Chapter 183: Questioning the State of Mind

In the second mirror, I saw the scene before the end of the world.

It was in a clean and bright room, with bright sunshine outside the window, no red fog, no monsters. I was lying on the sofa playing games, enjoying my weekend.

"I" also have a cat, which is now lazily curled up on the windowsill basking in the sun.

That is the "me" who lives an ordinary and stable life, away from all madness and pain.

"Come back, this is the real happiness, forget all the pain and struggle..." The seductive whisper kept knocking on my heart.

My heart suddenly lurched, a wave of bitterness nearly welling up in my eyes. Such ordinariness was once within my reach before the apocalypse, a daily routine I never cherished.

I almost reached out to touch the warmth reflected in the mirror… but in the end, I simply clenched my fist, my nails digging deep into my palm. The pain sobered me up. No matter how beautiful the illusion, it was only a mirage.

Continuing forward, I saw an even more outrageous scene in a giant mirror that almost took up the entire wall.

"I" has become completely abnormal, with six arms each holding starlight and mirror fragments.

At this moment, "I" sits high on a throne made of twisted bones and broken rules, with an aura of a god even deeper and more terrifying than Gali's. In my eyes is a pure, indifferent coldness.

At my feet are countless tiny creatures, including the once invincible gods of the old Zhoutian.

In this mirror image, "I" am the supreme god who has devoured everything and ascended to the top, possessing supreme authority. No one can threaten me anymore.

"This is absolute power. You can control everything and stop the end of the world... This is the ultimate answer!" The voice exactly the same as mine sounded again, full of bewitching power.

A cold desire that could destroy everything seemed to be aroused, and I couldn't help but take a step forward to find out what was going on.

However, as I stood in front of the huge mirror, I suddenly remembered something.

Becoming a god has never been my ultimate goal. How is the "me" in the mirror with six hands and six eyes and no emotions any different from a monster?

That's not me.

Then, I saw myself, a wealthy person who controlled a vast business empire. I saw myself with my parents still alive, doted on, and free from worries...

Each mirror projects a possibility in life, which are the desires or regrets hidden deep in my heart.

They are all calling me and tempting me.

"Be me..."

"This is what you want..."

"Stay..."

Countless voices intertwined, like the most alluring poison, trying to disintegrate my will. With each mirror I looked at, I felt as if my "existence" was diluted a little, and the urge to merge into one of the reflections grew stronger and stronger.

But reason tells me that once I choose any one of them and agree that that is what I "most want to be", according to the nature of the relics left behind by Gali, I will most likely be replaced or swallowed by those mirror images.

If you’re not careful, you might not be able to get out at all.

I stopped, closed my eyes, and stopped looking at the chaotic mirror images. A huge sense of loneliness and confusion came over me like a tide.

What kind of person do I want to be?

Investigator? Ordinary person? Evil spirit? Rich man? Filial daughter?

These seem to be all of these, and yet none of them seem to be.

I thought about it for a long time but couldn't come up with an accurate answer until I saw my own reflection on the smooth ground.

At this moment, I am wearing a silver-gray protective suit, carrying a Miao Dao on my back, and my face is full of confusion.

"I am no one, I am Ji Ling."

Suddenly, these words popped up in my mind.

I am Ji Ling, who was unfortunately caught up in the apocalypse, targeted by the evil god, lost a lot, but cleverly stole power.

It was Ji Ling who made many friends and had the protection of his parents.

It is Ji Ling who feels fear, pain, and confusion, but always strives to survive.

The choice of what I want to be is naturally in my hands. I don’t need to be any “possible” me, I just need to be the real me and accept everything about this reality.

It includes pain, strength, confusion, and responsibility.

At this moment, my will is more focused than ever before.

What a joke! Even if I hold illusory authority, it doesn't mean I need to rely on such false things to numb myself, okay?

I suddenly raised my head and looked at the countless mirrors in front of me that were still trying to seduce me. The voice was calm, but it had the power to penetrate all illusions:

"Mirror flowers and water moons are ultimately illusory. Reflecting countless things is not my true heart."

This is my firm self-awareness and declaration of existence!

As I finished speaking, the voices suddenly stopped.

All illusions and temptations disappeared without a trace in an instant.

The surrounding scene became clear again. I was still standing in the old residential building, with the afterglow of the setting sun shining on the ruins, as if the long and dangerous journey in the mirror just now was just an illusion.

And I suddenly found that my mental state seemed to be much more stable, and my control over the illusory authority had increased a little more.

Does it turn out that in order to grasp illusory authority, one needs to see through the essence of illusion?

Without relying on any real vision, only by relying on one's own self-awareness and perseverance to break through those false things can one truly understand the true meaning of illusion.

But was it really that easy this time? Putting aside what I went through, the rewards alone were truly bountiful.

At this moment, the detector implanted in the brain suddenly issued a sharp alarm!

A powerful and familiar energy wave with a hint of Gali's aura is surging violently nearby, heading directly towards the top floor of the building in the center of this residential area!

Here comes the real crisis.

My eyes flashed and I immediately rushed towards the direction of the alarm.

When I got all the way to the top floor of the center, I found a familiar person.

An Xiaowei!

I knew this guy wasn't dead yet!

The wind on the top floor was very strong, blowing dust and debris from nowhere into a whirlpool.

An Xiaowei was standing on the edge of the rooftop, with her back to me, looking at the sinking sunset and ruins in the distance. She was not wearing the sweet girl clothes she usually wore before, but an old-style Investigation Bureau windbreaker with a 90s style, the hem of the coat fluttering in the wind.

She turned around slowly, her face no longer showing the fanatic's paranoia or the pride of having succeeded in her conspiracy. Instead, she had an unusual calmness, and even a hint of indescribable fatigue and vicissitudes.

"You're here, Ji Ling."

Her voice was steady, emotionless. "Faster than I expected, and more...determined. It seems Gali's Mirror of the Heart couldn't hold you back for long."

She spat in disgust: "What a loser, Lord of Apocalypse."