Deep Sea Embers
chapter-772

When Ray Nora shared that an unidentified mass had emerged from his glowing cocoon, momentarily causing her drifting house to veer off course, Zhou Ming’s face subtly changed. He took a moment to think and then guessed that this mass might be the “miscellaneous items” he had discarded earlier.

His original plan was to use these items as a conduit for initiating contact with an external entity.

However, the method of communication turned out to be rather forceful.

Luckily, Ray Nora seemed to have not faced significant difficulties due to this incident—and she also failed to notice the brief, telling silence of the “Thousand-Faced Bright Star” before her.

Capitalizing on the opportunity, Zhou Ming steered the conversation in a new direction: “So, after the momentary loss of control, what occurred? You mentioned you ‘overshot’… Could you elaborate on that?”

Ray Nora, not suspecting anything amiss, knitted her brows in concentration. After a brief pause, she recounted, “When my drifting house momentarily went off course, I found myself in the thickest part of this fog. Eventually, I came to a halt near an unseen… ‘border.’ Describing this border to you is challenging… It’s intangible, invisible to the naked eye, yet the fog abruptly ends at its edge. Beyond this border is a vast emptiness.”

She hesitated, sensing that her explanation still lacked precision, her expression one of vexation. Zhou Ming’s demeanor grew more serious: “Emptiness?”

“Yes, a true void. Not merely darkness or ’emptiness’ as we usually understand it… I’m struggling to convey this accurately. Even in ‘places of emptiness,’ there’s at least some notion of ‘place,’ but what I encountered defies logical explanation,” Ray Nora said, clearly finding it difficult to articulate and remember her experience, “Consider the perception of the world by individuals born blind, those who’ve never seen light, who lack visual context. It’s commonly believed their world is dark, but their ‘vision’ is actually an extreme ‘void’…”

She paused, using her hands to illustrate her point, “They don’t perceive ‘darkness’ because, in a strict sense, ‘darkness’ is still a part of vision. Having never seen any color or shape, the concept of ‘a world of darkness’ is too abstract and unfathomable for them. Thus, from their perspective, their ‘view’ isn’t black but ‘void,’ devoid of color and form, making the visual world utterly non-existent. That’s how I felt beyond that border. I felt as though I should ‘see’ something, yet it was beyond my comprehension and perception to the extent that my mind couldn’t even form an ‘image.’ I recall hearing some sort of sound then and in my memories of it. Still, my mind was blank. I stood at that invisible threshold, fully aware it was a ‘border.’ A border implies there’s ‘another side,’ but it… simply didn’t exist.”

Ray Nora gestured with her hand, her expression still clouded by the unsettling and unnerving memory she was recalling.

“There’s no ‘other side’…” Zhou Ming’s brows furrowed in contemplation as he listened to her abstract and difficult-to-grasp explanations, his mind beginning to draw parallels, “Is it like a sheet of paper that doesn’t have a ‘back side’?”

Ray Nora’s eyes widened in astonishment, then she observed the “stellar entity” before her as it raised its appendages amidst a backdrop of countless eyes and shimmering starlight, a… form started to materialize.

Zhou Ming took a piece of paper, twisted it, and joined the ends together.

A rush of insight flooded Ray Nora’s consciousness, and in that instant, she grasped the concept of a Möbius strip.

The immense “void” she had encountered suddenly made sense to her.

“That’s exactly it!” she exclaimed, snapping out of her reverie, her eyes locked on the structure ensconced in turmoil, illuminated by thousands of eyes, “This is what I experienced! A boundary without an ‘other side,’ a sheet of paper lacking a ‘back side!’ The ultimate limit, the very ‘end!'”

The form then discreetly disappeared.

Zhou Ming let go of the Möbius strip, and as the paper loop settled on the table, he pondered, “Could this represent the outer limit?…”

He was aware that the protective barrier erected by the “gods” was far from simple. The Möbius strip served merely as an easily digestible “analogy”—the two concepts weren’t exactly identical, but based on Ray Nora’s description of the “boundary scene,” there had to be some similarities.

Ray Nora watched him, her gaze filled with confusion and curiosity.

