Zhuang Zhou Dreams of a Butterfly

For the next period of time, Xiao Yu stayed at this manor.

Overall, he has a relatively free range of activities; as long as he doesn't leave the manor, he can do whatever he wants.

The estate boasts a wide variety of delicious food and fine wines, is surrounded by beautiful women, and offers a full range of entertainment facilities. One can enjoy swimming, playing ball, or reading books – life is incredibly pleasant.

If you have any needs, just tell the manor's butler, and they will buy it for you quickly.

Instead of spending all day lying in a gaming pod playing games, breathing more and exercising more, this kind of life doesn't seem so bad.

At first, Xiao Yu was a little worried. He was worried about what was happening outside, whether Chenghong Moli and the others could find him, and whether the true purpose of the Moha Religion was not so simple.

However, the human body's ability to adapt is indeed incredibly strong. After staying for more than a month, Xiao Yu's worries gradually disappeared. Just as a philosopher once said, life is like being raped; since you can't resist, just enjoy it.

In this way, Xiao Yu simply treated this imprisonment as a vacation, since he had no other choice anyway.

Of course, he sometimes thought about escaping, but after observing for a long time, he discovered that the manor was not only not in the city, but also seemed to be in some mountainous area. What was most dangerous was that the entire manor was guarded by dozens of fully armed gunmen. Xiao Yu was quite self-aware; with his combat strength, it was better not to try to escape easily.

Meanwhile, the old man named Forrest would occasionally come to see him and discuss topics such as theology and the virtual world. They would also observe each other's state and reactions, so life wasn't boring.

Slowly and leisurely, before we knew it, another three months had passed.

However, just as Xiao Yu was gradually getting used to this leisurely life, something unusual caught his attention.

"One hundred and ninety-seven, one hundred and ninety-eight, one hundred and ninety-nine, two hundred!"

Xiao Yu got up from the ground and wiped the sweat from his brow.

He can do two hundred push-ups in one go, something he never dared to dream of before, but now he has done it. It's an amazing improvement.

However, Xiao Yu was not happy.

He didn't know when it started, but he vaguely felt that something was wrong with his life. He always felt hungry, and no matter how much food he ate, it was hard to satisfy his appetite. It was as if all the food turned into nothing after entering his mouth.

No matter how much rest he got, he couldn't regain his energy; he seemed incredibly weak.

This persistent illusion made Xiao Yu increasingly uneasy.

At this moment, he had this feeling: although he could do two hundred push-ups in one go, the feeling of weakness did not disappear.

"Perhaps eating something will make me feel better," he thought as he walked into the living room. The manor's waiters had already prepared lunch, as lavish as ever.

After each workout, he would have a huge appetite, and today was no exception. He devoured a large steak, a dozen shrimp balls, various snacks and fruits, and drank a large glass of wine.

However, the food did not satisfy Xiao Yu. Although he felt full, the feeling of emptiness lingered.

It's like how you can eat a lot and never feel full.

He looked at the food on the plate with suspicion, vaguely sensing that something was amiss.

Where did this feeling come from? He couldn't figure it out.

Sometimes he would suspect that the other person had poisoned his food, but he was completely powerless to resist, so there was no point in them doing so.

Damn it, something must be wrong.

Caw! Caw! Caw! It was that damned cawing of crows again. Xiao Yu looked around, but couldn't see any birds of prey.

"Mr. Xiao, are you satisfied with today's lunch?" the waitress asked softly.

"It's nothing, I'm just a little tired."

Xiao Yu put down his knife and fork, turned and walked towards the living room. Once inside, Xiao Yu lay down on the sofa and drifted off to sleep.

Amidst the sound of war drums, Xiao Yu found himself standing in a desolate wilderness, surrounded by crisp wild grass and flowers. The sun shone brightly in the sky, a rainbow stretched across the horizon, and the air was filled with the freshness of rain.

Xiao Yu walked through the meadow with some surprise, wondering how he had ended up here again.

At that moment, a deep voice echoed in the air, sounding very familiar.

"Your time is running out, Azathoth."

