"Ah!!!"

Old Tianshi suddenly opened his eyes, breathing rapidly.

Large drops of cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

The peach blossoms and trees seemed to have been rescued, scurrying away.

Zhang Ruosu wiped his sweat and sat up.

Nightmare…

It was simply a nightmare.

Why would he have such a dream? Fortunately, it was just a dream.

Fortunately, it was just a dream.

Zhang Ruosu breathed a sigh of relief and looked up.

Wei Yuan sat in front of him, watching him with a smile.

"............"

Zhang Ruosu was silent, then his expression remained unchanged, and he laughed heartily: "Fellow Daoist Wei, you really... look at the impact you've had on me, I actually dreamed that you dismantled the Hetu Luoshu! Hahaha, how is that possible... hahaha..."

The old Taoist's laughter grew increasingly stiff.

Wei Yuan looked at him with a smile, then silently took out a piece of stone and threw it to him.

"Just taken off."

Zhang Ruosu: "............"

Cardiac arrest, second time!

Wei Yuan added, "It should be a fake left behind by the formation."

Only then did Zhang Ruosu finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Wei Yuan leaned back slightly and said:

"I've already left the host of this secret realm behind."

"I need you to take a look. For some reason, it will probably have to be temporarily sealed on Longhu Mountain..."

The old Taoist felt relieved.

It seemed that Wei Yuan wasn't just here to cause trouble.

The old Taoist wiped his sweat and said, "That's fine..."

"It's good that he didn't dismantle the Hetu Luoshu."

Zhang Ruosu reacted and casually asked, "By the way, who are you planning to imprison?"

The museum director answered succinctly:

"Kua Fu."

"The one who chased the sun."

"???"

Zhang Ruosu froze.

"............"

The old Taoist was silent for a moment, sighed, pondered his words, and said in a negotiating tone:

"Fellow Daoist Wei, I think..."

"Why don't we consider the stone tablet problem again?"

…………………………

After Zhang Ruosu was directly awakened from the sleeping illusion to a 'chicken blood' level of alertness.

The two returned to the deepest part of the formation.

As Wei Yuan had expected, no matter how unreliable Old Tianshi usually was, he was more experienced and reliable than Wei Yuan in similar situations. Of course, Wei Yuan thought he was also very reliable, accurately finding the target and then passing the buck…

Ahem, Wei Yuan meant that he handed over the responsibility to a professional.

The negotiation with Kua Fu went smoothly... No matter what the reason, even if Kua Fu just wanted to retrieve his memories, or to find out that the Hetu Luoshu was a fake, he agreed to go to Longhu Mountain.

As for the black-robed man who opened the Peach Blossom Spring Secret Realm and attracted most people here.

He was suppressed by Old Tianshi as he tried to sneak away.

Old Tianshi, who was interrupted from his sweet dream and had to come out to work overtime.

He successfully entered the 'woken up by a work text message' rage mode.

Even his attacks were a bit darker.

As if he regarded the black-robed man as some unknown museum director who also wore black.

In his old age, he had traveled all over the world, relying on a sword to roam the human realm. He had encountered too many such situations. There were not a few people who thought they were invincible after gaining some inheritance and went around causing trouble. However, there were other suspicious points about this black-robed man.

More likely.

He was just someone who came later, especially after asking Kua Fu, who learned that this secret realm had been operating for more than a hundred years, and this black-robed man had only appeared here in the last year or two.

"Let's go back to Longhu Mountain. If I had known, I wouldn't have joined in the fun..."

The old Taoist sighed regretfully.

But he also missed the fine wine in his dream.

Wei Yuan was thinking about whether to ask Gonggong or Wuzhiqi how the divine wine was brewed in the past, and then brew a few bottles for the old Taoist as compensation. As for the people who had been awakened from the illusion, they were still confused.

Among them were couples, lovers, friends, and relatives.

Wei Yuan had already asked what the final evolution direction of this secret realm was.

"If there are gods, it's one thing, but when there are no gods, this is just a place of illusion. Even if peach blossoms provide the nutrients the body needs, the body needs more than just nutrition. At the fastest, people will die in just ten or twenty years."

"If the soul is strong enough, or by some chance, it may stay in the Divine Era Secret Realm, but there is a 99% chance that it will dissipate directly, or even be swallowed by the peach blossoms and turned into nourishment. After all, this is a Divine Era formation. Without a true god, it is naturally just an incomplete semi-finished product."

Kua Fu's giant spirit answered slowly.

Old Tianshi straightened his clothes, stepped forward, his voice gentle, with the demeanor of an otherworldly expert, and his tone contained the Taoist's methods, which could dispel distracting thoughts and make people's minds clear. He said, "Don't worry, everyone, I am a Longhu Mountain cultivator. This secret realm has been broken."

"You have all been saved."

Wei Yuan was thinking about the problem.

Then he saw.

Although it was said that they were saved.

