Chapter 245: Illusion

Chapter 245 -244: Illusion

Everyone was startled awake.

A squirrel was scurrying and leaping about on top of a storage shelf.

The squirrel sent Ye Zheng into a frenzy. She lunged at it wildly! With a loud CLANG, the shelf slammed against the wall, its metal partitions bending and warping from the explosive force!

But the squirrel was unharmed. It was like a nearly-real holographic projection. No matter how frantically Ye Zheng attacked, she couldn’t touch it in the slightest! This only fueled her rage even more!

If this continued, Ye Zheng would be driven mad!

Feng Ling hesitated no longer. She immediately unleashed her Spiritual Suppression to restrain Ye Zheng’s movements. At the same time, she dashed to the first-aid kit, grabbed a sedative, tore it from its packaging with lightning speed, and whirled around to give Ye Zheng an injection.

Ye Zheng was pinned to the floor, her head straining upward, her bloodshot eyes glaring viciously at the squirrel on the shelf.

As the sedative took effect, her muscles began to relax, her anger gradually subsided, and the expression on her face went numb.

Feng Ling let out a sigh of relief and finally released her grip. She looked back at the squirrel on the shelf. Not only was it completely unaffected by her Spiritual Suppression, but it even hopped down a level, continuing to linger in Ye Zheng’s line of sight.

“What the hell is this thing?” Feng Ling frowned and stood up to ask Li Qing, only to find everyone else staring wide-eyed at something behind her.

Feng Ling’s freshly relaxed nerves tensed up again. She dropped into a low crouch, leaped forward a step, and as she spun around, a Bone Blade shot out from her spine in a horizontal sweep!

When she got a clear look at what was behind her, she was so shocked she blurted out, “Wind Mother?!”

She was actually seeing the Wind Mother from the orphanage!

The Bone Blade sliced through the Wind Mother’s body, but there was no feeling of impact, like cutting through air.

‘An illusion?’

‘A ghost?’

Feng Ling was beginning to understand Ye Zheng’s breakdown.

Someone who was already dead was now standing right before her, alive and well. Even though she knew in her heart it was fake, the panic and helplessness that flared up in that instant were very real.

“Feng Ling! Don’t be fooled!” Li Qing raised his voice. “The Maze Master’s mark carries resentment. These things are likely created when that resentment enters your consciousness and manifests your deepest fears!”

Feng Ling stared fixedly at the Wind Mother, slowly backing away one step at a time.

“I know it’s fake, I know…” she murmured, unable to tear her eyes away from the Wind Mother.

It just looked so real, exactly like the Wind Mother from her memories.

Huangfu Miaomiao couldn’t help but ask, “She doesn’t look scary. Why is Feng Ling afraid?”

Feng Ling slowed her breathing, glanced down at Huangfu Miaomiao, and smiled wryly. “Of course I’m not scared now, but I was terrified of her as a child.”

Xu Yiming also asked, “Feng Ling, who is she?”

“The director of the orphanage,” Feng Ling explained briefly. “She took good care of me when I was little.”

After she finished, she asked Li Qing, “Is there any way to make these illusions disappear?”

Li Qing shook his head. “There’s no way for now. However, mark-type abilities are all temporary, so these illusions will disappear sooner or later.”

Feng Ling looked at the Wind Mother again, her feelings a complicated mess.

She was an adult now, so of course she wouldn’t be scared by a fake illusion. But this illusion was so real that the pressure it exuded was no less than having her strictest teacher from school standing behind her.

She now felt a restrictive sense of being watched, and it was deeply uncomfortable.

“Whoever designed this ability is a real piece of work,” Feng Ling said, frustrated.

Li Qing hesitated, then said, “You… can just think of them as the physical manifestation of the mark. Try your best to ignore them.”

Feng Ling felt that was easy for him to say. She pointed at Ye Zheng and asked Li Qing, “Why don’t you try telling her to ignore the squirrel?”

Li Qing was speechless.

The squirrel was, without a doubt, the source of Ye Zheng’s lifelong trauma. How could she possibly ignore it?

By the same token, the mark had dug up Feng Ling’s own trauma. It would be incredibly difficult for her to remain calm.

Xu Yiming spoke up hesitantly. “So, are we still heading out? Or should we wait for the marks to disappear before we move?”

Feng Ling pressed a hand to her forehead, a headache coming on. “Daoist, what’s the longest a mark can last?”

Li Qing seemed to know his answer wouldn’t please Feng Ling, and his voice was faint. “I’m not sure. The longest-lasting mark abilities can persist for seven days.”

Feng Ling looked up at the ceiling, her fists clenched tight.

“We can’t wait that long.” She took a deep breath, forcing herself not to let her gaze linger on the Wind Mother’s illusion.

“Once Zhengzheng recovers, we’re leaving,” Feng Ling said.

Xu Yiming silently set down the backpack he had just shouldered.

It would be at least two or three hours before the effects of the sedative wore off.

Li Qing righted the toppled shelf and began cleaning up the shattered debris. Seeing this, Xu Yiming joined in to help.

Feng Ling put her arms under Ye Zheng’s and moved her to a clean spot.

The squirrel hopped along beside them, irritating Feng Ling to no end. She had a strong urge to stomp on it.

But such an act would be meaningless. You couldn’t touch an illusion.

She sat down next to Ye Zheng, feeling utterly exasperated.

Huangfu Miaomiao sat down too, sighing softly. “She was fine yesterday. Then she goes to sleep and wakes up crazy again. Ugh.”

Nearby, Li Qing thought to himself, ‘You just had to go and touch a sore spot, didn’t you?’

Feng Ling leaned back, resting her arms on her knees. The slightest lift of her eyelids was enough to see the illusion pacing in front of her—

Just like the Wind Mother from her memories, who would call disobedient children into her office, pace back and forth in front of them, her gaze locked tightly on their faces like a silent judgment, and then, out of the blue, select some “lucky” child to be locked up in the dark room.

‘I don’t know how it’s technically possible. If this scene is a projection from my own mind, why can everyone else see it too?’

Feng Ling lowered her gaze, trying her best not to look, not to think.

But that thought was like telling her brain not to think of an elephant.

She kept feeling like the Wind Mother was watching her, scolding and criticizing her with just her eyes!

“What the hell… Stop staring at me! I didn’t do anything wrong this time! I didn’t do anything wrong!” Feng Ling muttered to herself in frustration.

Although she was talking to herself, her voice wasn’t quiet, and the others couldn’t help but exchange glances.

Li Qing watched Feng Ling with concern.

Ye Zheng’s condition was already unstable, and now she was like this. If Feng Ling was also provoked into having some sort of mental breakdown, what hope was there for their journey through the Maze?

Huangfu Miaomiao was worried too, but mostly for herself. She saw Feng Ling through a thick filter of admiration, believing that Feng Ling could never be defeated.

“I wonder what illusion would appear if I got marked…” Huangfu Miaomiao said in a small voice. “I’m scared of a lot of things.”

Hearing this, Xu Yiming nodded in agreement. “If you ask me, nothing is as scary as being poor. But if the mark brought out my biggest trauma, it would probably be a big goose. My neighbor’s big white goose when I was a kid was an absolute childhood nightmare.”

Feng Ling snorted with laughter.

Li Qing gave Huangfu Miaomiao and Xu Yiming an encouraging look. ‘Yes, good. You two, keep talking. Distract her!’ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