As the sound rang out, the sky suddenly darkened, the rainbow disappeared, dark clouds covered the horizon, and the surrounding vegetation withered and turned to Ashes in the gale. In the blink of an eye, the yellow sand beneath the grass was exposed, flying in all directions amidst the howling wind.

"The Sands of Time have flowed away, the horns of war are about to sound, and the signs of doomsday are already imminent," the voice continued to chant.

Xiao Yu felt the ground beneath his feet suddenly begin to tremble. Not far away, a huge crack suddenly appeared out of thin air, splitting the ground in two, and yellow sand rushed into the crack.

Xiao Yu felt a surge of fear. What on earth was going on?

"The false appearances have blinded you; it's time to break down the barrier before you."

Xiao Yu felt his foot slip, and as the yellow sand fell into the crevice, he grabbed a protruding rock at the edge of the crevice and hung there in fear.

"Abandon your ignorant human instincts, see through the truth of this world! Your destiny awaits you, Azathoth; this will be your last chance!"

With that sound, a gigantic raven suddenly appeared before Xiao Yu's eyes. Its figure, taller than a person, exuded an oppressive aura. The raven's massive beak slammed down, splattering blood and flesh onto Xiao Yu's hand that was gripping the rock. Xiao Yu felt a sharp pain in his hand, lost his grip, and plummeted into the Abyss.

Falling -- Falling -- Until --

"Ah!" he screamed, jolting up from the sofa. He then realized it was just a dream, and he was actually sitting perfectly fine on the bed.

He felt a cold sweat break out on his chest. The terrifying scene was so clear and so realistic that for a moment, he really thought he was going to die.

"Thank goodness, it was just a dream—just a dream."

Xiao Yu muttered to himself, when suddenly an idea struck him. He rushed out of the villa and looked outside. The bright sky was no different from usual.

Dreams, ravens, death, waking from a dream, Medivh, Azathoth, fate, the last chance. He kept repeating the words that popped into his mind.

"It was just a dream," he murmured to himself, a sudden realization flashing in his eyes.

He suddenly stood up from the bed, dragging his weary body, and walked outside.

"Ah, Mr. Xiao, how did you sleep?" The old man named Forrest was sitting at the dining table, looking at him with a smile.

"Not really. Lately, I've had a strange feeling, and I have a question."

"Doubt? What doubt?" the old man asked with a smile.

"I wonder if Mr. Forrest has heard the story of Zhuangzi's dream of the butterfly?"

No, I don't know what it's about.

Xiao Yu shook his head. "It's nothing. I just suddenly had a feeling. To be honest, thank you very much for your hospitality these past few days, but I'm afraid I must take my leave."

"So where do you plan to go?" the old man asked, Xiao Yu.

"Of course I'm going home," Xiao Yu said matter-of-factly, walking over to the old man as he spoke.

"I'm afraid you can't leave yet."

"That's not up to you," Xiao Yu said, picking up a knife from the table without warning.

"You can't escape," the old man smiled at Xiao Yu, looking at the knife in Xiao Yu's hand. "You think you can threaten me with just this little fruit knife? This manor is full of snipers. If I give the order, you're dead. Besides, I don't think you really dare to lay a hand on me. If you kill me, you definitely won't survive either."

Xiao Yu smiled slightly, "If you wanted to kill me, you would have done it already, wouldn't you?"

As Xiao Yu spoke, he suddenly plunged the knife into the old man's chest.

Thud! Blood splattered as the knife plunged deep into the old man's chest. Forrest stared at Xiao Yu in disbelief, "Why—why!"

"Of course, it's just in case. If I'm wrong, at least I can take someone down with me—for the sake of both of us. I hope I'm not wrong."

As Xiao Yu spoke, he plunged the knife directly into his own chest.

A sharp pain shot through him; Xiao Yu felt a suffocating pain.

"Damn it, I must be going crazy," he thought to himself. As blood flowed out, he collapsed to the ground, his vision going black as a result of excessive blood loss. His vision went black, as if he were falling into Endless Abyss.

A flash of white light appeared before my eyes.

Xiao Yu found himself in a space that was both strange and familiar.

This is the login screen for "War of the Gods"?

As expected, Xiao Yu breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't guessed wrong; he had indeed been in a game. But when had he gotten into the game?

