Chapter 69 False Happiness

The sealing happened in an instant. Han Zhou felt countless icy hands desperately pulling him down. The surrounding aura grew increasingly cold, and Han Zhou simply closed his eyes, letting the power carry him away.

Han Zhou thought he would be taken to a desolate place like the Netherworld, but the sensation beneath him didn't feel like the icy waters of the Netherworld River. Moreover, the surroundings warmed up, as if the chilling aura from before had never existed.

A strange feeling compelled Han Zhou to open her eyes and check the situation. But when she saw her surroundings, her light golden eyes narrowed sharply. Vast grasslands stretched out before her, the tender green grass swaying in the wind. Han Zhou could even clearly smell the fragrance of the grass and earth. It was so familiar… this was the place where she had lived as a child.

"Why...why here?" Han Zhou murmured in disbelief.

Just as she was lost in thought, someone patted Han Zhou on the shoulder. The sudden touch startled her: My senses aren't that bad, are they? I didn't even notice someone approaching.

But when she turned around and saw that familiar face, Han Zhou knew that it wasn't her perception that was wrong, but rather that the trust from the depths of her soul had left her completely unprepared.

It was her mother.

The woman's eyes were full of worry, as if she had noticed that something was wrong with Hanzhou. "What's wrong, Zhouzhou? You don't look well."

Han Zhou's breath hitched. She observed the other person's every move, trying to find evidence that they were an imposter, but she failed. Neither their eyes nor the intimacy that seemed to emanate from their very souls could deny it. Everything told her...

The person in front of her was her mother.

But... why am I here?

Han Zhou hadn't forgotten that she was sealed away. Was this an illusion? Could she really be under an illusion? She was a nine-tailed fox who had become a god; who could possibly defeat her in illusions? Just as she was beginning to doubt herself, a strange yet familiar touch came from above her head.

More than four thousand years later, Hanzhou once again felt the warmth from his mother.

Are you alright?

She tried to brush the hand away, but paused mid-air, struggled for a moment, and then lowered it. Her voice was low: "I'm fine, I just... need some time."

Hanzhou followed behind her mother as she had when she was a child, but now she seemed somewhat absent-minded. She looked around, the scene from her memory reappearing before her eyes, still finding it utterly absurd. After all... in reality, this former paradise had long since become a dead land, untouched by any living being.

A cool, deep voice echoed in Han Zhou's ears. Her father appeared before her, standing with her mother just as he had thousands of years ago. "What's wrong? Who upset our Zhou Zhou?"

The woman shook her head, looking at her daughter with worried eyes, unsure of what to say. The man put his arm around his wife's shoulder; he saw the conflict, pain, and confusion in Hanzhou's eyes. He didn't know why his daughter had suddenly shown these emotions, but...

He took out a spirit fruit from his spatial storage, still glistening with dew, as if it had just been picked. Just as he had coaxed Han Zhou when he was a child, the man offered the fruit to Han Zhou, a gentle smile on his face: "Eat a spirit fruit, and you'll have no worries."

Hearing this, the woman nudged her partner with her elbow. Seeing the questioning look on his face, she sighed helplessly, rubbing her forehead. Before she could speak, they heard a soft laugh. Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw Han Zhou smiling.

The man, who had just been elbowed by his wife, immediately perked up, giving her a smug look that said, "See?" This childish reaction earned him a roll of the eyes from the woman. Han Zhou reached out and took the spiritual fruit from his father's hand, watching his parents' interaction with a smile in his eyes, his longing already overflowing.

How can this not be considered a blessing in disguise?

"Father, Mother, it's been so long," Han Zhou said somewhat solemnly, but the tenderness in his eyes lingered. "I've missed you both so much."

The two men exchanged a glance after hearing Hanzhou's words, both seeing confusion and bewilderment in each other's eyes. Clearly, they didn't understand why their daughter would suddenly say such a thing.

But they noticed that something was wrong with their daughter's emotions.

The woman gently stroked Han Zhou's face, her fingertips carrying the warmth of her memories. "What nonsense are you talking about? Didn't we see each other this morning?" Her brows furrowed slightly, but her eyes were filled with worry. "Is your cultivation too tiring?"

Han Zhou subconsciously rubbed against that warm hand, this long-lost act of intimacy bringing tears to her eyes. Yes, in this illusion, she and her parents were never separated, but in reality, they had long since vanished into the world, more than four thousand years ago.

The man laughed heartily and gently patted Hanzhou's head. Even though Hanzhou was now taller than her mother by half a head, she still seemed like a little girl who would never grow up in her father's eyes.

"Come, sit with me." The man took out a soft mat from his personal storage space and spread it on the grass. He also took out a picnic blanket, which was soon covered with various fruits and snacks.

