Chapter Fifty-Three: Illusions Born from the Heart

  In an instant, I seemed to have a flash of insight and thought of Zhang Yandong. I suddenly thought of something - Zhang Yandong must have also experienced the same thing as me, being gnawed by countless evil spirits, seeing himself being torn apart, under the pain and mental torture, finally ending his own life with a knife to his head. Of course, it's also possible that he was trying to kill the evil spirits but ended up killing himself instead. However, regardless of whether my guess is correct or not, I thought of something - when I came in, the Zhang Yandong I saw was intact, except for the few cuts on him, at least he didn't lack arms or legs. If we experienced the same thing, then I shouldn't have been torn apart either. This means that everything I experienced must be an illusion, yes, it should be an illusion.

  My spirit suddenly shook, if it was an illusion, then it meant I wasn't dead yet. Although the pain was still stimulating my nerves, my thoughts were still there. Enduring this pain, I closed my eyes and told myself that I really existed, otherwise why would the pain continue? It was indeed an illusion, or else I would have long been unaware of the pain. I had to break free from the current situation, took a deep breath, gritted my teeth and struggled violently, swinging the dagger and killing many more evil spirits. However, the evil spirits still didn't seem to decrease in number, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of despair in my heart.

  Wait a minute - if I wasn't swallowed by the evil spirits, then all these feelings should be fake. If they're fake, then there shouldn't be so many evil spirits, and I shouldn't feel like I'm stuck in the mud, unable to move. It must be that way, the evil spirits are deceiving my senses. I closed my eyes and kept telling myself in my heart that everything was fake. Slowly controlling myself not to think about anything, not looking or thinking, the physical pain seemed to really disappear.

  I don't know how long it took, but I finally let out a breath and slowly opened my eyes. The evil spirits were still dancing in the cave, countless evil spirits filled the entire cave, but I was still me, with no missing arms or legs, nor had I been gnawed at, not even a single drop of blood. I was still alive, so everything that happened earlier was just an illusion.

  With this thread of enlightenment, all the evil spirits passed through my body, but I couldn't feel a hint of pain anymore. At that moment, I finally let out a long sigh of relief and felt a chill run down my entire body, not from the cold wind, but from a cold sweat. As I caught my breath, I felt a sticky discomfort, but it didn't matter. The key was that I seemed to have exhausted all my energy, my legs were going limp, and I finally sat down on the ground with a thud.

  Panting heavily, I closed my eyes and ignored everything, just wanting to rest for a while. As the saying goes, "out of sight, out of mind," if I didn't look at those things, I wouldn't have so many feelings. Otherwise, even knowing it was an illusion, it would still make me anxious in my heart, and subconsciously want to be more careful, afraid of these evil spirits.

  As I sat down, panting heavily, staring at the computer screen in the cave entrance, Li Xiaoman furrowed her brow. What had just happened? At first, she saw me like a madman, just like Zhang Yandong's situation, frantically chopping and killing something, looking like a demon, and continuously screaming. Li Xiaoman sighed inwardly at that time, thinking I would also die miserably inside like Zhang Yandong. She was worried about how to get in, but unexpectedly, I suddenly stopped moving. Then, after a while, I sat back down on the ground, looking like I had exhausted myself, constantly wiping away sweat.

  "What's going on? Li Xiaoman really wanted to know the answer, but she just called out in a low voice: "Liu Hai, Liu Hai, did you hear me? Quick, answer me, what happened?"

  I didn't hear Li Xiaoman's call, because all I could hear from the headphones were wails and howls of ghosts, my mind was filled with such sounds, maybe I should leave this damn cave, go out and think of a way later, fortunately I'm no longer afraid of these evil spirits now, knowing they can't harm me.

  I lifted my foot to head towards the entrance, wanting to get out as soon as possible. But unexpectedly, after just two steps, the scene in front of me suddenly changed dramatically. I found myself standing on a vast expanse of desolate wilderness. The dark sky was overcast with clouds, and the endless wasteland was dotted with withered trees and countless graves. Many of the graves had been dug up, and human skulls were scattered all around. Countless wild dogs roamed among them, and I could hear their howling cries from a distance.

  It must be an illusion, I absolutely don't believe that I suddenly appeared in this kind of place. This must still be inside the cave, just don't know how it appeared as an illusion. I can't see a way out, there's only closing my eyes and walking straight forward. I believe no matter what kind of illusion, it can deceive feelings, but now I'm controlling myself to think nothing, as long as I walk in a straight line, I should be able to reach the entrance.