“You’ve ventured to the very edge of the world—maybe even beyond where the ancient monarchs ceased their exploration,” Zhou Ming said to “the Frost Queen,” his voice carrying a hint of unease, “You witnessed… what lies beyond the boundary, yet it was incomprehensible to you…”

A Möbius strip possesses no “end.” For an entity traversing its surface, no matter how far it travels within its continuous loop, it will never encounter the “edge” of the Möbius strip, nor will it be able to discern an “invisible boundary” there, which can invoke a sense of dread and bewilderment at the “void” perceived. Yet, Ray Nora, in her daring journey, had at some point felt the presence of that “end.”

She had undergone an “ascension of dimensions”. Although unable to “understand” the scene before her and feeling she encountered only “void,” she had, for a brief moment, become someone… standing outside of the loop.

He painstakingly detailed everything to Ray Nora, elucidating the bizarre occurrences she encountered and the true nature of the “dimensional ascent” she underwent over time.

Information surged into Ray Nora’s consciousness, transforming her understanding and very being.

Yet, she embraced these revelations with open arms and sheer delight.

This quest for knowledge was precisely why she embarked on her journey, precisely what she yearned for at this juncture.

She was eager to explore more vistas, to grasp the full meaning of her observations.

“I should leave now,” she abruptly declared, rising to her feet.

Zhou Ming regarded the Frost Queen with a mix of surprise and speechlessness, momentarily unsure of what to say.

“I want to take another look there,” Ray Nora said, turning to him with her gaze ablaze with starlight that seemed to have etched a permanent presence in her eyes, “With my newfound understanding, I feel… this time, I might actually perceive something within that ‘void,’ perhaps… entities that previously eluded my comprehension but truly exist.”

Zhou Ming remained silent for a beat, then slowly got up from the sofa.

“Do you believe that ‘something’ exists within that void?”

“Yes,” Ray Nora replied instantly, her voice carrying a depth of conviction and determination that might baffle others, “I’ve sensed them, heard them, akin to the wind whispering across stones, leaving no imprint on my consciousness as if fingers fail to discern colors or eyes cannot measure warmth. My logic was too limited to grasp the entities beyond that ‘end,’ but now… I sense a shift. I can perceive them, even if only faintly.”

Zhou Ming locked eyes with the Frost Queen. “You’re choosing a path fraught with danger,” he remarked abruptly, “You nearly got swallowed by that ‘end’ before, and yet you choose to return.”

“Yes, it’s a gamble,” Ray Nora responded, her smile radiant and eyes sparkling with an adventurous gleam, “Adventure inherently carries its risks.”

“…Akin to embarking on another ‘Deep Dive Project’?”

“…Exactly, like launching another ‘Deep Dive Project,'” Ray Nora’s smile faded as she solemnly nodded, “My personal Deep Dive Project.”

She averted her gaze, inhaled deeply, and after a brief pause, reflected, “See, I really wasn’t meant to play the role of a ‘queen.'”

Zhou Ming remained silent, his steps carrying him towards the window that linked to the “Drifting House.”

After a moment, he spoke again, “I’m bound to this place—I cannot leave. So, remember to share with me what you discover.”

Ray Nora nodded enthusiastically: “Of course, I’ll be your eyes.”

She then made her way back to the “rift,” poised to return to her drifting house for another expedition, her spirit undiminished by the challenges that lay ahead.

Zhou Ming watched as the determined Frost Queen embarked on her new venture.

For a brief moment, he pondered the propriety of allowing this woman to exit through the window as the commencement of her grand adventure, feeling it lacked the gravitas such a departure deserved.

Yet, he quickly reconsidered… perhaps the informality was fitting.

The queen, once confined, now had the liberty to begin her journey in any manner she preferred.

His visitor had departed.

With a soft hum, the window sealed shut, and the view outside was swiftly swallowed by dense fog—Zhou Ming barely caught a glimpse of the drifting house before it vanished from sight.

He lingered by the window, lost in thought for an extended period, then diverted his attention back inside, his gaze sweeping across the living room.

The recent events felt surreal as if someone perpetually secluded in a cabin had dreamt of receiving a visitor.

Approaching the sofa, however, the sight of the Möbius strip fashioned from a paper strip, resting on the coffee table with its ends still gently curved, grounded the experience in reality.

Beside it, a piece of paper bore the sketch of an old-fashioned lantern.

There had indeed been a visitor.

Zhou Ming exhaled, a sense of relief washing over him, making him feel a tad lighter. He then smiled, shook his head in amusement, and made his way to the apartment’s door.

Upon opening the door, the ever-present, shifting black fog greeted him as usual…