Volume 4 Chapter 29: Escape
"Lovesickness" is the name of my sword technique. Because I have recently comprehended it, I have not given it a name yet. This name was originally given by Xiao Yi after she experienced the battle of "Marriage" and witnessed my sword technique. It not only reflects the characteristics of the sword technique, but also has lingering affection. I like it very much and decided to use it as the official name.
In fact, there is no such thing as self-created skills in Fantasy. There are only different combat skills for each person. This set of swordsmanship is just the essence of my skills in a certain aspect, so it cannot become a systematic name. The name "Xiangsi Swordsmanship" is a little secret between Xiao Yi and me. No third person knows it. In fact, only Xiao Yi has seen this set of swordsmanship.
So, she could recognize this set of swordsmanship and called out this name. Could she really be Xiao Yi?
But after all, this set of swordsmanship was created by me in the game, and Xiao Yi named it based on an event that happened in the game. I am not sure whether these processes will be recorded by the system and used to confuse me?
But now the situation is under my control. The tiger soul is less than three inches away from the opponent's neck. If the opponent makes any unusual movement, it will never be faster than my knife. I don't need to be anxious and think carefully whether there is any way to distinguish the real from the fake.
I was frowning and thinking hard when Xiao Yi in front of me made a move. She slowly raised her left hand, but did not attack. The oath ring on her ring finger flashed, and then she said: "Ah Tian, if it is you, just chop it down. I have activated the absolute protection and will not be hurt. If you don't chop it down, I will think you are a monster!"
Smart! Shen's illusion has confused us . The only way Xiao Yi and I can tell each other apart is that the skills of the oath ring cannot be faked. Last time, the fake Xiao Yi wanted to trick me into activating the love protection, but because it would be dangerous for me, I saw through it. But this time, the other party used herself as the experimental target, and did not recklessly activate the love protection on me. With Xiao Yi's Moon Shadow Divine Robe and absolute protection, I am afraid that even if Shen's real body came in person, she would not be able to kill her instantly (I didn't know that Shenlong itself has no attack power)!
I already believed that the other person was the real Xiao Yi, so how could I bear to chop her with the knife? But Xiao Yi actually had something else to say. Although she saw the Acacia knife technique, she couldn't be 100% sure that I was Blood Sky. Only after I chopped her with the knife and was sure that she was Xiao Yi, I activated the love protection on her, and then both sides could completely identify each other. So she added that sentence, "If you don't chop, I will treat you as a monster."
The absolute defense only lasts for 10 seconds, and I don't have time to hesitate. I finally hardened my heart and slashed the opponent's shoulder heavily with a knife - I didn't dare to hold back. If the opponent was really Xiao Yi, this knife would not hit the vital part, and she should be fine; if the opponent was a monster, this knife could at least push it back two steps, giving me a chance to take on the opponent's sudden attack.
The knife flashed, Xiao Yi retreated , but I failed to break through the opponent's defense, and only forced 1 point of blood to be deducted. She is the real Xiao Yi! The defensive effect of Moon Shadow Divine Robe plus Absolute Guardian is so amazing!
I was overjoyed and immediately launched a love protection for her. Xiao Yi immediately broke into a happy smile on her face and flew towards me!
I took advantage of the situation and hugged Xiao Yi, and kissed her beautiful red lips without caring about anything else. Although we were only separated for more than an hour, after going through so many fantastic and confusing things, I felt like I had been searching for her for seven lifetimes and three lives!
The two of them were passionate for a while, and then they told each other about their experiences. It turned out that Xiao Yi was absent-minded when she entered the palace, and she lagged behind me by one or two steps, and I didn't notice it. She stepped on a trap and fell into it. Although she screamed, I didn't hear it. I guess the trap was closed instantly, and even the sound couldn't be heard.
Xiao Yi fell down a black passage, and when he came out, he saw many rooms just like me. He looked for me everywhere in a hurry but couldn't find me, and he couldn't get in touch with me using his wedding ring - that mirage dragon was very powerful. It knew that Xiao Yi was doubtful, so after separating us, it adopted different targeted methods. It didn't attack Xiao Yi immediately, and it didn't even send out a mirage.
When Xiao Yi was looking around, I activated Love Guardian for the first time. Xiao Yi knew that I must be not far away from her, so she searched more carefully. As for how we later used this skill to exchange information, how she supported me in the battle, etc., there is no need to go into details.
