"Brother, you said you would protect me, have you forgotten?"

  "Don't say that, tell me, how can I leave?"

  "Brother, why must you leave here? This is the real world. The things in your memories don't exist and aren't a real world. Where can you go?"

  "Haha, you say I'm under a nightmare spell, but this reality you speak of is full of illusions. All my memories are being told as false by you. How can you prove that you're not fake? How can you prove that I'm not still in the nightmare?" Chen Jing's voice was cold, all emotions had vanished.

  "Brother......" she wailed mournfully, Chen Jing only looked at her coldly, her tears falling onto the blade of the sword.

  "Brother, I can't prove it. If you think YuYu is fake, then kill YuYu. If YuYu doesn't die, then YuYu is indeed fake. If YuYu dies, then brother should believe YuYu's words. Just please don't forget the words you carved on the bamboo flute no matter what."

  She finished speaking and slowly closed her eyes, two lines of clear tears falling, Chen Jing was able to clearly see the trembling of her eyelashes.

  Chen Jing slowly closed his eyes, but in the instant he did, a brilliant light flashed, a faint hum of a sword sounded, and the sword had already pierced into the dark throat, black blood flowing down the blade.

  Her eyes were filled with shock and incredulity, and she slowly fell to the ground. Chen Jing stood stiffly in place, his sword trembling in his hand. In the instant that she fell, he had already rushed over to hold her, and though she was still breathing weakly, she struggled to grab onto Chen Jing's clothes with a feeble hand. Her lips parted, but no sound came out; however, from the shape of her mouth, Chen Jing could clearly see that she was saying: "Brother, I didn't deceive you."

  The colors in her eyes gradually dimmed, and from start to finish, there was no hint of resentment or grievance.

  Chen Jing couldn't believe she was actually dead, dead, how could this be possible. But she really was dead, her body temperature slowly dropping, her body stiffening in Chen Jing's arms, the only thing that remained unchanged was this world.

  Youyou was hidden by Chen Jing himself and buried in the empty land in front of the wooden house. The bamboo flute was also buried in the soil with him.

  "Borrowing a clear sound from nature, I grant you eternal joy." The words on the bamboo flute, Chen Jing looked at each one, and his heart felt an inexplicable discomfort.

  Looking at the mound of raised earth, he didn't know whether or not he should set up a monument, and even if he did, he wouldn't know what words to inscribe on it.

  He told himself that it was all just an illusion, a very high-level illusion. But no matter how he thought about it, no matter how he silently recited to himself that it was all fake, his heart kept recalling the look in Youyou's eyes as she died. As time passed, this feeling grew heavier and heavier, to the point where he couldn't even cultivate anymore. A nameless irritation arose in his heart, a nameless resentment, and there was always a desire to destroy everything in front of him.

  After sitting in meditation, calming his mind and nourishing his spirit to no avail, he left the wooden hut, carrying with him the sword with a clear crack, and the book that he had brought out from the grand hall. The name of this book was "Summoning Wind and Rain", a name that was all too familiar to both mortals and gods alike. Chen Jing hadn't expected it to be this particular book, and after glancing at the cover, he didn't bother to look at its contents again. Summoning wind and rain might have been a divine feat for ordinary people, but for a god like Chen Jing, it was nothing special.

  Although it's not a powerful spell, he didn't want to give it up. When he returned to the mortal world, people would be able to summon wind and rain if they prayed for rain.

  Chen Jing went forward all the way, and when he turned his head back, a strong gust of wind had risen behind him, and the wooden house was already submerged in the wind and smoke. He didn't go back to see if the wooden house was still there in the wind and smoke, but suddenly rose into the air and soared up to the ninth heaven.

  Before long, I had arrived at the clouds and was standing on a white cloud looking out over the world. Suddenly, in the distance, a black tornado was approaching, bringing darkness to all it passed. Everything that was once clear and bright was swallowed up, and in an instant, what was originally a bright and sunny world became a world of howling winds and eerie shadows.

  Chen Jing did not dodge, letting the black wind engulf him. As the black wind swept past, he surprisingly didn't feel any wind, and was exceptionally calm. Only the heavens were changing, in the dimness, it seemed like there were people everywhere, but trying to look clearly only made them unrecognizable. Looking up at the sky again, it had already become a vast darkness, without starlight or moonlight, just like when Ye Qingxue took him flying outside the city walls that time.

  "Is this really the true face of Qin Guangcheng?"

  Chen Jing was overjoyed and immediately flew up into the sky.

  The joy of being able to go out diluted the feeling of torture in his heart. He felt more and more that he was wrong, but no matter what, he couldn't shake off that uncomfortable feeling.

  He can't quite put his finger on that feeling, but every day he silently repeats to himself that it's all just an illusion, nothing is real, and everything in this world is just a fantasy. But there's no use in thinking about it. His heart often rises with a sense of frustration. When this feeling comes, his whole body feels uncomfortable. This discomfort doesn't come from his body, but from the depths of his heart.