  But the road under my feet seemed to be very long, and I didn't know how long I had walked. I always felt that it was about a mile away, but not only did I not reach the entrance of the cave, but also didn't even touch the stone wall. I had an inexplicable sense of unease in my heart, but I didn't dare to open my eyes. My mind was already racing with wild thoughts. Suddenly, I felt a softness under my feet and fell to the ground, as if I had fallen into a pit. Instinctively, I opened my eyes, and my heart was shocked. It turned out that I had actually fallen into a grave, and at this moment, I was lying in a coffin. The coffin was quite new, and for a while, I was confused.

  I reached out to touch it, the coffin still felt very delicate, polished very smoothly, I could smell a new paint smell, never mind, go out first, but this thought just fell, suddenly someone from above slammed down the coffin lid, my head hit it instantly, it was a daze, after finally waking up, it seemed like I heard some sound.

  I tried to push the coffin lid with all my might, but no matter how hard I pushed, it wouldn't budge, as if it had already been nailed down. My heart skipped a beat as I heard the sound of dirt being thrown onto the coffin, someone was burying me! I frantically pounded on the coffin and screamed at the top of my lungs, hoping to be heard, but there was no response. The sound of dirt being thrown slowly faded away, but I knew it wasn't stopping, just getting thicker and thicker. I had been buried alive.

  It must be an illusion, but how can it feel so real? My hand slaps against the coffin and hurts, even bleeds. In the darkness, I can hear my own breathing, but that feeling of suffocation is already there. No, this must be a deception of my senses. I shake my head, desperately trying to control myself, not thinking about anything, just desperately propping up my body, but it's blocked, and no matter what, I just can't get up.

  I can't go on like this, or I'll be deceived to death by my own feelings. The suffocating feeling makes me want to tear open my chest, but how do I get out? In the chaos, I bumped into that dagger, and with a surge of adrenaline, I blindly pulled it out and stabbed at the coffin lid. The dagger was very sharp and indeed pierced through. I started to desperately use the dagger to open up a path for survival, stabbing and digging frantically, with wood shavings falling down non-stop.

  I don't know how long it took, but I finally managed to create a hole big enough for one person. However, the surface above was just soil. I didn't have time to think about anything else and frantically started digging the dirt away. Slowly but surely, I stood up, pushing the dirt aside as I continued to dig upwards. Perhaps because I was so focused, I hadn't felt that suffocating sensation in a long time. Normally, if this were really a coffin, I would have suffocated to death by now. But I still didn't feel anything. It seemed my senses had been deceiving me all along.

  But how to control this feeling, that's the question. With thoughts in my mind, I didn't stop my hands from working. Finally, with a movement of my hand, I saw a glimmer of light coming through, although it was somewhat dim, but I saw the sky. After digging for a few more times, I finally dug myself out of the soil, but I was already exhausted and fell to the ground with a thud. Looking around carefully, it turned out to be a real tomb, with a stone monument in front of me.

  Panting heavily, I rested for a while before regaining some strength. I stood up and looked around, but it was still the same messy graveyard. Whatever, I thought, let's just move on first. As I walked forward, I couldn't help but sneak another glance at the stone monument. But with just one look, I froze - clearly written on it was "Liu Hai's Tomb". Seriously, this is actually my own grave.

  I knew it was all a scam, so I just raised an eyebrow, shook my head and walked forward, without taking it to heart. A few crows flew over, cawing loudly, and several wild dogs were startled by me and ran far away. However, as they howled, I saw more wild dogs gathering around, seemingly not quite right, could it be that the wild dogs wanted to attack me?

  Whatever, it's all an illusion. I suppressed the urge and walked forward step by step, letting the wild dogs surround me without avoiding them. Even when they snarled and pounced on me fiercely, I told myself it was just an illusion and I shouldn't pay attention to it. But my instincts still kicked in, and with one kick, I sent a dog flying. The dagger in my hand had also stabbed and killed another. In the face of danger, fear had taken control of my instincts. Although I knew it was just an illusion, I was still protecting myself.

  Before I could react, I suddenly froze, forcing myself not to pay attention, even letting the stray dogs tear at me. The pain of being bitten to death seemed real, but I gritted my teeth and endured it. My body was shaking all over, I closed my eyes and didn't dare look, I just kept walking forward desperately.

  I don't know how long it's been, but I really can't feel the pain anymore. I'm still moving forward, and I even feel like I don't exist. No matter what, this is all just an illusion. Slowly opening my eyes, I find myself standing on a small road, with a village in the distance. The houses are densely packed, and under the dim light, they look terrifying. I dare not think too much, I can only keep moving forward, but how can I escape from this damned illusion?

  As we got closer to the village, it turned out to be a large mansion with numerous courtyards. The sound of suona and drums came from inside, and for a moment, there was a cacophony of voices, laughter and cheers, as if they were celebrating a wedding. A pair of red lanterns hung at the entrance, with big red auspicious characters and festive couplets pasted on them.