Jiang Nuo picked up the ghost fetus. Having been half-evolved by Pu Sang, it was extremely weak and could barely maintain its ghost form, its cries filled with sorrow.
"Let it go!!"
The Ghost Bride roared in fury, but she was powerless to take back her child. Her body, destroyed by the vertical energy lines, was in pieces, and the smell of burning and blood was strong.
Jiang Nuo shook the ghost fetus, "Is this your and He Jiu's child?"
"Hooray!"
The demon fetus was inherently vicious; even in its extreme weakness, it struggled to bite Jiang Nuo's neck, but before it could succeed, Jiang Nuo threw it away.
With this throw, its form became almost transparent.
The Ghost Bride wailed as she reached for her child, but her Ghost Power was scattered, and the illusion could not hold on any longer, with faint signs of breaking apart.
"Why don't we send your family of three to reunite?"
Jiang Nuo rubbed her wrist, which had been scratched by the ghost fetus. Her smile faded as she lowered her gaze. "Your story must be tragic, but... well, who told you to be discovered by humans?"
There was a hint of helplessness in his words.
The Ghost Bride looked at him strangely, and the next second Jiang Nuo stopped the air with his bare hands. The Ghost Bride screamed and was forced to fly up with her head tilted back, still tightly holding the ghost fetus in her arms.
"Goodbye."
Jiang Nuo smiled, her fingers closing completely.
Bang!
The entire illusion exploded, and all the scenes vanished in an instant.
Jiang Nuo directly killed the Ghost Bride was controlling the illusion, causing the illusion to shatter. He was somewhat affected by what he saw within it.
The powerful impact made Jiang Nuo instinctively close her eyes. When she opened them again, it was already...
In the woods.
Jiang Nuo had a splitting headache. She opened her eyes for only a second before closing them again, sensing a familiar presence beside her.
" Nuonuo."
Si Yan reached out and covered his eyes. "Open them slowly, don't rush."
"What happened?" Jiang Nuo asked.
"The effect of the dual illusions," Si Yan explained. "The longer you stay in the illusion, the greater the effect."
Beside Si Yan were the guests who had been killed by Jiang Nuo and sent out of the illusion.
Zhou Yize leaned against the tree trunk, one long leg bent, looking at the person nestled in Si Yan's arms with a complicated expression, sighed softly, and looked away.
Wu Chou wiped the peach wood sword and looked at Jiang Nuo, clearly having something to say.
When Pu Sang saw that he had woken up, he was overjoyed and quickly went over to him.
Holy crap!!! He actually survived!
[Aaaaaaahh ...
Anyone who insulted Jiang Nuo in the live chat just now, come and apologize right now!!
[I'm so angry I'm kneeling... Damn it! Jiang Nuo was even trending on social media for all the wrong reasons, and then there was this twist!]
Jiang Nuo is awesome! The number one face-slapping king in the entertainment industry!!
"I didn't know anything about it... What's wrong with scolding him... Jiang Nuo didn't lose a piece of flesh, it's normal that he's not dead, what's there to praise?"
[This is hilarious! The person upstairs is more stubborn than they are.]
Jiang Nuo blinked lightly, pulled down Si Yan's hand and held it tightly. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Si Yan's expression was not very good either.
In the end, Si Yan had only come out a little earlier than him.
Jiang Nuo touched Si Yan's face, "Does it hurt?"
"... pain."
Si Yan responded sullenly, hugging the person in her arms tighter.
Nuonuo has put herself in danger again.
Jiang Nuo retorted, "I can handle this, how can it be considered dangerous?"
Pu Sang wailed, " Brother Nuo, you have no idea, when I was trying to kill myself, I was thinking that even if I really died, at least I'd be buried in a coffin."
"It actually came out! It was a double illusion!"
Before Jiang Nuo came out, they analyzed their situation.
Wu Chou: "From the very beginning, we never entered the village. When Li Ta was dragged away by the giant snake and we went to rescue him, we directly entered the illusion."
Si Yan nodded slowly and continued, "So, the person with the festering sores I first saw in the woods was also a ghost from an illusion."
Pu Sang: "But I don't quite understand why Li Ta and Lin Yu didn't come out?"
Jiang Nuo supported herself as she stood up, moving her numb legs. " Li Ta was killed by ghosts and monsters in the illusion; his soul died."
" Lin Yu is not Lin Yu, but a... wild ghost who once had a grudge against me."
Pu Sang suddenly realized, "So Lin Yu died a long time ago!"
Jiang Nuo raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, glanced at the bionic bee, and suddenly laughed, "Maybe it was eaten by wild ghosts."
Anyway, it has nothing to do with me.
"I'm sorry, Jiang Nuo."
Zhou Yize stood up and apologized in a low voice, "I was possessed by a ghost at that time, I didn't mean to say those things."
Jiang Nuo tilted her head, seemingly unconcerned, "It's nothing."
"I was acting too."
Zhou Yize: "..."
Si Yan snorted and hugged Jiang Nuo's arm tighter. " Nuonuo only likes me."
Zhou Yize didn't look at him, but stared at Jiang Nuo, pursing her lips as she asked, "If... I hadn't gone abroad back then, but had stayed at school to respond to that love letter, would you have been with me?"
"Won't."
Jiang Nuo replied almost without hesitation, "There's no 'if'."
At that time, he was mentally unstable and confused, unable to distinguish between gratitude and affection; he was no different from a fool.
Not to mention being able to have a normal romantic relationship.
Moreover, Jiang Nuo dislikes "if" and "hypothetical".
If he hadn't entered the game, he wouldn't have had to endure so much suffering, but that's simply impossible.
What has already happened is right before our eyes, yet we're trying to Fantasy a path we've never chosen.
Jiang Nuo's thoughts raced, and she suddenly smiled politely at him, taking Si Yan's hand and walking towards the village road. "Let's go, let's see the real Fragrant Tree Village."
Pu Sang glanced at the two older men walking ahead, then at the dejected Zhou Yize, scratched his head, and quickly followed.
Wu Chou, carrying the peach wood sword, followed closely behind. He turned around, frowned, and said in a deep voice, "Aren't you coming? Aren't you afraid there are giant snakes in the forest again?"
Zhou Yize smiled wryly, "They're here."
He's a devoted lover too...
What's with the infatuation? He was the one who chose to go abroad in the first place; what's the point of discussing "what ifs" now?
[I've pointed this out... If Zhou Yize had really chosen not to go abroad for Jiang Nuo's sake back then, even if they had actually gotten together, every argument afterward would inevitably have included the line, "I gave up my future for you."]
Holy crap! That was a revelation!
Following their memories from the illusion, when they reached the intersection leading to Fragrant Tree Village, everyone froze in shock.
There was no warmth and coziness like in the dream world, no wooden houses and flowers, and no kind villagers.
There were only dilapidated houses and a group of people who looked ravaged.
And... corpse drivers.
Thank you, thank you all.
The leader of the corpse-drivers thanked them; Jiang Nuo had seen him in the illusion, Wang Simazi.
Jiang Nuo: "So your true demand is to destroy the dual illusion."
"It's... hard to say."
Wang Simazi sighed and shook his head, "Zombies exist simultaneously in both the illusion and reality, and have already been controlled by the Ghost King. Otherwise, those two little girls and the members of that organization who came to help wouldn't have... sigh."
"The two illusions will engulf reality at certain times, subjecting the surviving villagers in the real world to torture and slaughter."