City C, inside the Duan Family Villa.

The atmosphere at breakfast wasn't exactly harmonious.

The youngest daughter of the Duan family had red and swollen eyes, clearly having cried. Mrs. Duan patted her daughter's back and gave her husband a significant look.

Mr. Duan coughed, and seeing that Cheng Su was still engrossed in her meal, he couldn't help but tap on the table.

Cheng Su had no choice but to put down her chopsticks and look towards the man sitting in the main seat.

"Cheng Su, your aunt and I have discussed, and we still feel that it would be appropriate for you to marry the oldest son of the Wang family. After all, you are the elder sister; it wouldn't be right for your younger sister to get married before you do, would it?"

Duan Hong relayed the message without a hint of blush, but Cheng Su's eyes widened in surprise.

"What did you say? Get married?!"

Cheng Su felt like she was deluding herself. This early in the morning, she wasn't sure whether she was still dreaming.

To this, Mrs. Duan added, "You have also reached the age of marriage. Your father has arranged everything for you, shouldn’t you thank him?"

Cheng Su finished the last bit of her milk, heavily placing the cup on the table.

"As I thought, you didn't ask me to come back home with any good intention. And now the truth comes out."

"I was told to marry, but I've heard that the oldest son of the Wang family was involved in a severe car accident, with leg amputations and facial disfigurement. He hasn't woken up yet!"

Duan Hong was also not pleased, "Who told you these nonsenses? No matter what happened to the eldest son of the Wang family, you have to marry him!"

Cheng Su showed no fear, "Why should I marry a man whom I haven't even met? Why don't you get married to him! Isn’t there a son in this house, why not to marry him off if his sister doesn't want to."

Duan Hong pounded on the table, "You unfilial girl, I'm telling you, not discussing!"

Cheng Su thumped the table in response, "I won't marry, can you still force me?"

Duan Hong tugged at the corner of his mouth, "What makes you think I can't? This matter is settled!" After that, he lowered his voice threateningly, "Cheng Su, don't you want to find your mother? If you don't obey me, I won't tell you anything."

At this, Cheng Su faltered and fell silent.

She wanted to find her lunatic mother. She had grown up in an orphanage, where the director had told her she had a mother. However, her mother was insane and had run away in the dead of the night three months after being rescued. She hadn't been seen since.

Cheng Su wanted to find her, after all, it wasn't as if she had truly abandoned her, she was just sick.

And the only person who knew who her lunatic mother was, was Duan Hong.

She had been back for three months now, and she hadn't found the slightest clue.

Seeing Cheng Su subdued, Duan Hong laughed triumphantly, "You behave well, and naturally, I will tell you."

Cheng Su returned to her room, trying to convince herself to endure it, to find a clue then leave. But, in the end, she failed.

Mom, I'm sorry, but your daughter really doesn't want to marry. May we meet again if fate wills it.

She packed up her identification and personal belongings into her backpack, gently pushed open the door, and planned to sneak out.

She had just walked downstairs, when she overheard a conversation from the kitchen.

Mrs. Duan, Hu Yue, was a bit nervous, "Brother Hong, are you really going to tell Cheng Su about her origins? To let her find her mother?"

Duan Hong chuckled, "Find? They've indeed been searching for over twenty years, but wasn't it me who found them first? Since I was the one to find them, why would I tell her?"

Hu Yue finally let out a sigh of relief, "The past is in the past, there's no need to bring it up again."

Cheng Su's mind buzzed at hearing this. This Duan Hong was just deceiving her!

A liar, an old liar!

She stumbled a little, slipping down a step. The two people in the kitchen heard the noise and came out, meeting Cheng Su's furious gaze.

When Duan Hong saw her appearance, he yelled, "You're still trying to run! It's outrageous, go back!"

Cheng Su quickly descended the stairs. While rushing out, she cried, "Dream on! You old geezer, trying to trick me!"

