Chapter 78: Should I Call You "Lu Ye" Instead?

Jiang Zihan stared at the hand reaching out in front of him; his memories of Ling Xiao flashed through his mind. "Because everything in here is fake. You’re not real either... you’re just an illusion, right?"

He climbed down the bed and walked toward the window. "I don’t know who you are, and what your purpose is. But... thank you," he said with a soft voice.

"Ling Xiao’s" pupils trembled a little, though Jiang Zihan did not notice that. He was still lost in his thoughts.

"Thank you for letting me see him again," he repeated.

"And also... my real name is Lu Yu, not Jiang Zihan," he added at the end.

The second his last words landed, everything around him shattered into countless fragments, and in a blink of an eye, Jiang Zihan had returned to the dungeon.

He blinked his eyes, looking at his surroundings in alarm. Realizing that there was no sudden danger, he was just about to let out a sigh of relief when he was suddenly pulled into the embrace of Mo Shiyan, who was standing behind him.

Jiang Zihan: "...?"

He turned his head slightly to the side when he felt that Mo Shiyan was trembling a little.

"...Shiyan, I’m fine. There’s no need to worry," he finally said with a soft voice, trying to comfort him by patting lightly on his back. Then he looked up at the black mist in front of him, his expression looking a bit complicated.

Under his sight, the mist seemed to have shifted forward a little, then forced itself to drift back immediately when noticing that Jiang Zihan was still staring at him. Slowly, it stopped at the corner of the room.

Why does the mist seem to be kind of scared of me?

Jiang Zihan felt a bit confused, as he didn’t remember himself doing anything to it. He gestured for Mo Shiyan to let go of him, though he wasn’t willing to, but under his sight, he reluctantly lowered his hands. After that, Jiang Zihan slowly walked toward it.

"Zihan, what do you want to do?" Mo Shiyan asked with a low voice, reaching his hand forward and wanting to stop him.

Jiang Zihan turned around and lowered his eyes, his gaze landing on Mo Shiyan’s hand that was holding his wrist. Then he tilted his head to the side and let out a soft smile.

"Don’t worry," he said softly. "It seems like... it wouldn’t hurt me."

"It won’t hurt you?" Mo Shiyan frowned as he repeated those words, looking totally unconvinced. He instinctively tightened his grip on his weapon, his gaze locked intently on the black mist that was staying in the corner. "That was the thing that had just trapped you in the illusion before, causing your soul almost to be locked in that imaginary world forever. Don’t get tricked by how it acts right now."

Jiang Zihan gently shook his head and said, "I know you’re concerned about my condition, but I promise you that I’ll explain everything once it’s all over."

Mo Shiyan fell silent for a moment before letting go of his wrist. "I don’t believe in it, but I always trust your judgement. If that’s what you wish..."

He didn’t finish his sentence, but Jiang Zihan always understood what he meant. Jiang Zihan turned around and continued walking. As he drew closer, the mass of black mist seemed to turn a bit agitated, as if hesitating over whether or not to leave this place, but at last, the moment Jiang Zihan bent down in front of it, it somehow chose to stay in place for some reason.

Jiang Zihan tilted his head to the side and asked curiously, "You’re afraid of me?"

The black mist could not speak certainly, but in exchange, it drifted backward and moved a little further away.

Jiang Zihan: "..."

He tentatively reached his hand out, wanting to touch it, when his waist was suddenly wrapped around by a pair of arms, which pulled him backward.

Jiang Zihan: "!!!"

He turned his head and realized that it was Mo Shiyan, who was no longer willing to let him get so close to the black mist.

He lifted his chin and looked up at him; a light flickered through his eyes. "Worried about me?" he asked.

Mo Shiyan looked down and met his gaze, his hands tightening around his waist even more. Then he turned his face away without providing a response for his question. However, Jiang Zihan had noticed that his hands that were wrapped around his waist were trembling a little.

Jiang Zihan felt a gentle touch on his chest. Just as he was about to say something, the black mist that was originally quiet at the corner suddenly spoke. "Lu... Ye..."

Jiang Zihan’s pupils shrank as he quickly walked forward to ask, his voice sounding a bit loud. "What did you just call me?"

That voice seemed to scare it, and the black mist spread out a little before gathering together again.

"Lu... Ye..." the voice repeated. This time, it sounded a bit weaker than before.

Jiang Zihan’s fingernails dug deep into his palms within his tightly clenched fist; drops of blood fell to the floor, though he didn’t notice, as if he did not feel the pain coming from it.

"The person in my illusion, that was you, am I right? You created that illusion; what is your purpose?" he asked anxiously.

"Stars..." the voice continued.

"Stars...?" Jiang Zihan repeated the word he said, not understanding what it was saying. Then it was as if he suddenly recalled something, and ran the magical energy throughout his body before pressing a hand down on the floor, opening the Domain again.

In the next moment, the dungeon suddenly disappeared from sight, and in its place was a vast sea of stars, as if they were in the galaxy.

The second Jiang Zihan activated his Domain, something suddenly slammed into his chest, causing him to stagger a few steps backward, almost falling to the floor because of the impact.

When he was finally able to stand still, he lowered his head and realized that it was the light purple star. "Why are you here?" he asked softly.

Noticing his gaze, the light purple star slipped out of his arms and circled around him a few times before rubbing itself against his cheeks. Its gentle starlight brushed across his skin, causing a soft, ticklish sensation on his skin.

Jiang Zihan couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle. "Stop... it’s itchy."

The star seemed to understand his words, and floated in mid-air for a moment before it nuzzled happily against his fingertip and circled around him again.

After a while, the star seemed to notice the presence of something that did not belong here, and drifted around his domain, trying to find what it was. When it noticed the black mist hiding in the corner, it circled around it a few times before suddenly plunging straight into it.

A bright light glowed immediately, and was it swallowed by the black mist in the next second. Its speed was so fast that Jiang Zihan didn’t even have the time to stop it!

Jiang Zihan: "!!!"

He quickly walked forward as magical energy began to gather above his palm. He hesitated for a while on whether or not he should attack the mist when beams of purple light suddenly shot out of the darkness. In the next second, the light purple star came flying joyfully toward him.

It flew back into Jiang Zihan’s arms, gently rubbing itself against his chest when Jiang Zihan observed that it somehow looked a little brighter than before.

Jiang Zihan: "..."

He silently stared at the light purple star in his embrace, then looked toward the black mist that had shrunk into the corner and was trembling hard, unsure of what he should say.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something when the mist suddenly covered him. He instinctively wanted to struggle when he suddenly realized that his wounds were slowly healing. "This is...?" he muttered as he froze in place.

A few minutes later, after his wounds were fully healed, the black mist started to flow away and flew toward the empty space.

"Wait—!!"

Jiang Zihan raised a hand, wanting to stop it and ask some questions when he realized that it had already disappeared in sight. He closed his eyes, trying to chase the last traces of the mist. However, it had already flown deep into the darkness, and he was currently unable to go into that place.

With no other way, he could only let out a sigh and waved his hand, returning back to the dungeon. His head started to feel a little dizzy from the drain of magical energy, and it was Mo Shiyan who reacted quickly and caught him in his embrace, which didn’t cause him to fall to the floor.

"Are you okay, Zihan?" Mo Shiyan asked, his tone just as usual, though Jiang Zihan somehow felt that something wasn’t right.

"Or... should I call you Lu Ye instead?"