The midday sun shone on the Mirrorwater Lake, making the water resemble a giant piece of glass, perfectly reflecting the vegetation on the shore and the clouds in the sky. Even the ripples caused by the wind carried symmetrical patterns—this was the "Fragment Land" indicated by the Crystal-Word Ruins 'Origin Stele. As the Youth Guardian Camp approached the lake shore, the Origin Key in A Mu's hand emitted a faint blue light, reflecting the scene at the bottom of the lake: a crystal platform shimmering with water, and an ancient tree entwined with green light—the very place where the two fragments of the Child Crystal Core were hidden.
Before he could get a closer look, the lake water suddenly rippled, and the scene before A Mu's eyes changed—he was standing by the Mist-Purifying Spring the Mist Swamp, a thick gray film floating on the surface of the spring, the Marshheart Sac shattered on the ground, Mist-Dwelling Insect flying around him but not daring to linger, A Ya squatting by the spring wiping away tears, and A Shi's clipboard lying in the mud. "How could this be..." A Mu reached out to help A Ya, but his fingertips passed through the illusion. When the ripples on the lake water subsided, the scene before him returned to the real Mirrorwater Lake, only his palms were clenched tightly, the regret from just now particularly real.
"Don't stare at the lake for too long, or you'll be haunted by ' Mirror Thought '!" A clear voice came from the reeds on the lake shore. Several people dressed in light blue linen clothes paddled closer in a canoe—they wore ornaments made of lake clam shells around their waists, and small water ripple totems stood at the bow of the boat. The girl in the lead had her hair in two buns, adorned with teardrop-shaped white crystals. Her A Jing, the guardian of the Mirror Water Clan. "This lake will reflect the 'imperfections' you care about most. Some people have been trapped in it for days and haven't woken up!"
A Jing's canoe was moored on the shore. She pointed to the center of the lake. "The 'shining things' (fragments of the Child Crystal Core ) you're looking for are one in the crystal platform at the bottom of the lake, and the other on the Memory Tree on the opposite shore—but the lake water around the crystal platform will display the illusion of 'failed protection,' Memory Tree will be entangled in the obsession of 'incompleteness,' making them difficult to obtain." As she spoke, she made a semi-circle, and faint ripples appeared on the water's surface as the canoe passed. "Our clan's ' Water-Ripple Truth-Guiding Method ' can break the illusions, but the elders say that outsiders' obsessions are too strong, and helping them will only bring trouble upon themselves."
Seeing A Mu's unusual behavior, Loran said softly, "We're not trying to 'eliminate' your obsession, but to 'understand' it." He turned to A Jing, "You taught us the Water-Ripple Truth-Guiding Method, and we'll help you reinforce the ' Illusion-Warding Stone ' by the lake—we noticed your totem was showing dark patterns earlier, so its anti-illusion power is probably running low."
A Jing's eyes lit up, and she immediately agreed, " The Illusion-Warding Stone are at the four corners of the lake shore. Each one needs to be soaked in lake water mixed with ' Mirrorheart Dew.' You help me reinforce them, and I'll take you to find the fragments!"
The group divided the tasks: A Shi followed A Jing to collect Mirrorheart Dew (transparent dewdrops condensed inside lake clam shells, which must be collected when the midday sun is strongest); A Ya used the Fragmentary Crystal Pattern Records to compare the crystal platform patterns reflected in the lake water and drew a "Route to Avoid Illusions" in the Crystal Pattern Record Book; A Mu held the Origin Key and tried to resonate with the energy of the lake water, while the Icefield Wolf guarded the shore, vigilant for possible illusion fluctuations.
The process of collecting Mirrorheart Dew was more difficult than imagined—the lake mussels hid in the crevices of the rocks at the bottom of the lake, and when you got close, the lake water would create an illusion of "collection failure": A Shi saw that all the data on his record board was wrong, A Jing saw the elder scolding her for not keeping a close eye on the Illusion-Warding Stone. "Don't panic, follow the water ripples!" A Jing took a deep breath and used her finger to draw water ripple patterns on the surface of the water. When the patterns lit up, the illusion was like mist blown away by the wind, and the lake mussel slowly opened its shell, revealing the Mirrorheart Dew inside.
Meanwhile, A Ya had also drawn up the route map—she marked the location of the crystal platform at the bottom of the lake on the map, and used different colored lines to mark the "highly illusory areas" (which need to be passed quickly) and "safe areas" (where one can stop briefly), and also wrote a reminder next to it, "When obsessions appear, say your companion's name three times." A Mu stood by the lake holding the key. The faint light of the key echoed the lake water, and the location of the crystal platform at the bottom of the lake became clearer and clearer. However, he would occasionally see illusions of the flame crystal clusters in the Flamelight Cave shattering. Each time he said the names " Loran, A Ya, A Shi," the illusions would fade away.
As the sun set, the Illusion-Warding Stone reinforcement was complete, and enough Mirrorheart Dew had been collected. A Jing paddled the canoe, leading A Mu and A Ya towards the crystal platform at the bottom of the lake, while A Shi and the Icefield Wolf remained on the shore, ready to provide backup. When the canoe reached the center of the lake, A Jing Mirrorheart Dew on the water pattern totem at the bow. The totem glowed with a pale blue light, drawing a safe passage on the lake's surface. "Follow the light, and don't touch the water outside the passage!"