Soon after, Xiao Yi suddenly saw "me" at the corner of a corridor. She was overjoyed at that time - because she had never been attacked before, so she was not on guard. Unexpectedly, she was suddenly attacked by "me". Fortunately, she was protected by the Moon Shadow Divine Robe and was not killed instantly. How smart is Xiao Yi? There were many abnormalities before, and when this impossible thing happened again, she immediately reacted that there must be a trick. Moreover, women's intuition is far better than men's. Although she ignored it because of excitement when she first met, she was sure that the "me" was fake as soon as she woke up, and she started a fierce battle with me without any verification.
That "I" was also a mirage monster with extraordinary strength. In the past, Xiao Yi would have been no match for it. But now, Xiao Yi is wearing a magic weapon, which has improved her offense and defense by more than one level. She has also planned to launch absolute protection in times of crisis, and even notify me to help her with love protection when necessary. She is fearless and can give full play to her strength. As a result, she gained the upper hand without using either of her skills. After finally defeating "me", she realized that the corpse was a monster. She knew that she was in danger and it would be useless to stay any longer, so she was even more anxious to find the real me. However, she ran into me as soon as she walked out of the corridor and entered the hall, and I attacked her without saying a word. She couldn't tell the real me from the fake until she saw me using the Acacia Sword Technique. She shouted out in an instant, and I stopped immediately. Only then did both sides try to tell the real me from the fake, and we were finally able to reunite.
After both of them told each other their experiences, they felt their hearts filled with tenderness and infinite joy - although the mirage set up all kinds of illusions, we were always in sync with each other, and we could understand each other's intentions even when we couldn't communicate, and we saw through any disguise of the enemy, and finally found our true love - after going through this test, the feelings between us have deepened.
But at the same time, we were also filled with fear: this invisible and intangible enemy was so strange, and we didn't know what other traps it had set. The best thing to do now, since the two of us had met, was to find an escape route as quickly as possible, and the sooner the better.
There are three doors in front of us. Xiao Yi just came out from the left, so there is no need to go in again.
There are two paths left, which one is better? Maybe the way to survival lies in one of them!
According to general theory, two people, two doors, should walk separately. The probability of finding the exit is higher, and maybe at least one person can escape.
But Xiao Yi and I don’t want to be separated anymore. If there is any danger, let us face it together!
So we entered the middle door together.
After crossing the archway, the two were stunned. There was no way forward. In front of them was a space that was ten times wider than the hall, but there was no ground in front of them, but a huge bottomless pit!
The hole was square and occupied the entire room, as if it was a house built in mid-air with only walls and a roof but no floor!
The cave was bottomless. Looking out, there was a vast expanse of white fog and mist below, like billowing steam.
This road is blocked, go back and go to the right?
Xiao Yi and I looked at each other and were about to turn our horses around when suddenly an idea came to my mind.
I have experienced more illusions than Xiao Yi, and I have come to the conclusion before that the palace has a fixed size limit, which even a mirage cannot change at will. But from where I am, it should be the second floor. Even if there is no floor between floors, there is no way such a deep hole can appear. If it is connected to the basement, it must be at least several hundred meters deep. Is it possible to dig the foundation so deep?
It doesn't make sense. I believe that this is an illusion created by a mirage!
And since it is trying to cover up the real situation here, it means that this is the most likely exit!
After thinking this through, I told Xiao Yi my analysis and said to her, "I've decided. I'm going to jump down from this hole. Are you afraid?"
Xiao Yi shook her head and said firmly: "What is there to be afraid of when I'm with you?"
I laughed loudly and shook the reins. Coco jumped up and carried the two of us into the endless abyss!
"Bang", the unicorn landed on all fours, and the landing time was much shorter than we expected. This just proves that the top and bottom are actually not far apart, and the bottomless abyss is just another trick of the mirage.
Once on the ground, the surrounding scenery distorted and gradually revealed its original appearance. The walls here were shining and filled with gold, silver, jewelry, equipment and weapons. Just by looking at the appearance and color of the equipment, you can tell that they are extraordinary items, at least of the dark gold level or above!
In front of him was an altar, on which were placed three treasure chests, the outer walls of which were inlaid with gemstones of various colors. The containers were so precious, so one could imagine what was inside the chests!
It turns out that we didn't find the exit, but came to the mirage's treasure room!
Unfortunately, Xiao Yi and I didn't look happy at all. Even if we found more treasures, what was the point if we were trapped here?
