From deep within the murals of an ancient temple comes an ominous whisper. Young researcher Zhu Yan brings professional equipment to investigate, but a strange resonance forcibly sucks him into the painting and plunges him into a bizarre "world of the mind," where rules are twisted, energy takes physical form, and all things are driven by thought. The moment he arrives, he encounters a "flower spirit": supposed to be a creation of a celestial realm, yet its eyes are vacant as it emits a formulaic, seductive murmur, like a puppet running on a program.
One crisis follows another. A "Purifier," clad in golden armor and radiating a cold, oppressive aura, pursues him relentlessly. Its scanning beams can annihilate anything deemed heretical. With death just a breath away, Zhu Yan relies on a researcher's composure and the last remaining "Mind-Clearing Stone" to survive a terrifying ordeal beneath a bed. In this desperate situation, he forms a fragile alliance with a flower spirit bearing a mysterious rune branded on the back of its neck, a spirit that still retains a trace of fear.
They soon discover that the foundations of this world are being corroded by a dark purple contamination. The flower spirit's numbness and the Purifier's mercilessness both stem from it. To survive and find a way home, Zhu Yan has no choice but to use his scientific knowledge to analyze the imprints of the world's rules. He is also forced to perform an "enshrinement ritual" with the flower spirit, fraught with clashing energies and bonds of the soul. Icy chains of energy bite deep into their souls, yet also kindle a faint light of protection.
They venture deep into the source of the contamination, the Corridor of the Weird. Space is rife with illusions, and frenzied, twisted creations attack them without pause. Beyond the barrier, viscous purple energy writhes like a living thing, giving off nauseating whispers. Meanwhile, his friend Meng Longtan, back in the real world, spots purple ripples spreading through the Buddha Hall of Jizhao Temple on surveillance footage. A message sent across worlds brings a crucial clue...
Super beautiful, highly recommended