Escape and the Source
Blood dripped from the cleaver onto the grass as "Zhao An" walked step by step toward Lu Li.
The established facts cannot be changed. Zhao An's killing of people and the resulting massacre in the mountain village is a predetermined outcome. However, Zhao An's arrest and imprisonment are also predetermined facts. Therefore, Zhao An, far away in prison, naturally cannot come to decide who is left to die.
So in this real illusion that determines the past, Zhao An's identity is replaced by an unknown "ghost." But the most terrifying thing is the remaining six people. Although their identities are still unknown, one thing is certain: the murderer is Zhao An.
Lu Li swung an iron pot at "Zhao An" and quickly backed away. He saw a kitchen knife sweep across his chest. Zhao An rubbed the dent on his head, which was rapidly healing.
Since Zhao An's imprisonment was confirmed, he wouldn't have died in the past. Therefore, the "ghost" who replaced Zhao An's identity also gained immortality and even invincible abilities. Lu Li and the others could only run away and wait for the remaining six dead to be identified.
Understanding the situation, Lu Li, after shifting the blame, turned around and went back into the house, jumping out of the window. "Zhao An" entered the house, glancing Envy at Lu Zhengling lying on the bed. They were still ghosts without identities, but that guy had already been eliminated. So he picked up his knife and slashed at the man's head a few times, leaving bloodstains.
Lu Li jumped behind the house and ran along the path. He saw that the doors of some houses down the mountain had already been opened. He instantly realized that Zhao An hadn't acted directly earlier because he had gone to kill the twenty people he had designated.
At the same time, Lu Li patted his head and compared it with the memories of his original body. He found that the deaths of those twenty guys were not consistent. The deaths recorded in his original memories were all at night, which was close to the present, while the deaths recorded in his original body were during the day.
"The fact of death cannot be changed, but can the time be slightly adjusted?" Lu Li knew that some things had already been changed in the past, such as the time of death of those twenty people.
Looking back, Lu Li's gaze sharpened. Through the window, he saw Zhao An chopping Lu Zhengling's head, leaving the marks of death. He immediately recalled, "Seven unknown people left seven marks of death."
"I couldn't understand how Lu Zhengling, who clearly died outside, could leave traces of his death in the mountain village. Now I see." A sense of temporal and spatial chaos washed over him, as if a circle of time had been brought together.
A memory flashed through Lu Li's mind—the memory of first reading the case file, confirming that the list of the deceased had become twenty-one people. Through the traces here, the police combined the case with the elevator case in the town and discovered that Zhao An had pushed Lu Zhengling, causing his death.
"Now the identity of Lu Zhengling as the deceased has been truly confirmed." If it weren't for the constant correction of his memories by his original body, Lu Li would have become completely confused and forgotten the real Lu Zhengling in reality.
"The whereabouts of three people are currently unknown. One is Chen Qiao and Brother Long; they somehow managed to appear in the mountain village, but they are not there. The other is Bai Lu; she is currently in Life-Death Interstice and must be rescued so that she can fill a spot as a deceased person."
Lu Li's expression was serious. The situation was not optimistic. Zhao An was immortal and invincible. Chen Qiao and Brother Long were hiding. The best way for Lu Li to survive was to find Chen Qiao and Brother Long and make them dead. Otherwise, if he didn't have enough people, Lu Li would be hunted down by Zhao An forever.
"And time is running out. Zhao An was originally scheduled to surrender tomorrow. Even if this isn't entirely certain, it won't delay much longer. The most likely scenario is that Zhao An will become stronger as the time for his surrender approaches."
"Wow, this is a boss that can level up." Lu Li thought excitedly, and ran to the other side. He saw a person slowly walking towards him in the distance. Lu Li's eyes flashed, and his face instantly turned into a look of panic. He ran over.
"Help! Uncle An has gone mad! He's holding a kitchen knife and trying to kill me!" Lu Li crying and sniffling, her face turned deathly pale, and her heart was pounding rapidly. She looked exactly like a terrified person.
"Lu Li? Lu Li! Wake up, this is fake." Lin Tong held Lu Li's shoulders with both hands, his face calm. The situation with this dream technique was strange. Even his memories were blocked for a period of time. He only realized something was wrong and broke free earlier.
"Judging from the situation, no one else has woken up yet. What's going on with this illusion? It seems real, yet it also seems fake." Lin Tong's eyes turned bloodshot, then blinked and returned to normal.
In the distance, Zhao An, carrying a kitchen knife, chased after them. Lin Tong glanced at Lu Li, who was filled with fear, thought for a moment, and then pulled Lu Li to run to the other side, where Jiang Xuanmo and Gu Lin's house was located.
Zhao An, who was some distance away, wasn't in a hurry and walked slowly. Lu Li and the other person soon arrived in front of Jiang Xuanmo's house and knocked on their door. Then, a sound came from inside the room, followed by Jiang Xuanmo's wary voice. "Who is it?"
"I am Lin Tong, and you...?" Before Lin Tong could finish speaking, the door was opened, and he looked at the two women inside with some surprise. "Your memories have returned?"
"Come in first." Jiang Xuanmo led the two into the room and quickly sealed the doorway. As soon as Lu Li and Lin Tong went in, they saw Wang Wencheng inside, looking at a ball of light on the table with a wry smile.
"I didn't expect you to regain your memories on your own," Wang Wencheng said with a wry smile.
"What are you talking about? What do you mean by regaining memories?" Lu Li looked at the group of people warily, slowly backing away.
"Hey, you all came to find me together. I thought you'd all regained your memories." Wang Wencheng paused for a moment, then handed the ball of light on the table to Lin Tong, saying, "But it's alright. Just touch this ball of light, and you'll remember everything."
"I ran into Lu Li on the way; he was being chased by Zhao An." Lin Tong took the ball of light, his brows furrowing.
"What do you want to do?" Lu Li hurriedly ran towards the door, but was stopped by Wang Wencheng who ran over. Lin Tong placed the ball of light in Lu Li's hand, and instantly a memory flooded into Lu Li's mind.
That was Lu Li's original memory, but it had also been modified and corrected. There was no information about Lu Zhengling in it. There were only eight people in the whole story. At the same time, information about the ball of light also flooded into Lu Li's mind.
"I see." Lu Li covered his head, stood up from the ground, and immediately realized that his previous guess was wrong. Strictly speaking, if things had gone smoothly, there should have been more than two survivors.
Furthermore, the culprit behind all of this has been found: the ball of light in Lu Li's hand, which is the source of everything.