The setting sun cast long shadows of the three of them. Hanzhou sat between his parents, watching their robes intertwine with his own, as if thousands of years of time had never passed.

"Tell me, what problem have you encountered?" The man's tone was casual, but his eyes were unusually deep, and if you looked closely, you could clearly see the worry in them.

Han Zhou remained silent for a moment, not speaking immediately. She looked up at her parents and decided to follow her intuition: "It's an illusion. I didn't believe any illusion could trap me, but... something unexpected happened."

This accident was caused by you.

The woman nodded knowingly, and with a light tap of her fingertips, a wisp of light flowed through her palm, transforming into a crystalline ice flower. Its petals were as thin as cicada wings, yet its interior shimmered with light. "The true essence of illusion lies in 'faith,'" she said softly, yet each word was clear. "Not only must the trapped believe, but sometimes even the caster must believe."

Han Zhou gazed at the single ice flower, watching it bloom and wither, endlessly repeating its cycle. A perfect, illusory reincarnation unfolded before her, and she suddenly felt a weariness that threatened to consume her. If she could succumb to this, could she attain eternal happiness?

She couldn't help but think this.

“But,” the man’s voice broke Han Zhou’s thoughts, a gentle smile on his face, as the ice flower in his hand dissipated into starlight, “true strength lies in the ability to construct dreams, and also in the ability to awaken at any time. If one becomes lost in the dream one has woven, then it is a prison.”

His words were like a gentle breeze, dispelling the fog that shrouded Han Zhou's heart. She abruptly looked up, meeting her father's gaze. Those eyes, always filled with a smile, now seemed to pierce her soul, carrying a profound and indescribable meaning.

Yes, Han Zhou finally understood the essence of this "seal." It wasn't a forceful suppression from the outside, but rather a direct attack on her deepest desires—a gentle cage tailor-made for her. And what trapped her was precisely her most precious, lost and regained memories.

Night fell quietly, and the sky was filled with stars. The woman nestled in the man's arms, softly humming a lullaby, the melody as melodious as she remembered.

Han Zhou listened quietly, her pale golden eyes shimmering with complex light in the night. At this moment, she no longer sought to determine whether this place was real or fake, nor did she search for flaws. Han Zhou simply felt it quietly, etching this warmth into her heart.

After an unknown amount of time, the parents' whispers gradually subsided, their figures becoming somewhat hazy, as if they might melt into the gentle night at any moment.

Hanzhou slowly stood up. She looked at her parents, and they looked back at her. Their gazes were still warm, filled with complete trust, without the slightest attempt to hold her back, as if they had always known this moment would come.

"Father, Mother," Hanzhou spoke softly, her voice calm yet firm, "Thank you."

She didn't say "goodbye" again, because she knew that true parting had already happened thousands of years ago.

The next moment, the last trace of hesitation and longing in her pale golden eyes vanished completely. In their place was a divine clarity and resolve, and divine power surged forth from her body like a tidal wave.

Click—

The world around him—the grasslands, the starry sky, his parents' warm smiles—began to show subtle cracks, like a shattered mirror. The cracks began to spread rapidly, and the illusion built on Han Zhou's memories began to fall apart.

In the instant before everything was completely obliterated, Han Zhou vaguely saw his parents' figures smiling at him under the starlight, before turning into countless soft points of light and dissipating in the wind.

Han Zhou stood alone in the void, feeling the lingering warmth of that moment slowly cooling in her heart. This layer of illusion had been broken, but she knew the real challenge lay ahead. In the distance, she seemed to hear the soft clatter of chains, cold yet real.

When Han Zhou regained her senses, a cold sensation spread from her ankles upwards. Looking down, she saw dark chains coiling around her like living venomous snakes. Ancient runes were engraved on the chains, which were drawing away her dissipated divine power and even emitting a faint, teeth-grinding sucking sound.

Thick resentment surged in from all directions, threatening to engulf him at any moment. Accompanying this was a low murmur, as countless vengeful spirits and ghosts spoke in Han Zhou's ear.

"Succumb to it..."

"You shouldn't have woken up..."

"Eternal happiness is so close, why wake up?"

Han Zhou's eyes sharpened, and golden divine power erupted suddenly, shattering the chains on her ankles like the melting snow under the blazing sun. But more chains emerged from the void, one after another. They forcefully bound Han Zhou's limbs, attempting to control her movements. The scattered vengeful spirits were so dense that Han Zhou could hardly see the situation before her.

These chains seemed endless; once his divine power was depleted, the surrounding vengeful spirits would swarm upon him. After a blinding flash of white light, Han Zhou returned to his original form. The enormous nine-tailed white fox lay in the black water, letting it soak his snow-white fur.

His pale golden eyes slowly closed, completely ignoring the chains that bound him, gathering all his divine power, and waiting for the right moment.