Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
I exchanged a glance with my junior brother, both of us as confused as a monk who can't find his way. Just then, someone suddenly grabbed my shoulder from behind and lifted me up. The person seemed tall and strong, hoisting me like a chicken with effortless ease, lifting me higher and higher. At the same time, the cabin began to fill with mist, quickly obscuring everything below in a white haze…
It felt like I was trapped in a long dream, filled with repeated heart-pounding moments. When my vision finally cleared again, I saw a pair of familiar eyes, calm and unruffled…
Since parting ways at Emerald Villa, I had received no news about Cold Bench. It was as if he had evaporated from the world; no one even mentioned him. His appearances and disappearances were always so unexpected and silent, yet he always showed up when we needed help the most.
This trip to Sichuan had already been fraught with events before we even arrived; it was hardly a good omen, and the road ahead seemed likely to be even more difficult. However, if Cold Bench joined us, the situation would be vastly different. A strong thought suddenly struck me: regardless of his purpose for appearing this time, I had to find a way to keep him around. Even if he was reluctant to get involved, his presence would bolster our spirits along the way.
I looked around and realized we were still in our own cabin. A Li was sleeping on the bed opposite mine, Old Ge was on the upper bunk, and my junior brother was across from him. Each of them lay flat in identical positions: legs crossed and together, left hand resting on their left side, right hand placed over their hearts. It resembled some sort of initiation ritual—strange indeed.
Could it be… that I was still trapped in that illusion? Was this Cold Bench before me merely a figment of my imagination?
“What are you doing?” Cold Bench suddenly grasped my hand with an expressionless face. I snapped back to reality and realized that my hand had somehow found its way to his face without me noticing. I quickly withdrew my arm, feeling guilty as I stammered, “I was just testing to see if you were real… It seems we’re under some sort of spell, repeating the same actions over and over.”
As a friend of Old School master Cold Bench, I had grown accustomed to his sudden appearances and his mute nature—he wouldn’t speak unless prompted. Even in this illusion, I couldn’t waste the opportunity to seek his insight.
Cold Bench looked at me with exasperation before shifting his gaze to a bronze incense burner on the table. A faint wisp of blue smoke was still escaping from it, but it was so light that one could easily miss it. “You’re not under a spell; rather, you’ve fallen victim to an exceptionally sophisticated Illusionary Technique. This burner is what guided your Huan Ling.”
It was a small bronze incense burner about the size of half a palm, intricately engraved with flowing patterns resembling auspicious clouds. Looking down at it from above, the lid resembled the framework of an umbrella; the earlier blue smoke had emerged from the gaps in this framework but had now dissipated. When I opened the lid, I found it completely empty with no traces of burning whatsoever. Bringing it close to my nose revealed an extremely faint yet peculiar scent—something akin to Xian Cao but also slightly fishy… Could it be… blood?
There seemed to be a small bloodstain at the bottom of the burner, about the size of a fingernail. When I touched it with my finger, it truly felt like blood. Could it be that this Illusionary Technique’s catalyst involved actual blood?
I suddenly recalled that I had smelled the scent of Xian Cao before in the Dead Loop, but the smell of blood was not particularly prominent, even with so much blood flowing from my body. No wonder I always felt something was off; illusions are illusions, no matter how realistically they are simulated, they can never become real and will always reveal some flaw or another. It seems that this time, we have truly stepped out of the illusion.
Of course, these were my thoughts before I truly understood the Illusionary Technique.
The Illusionary Technique is one of our Errand Runner's Eight Great Skills, said to be a practice only achievable by those with extraordinary willpower, and there is an unwritten rule that it can only be passed down to women, not men.
As for the specifics, I am not entirely sure; my master rarely spoke to us about Shimen matters. This bit of knowledge I gleaned from sneaking a peek at my master's secret notes. However, since someone has used the Illusionary Technique on us now, it clearly indicates that someone from Shimen has appeared. Could it be… those people mentioned in Old Ge's letter?
Oh right, Old Ge's letter! I looked around and found a torn Data Bag beside my pillow. When I emptied it out, there indeed was Old Ge's letter. I breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, this matter was not conjured up by the Illusionary Realm; otherwise, it would have been a complete waste of effort and suffering.
At this point, my mind was racing. The only one who could be working against me like this was Old School. Moreover, in the illusion, Xia Zi Qian Yi clearly understood the jargon of Old School—this was irrefutable evidence.
So… could it be Third Granduncle Master's people or Shishu's?
No, it shouldn't be Third Granduncle Master's people. Third Granduncle Master has six disciples and A Chen as two apprentices; if either of them practiced the Illusionary Technique, my junior and I would have definitely fallen victim during our time in the Bagua Underground Palace. If I'm not mistaken, the six disciples should be Kan Liu and A Chen is Gen Qi. What are their skills like? As for this unfamiliar Shishu and his disciples… hmm, they seem to be the most suspicious. It appears that this time in Chuan, we will definitely confront them head-on.
I showed Old Ge's letter to Cold Bench and briefly shared my analysis with him. Since we are all in the same boat now, some information should be shared. After going through so many life-and-death situations together, I had complete trust in Cold Bench ’s skills and character; from him, I might uncover even more insider information—provided he was willing to share.
To my delight, Cold Bench surprisingly cooperated this time, almost answering every question without hesitation. It made me wonder once again whether this person before me was truly real or just an illusion of mine.
Well… that remains to be seen; for now, I'll just listen.
It turns out that the Illusionary Technique is also known as Summoning Technique—a highly profound skill. The Spirit Caller extracts memory fragments from human brainwaves using special medicinal catalysts to help construct a new world. In this world, everything you see with your naked eyes is refined and processed based on those memory fragments by the Spirit Caller. Therefore, within truth lies falsehood; within falsehood lies truth—what is real can also be false and vice versa. The higher the level of the Spirit Caller, the more refined and processed the illusion becomes, making it increasingly realistic.
The world's top-tier Spirit Callers can instantly synchronize the construction of illusions and the summoning of souls. The Illusionary Realm appears as if it has been directly copied and pasted from real life. Some individuals have been trapped within it for a lifetime, not realizing until their dying moments that they are in a virtual illusion, completely unaware that they are merely ephemeral spirits.
Once a mortal falls victim, their physical body automatically enters a dormant state, resembling the current state of A Li and the others—essentially like living corpses. Their souls can roam freely within the illusion, immortal and endlessly reincarnating. However, if the dormant body suffers any form of bloodshed, even a wound as small as a pinprick can be fatal. Therefore, very few Spirit Callers would personally enter the Illusionary Realm to kill; firstly, it is unnecessary, and secondly, the risks are too great. If the dormant body were to bleed, even if one possessed extraordinary abilities, they would only find themselves before Yama.
Suddenly, I thought of Xia Zi Qian Yi. This person was not part of my memories, and his presence severely disrupted the realistic effect created by the Illusionary Realm—he was practically a major bug in the system. Listening to Cold Bench now, could it be that Xia Zi Qian Yi is actually the Spirit Caller himself? But Cold Bench also understood that there was no need for such theatrics; if he wanted to kill me, wouldn’t it be easier to simply stab me in my physical body? Why risk entering the illusion?
Comment 0 Comment Count