Chapter 3: Illusion or Reality? (Dedicated to @Broker Tomato)

  Wu Zihan signaled us not to change our expressions and continue listening, so we nodded a few times.

  "He last came to the Western Regions and discovered many of our secrets, originally intending to make him a dead man, but unexpectedly halfway through, a Cheng Yaojin appeared and rescued one. This young man is also unknown, yet he can freely move through the Eight Trigrams Array." The figure behind said. We all looked at Wu Zihuan together, this has always been my doubt, why did Wu Zihuan appear in the Western Regions thirty-five years ago and save my grandfather.

  "My subordinate has made an effort to investigate, at least in the local police station there is no record of such a young man. My subordinate is also a minor figure, just a small section chief of the North China Branch Bureau. If he can become the director..." The mother bureau chief trailed off.

  He lightly hummed and said: "You can rest assured, as long as you work hard for me in the Mingyun Sect, I won't treat you unfairly. I've already mentioned it to those above, and soon I'll promote you to be the director of the Huabei Branch. Don't worry, everything will come in due time. The Yintiao Bureau has always been a major threat to the Ming Master's heart, so after inserting more of our own people, we can work together to eliminate them and achieve the Ming Master's great plan."

  "I don't know when I can have an audience with the Lord of the Underworld?" The Mother Director revealed a extremely flattering expression.

  "Not even I have ever seen the Lord of the Underworld, and you think you can?" The black shadow's voice rose a few degrees. Director Mu knew he had misspoken and didn't continue speaking. "Go take a look at Zhou Yuanzhi's corpse, see if there's any problem." The silhouette ordered.

  The director of the mother bureau turned her head and walked towards us, and we quickly retreated a few steps to avoid being discovered. The director looked up and down for half a day and said: "After checking the files, the doctor's death was due to heart failure. This corpse is nothing special, nor does it have any signs of change. It should be Zhou Yuanzhi himself."

  His back was extremely angry, and he pointed to the sky with one hand: "You tell me, who is that person in the sanatorium? Is it possible that there are two Zhou Yuanzhis in this world? And that Zheng Li, when alive, wants to see people, and when dead, wants to see a corpse."

  The director's body shook slightly: "I also think it's very strange, I sent someone to the nursing home early in the morning to investigate, but there has always been a force protecting Zhou Yuanzhi in the nursing home. I'm afraid that if we keep a close eye on him, we'll scare him away. The only one who can rival us is the head of the hidden bureau? Moreover, I've already made some discreet inquiries and found out that Zhou Yuanzhi is a hot-headed and violent person, known for his swift and decisive actions, but the one in the nursing home has suddenly become gentle and elegant. From this, I can confirm that they are two different people, possibly someone impersonating him."

  "Are you saying that these two people's personalities have changed, and just happened to - become opposites?"

  "Exactly!"

  That figure suddenly seemed to understand something, and burst out laughing, "Zhou Yuan Zhi ah, Zhou Yuan Zhi, indeed an old fox, do you know the legendary great array of the ancient country of Tai Yu?"

  The mother bureau chief nodded: "I know, I heard it's very difficult to get through, this formation hasn't reduced the number of our brothers in the sect."

  "Not bad, I've heard that the Qiankun Array has a mirror array that can replicate another self, regardless of appearance or demeanor, it's exactly the same as the original person, even if it's their own mother, they wouldn't be able to tell them apart. It's quite like the true and false Sun Wukong. The only difference is that the personality is opposite to the original person. If I'm not mistaken, Zhou Yuanzhi must have known that his life was in danger and intentionally created a mirror person to replace himself to live on. Unfortunately, he might ruin our good plan."

  The mother bureau chief suddenly put on a look of sudden enlightenment: "Subordinates are stupid, after your analysis, subordinates really opened their eyes."

  That triumphant figure said, "This is just a small trick. In a moment, I'll set fire to this place and burn his body to ashes, so as not to leave any future troubles. As for the mirror image in the nursing home, we must keep a close eye on it. If there's any movement, report to me immediately. Zhou Yuanzhi wants to survive, but he might have a bigger plot."

