Chapter 158: Within the Dream
Chapter 158: Within the Dream
If he brought her back to reality, she would completely abandon the identity of Zhou Ling, existing solely as Yi Ya now, undetectable by anyone!
Recalling her past experiences… when she stopped loving Han Cheng and fell for Liu Yin, she had changed her face completely, becoming unrecognizable to Han Cheng. She also took on a new identity, transforming into a State Security Bureau investigator.
And now, having stopped loving Liu Yin and fallen for Lü Yang, just like last time, she had once again changed her face and adopted a new identity!
If all this was real, then the real Xiao Ya… very likely had already met a terrible fate!
Lü Yang’s fists clenched, then unclenched, unclenched and clenched again. Sweat covered his forehead…
He was extremely tense at this moment, along with indescribable pressure and anger, and endless despair and fatigue.
With Zhou Ling’s intelligence, she could absolutely pull this off—simulating the electronic prompt signaling task completion, tricking him into thinking the Death Killer was dead. A small feat like this was probably nothing to her! Who knew if she might have forcibly invaded Lü Yang’s Eerie Computer somehow and discovered this task he had undertaken?
Presently, Lü Yang couldn’t access his Eerie Computer to view his account, nor could he verify if he truly received those rewards!
But even if he escaped this Mysterious Domain back to the Real world and saw the rewards listed in his account, he couldn’t confirm if it was just Zhou Ling faking it by forcibly transferring them after invading his Eerie Computer. Since she could connect to him anytime, forcibly invading and transferring funds was highly plausible.
Let’s recall and analyze the types of Eerie Cards that supposedly dropped…
The Intelligence Card? Definitely Zhou Ling’s favorite.
Invisibility Card, Healing Card? These were the most basic, frequently used cards by Mystic Scholars.
The Sex Change Card, the Soul Attach Card, the Curse Card… all were Eerie Cards she had used before. The truck driver was likely the work of the Sex Change Card, right? The Soul Attach Card—she used this card to forcibly possess Liu Hui’s body. As for the Curse Card, that went without saying.
Even that Engineering Spectralist Certification Card was one she was very familiar with and could easily obtain…
Plus the Gui Pearl and Gui Amber she mentioned!
It couldn’t all be such coincidences! These rewards were absolutely suspicious!
As for the promotion to Intermediate Gui User and the soul binding… Lü Yang couldn’t draw any conclusions yet without a way to investigate properly, but he guessed it was highly likely Zhou Ling forcibly leveled him up using some method, to minimize the gap between them.
Strengthening Lü Yang didn’t worry her about future betrayal; instead, it gained her an incredibly loyal helper. Because she had now become Yi Ya—someone Lü Yang would absolutely never dare to harm and would protect with his life!
What she desired most was exactly this kind of true love…
For someone as clever as her, if she couldn’t obtain it directly, she’d take it indirectly. Using brute force was the lowest strategy.
To achieve this, she deliberately orchestrated another “Death Livestream” where she pretended to die. Last time, she tried to deceive Han Cheng but failed. This time, she successfully tricked Liu Yin and Lü Yang!
Therefore, this Mysterious Domain hadn’t ended! The confrontation was still ongoing! The one living complacently within the dream all along wasn’t Zhou Ling—it was Lü Yang, who only now realized the truth! Zhou Ling remained by Lü Yang’s side, just like during their time inside the Eerie Domain of Lutou Mountain: held tightly in his arms, while Lü Yang remained completely oblivious!
She didn’t even let him kiss her, making herself seem more like Yi Ya to avoid revealing her true identity. Learning from her last failure, she deliberately hid her distinctive gaze.
So treacherous!
Lü Yang felt his strength draining away…
He had even foolishly told Zhou Ling that he only had one Creation Card…
He had now completely lost any opportunity or capability for a counterattack.
Where was Xiao Ya? How could he rescue her?
No hope.
As Lü Yang mentally revisited all the clues, everything became clearer…
Why did the Interstitial Space vanish? When Yi Yi was erased by the Mysterious Domain before, the Eerie Computer didn’t mysteriously disappear! The Interstitial Space was gone for only one reason: its owner was still alive and had reclaimed it!
If the Mysterious Tools of an Intermediate Gui User could be soul-bound, surely those of a Senior Eerie Practitioner could too. If the soul wasn’t extinguished, the Mysterious Tool wouldn’t become ownerless.
This alone proved beyond doubt that Zhou Ling wasn’t dead! The poor Woman he’d stabbed and mutilated… well, he didn’t even know who she was…
Hopefully not Yi Ya.
Another crucial piece of evidence: in the hall, next to the Interstitial Space cube, only Lü Yang, Yi Ya, and Liu Yin were present. Liu Yin later ran into the Black Mist to commit suicide for love. So who else could have taken the Interstitial Space right from Lü Yang’s view?