Before Xiao Yu could figure out the problem, a piercing alarm sounded.

System: Warning, warning, your vital signs are abnormal. Please exit the game immediately.

This time, Xiao Yu immediately remembered why this was happening. He had been in that game for four or five months, and since the game was synchronized with real time, he had been in the game pod for almost half a year. Although his game pod was a deluxe one with life support, it could only hold him for a maximum of three months at a time.

I had obviously stayed for more than a month without nutrient solution.

"Exit the game!" he shouted hastily.

The scene before him changed again. He was logged out of the login screen, and this time, he saw the game pod lid again. A red warning sign was flashing on the display screen. He struggled to push open the game pod lid, feeling incredibly weak all over.

Looking at the nutrient solution container, it had long since dried up, probably because it hadn't been replenished in a long time. Luckily, energy consumption was extremely low during gameplay, and the game pod, while supposed to last three months, actually had a certain reserve; otherwise, I would have starved to death long ago.

He struggled to his feet from the gaming pod, and immediately noticed that Chenghong Moli's gaming pod was also sounding an alarm.

(Damn it, this girl must be trapped too.)

He climbed out of the gaming pod and pressed the emergency wake-up function outside the Chenghong Moli gaming pod, forcibly opening it.

With Dudu pleasant Dudu, the Chenghong Moli's game pod was opened.

"Oh my god, darling, what happened? I was just talking to you—?"

Chenghong Moli also climbed out of the game pod with a bewildered look on her face. She looked at Xiao Yu and tried to climb out of the game pod, but failed.

"Call Old Li right now!" Xiao Yu shouted, "We've been scammed!"

A wave of doubt washed over me. She called me "darling"? What was that all about?

Fortunately, making a phone call doesn't require much effort.

Ten minutes later, agents from the National Guard Bureau filled Xiao Yu's living room. Xiao Yu was lying on the sofa, drinking a bottle of nutrient solution under the care of paramedics.

Because he spent a long time in the gaming pod and lacked nutritional supplements, he is now in a state of severe dehydration and weakness.

Despite her weakness, Chenghong Moli immediately reported her work progress to Old Li after receiving some nutrient solution.

"I never expected something like this to happen." Old Li was also shocked after hearing Chenghong Moli's words. "So, what exactly happened?"

"I think I know why," Xiao Yu suddenly said, and seeing everyone looking at him, he explained as he thought about it.

Xiao Yu had now figured out what had happened during this period of time.

Clearly, he had entered a virtual world that simulated reality. Since he appeared on the login screen of the War of the Gods after his death, it was obvious that the world he was in before was a game program built into the War of the Gods. This reminded him of Earth Online that Li Mingfei had told him about, except that Earth Online simulated Earth in the 21st century, while what he had entered was a virtual world that imitated the real Earth, or it could be called "Earth Online 2.0".

Moreover, this game program clearly has a built-in link with the War of the Gods. When I exited the War of the Gods game, the system automatically connected me to this "Earth Online 2.0", and I then treated "Earth Online 2.0" as the real world.

In this virtual reality, I completely treated the game as reality, which led to the series of events that occurred before. Whether it was Esmeralda's advances and betrayal, or Old Li's death, they were all just a smokescreen by the Moha Religion.

No wonder I encountered Esmeralda when I attacked the temple of the Goddess of Magic. I was wondering how I could run into an old friend in such a big game like War of the Gods. It seems that everything was arranged.

Now that Old Li has appeared before him unharmed, it's clear that Esmeralda hasn't had any of the things that happened between them before.

"These guys really know how to play games," Xiao Yu thought resentfully.

They imprisoned him, made him believe he couldn't leave, and he foolishly stayed in that virtual manor for half a year, almost killing himself, if it weren't for Medivh's warning in a dream--

No wonder Medivh turned into a crow to try and kill himself; he probably only managed to escape the game that way.

As he pondered this in his mind, he recounted his guess.

"So that's what happened," Old Li said with a grave expression. "This Moha Religion's conspiracy is truly difficult to guard against. But thankfully, you two are both awake now. Next, it's our turn to make our move."