The Tang Dynasty's Mechanical Era

At 37, I was laid off.

All I could do was write mini programs at home to earn a living.

I couldn't even afford cat food anymore.

Late one night, I suddenly got a message from my ex-wife:

“I'm about to die.”

I was shocked. “What happened? Where are you?”

Her reply left me even more horrified:

“I'm in Chang'an of the Great Tang. Hurry over.”

Chang'an of the Great Tang is a high-end theme park built by the tycoon Zheng Qianji.

It's a one-to-one recreation of Chang'an during the High Tang period.

It also uses a large number of robotic NPCs.

As long as you have money, you can play a swordsman and assassinate the emperor.

You can also let loose in Pingkang Ward.

Why had my ex-wife gone there?

What danger had she encountered?

But no matter what messages I sent after that, she didn't reply.

I booked a flight and made my way to Chang'an of the Great Tang.

All the other visitors around me were having a wonderful time.

I was the only one weighed down by worry.

Fear soon followed.

When I put on my AR glasses, I could see my ex-wife.

She scolded me for not going to find her at the “Ghost Market.”

But no matter who I asked,

there was no “Ghost Market” in Chang'an of the Great Tang.

Everyone else was watching Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and Yang Guifei in the Xingqing Palace Square.

But mechanical hunting dogs dragged me out through the city gates.

A mechanical warrior nearly buried me alive.

I saw with my own eyes the boss who had laid me off get killed by a robot.

Then, in the blink of an eye, he was alive and kicking somewhere else.

Everyone in Chang'an of the Great Tang was lost in a drunken dream.

I was the only one struggling to survive.

When I finally found my ex-wife, the crisis erupted in full:

Robots sealed off every exit from Chang'an of the Great Tang that connected it to the outside world.

They raised their blades against the human visitors...