It cannot be said that there was no gain at all. Although these things have not been identified, even if they are put into the backpack, 19 of them will explode upon death, but there will be a few left. If it were someone else, they would probably pick up as many as possible, and then try to commit suicide, and see how many are left after returning to the city. Even if there are only one or two tenths, it is still much more than what you get from fighting a boss normally.
But Xiao Yi and I’s purpose is to travel to the West. If we just go back like this, wouldn’t all our hard work over the past few days be in vain?
Therefore, neither of them paid attention to the treasures, as the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind. Instead, they looked around the treasure room to see if there was any exit leading to other places.
This seemed to be a secret room, with walls on all sides, no doors or windows, and nothingness above our heads. It was the same situation as when we looked down from above just now, except that the position was reversed.
There is really no way to go up to the sky and no door to enter the earth here, but I vaguely feel that there is still a mystery in it. If I can see through it, there will be a chance to escape. However, no matter how hard I think, I can't grasp that trace of inspiration, and my brows are twisted together.
Xiao Yihu said, "Ah Tian, do you find this palace strange? Well... I'm not saying this is an illusion, but the architecture of this palace is different from the palaces I've visited... Well, it's not that the architectural style is different, I just think the architecture here is unreasonable, but I have no idea what the problem is. Anyway, it makes people feel uncomfortable."
"Ah!" Xiao Yi's words stimulated my thinking, and I suddenly understood: "I know, windows, that is, windows. All the rooms here lack windows, so it feels wrong."
“Whether the palace really has no windows or not, with the mirage’s ability to create illusions, it would not be a problem to create a few fake windows to deceive people. But why didn’t it do that? There must be something wrong, and it may be the key to our escape!”
"Let's analyze it from the beginning, from when we discovered the mirage."
"First of all, it is certain that all the mountains are illusions. From the moment we set foot on that trail, we fell into the trap of mirage."
"But we haven't been attacked all the way from the mountain, which shows that the mirage's attack range is only within the palace."
At first, I spoke slowly and had to think for a while before saying each sentence, but my thoughts became clearer and clearer, so I continued in one breath: "There is a difference between the mountain and the palace. I can assume that the mountain is a pure illusion and nothingness; although the palace is unpredictable, the palace itself is a entity and really exists. I have verified this. But this palace is by no means an ordinary building. Well, that is to say, it did not exist originally and was used by the mirage, but was created by the mirage itself! That's why its building materials and structure are so weird!"
"The question is, since the mirage's ability is to transform, it is not difficult for it to create a fictional palace. Why does it have to create a physical building? And I feel that this actual palace also restricts its arbitrary transformation! In addition, the treasure room is not unique to the mirage. Other bosses, such as dragons, will also store the treasures they have collected. However, such places are generally the places that monsters are most concerned about. And now the real body of the mirage has not appeared. What does the mirage look like?"
As I was talking, cold sweat broke out on me, and Xiao Yi's face turned even paler, with fear in his eyes!
All the clues point to one answer: the palace is the body of the mirage, and we are in the mirage's belly!
This can explain all our questions: Why are we attacked only in the palace? Because the mirage monster and the mirage boy are parasites living in the mirage! Why are there no windows? Windows mean an exit to the outside. Once we see a window, even if it is an illusion created by the mirage, we will definitely try to escape through the window. Then we will naturally find that the window is fake. How can we get out through the mirage's body? The mirage can create a layer of glass or something to deceive our eyes, but we will definitely try to break the glass, which is an attack for the mirage, and it certainly won't feel comfortable. It's better to have less trouble than more, so just don't change the window.
We deduced the truth of the matter, but the result is really disgusting!
I don’t know what kind of organ this treasure room is inside the mirage. Fortunately, we didn’t go into its intestines and stomach, otherwise it would have been digested into lumps... Yuck... I can’t think about it anymore.
The key is, now that we know the truth, how can we escape? We can't just sit there and wait for death. Dying in a dream is nothing, but dying in a monster's belly...
Xiao Yi was obviously more stimulated than me. After all, women are women. No matter how strong a woman is, she can't be much better in this situation. She asked in a trembling voice: "Ah Tian, what should I do?"
I took a deep breath and said, "Xiao Yi, don't panic. Have you read Journey to the West? Sun Wukong also got into a monster's belly, but it wasn't the monkey who suffered the loss!"
"But Sun Wukong can fight back, but according to your experience, Hu Po can't cut through Shen's body!"