But those who had fallen into the dream showed confusion on their faces. Couples and friends glanced at each other, then quickly looked away, looking at a corner of the ground. A kind of awkward, silent atmosphere spread out.

Zhang Ruosu's eyes were complicated.

Human life is full of sorrow.

For some reason, the old Taoist who had traveled to many places thought of the Taoist scriptures he had recited when he was young.

The path of man is faint, the path of immortals is vast.

The way of ghosts is joyful.

The way of ghosts is joyful.

………………

But these people were still taken out. After all, this illusion was almost exchanging life for a short ten or twenty years of happiness, unless a god was willing to enter this place. Wei Yuanliang looked at the appearance of those people, withdrew his gaze, took A Liu's hand next to him, and said with a smile:

"A Liu, let's go out."

"I can finally leave this place. I'll take you to eat the snacks from my hometown. Let me tell you, the fried sauce noodles in my family have a very solid meat sauce. You'll definitely like it..."

When he walked forward, he easily walked out of the Peach Blossom Spring.

But the girl behind him took a step, but could not walk out.

It was as if there was an invisible barrier in the void blocking her, just like fish cannot enter the sky, and birds cannot survive in the ocean. The outside world was a huge obstacle for her.

The smile on Wei Yuanliang's face froze.

His eyes widened, with a hint of panic after astonishment.

"This, what's going on..."

He tried hard to pull the girl out, but it was all in vain. He looked at Wei Yuan and Tianshi next to him in a panic. Zhang Ruosu stepped forward a few steps and put his hand on her, but was surprised, then silent. The giant spirit Kua Fu slowly said: "...She is not a living being."

"What?!"

Wei Yuanliang was shocked, and immediately retorted: "This, this is impossible."

"I walked with her all the way, and she saved me many times."

"She told me where her home was, told me that her favorite thing was the peach tree in the yard, told me that she liked to eat fried sauce noodles, and she must fry the peanuts until they were burnt. She is a living person, she, she is here, look, she is..."

Wei Yuanliang stammered.

Kua Fu was silent for a long time. The ancient hero stretched out his hand and pressed it on the top of the young man's head, covering his eyes, and said: "She is a human, but she used to be a human."

"She is the shadow of a human, a trace left by someone who once came here."

"It's like a person leaves a reflection in a mirror."

"It's just that this is a secret realm of the Divine Era. Such a reflection also has the ability to move freely and think under the Divine Era formation, but... a reflection cannot leave the mirror, and she cannot leave the Divine Era formation. Now that the power of the formation is gradually disappearing, she will also return to the illusory world."

"And if you stay here, you will die in less than ten years."

"You have to leave..."

Wei Yuanliang found that he was no better than the child who had just cried because he was about to leave.

He tried hard to explain that this was a living person, right? She was right there.

But it was useless.

His throat was hoarse and a little tight, but it was useless. Finally, he was pulled back by Kua Fu, and suddenly fell silent, watching the girl A Liu disappear from sight as the secret realm closed. He suddenly erupted, wanting to rush over like a dying beast.

In the end, he was pulled back by Kua Fu.

He seemed to be unbearable, but still said in a deep voice:

"...You are a human."

………………………

The Peach Blossom Spring Secret Realm was closed.

However, Kua Fu was only responsible for guarding the stone tablet in the eight-hundred-mile Peach Blossom Spring, and was not responsible for this secret realm. Because of the existence of the Divine Era formation, it was impossible to seal it with Taoist talismans and formations, so he had to use a clumsy method to set up a defense line.

A total of more than a thousand people encountered illusions inside.

Over the course of thirty-one days, the disciples of Longhu Mountain were busy up and down for a long time, erasing the remaining Peach Blossom Spring formation evil aura from their bodies so that they could be put into normal life.

But it was useless.

Many people who had already been treated and recovered took the risk of being caught.

They secretly broke through the blockade checkpoints and rushed into this Divine Era Secret Realm.

Longhu Mountain had no choice but to send disciples to patrol frequently in order to solve this matter. In the end, when the monks of Longhu Mountain discovered that even the Taoist disciples who had practiced since childhood would be swept into it, they paid more attention to this matter.

The Taoist hearts of the disciples who inhaled the peach blossom evil aura would almost be completely destroyed.

Unable to resist the suffering of the human world.

Therefore, the work of bringing people out was done by machines and puppets.

After returning to the human world, Wei Yuanliang found that he was not a genius in a dream, but just an ordinary person. He found that he could not overcome the many difficulties in life, and mostly faced only tiredness and fatigue. There would also be quarrels with his parents. He did not know if it was because of the existence of the Peach Blossom Spring.

He found himself increasingly unable to tolerate his mediocrity, and it was difficult to endure the boredom of life.

In this world full of countless people, he was extremely ordinary.

Jealousy, hating himself, despair...