  It wasn't until now that I realized this was a conversation between Director Mu and someone over a decade ago, back when I might not have even been born yet. No wonder Director Mu looked so young. Could it be that we're...? It turns out Director Mu was just the director of the North China branch, but how big is this organization really? How many branches are there, and how many more hidden followers are there? My grandfather had actually passed away long ago, and that grandfather was just an illusion. No wonder he said he was the one who lived on in his place. This clears up some of the fog, but it also adds even more.

  "I heard that the Zhou family had a newborn baby boy who died, I don't know if it has anything to do with Zhou Yuanzhi going to the Western Regions." Mother Ju continued.

  That figure shrugged and chuckled a few times: "Your news is really not up-to-date, that Zhou Yuanzhi guy doesn't know what kind of evil he's done, the child has already come back to life, named Zhou Junyang. The Lord of the Underworld once divined that this child has an enormous connection with my sect and that ancient country of Dahuang, in the future we must pay close attention to his actions."

  The mother nodded and said: "I understand."

  Suddenly that figure turned around and said in our direction: "Who is eavesdropping here? I didn't expect there to be living people inside, and not just one!"

  Just as I was about to call out the nine worms to prepare for battle, a burst of white light suddenly emanated from Grandfather's body. The figure hastily covered its eyes and exclaimed in shock: "What's going on?" Our eyes were all blinded by the intense light, and I missed my chance to see the figure's true face.

  When I opened my eyes again, I felt that the surroundings were particularly noisy. Looking around in a circle, we were all standing in the hospital corridor, maintaining our posture as soon as we left the ward. I quickly moved my whole body, which was almost numb. The people coming and going around us looked at us with surprise.

  There were also a few people around who whispered and commented: "These people are mentally ill, standing in the corridor for half a day without moving, with their eyes closed, there must be something wrong."

  "I think so too, let's not look anymore, let's go quickly." The people around us gradually dispersed, and we looked at each other in dismay. When I turned to look back, all the possessed people were gone. I pushed open the door and entered the ward, wanting to see if the little nurse who was frozen by the nine worms was still there. But the ward was empty, with nothing inside.

  "Are you guys being discharged?" A familiar female voice came over, I was stunned, it was the head nurse who had just been with us.

  "Are you coming back together?" I asked.

  The nurse's face showed a look of surprise: "I'm back? What are you talking about?"

  Xiao Lao hastily stepped forward and asked: "What were you just doing?"

  "Are you doing rounds?"

  "Is there a key on you?" Fu Ma asked tentatively.

  The head nurse took out her own key and revealed the tortoiseshell ring she had just seen, looking surprised: "How did you guys know?"

  "What's going on with today's patients? Has anyone turned into something?" Yang Cangcang was also confused, like a monk who couldn't reach the top of his own head.

  "Are you guys turning into zombies? Girl, have you been reading too much science fiction? What's going on with you all, anyway? Get ready to be discharged and go through the formalities. Don't talk nonsense, or maybe go see a psychologist, I think you're all quite serious already." The head nurse said seriously, then turned around and left.

  "What just happened was an illusion or real?" I asked in a low voice. Everyone was confused, even Wu Ziheng, who was usually calm, furrowed his brow.

  Xiao Lao sighed: "Unfortunately, Zihan's spiritual power has not fully recovered. Otherwise, these shouldn't be difficult for him to handle. We're all injured and tired. This place isn't suitable for us to stay for long. Those creatures that crawled out of the black hole might find us at any time. If innocent people get hurt, it won't be worth it. Let's leave together and discuss this further when everyone has recovered. Cangcang has already rented a house for us."

  Everyone nodded in unison and walked out of the hospital together. This time, everyone chose the elevator without saying a word, perhaps still shaken by what had just happened. When the elevator stopped normally on the first floor, we all let out a sigh of relief.

  "Xiao Lao..." As I walked out of the hospital gate, I wanted to speak but hesitated.

  Xiao Lao tilted his head and looked at me, "If you want to say something, just say it."

  "Is this reality or a dream? I can barely tell them apart." I sighed and said.

  Xiao Lao laughed and said: "It should be true."

  We walked towards the house rented by Cengceng. "Is what they said true? My grandfather's personality changed a lot," I asked Old Xiao.

  Xiao Lao didn't answer immediately, which was equivalent to admitting it. He patted my shoulder and said: "No matter if it's your grandfather or the mirror image, the only thing that hasn't changed is that they do everything for your protection."

  －－－－－－－－－－－－－

  －－－－－－－－－－－－－