“You hate her so much? She did love you once, shared tender moments with you… did you have to desecrate the body like that?”
When Lü Yang was venting his rage violently on Zhou Ling’s corpse, Yi Ya had said those words, seeming displeased…
Even in a new body, seeing your old body being savagely mistreated by someone you love would surely be upsetting? At the very least, it revealed that person’s attitude toward you.
“It’s a long story, I’ll tell you slowly… especially, how you passionately held her and kissed her?” This too was something Yi Ya later said to Lü Yang…
If Zhou Ling’s mention of the passionate kiss before “dying” was deliberate provocation, then bringing it up again later to mock and toy with Lü Yang was absolutely true to her style!
When Liu Yin stroked Zhou Ling’s face mournfully calling out “Xiao Ling,” Yi Ya’s eyes were red…
Was it just moved emotion?
When Liu Yin walked toward the Black Mist, ready to follow her in death, Yi Ya chased after him asking where he was going…
Why did she care so much about him?
Even with a new lover, the lingering affection and deep love shown by a former flame would still tug faintly at her heartstrings, right?
Especially since she hadn’t expected it: Liu Yin, who had helped Lü Yang “kill” her, was actually so devoted to her. He wept for her—the only one who did—kept calling her name, and even planned to die for her.
So, her eyes reddened.
Moving forward…
When Yi Ya asked Lü Yang to recount earlier events for her, she quite naturally sat on the reception counter—the very counter where Zhou Ling had sat earlier, proudly analyzing and reviewing the strategies of both Mysterious Domain encounters with Lü Yang…
Were more clues really needed?
Despite her deliberate disguise, making herself seem infinitely close to Yi Ya, she was not Yi Ya…
Lü Yang trembled head to foot, drenched in cold sweat. An intense sense of defeat almost made him collapse; he barely managed to stay upright by leaning heavily against the wall.
In this Mysterious Domain… what could be trusted? What was real?
He couldn’t think about this anymore…
If he delved deeper, more questions would arise… For instance… the Lü Yang inside the Interstitial Space—was that really just a Memory Remolding illusion?
What if that was his True Body, and this so-called “me” was the cloned illusion? How could anyone tell the difference?
Han Cheng died never realizing he was just an illusion. Liu Yin was real, yet had moments believing he himself was illusory.
Was Han Cheng really just an illusion? Would Liu Yin necessarily be genuine?
None of that mattered now.
What mattered was… even knowing that this Yi Ya was Zhou Ling in disguise, could Lü Yang act against her? Dare he attack her?
What if she’s using Yi Ya’s actual body?
If he directly exposed her, would she get angry and completely destroy Yi Ya?
What was the right thing to do?
Since killing Zhou Ling, Lü Yang had constantly worried she might pull a “back-from-the-dead” act, suddenly walking out of some corner.
She wouldn’t do that. It wasn’t her style.
Her style was… being right beside him, in his arms, gazing at him with a smile, acting spoiled.
And him? He kept promising her he would protect her with his life.
…
Had Yi Ya been in the restroom for over two minutes? Why wasn’t she out yet?
Why did she close the restroom door?
Was she inside a stall organizing the Interstitial Space?
Trying to set up an independent scene here to confuse him? Like when she took Yi Ya before?
Need it be so complicated? Zhou Ling, aren’t you tired?
In such a dangerous place full of corpses, Yi Ya refused to let Lü Yang guard her inside the restroom… that was too Strange Point… it made no sense…
She wasn’t Yi Ya.
Lü Yang tried pushing the Women’s Restroom door; it wasn’t locked, just resting shut. He pushed it open gently, slipped inside, then moved in cautiously step by step until he stood beside the middle stall door—the one Yi Ya was occupying.
Lü Yang slowly bent down, crouching low, and peered under the stall door…
The hotel restroom stalls all had Toilets. From his position, he only saw Yi Ya’s feet—and immediately noticed something odd. Yi Ya wasn’t sitting on the toilet—she was standing beside it!
If she were sitting, her feet would be positioned on either side of the toilet bowl, not standing to the side like that.
What would she be doing that required standing? And why stay in there so long?
This Yi Ya carried too many suspicious points.
No matter how well Zhao Ling acted, it was still just an act. She could never be the real Yi Ya.
From the very start, Lü Yang’s confrontation with Zhou Ling was destined to be unfair. Firstly, their levels were too far apart. Secondly, Zhou Ling held Yi Ya hostage tightly, leaving Lü Yang constantly restrained, unable to act freely because he feared harming the innocent.
So restrained that now, even convinced that this Yi Ya was Zhou Ling in disguise, he couldn’t bring himself to strike.
If he attacked her, Yi Ya would be the one 100% hurt. Zhou Ling only needed to withdraw the Soul Essence she had attached to Yi Ya’s body; Yi Ya would be the one truly ruined forever.