The more painful the human world was, the more he missed the Peach Blossom Spring of that year. Perhaps it was precisely because he had experienced such a beautiful dream in the Peach Blossom Spring that he felt the pain of the human world more and more, and he missed the girl A Liu of that year more and more.

Finally, one day, he came to the Peach Blossom Spring again.

Relying on a little bit of successful swordsmanship, he sneaked in. After a not short time, the originally extinct peach blossoms had been restored. He spread his arms, embraced the lush peach blossoms with a smile, and when the peach blossoms bloomed, he once again saw his dream.

A secluded sect, and the girl in his dream.

This is the truth...

"Didi..."

"Peach blossom evil patient detected..."

The machine's voice came, and in front of it was a young man gently bound by countless peach blossoms. A satisfied smile appeared on his pale face. It was strange that when this machine was about to carry out the rescue, the peach blossoms suddenly opened, and the young man, who should have entered the illusion and fallen into it, suddenly staggered and fell to the ground.

Wei Yuanliang knelt on the ground, coughing violently.

Coughing until tears came out.

He was the first person to actively break free from the interference of a deep illusion.

But no one knew the reason—

He was pushed out by the girl.

The girl's anger after the surprise seemed to still flash before his eyes. Wei Yuanliang could not bear the runaway evil aura in his meridians and fainted.

Wei Yuanliang, who woke up in the hospital, looked at his parents and just shed tears silently. After he recovered, he went to A Liu's hometown with the excuse of relaxing. It was a very old yard, and the peach trees were very tall. The branches had already stretched out, and even grew outside the walls.

Wei Yuanliang stood outside the door in a daze for a long time.

With a creak.

The wooden door was opened from the inside.

An old woman in a cotton long dress, whose height only reached Wei Yuanliang's shoulders, slowly walked out. She was wearing reading glasses and seemed to be startled because she did not expect that there would be anyone outside. She looked at Wei Yuanliang curiously, "Young man, who are you looking for..."

Wei Yuanliang's hand trembled, "I, I'm just here to relax."

He didn't know what to say, so he blurted out:

"The peach trees in your yard are growing really well."

The old lady was stunned for a moment, then smiled kindly and said, "Yes."

"Ever since I got lost once when I was sixteen, I've become very good at growing peach trees when I came back."

"Young man, are you here to find someone?"

Wei Yuanliang stammered: "No, no, I'm just, just looking around."

The old man said gently, "Is that so."

She looked at the strange young man and smiled gently: "Do you want to come in and take a look?"

"I don't know why, but I always feel that you are very kind."

At this time, a long time had passed since he entered the secret realm. It was about spring and summer. Wei Yuanliang helped to clean up a whole yard of peach trees and ate a bowl of fried sauce noodles. The old man wore glasses and said with a smile, "Come, if you don't mind, try it..."

"Hehe, my family is used to frying peanuts until they are burnt when making fried sauce noodles."

"I don't know if you are used to it."

Wei Yuanliang's hands trembled, but in the end, he just buried his head and ate the noodles in big mouthfuls.

After saying goodbye, he walked out the door. A neighbor happened to come home and asked the kind old lady:

"Hey? Grandma Liu, who is that? A relative of your family?"

"I don't know..."

The old lady replied, "He's a very kind stranger."

Wei Yuanliang walked forward with his back to her, and shed tears happily.

That was the shadow left by people in the Peach Blossom Spring.

Kua Fu said so.

After that, Wei Yuanliang seemed to have changed. He studied swordsmanship and cultivation methods seriously, and lived seriously. However, he never talked about marriage. Other than that, there was nothing to criticize. Even in that era, this was not a problem. He was kind, had superb swordsmanship, and was a good neighbor.

It was just that one day, a long time later, his neighbor suddenly discovered that the old man next door had disappeared and immediately called the police.

When they opened the door, they found that the table was wiped clean.

The trash had also been taken out.

This was a story of an ordinary person that was not noticed, recorded in a museum in the distant future.

Illusion or reality, what is 'truth' to people?

Is illusion worthless?

Is truth absolutely correct?

Everyone has different answers.

Just,

Perhaps sixty years later, perhaps seventy years later.

The white-haired Wei Yuanliang stood in the Peach Blossom Spring.

He stepped into the illusion of the peach blossoms. The illusion inside was exactly the same as it was back then, with small bridges and flowing water, and a secluded sect. The girl with her back to him was stunned, turned her head, and saw the old swordsman with white hair. Wei Yuanliang raised his sword and cut off the peach blossoms, and the falling flowers were colorful, as agreed back then. Suddenly, he transformed into his young self, grinned, and said:

"I'm here to find you..."

"A Liu."

ps: Third update today... 4,600 words.

Truth and illusion, how to choose... Ordinary people's choices care more about one point. Originally, I planned to write about Wei Yuanliang falling into a hallucination, but I didn't think it was good, so I wrote a little more.

Lying corpse (x_x;), I shouldn't write like this again Σ(|||▽|||)