"Catch her!"

Duan Hong's bodyguard dashed over, trying to detain Cheng Su, but ended up on the receiving end of a punch in the face.

"How dare you hit someone. Catch her and lock her up!"

The two bodyguards then got serious. The three people wrestled, and Cheng Su was overpowered. Just as she was about to be captured, she leapt backwards. Her foot slipped on the stairs and she was sent tumbling down to the ground.

The bodyguard closest to her was taken aback. He quickly reached out to grab her.

In the blink of an eye, Cheng Su felt her head collide with something.

The bodyguard managed to catch Cheng Su in her fall, but her head still knocked against the stair rail.

Blood began to ooze from a shallow cut. Cheng Su's eyes closed as if she had passed out.

In that split second, Cheng Su's world went black. When she opened her eyes, she was no longer in the Duan family’s villa.

This is a convenience store.

The shelves are neatly arranged yet eerily empty, and the counter is a mess.

Beyond the transparent glass wall is a chaotic and obscure turbulence.

Where is this place?!

She didn't fall down the stairs and die, did she?

"You're not dead, you were simply chosen by the key," a gentle voice rang out.

Cheng Su became alert, "Who?"

She didn't see anyone. She searched the entire convenience store but couldn't find the source of the voice. The hair on the back of her neck stood up slowly; this place isn't haunted, is it?

"Are you looking for me?"

Cheng Su controlled her voice, trying not to quiver, "Who on earth are you? Stop playing games!"

The voice rang out again, "I'm this convenience store. Or you could say, I'm the key."

The lights in the convenience store went out, leaving only a single oil lamp glowing above the counter.

A vague shadow stood behind the counter. It said, "I've chosen you, and now you are my master."

"However, I'm incomplete. To obtain all my power, you must find the other half that I've lost.”

The mysterious atmosphere, the unusual shadow, and misleading lines - this scene in front of Cheng Su's eyes is nothing less than a cult preaching.

Most of her fear dissipated, she stepped back wordlessly and said, "I don't believe in religion, I don't do Amway, and I don't want some strange thing calling me master."

The blurry shadow let out a low chuckle, "It's fate that chose you, do you want to resist fate?"

"Moreover, you who hold the key, control countless worlds. If you wish, you can enter any world."

???

Cheng Yu didn’t fully understand and asked, "From what you're saying, it seems there's more than just the world I know? Control the world? Should I go and become an emperor?”

"Of course, the universe is vast, and it's more than just this world. Once you enter, you can witness other civilizations, if done well, you might even become an emperor."

"Do you want to see?"

Cheng Yu hugged her backpack, shaking her head, "No."

"The universe is so vast, don't you want to explore?"

"No, I'm a homebody."

The blurry shadow twisted for a second, then impatiently said, "Whether you want to or not, you'll go. Off you go!"

A enormous force hit her head on, and Cheng Yu uncontrollably fell backward.

In the last second, she saw the blurry shadow turn into a tiny point of light, which followed her into the darkness.

"Are all of you cults like this, forcing people to do things against their will?"

Her consciousness plunged into darkness, and Cheng Yu didn't know what she was about to face.

The rain poured down relentlessly, silence echoed in all directions.

An exasperated man threw down a corpse, "Gone? How is that possible?"

"The other half of the key was in his body, why can't I find it?"

A frail voice spoke, "I told you, only if someone is willing, they can get the other half of the key. You didn't believe me, even killed someone, and now you can't find it."

The man coldly replied, "That was your other half."

"If it's missing, it's missing, anyway, I'm used to only having one-half."

The man wiped the blood from his sword and asked, "Where is the other half of the key?"

"I don't know. He must have opened a random spatial portal and sent the key away before he died."

The man opened his umbrella, shielding himself from the rain. He drew out something and the corpse quickly vanished into thin air.

"Heh, do you think it will get away? Sooner or later, I'll find it, and I will possess the entire key."