Ye Tiancheng's ominous premonition grew stronger.
He kept these heavy speculations to himself, not voicing them for the moment. There was no one to discuss them with now, and he couldn't disturb the little fox as she worked on finding a way to break through this spatial confinement. As for this matter, he couldn't discuss it with Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping either.
So, he could only suppress these thoughts.
It took the little fox about an hour to finally sort out her thoughts. Then, she excitedly told Ye Tiancheng, "I know, I've figured it out!"
The little fox could see the worry and unease on Ye Tiancheng's face. However, everyone present had witnessed the胖子's abnormal condition earlier. He only thought Ye Tiancheng was still worried about the胖子. While that was indeed the case, the little fox hadn't thought of as many things as Ye Tiancheng had, so she didn't find it strange.
He directly told Ye Tiancheng about his discovery and explained his thought process.
Ye Tiancheng only half-understood these things, but he could vaguely grasp some of it. What the little fox had deduced seemed to have some logic to it, so he didn't let the little fox waste more time on explanations.
Instead, he said to the little fox, "Since we know how to proceed, let's set off soon. We shouldn't linger here; we've already been delayed for too long."
"Let's leave this place as soon as possible."
Upon Ye Tiancheng's words, the little fox didn't say much and immediately started leading the way for Ye Tiancheng and the others. Based on what she had deduced, she waited for the spatial changes and then found the door she had inferred.
She immediately called out to Ye Tiancheng and the others, "We're here, it's time. Let's go through this door."
The group immediately moved. The胖子 was still unconscious. Ye Tiancheng had hit him with considerable force when he knocked him out, which was why the胖子 hadn't woken up yet. However, they couldn't just leave the胖子 there; they had to take him with them.
Ye Tiancheng slung the胖子's arm over his shoulder. Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping helped him, ensuring the胖子 was stable on Ye Tiancheng's back. Ye Tiancheng then carried the胖子.
"Let's go, little fox leads the way, and we'll follow behind."
The little fox opened the door and led the way. Ye Tiancheng, carrying the胖子, followed. Suddenly, he glanced back at the胖子 and used his cultivation to temporarily seal the胖子's cultivation.
Although Ye Tiancheng could trust the胖子, he couldn't guarantee that the胖子, when not in a rational state, wouldn't still be a threat to him. If the胖子 were to attack him, being unable to use his cultivation would significantly reduce his destructive power. This way, even if Ye Tiancheng and the胖子 fought, he wouldn't have to worry about injuring the胖子 and could subdue him more easily.
The path the little fox led Ye Tiancheng and the others through opened into a mountain environment outside, not a room.
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping found this situation very novel.
Despite learning more and more, they had never seen such a fantastical scene before.
Nie Chongyang asked the little fox, "Why is it wilderness outside? Shouldn't it be a room that opens up?"
The little fox replied to Nie Chongyang, "What's so strange about that? We've entered a phantom realm. Isn't anything that's abnormal in reality supposed to be normal here?"
At least it wouldn't be entirely unexpected, even if it wasn't entirely anticipated.
Because of the previous experience of almost falling down the stairs, even with some confidence in her deductions, the little fox tentatively extended a foot out, stepping onto the ground outside the door. She tested the ground to confirm it had substance and wasn't illusory before stepping out with relief.
"It's safe to walk, follow me."
Nie Chongyang said somewhat speechlessly, "Why do you still need to test it before daring to walk out? Don't you know if what you see outside is real?"
Fearing that Nie Chongyang and the others wouldn't trust her professionalism and would hesitate to follow her, the little fox explained, "This is a psychological shadow from almost falling off the fourth floor. In a phantom realm, testing a bit more doesn't hurt, after all, these things aren't real."
"After all, some of these unreal things that our eyes see have substance, while others are completely illusory."
For example, the phantom realm that almost made her fall from the fourth floor. Since Ye Tiancheng couldn't see it and wasn't trapped in that phantom realm with her, it meant that the illusion she saw at the time was something completely illusory.
If she had really climbed out the window then, she would truly be in trouble now.
Ye Tiancheng, carrying the胖子, brought up the rear. Nie Chongyang and the others were still talking with the little fox. Because their knowledge of metaphysics was too weak and they knew very little, now that they had encountered it and had the opportunity to ask, they naturally wanted to ask the little fox more.
The little fox was not stingy; she would say what she could.
Liang Ping asked the little fox, "How are you sure this is the way out? We've reached the wilderness, and it seems you didn't know beforehand that the scene after opening the door would be like this. How did you find the route out?"
The little fox thought for a moment.
"The principle is quite complex, and the knowledge involved in this deduction method is quite profound. Explaining it would be beyond your comprehension at the moment."
