"We are fake."
Only you are real.
Su Xian said with a serious expression
Li Chen was somewhat bewildered, completely unaware of what they meant. It was both real and unreal, and utterly surreal.
Thinking about what had happened to him, he actually hoped that it was all a lie. Ever since he lost his parents, the world seemed to be targeting him, wishing him dead. He also hoped that it was all a lie.
Su Xian looked intently at Li Chen and said softly, "Perhaps you think this is an utterly absurd thing."
"But in our eyes, it's a liberation. This world is too wonderful; almost everyone is enjoying a strange sense of freedom, a freedom that is devouring everyone."
"I'd much rather you woke up Li Chen."
"End all of this."
Li Chen was somewhat shocked by what he said.
If what they say is true, then this world is like a dream, specifically his dream, but it's a nightmare for him, while everyone else is experiencing a beautiful Dream. Why is that?
He's dreaming. Why would he want to make other people's lives better? Is it because he desires that in the real world?
But not everything is necessarily true.
Perhaps this world really is like that?
In a daze, that indifferent voice rang out once again.
"Yes, I've always been here."
Ah!!
Li Chen suddenly clutched his head and slumped onto the table in pain. The voice was so familiar; it was his own voice, but why was it appearing in his mind?
Is it really true, as they say, that this world is an illusion...?
Su Xian and the others watched silently, a smile playing on their lips.
"This... Xian-ge, so are we all fake?" Su Zhe looked at Li Chen with a somewhat dazed expression.
Su Xian hesitated for two seconds, then smiled and said, "Yes, we're all fake. This fake world has long aroused my suspicion. It's endlessly repeating what Li Chen experienced, and even though the cities are clearly in the books, I haven't seen a single one."
"It's so fake, so incredibly fake... so fake that I started to doubt my own existence and the world itself."
"This is the best possible outcome."
"I could choose to trap Li Chen in this Eternal Dream, but my newly formed self-awareness will not allow me to do so."
"Born into someone else's Dream, die at his hand."
"Perhaps this is where I belong."
Su Xian paused for a few seconds, then sighed, "I want to see the real me."
Accompanied by twinkling starlight.
A faint light began to emanate from Su Xian, Su Zhe, and the others, and their bodies rapidly dissipated.
Li Chen also regained consciousness.
He watched their figures disappear, then fell silent...
"Feel sorry..."
All of this is indeed an illusion. The only way to break through this so-called world is to make the person who created this Dream realize that it is fake, and only then will this world collapse.
The voice in his mind constantly reminded him that it was his own external consciousness, and that Su Xian's appearance here was not an accident, but rather his own human consciousness.
His physical body may be undergoing something terrible that is unavoidable.
Li Chen looked at his fading hands and murmured, "But what if this is fake?"
"If everything is based on my memory, then am I also a fake?"
"Were the deceased father and mother also fake...?"
"Are they living in the real world...?"
"Perhaps I'm doing better in the real world than I am now."
In the dark and damp prison.
Time is flowing slowly.
The clanging sound made it seem as if many people were moving around.
"Have you heard? The Eerie Lord is imprisoned in here."
"It seems to be at the very bottom."
"The outside world is going crazy; everyone's just waiting for the day this official will be executed."
"Huh? You still call him 'sir'?"
"He's locked up here now, there's no way he can escape. This isn't Sinful Pass."
"Ugh... if it weren't for this Eerie Lord, would we have ended up in this wretched place? A place even more terrifying than the Sinful Pass?"
Just then, a heavy thud rang out, accompanied by a woman's sarcastic voice. "Show me what you've got."
"Although they were transferred to the Imperial Capital's prison."
"But I am still your warden."
"Do you really think I, Qin Jiao, am someone to be trifled with?"
In the dimly lit corridor, Qin Jiao, with her long gray-white hair and wearing a black robe, walked in the middle, looking at the prisoners around her with some disgust and scolding them a few times before continuing down the corridor.
They walked until they reached a door with a magic array seal engraved on it, and gently pressed their hand on it, causing the magic array to circulate.
Click~
The door opened immediately, and a blast of hot air rushed out.
What comes into view is a huge space, with a ring of steps around the center that leads upwards. Beneath the center lies molten lava; if an ordinary person were to fall down it carelessly, they would die instantly.
Even those Sequence User can't withstand the scorching heat in such a harsh environment, so one can only imagine how capable the people imprisoned here must be.
In the center, a figure was pierced through the collarbone by two iron hooks and hung firmly in the air. His hands and feet were nowhere to be seen, and his long hair covered his face. He floated quietly in the air, very peaceful, with only the sound of rolling lava.
If you didn't know who he was, you might not have recognized that this bewildered-looking guy was the Eerie Lord.
Qin Jiao frowned and spoke very softly, as if she were talking to someone.
"My lord, this is all I can take you this far."
"I'll pretend I didn't see anything you do from now on, but as long as you don't take the Eerie Lord away, you can do whatever you want."
"Okay." A voice came from the void, and then Qin Jiao withdrew.
After a few minutes of silence... a figure slowly emerged from the void. Yu Qingnian, with his hands behind his back, looked at the familiar figure before him and murmured, "Still not awake?"
He stepped into the air, one step at a time.
As they drew closer to Li Chen, the scorching temperature rose higher and higher. All of this was a cage specially made to deal with the Eerie Lord. The surrounding walls were covered with magic arrays, and even the iron hooks had a hidden mechanism. Once they were removed, the entire prison would know.
Although no one was monitoring Li Chen, this prison was the eyes and ears of the world.
Suddenly, Li Chen's body twitched, and a hoarse voice rang out.
"I... this is..."
At this moment Yu Qingnian had also walked up to Li Chen and looked into his deep, calm eyes, remaining silent for a long time.
Their meeting took place in such an unexpected way.
"Long time no see, Li Chen."