Chapter 9

However, when facing him and Fatty, he would usually restrain his sharpness, trying hard to display his usual innocent demeanor. He had never been like this before—so deep in thought, with sharp eyes, exuding calmness and decisiveness!

Perhaps this is the real him, the way he will be ten years from now.

Wu Xie heard Zhang Qiling let out a long sigh. Even though this wasn’t the real Xiao Ge, just an illusion, Wu Xie still felt a little disoriented when confronting Zhang Qiling with such an expression.

Unconsciously, his hand reached for the scars on his arm, a habit to remind himself to stay alert in unfamiliar environments.

Smooth. It felt surprisingly smooth and… comfortable?

He quickly pulled up his sleeve—his arm was as smooth as before, without a single trace of the numerous ugly scars.

“An illusion! An illusion! Who is it? Who the hell is doing this? What do you want? What exactly are you trying to achieve?

It’s all fake! Everything is fake… FAKE! … Why are you trapping me in this place? What’s the purpose?”

Fatty watched Wu Xie go from muttering to himself to violently pulling at his own hair. At first, he seemed to be deep in thought, but in reality, he looked completely unhinged…

“Tianzhen? Tianzhen, what’s wrong with you? I’m Fatty! Don’t you recognize me? What about Xiao Ge? Do you recognize him?”

Panicking, Fatty pulled Zhang Qiling over, practically shoving him in Wu Xie’s face.

Wu Xie stared at the two fakes in front of him. Their thinking and reactions were so precise—clearly, whoever set up this illusion had designed them specifically to deal with him.

So he sneered coldly, “Who sent you? The Wang family, or… the Zhang family?”

“Xiao Tianzhen, your delusions are getting weirder. We don’t have any Wang family members here. As for the Zhang family… well, Xiaoge is from the Zhang family. He’s their patriarch.”

Fatty turned to Zhang Qiling and asked, “So… were we sent by the Zhang family?”

Zhang Qiling shook his head. “No. We are on your side, Wu Xie.”

Upon hearing this, Wu Xie’s expression grew even colder. He glared murderously at the fake people in front of him. “So, your master knows a lot about me, huh? Even the remnants of the Wang family wouldn’t have access to this much information.

That means you must be Zhang family members. Zhang Haike?! Or some other Zhang family member?”

Faced with Wu Xie’s interrogation, Zhang Qiling nodded, then shook his head.

He’s not Xiao Ge. He isn’t! He’s fake! There’s no need to be gentle. Wu Xie silently brainwashed himself, forcing himself not to look at that painfully familiar face.

He turned his head instead to look at Fatty’s rough features. Oh, right. Now there was much less guilt. His tone grew heavier.

“Speak! Are you mute? Don’t think that just because you’re pretending to be him, I’ll speak to you nicely.”

Fatty watched as Zhang Qiling froze, his head lowered in silence, looking so wronged it was almost pitiful. It made Fatty’s heart ache.

Wu Xie clenched his fists when he saw this, quickly turning away to avoid looking.

“Tianzhen, what the hell is wrong with you?! What’s with this ‘illusion, illusion’ nonsense? Have you gone mad? There’s no illusion!”

Fatty felt his tone was too harsh and softened slightly.

“We’re real. We already left the Palace of the Queen Mother of the West. We’re in a hospital now. Your lungs are fine. Let’s… go home.”

At the same time, Zhang Qiling lifted his head, took Wu Xie’s hand, and said, “Wu Xie, let’s go home… okay?”

Shit. Zhang Haike is really something, huh? This illusion is way too realistic. Wu Xie, you can’t let this fake gentleness fool you. Wake up! Find the flaw! You need to save Xiao Ge, Fatty, and the others!

Suddenly, Wu Xie smiled and said gently, “Alright, let’s ‘go home’!”

But inside, he was smirking coldly. Let’s see what tricks you people are trying to pull!

This kid is up to something, Zhang Qiling thought. He’s definitely about to cause trouble.