She said, "I can only say that the route was deduced by me. This route has nothing to do with what our eyes see. These are ultimately illusions. How can I know what the existence that conjures these things will conjure?"
"All I can know is the route I deduced. What the eyes see is not important; only walking on the true path is important."
Ye Tiancheng, following behind, heard their discussion and chimed in, agreeing with the little fox, "That's indeed the case. When walking in such a place, if you get trapped, the last thing you should trust is what your eyes see. Instead, it's something more intangible, relying on intuition."
"Sometimes, because your eyes can see it, illusions that should be nothingness but are on the true path will become tangible realities for you, causing you to never reach the true path."
Nie Chongyang and the others listened attentively. Liang Ping asked again, "If there are illusions that become tangible when seen, blocking the way, how do we get through? Do we close our eyes?"
The little fox shook her head and explained, "The true way to break through is not to close your eyes."
"Closing your eyes is the most crude method, but it's not suitable for us at the moment. Because in this situation, you two cannot protect yourselves. If we all advance with our eyes closed, and something happens midway, we might not notice."
For example, a teammate being suddenly replaced.
"Closing your eyes can indeed be useful because, since you can no longer see, you naturally won't be aware of its existence. Since it's an illusion to begin with, in your mind, it doesn't exist, and therefore it truly doesn't exist."
"So, in the final analysis, the real reason you can't get through is that when most people see these illusions, they habitually believe what they see. Because your mind can't help but think that there's an obstacle here, and once your mind accepts this, it truly exists."
With this explanation, Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping both understood.
Nie Chongyang nodded slightly, lost in thought, "Oh, I think I understand. For example, if an ordinary person sees a wall in front of them, they will naturally assume there is a wall in front of them. Once they see it, it's hard to accept in their minds that this wall is just a non-existent illusion, and they will keep thinking about this wall."
"The more they think about it, the more real the wall becomes, and the person standing in front of this wall will find it harder to pass."
The little fox agreed, "It's exactly like that."
Liang Ping propped his chin with one hand, his fingers rubbing his chin. "It's a bit like the theories of the School of Mind."
Nie Chongyang said, "They should be similar things. Theoretically, they shouldn't be too different. After all, these are things that science can hardly explain, and they have a certain mystery to them. And with this mixture of the illusory and the real, doesn't it perfectly fit those theories?"
Liang Ping couldn't help but feel a bit distressed, "Alas, suddenly asking me, a materialist, to face such an idealistic world, how am I supposed to live?"
Ye Tiancheng also couldn't help but feel a bit troubled.
Because he was also a materialist.
For the first half of their lives, they were ordinary people who had never encountered such things. Suddenly encountering such a situation and having to accept the worldview of this world from the bottom of their hearts, it was difficult for them to integrate completely immediately, wasn't it?
Seeing this, the little fox comforted them, "Don't worry too much. My elder brother and I can always keep our eyes open. When we encounter such things, I'll tell you to close your eyes in advance, and the two of us will lead you through. You don't need to close your eyes all the time, just occasionally."
He hadn't intended to immediately ask Nie Chongyang and the others to walk out of the phantom realm by accepting the worldview; a more crude method would suffice.
Nie Chongyang and the other two finally felt relieved.
"That's good, that's good. I was almost scared to death. If we really had to rely on controlling our minds to get out, we two would probably be trapped for at least ten or eight years."
The little fox diligently led everyone, calculating as she walked, constantly checking if they were deviating from the path. When encountering obstacles, she remembered to remind Nie Chongyang and the others in time, so they wouldn't crash into these obstacles and be unable to pass.
Whenever Nie Chongyang and the others needed to close their eyes, the group would form a line.
The little fox walked at the front. Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping stood in the middle, with their eyes closed. The second person in line held the little fox's hand and clothes, and the third person behind them held the second person. Ye Tiancheng brought up the rear to prevent anything from happening to Nie Chongyang and the others.
This way, the journey was relatively smooth, but it took a longer time.
Nie Chongyang and the others couldn't have imagined that it would take so long to get out of the phantom realm. They were initially worried that people outside would worry about them, having been trapped inside for so long. However, the little fox told Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping that the time flow within the phantom realm was different from the time flow outside, usually being slower.
To reassure Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping, she even compared their timelines, and they discovered that it was indeed the case.
In most phantom realms, time flows slower. Phantom realms where the time flow is faster than the outside world are actually quite rare, at least Ye Tiancheng and the others had not encountered any.
The only difficulty was that the group didn't have much food as they walked. If Ye Tiancheng and the others hadn't packed plenty of food they had bought earlier, they would likely have been starving as they walked through the phantom realm, as it was best not to consume food within phantom realms.