novelraw Chapter 592: The Illusion
Chapter 592: The Illusion
Unfortunately, his brother caught a fever due to the rain and developed pneumonia.
Because Li Kian wanted to hide the truth, he didn’t report his brother’s condition on time to his parents and by the time it was discovered, it was already too late.
Even after being taken to the hospital, his brother couldn’t be saved.
Li Kian always blamed himself for Xiao Jun’s death.
From that time, he stopped playing like other children and even joined the military at a very young age.
It felt as if he was punishing himself for his brother’s death or atoning for his mistake.
Yet, now seeing his younger brother, tears began streaming down his face uncontrollably.
Li Kian watched as his younger brother stopped in front of him and smiled at him brilliantly while still panting.
"You promised to take me out to play," he said, pouting.
"Why didn’t you come?"
Li Kian’s mind went blank.
How could his younger brother still be alive? How could he be here?
No, this wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.
His younger brother had been dead for over a decade.
But everything felt so real.
He reached out to touch his brother and felt the warmth under his fingers.
He was real. His brother was still alive.
"...I..." his lips parted slightly, quivering. Not knowing what to say.
And for a brief moment, he dropped his guard.
At the same time, on the other side, Chu Hao stood in a completely different scene.
The desert was gone.
Instead, he was back in his office before the apocalypse.
The familiar scent of coffee lingered in the air.
Documents were neatly stacked on the desk.
The city skyline stretched beyond the glass window.
"...No way," he muttered.
Then, the door opened and their father walked in dressed sharply in a business suit.
He looked exactly as he had before the apocalypse.
"You’re slacking off again," the man said with a frown. "We need to close the deal on the mall construction in the city center."
Chu Hao froze.
"...Dad?"
"Who else would it be?" the man replied, annoyed by his son’s tardiness.
"Stop daydreaming and get back to work."
Chu Hao stared at him for a long time without saying a word.
Just what was happening?
Did the apocalypse end? Or did they go to a parallel world?
This was what he had lost.
The normal life of getting scolded in the office and the responsibilities.
The moments he never appreciated enough before.
"...If I stay here..." he whispered.
Everything could go back to the way they were.
Meanwhile, Gu Fan found himself surrounded by darkness and endless cold and silence.
A figure appeared.
Someone he had once trusted, but one who had betrayed him.
"You’re still too weak," the figure said coldly.
Gu Fan’s fists clenched tightly to his sides.
"...Not this again." he muttered under his breath.
"You couldn’t protect anyone before," the figure continued.
"And you still can’t do it now."
This was the person he hated the most in his life.
It was the person who had taken everything from him overnight.
Gu Fan was an orphan, but his family had been murdered by a fugitive.
It was the reason he became an elite soldier.
To catch fugitives and protect the weak.
His family had been wiped out one night when he was nine years old.
He couldn’t fight and his parents hid him in a secret compartment in their wardrobe.
He wasn’t strong enough to protect himself or his family back then.
But now, he wasn’t that weakling anymore.
He could protect whoever he wanted to protect.
On Chu Miao’s side, she stood still.
Her surroundings had changed too.
But unlike the others who were surprised by the change in environment, her expression remained calm.
She was standing in a battlefield, one she knew too well.
It was in the Immortal Realm.
The sky was filled with lightning and the ground was soaked in blood.
Countless figures lay fallen around her. All of them were either immortals or high-level demons.
And at the center, she saw herself.
Or rather,her past self.
She was standing alone facing an overwhelming number of enemies.
This was the moment before her fall.
"...So what’s the use of showing me this again?" Chu Miao murmured.
Her gaze didn’t waver.
"This illusion..." she started, "...is too shallow."
"You failed," a voice echoed in every corner of the battlefield.
"You lost everything, and you died."
Chu Miao closed her eyes briefly before opening them again.
They were still calm and clear.
"Yes, I did. But I had a realm to protect back then and now, I have people to protect. I will protect them even if I have to die again."
The battlefield suddenly began to crack like glass shattering.
Crack!!!
The illusion collapsed.
Chu Miao’s eyes snapped open and the desert returned.
The scorching heat burned again.
Her expression changed instantly.
"Everyone!"
She moved without hesitation.
Her figure flashed across the sand.
The others were still standing still with their eyes unfocused.
Their expressions were trapped in different emotions.
Everyone was still caught in an illusion.
She wanted to help, but knew that she couldn’t.
If she tried to forcefully wake them up, it might hurt their sea of consciousness.
Moreover, this trial was also good for their cultivation.
It was helping them to eliminate their inner demons.
She hadn’t expected that after some tempering, they would have to face their inner demons.
But now, if they passed this test, their dao heart would become stronger.
Ye Xuan was the second to wake up.
His eyes were sharp when he broke the illusion. One could imagine what kind of place he had been thrown into.
The others began to wake up.
Li Kian staggered back, his breathing uneven.
"...It felt so real..."
Chu Hao rubbed his face, forcing himself to focus.
"...That was cruel."
The others also woke up slowly.
They realized that if they stayed in those illusions any longer, their dao hearts could have been damaged permanently.
"Stay alert everyone. Don’t let your guard down." Ye Xuan warned everyone before they resumed their journey.