  Now he can finally leave, how could it not make him feel delighted?

  Chen Jingzheng soared into the pitch-black night sky of the ninth heaven, at least in his heart, the direction above his head was the exit. Along the way, he flew and hid, his feet treading on darkness as if stepping on a solid surface, as if stepping on an invisible heavenly ladder to ascend to the nine heavens' spiritual evening.

  Step by step, he walked straight ahead. He didn't look back and didn't know how long he had been walking when he felt his energy was exhausted. Only then did he realize that he was still in the darkness. Turning his head around, he couldn't see the ground below or the sky above, and he didn't know how much longer it would take to leave this place. All around him, there were still vague shadows and eerie whispers. Suddenly, he realized that he seemed not to have moved a single step, or perhaps he had left that location but couldn't tell the difference.

  Suddenly remembered that when he was taken away by his senior sister Ye Qingxue, it seemed that even if he flew for a long time, he couldn't get out. In the end, under the illumination of the five-colored millet light, he arrived at the city gate in an instant. His heart still vaguely remembered that Jiang Liuyun had recited the two words "Break Illusion" at that time.

  "Perhaps, Ye Shijie has already arrived at the city gate." Chen Jing thought to himself, then sat down to recover his spiritual energy. As soon as his spiritual energy was restored, he flew up into the sky again, step by step, treading on empty air, flying like a moth in the night, rushing towards the faint light in his heart.

  Chen Jing didn't feel like a moth lost in the dark, his heart only thinking of going up a bit more to reach the top of the city. Time and time again he exhausted his magic, time and time again he plunged into the darkness.

  "River God, why are you still here?"

  Chen Jing was meditating when he suddenly heard a sentence in his ear. The title of "River God" had not been called out for so long that Chen Jing could no longer remember, and it was almost forgotten. Looking towards the source of the sound, a woman stood quietly there, wearing a white paper flower on her head, with black hair hanging down, making her look like a white paper flower in the darkness. In the dark, Chen Jing could see her clearly.

  He was thinking in his heart who this person was, but he only felt familiar and couldn't think of it no matter how hard he tried. He furrowed his brow and thought with all his might, but found that his past memories were extremely vague. Even when he thought of some things, he felt in his heart that they weren't real.

  "Xu Ling has seen the River God!" The woman stood a zhang away, slightly bowed her body, and made a profound bow.

  Chen Jing's memories of the virtual spirit were like a dusty bluestone slab, with the dust blown away by the wind, revealing the words on its surface.

  "It's you!" Chen Jing was delighted in his heart, but the voice that came out surprised even himself, stiff and piercing. He wanted to smile, but found that his face seemed to be frozen.

  The spirit didn't draw near, with a look of surprise and scrutiny in his eyes, and only spoke after a while: "Can the River God still remember me?"

  "Of course I remember you!" Chen Jing said with a frown.

  "The River God may remember me, but it should be a feeling like a fragment of a dream." The virtual spirit stood there motionless, its entire body covered with a soft white mist.

  Chen Jing stared intently at Xuleng, slightly startled in his heart, and immediately replied: "What else do you know?"

  Xu Ling smiled faintly and said, "River God, I'll show you something." She then pulled out a mirror from her bosom. Continuing, she said, "River God, this is a mirror that I stole from the Qin Guang Wang Fu. Although it doesn't have the ability to reflect the entire world, it can reflect the true source of things. No matter what kind of demon or monster's disguise, as long as they are reflected in the mirror, their original appearance will be revealed."

  Chen Jing's heart slightly stirred, and he asked in doubt: "Is there something wrong with my appearance?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he thought that so many people didn't recognize him anymore. Had his appearance really changed?

  At this point, Chen Jing was about to walk over, but as soon as he moved his foot, the spirit retreated a few steps and said: "River God, can you stand there without moving?" Chen Jing was slightly stunned, feeling annoyed in his heart, but he suppressed it and said: "Alright, I'll stand here, unmoving."

  "Please, River God, you must calm your spirit and steady your mind. No matter what you see, you must keep your heart and soul still. If not, perhaps this will be the last time we meet."

  Chen Jing furrowed his brow, but his heart was impatient and urged: "Alright, I know, you follow me, I want to see what can be taken." As soon as he finished speaking, Xū Líng put the black mirror in his hand into his bosom, shook his head and said: "The River God's mind is restless, his heart is uneasy, I cannot let the River God look. The River God has saved my life, how can I harm the River God?" After finishing speaking, he slowly retreated, and in just a few steps, he was about to disappear into the darkness.

  "Wait."

  The void spirit stopped as soon as it heard the voice, and Chen Jing said: "You wait there, after I calm down, you can show me again." He forcibly suppressed the killing intent that was surging up in his heart, and immediately thought that he might have really made a big mistake. He also understood that the void spirit must have sensed the killing intent, which is why it retreated, although the void spirit did not leave again, nor did it take another step closer.