"Hey, fantasy is based on reality. I have never found anything in fantasy that cannot be destroyed. Even a city as solid as the System Imperial City was destroyed once by the Five-Colored Dragon, right? It just refreshed later. I can't cut the wall here because my attack power is not enough, but now we are working together, there is still hope."
"I'm a magician. I'm naturally better than you in terms of large-area destruction, but my concentrated destructive power on a single point is far inferior to that of a warrior. How can I help you?"
"What I need is the magician's help. You haven't forgotten the principle of thermal expansion and contraction in physics, have you?"
After I reminded him, Xiao Yi suddenly realized it and said excitedly: "Oh, why didn't I think of it?"
After that, she released a wall of fire at the wall on one side. The attack range of the wall of fire was large, but the temperature was not very high. Its advantage was that it continued to burn. Therefore, after a while, Xiao Yi shot out another wave of fire dragon, which shot directly at the wall. With Xiao Yi's magic power at this time, even an ordinary copper wall or iron wall would be melted. Of course, if it was a system wall, it was protected by a magic energy shield and it would not be something that a magician could destroy alone.
The defense of this mirage dragon is also amazing. Xiao Yi burned for a long time, but the wall only turned slightly red, but there was no sign of melting. Xiao Yi's MP was not enough to support it, so she stopped, replenished a bottle of magic water, and attacked again, but she released the most powerful ice magic, the Ice Soul Divine Light. A ray of cold light shot out from the staff in her hand, and wherever the light went, a gap was forced open in the burning wall of fire. The cold light shone on the slightly red wall, and with a light "hissing" sound, a cloud of white mist rose, and then the mist condensed into frost, and a layer of shiny ice flowers hung on the wall.
Seeing this, I didn't hesitate any more and immediately launched a charge. At the moment when I was about to hit the wall, Tiger Soul stabbed out with all my strength!
With a crisp "ding" sound, a huge recoil force came from my hand, which almost broke my palm and pushed me and my horse back a few steps.
How effective is this knife? Xiao Yi and I stared at the wall nervously.
"Crack... crack", a cracking sound was heard at first slightly, and then gradually increased in size. Several tiny cracks appeared on the wall, and quickly increased in number and widened. Soon the cracks were spread like a spider web, and finally there was a "boom" and the wall collapsed completely, and a big hole appeared in the wall!
"Success!" Xiao Yi and I shouted happily. I didn't expect it to be so smooth. I thought it would take at least several attempts to break the wall!
In fact, this is because the "wall" is originally the body of a mirage. The reaction of living organisms to the stimulation of cold and hot temperature differences is much stronger than that of stones. If it were an imperial mausoleum, it would be impossible to destroy it in this way.
The reason why the mirage's defense is so abnormal is that its body tissue is extremely elastic, and its flexible muscles can absorb and decompose the attack power of my Tiger Soul. However, after being destroyed by Xiao Yi's magic of first heating and then cooling, its internal structure has become brittle and lost its elasticity. How can it not be broken by the attack of Tiger Soul's Divine Sword?
After clearing the passage, Xiao Yi and I immediately rushed out from the breach. We both tacitly agreed not to mention the treasures - we should escape as soon as possible while we have a chance. It was really not a good feeling to stay in the monster's belly, and only God knew whether this strange mirage had set up other powerful traps next to the treasures.
Walking out of the treasure room, there is another long corridor outside. As to whether this corridor is the mirage's trachea or blood vessels, we have no intention of studying it. It will be easy with experience. We continue to blast the walls and use brute force to break a passage in a straight line. After breaking through about seventeen or eighteen walls and advancing about five or six hundred meters, our eyes lit up and we finally walked out of the palace. The blue sky and white clouds outside are so lovely!
We were still surrounded by green mountains and clear waters, but we knew that we were still in a mirage. We did not dare to stay here for long and immediately rode away.
Unexpectedly, the scenery in front of me shook and gradually became blurred, just like the reflection in the originally calm water, into which a stone was suddenly thrown, causing the water to ripple and the scenery to become shattered!
In just a blink of an eye, the mountains, rivers, flowers, trees, fish, insects, birds and animals all disappeared. Turning around, the palace also disappeared out of thin air. All around was endless desert. Everything that had happened before was like a dream, leaving no trace when one woke up!
Xiao Yi was shocked and said, "Ah Tian, what's going on? The mirage has taken away the phantom, but where is the palace? Where is its body?"
I smiled faintly and said, "Who knows? Maybe he flew into the sky, maybe he hid underground, it doesn't matter. What's important is that we got out alive!"
