However, he never imagined that the scene that followed would be so heartbreaking. The scene that had just faded away bizarrely reappeared in front of him. The old witch’s arm was raised, and the eerie, ghostly blue flame flickered to life without any wind, striking towards one of Wang Xiaoyun’s images. “Old witch, stop!” Lin Feng transformed into a series of shadows, like a wisp of smoke, his Swift Wind Step technique never before so swift, rushing towards the ghostly blue flame like lightning. His speed had reached its limit! Yet, he ultimately couldn’t stop the old witch’s lethal move. Wang Xiaoyun let out a miserable cry and vanished into ashes in the blink of an eye. Lin Feng’s heart was bleeding. Though he knew it wasn’t real, the scene was so bizarre that as soon as it happened, Lin Feng’s rationality teetered on the edge of collapse. “Old witch, if you dare, fight me, not some weak women!” The distance between them was clearly close, yet despite pushing his Swift Wind Step to the limit, he was always a hair’s breadth away. Just a hair’s breadth, yet he couldn’t intervene to block the old witch’s killing move. The old witch looked at Lin Feng with a sinister smile, not speaking, and with another wave of her hand, another ghostly blue flame, without any wind, struck the second Wang Xiaoyun. In an instant, Wang Xiaoyun screamed again, shattering into dust and scattering into the green mountains and grass of Yudong Mountain. Although he knew it was an illusion, Wang Xiaoyun’s screams were so clear, as if right next to his ear. Lin Feng, like an enraged stray dog, roared with all his might, yet he couldn’t break free from the noose around his neck, only able to watch helplessly as his enemy took away his “dog food.” “Old witch, I will kill you! I will kill you sooner or later!” In the midst of his anguished roar, the old witch waved her hand again. The third, fourth, fifth, one by one, the living images of Wang Xiaoyun vanished before his eyes, turning into dust that fell to the ground, leaving only those heart-wrenching screams still echoing in his ears, piercing his fragile nerves. “Old witch, I must kill you!” As the beloved in his sight perished seven times, Lin Feng’s heart shattered seven times, as if he had experienced seven lifetimes of reincarnation in an instant. Finally, the door to the secret chamber opened on its own, and the old witch’s vague, ethereal figure, without any wind, slowly moved towards another part of Yudong Mountain. Lin Feng’s eyes shot out a fierce light, fiercely lunging forward. But reality was so cruel; his neck was still tightly bound by an invisible rope. Although his hands and feet were almost touching the old witch’s robe, he was just a hair’s breadth away, unable to move an inch further. The only thing he could do was to roar like a beast towards the sky in frustration, watching helplessly as the old witch’s figure slowly walked past him. The old witch’s veil brushed softly against his face, but it felt like a thousand-pound steel whip, fiercely lashing at his heart. “Old witch, you won’t escape! You won’t escape!” Lin Feng collapsed weakly to the ground. “Heart demon, are you my heart demon? Does appearance arise from the heart? What does ‘appearance arises from the heart’ mean? Could it be that the old witch now is me, that I am actually the old witch? No, no, I would never kill Xiaoyun, never! But why can’t I get close to her? If I can’t get close to her, how can I defeat her? How can I conquer this detestable heart demon? Right, right, Xiaoyun reminded me that all this is an illusion of reality; everything here is based on my sea of consciousness, and I can completely control it all, completely control what happens next! Why can’t I find the way to control it? Xiaoyun, where is Xiaoyun? Didn’t she just say she would adventure and fight with me? Where is she? Could it be that those illusions just now were her real spirit incarnations? No, no, Xiaoyun wouldn’t die so easily; the one who deserves to die is the old witch, the old witch and her minions! Why should I be afraid? Why should I fear? Evil never triumphs over good; I have Niu Niu as my strong backing, why should I fear? The old witch’s most formidable weapon is her blue flame, isn’t it? Niu Niu can mimic anything; Niu Niu must be able to mimic the witchcraft she uses. I’m so stupid, I actually forgot Niu Niu’s special use, but, Niu Niu’s mimicry ability doesn’t seem to be under my control! What should I do? Strange? Why can’t I activate Niu Niu’s system anymore?” Seeing no way to deal with the old witch so close by, Lin Feng remembered the treasure within him, Niu Niu’s intelligent system. The pain was, at such a critical moment, he realized that at some point, he had lost his ability to sense Niu Niu, unable to detect any information related to her. The last time he couldn’t log into the system was due to exhaustion, but now his energy was abundant, so why would he lose contact with Niu Niu’s system? Why is this happening? Is heaven trying to destroy me? Just then, the old witch had reached the stone cave where several girls had once been held. The ground was littered with corpses, all those he had once shot dead. What was the old witch doing? Why was she igniting the blue flame again? The old witch’s figure suddenly multiplied, seemingly appearing beside each corpse at the same time. Then, the blue flame from her fingertips hit each target on the ground, and in an instant, all the corpses emitted a wisp of black smoke, turning to nothingness. This must be why, when he led the five girls out of the cave, he didn’t find any bodies. She was kind enough to deal with the bodies of her minions. If it were him, would he have taken the time to do such things? Lin Feng asked himself, and the answer was naturally no. They were all bandits and cold-blooded executioners who deserved to be hacked into pieces, exposing their bodies in the wilderness would be too lenient. If possible, he wished they would suffer eternal damnation to vent his anger. As Lin Feng’s hatred rose, the surrounding illusion suddenly changed again. The old witch’s figure transformed into the appearance of Scarface, the bandit leader, with a bloody hole in the center of his forehead, a gift from Lin Feng himself. Scarface didn’t speak, his dead fish eyes wide open as if accusing, zombie-like, slowly moving towards him. It was as if Scarface was saying: “You killed me! You killed so many of my brothers! Why? Just because you’re stronger, you have mysterious steps, and you have a gun, so you got angry, and you killed us!” The fat man killed that girl, which really pissed you off. You are strong and armed, so you can kill whoever you want when you’re angry! We are bandits, we are cruel, but aren’t you the same—bloodthirsty, brutal, cold-blooded, and savage? Shut up! Shut up! Lin Feng shouted, landing a punch on Scarface’s head. Scarface’s head was instantly blown away, but in the blink of an eye, a new one grew back. The forehead still bore a bloody hole, eyes wide open, stepping closer and closer, forcing him to retreat. Die! Die! You damned bandit, you have no right to lecture me! Scarface had closed in, his stiff arms suddenly lifting to choke Lin Feng’s neck. Lin Feng kicked Scarface away, but those rigid arms still firmly executed their master’s command, tightly gripping Lin Feng’s neck, making it hard for him to breathe. Scarface’s body began to slowly regenerate from the severed arms, and his hands continued to choke Lin Feng’s neck, relentlessly following the master’s order.
Lin Feng’s vision blurred, everything around him seemed on the verge of collapsing, that ethereal feeling returned, much like when he first fell into this bizarre space. At the same time, he sensed a strange yet familiar mental force attempting to connect with him.
