Wu Xie suddenly realizes that when he sees the enemy’s figure, it seems they have no ability to counterattack; however, in fact, many things have already changed.

His ancestors and elders had made many efforts before; their legendary nature, cruelty, and decisiveness far exceeded his own. Yet, all their achievements only revealed the true state of the opponent. Two generations only saw a shadow, something he could never reach from any other aspect. However, this generation has its own strengths.

This generation is not burdened by so many concerns and taboos. So, how can one create a demon that can confuse everyone? The true orchestrator can never have accomplices. That night, he began the first step of the entire layout, staying awake all night. The West Lake was quiet and chilling; he looked at the Gem Mountain across the embankment and began to calm down.

He sometimes denied himself, sometimes hoped to force himself to continue. Now he stood on the ridge of a winding mountain road in the Tibetan region. Denial and retreat were completely impossible. His plan had already become so complex that even his own thoughts needed ten minutes to organize.

In such a short time, why had he become so devoid of even a trace of fluctuation in his heart? Indeed, if there are too many things in one’s heart, the world gradually becomes unrelated to oneself. Wang Meng was still worried about Liang Wan’s situation. Wu Xie nodded to the Tibetan who greeted him and then signaled for him to get in the car.

The most reliable method in the world is for a person to benefit regardless of whether they choose A or B. Indeterminate multiple-choice questions are the most difficult. “Have you decided to go in alone?” Wang Meng asked after starting the car. Wu Xie nodded. “But the road is blocked, isn’t it?” Wang Meng said, “When we left, that place was already unrecognizable.”

“What lies before me is just a difficult road to walk, do you know what kind of situation others are facing?” Wu Xie said, “Bringing up such difficulties is a sign of underestimating the determination required for this matter.” The hatred that had settled in Wu Xie’s heart suddenly surged again, and a multitude of scenes flashed through his mind. He had to take a deep breath and turned his gaze to the highland outside the window.