Chapter 86 Illusion: You Learned the Truth About the Expedition
A sudden gust of cold wind blew into the tent, and the flashlight beam flickered for a moment before being blown out.
Everything before my eyes was completely dark.
Fang Zhiyi swallowed hard. In the pitch black, his ears became unusually sharp, and he could clearly hear all sounds: the sound of swallowing, the sound of his heart racing, and... the sound of footsteps outside the tent.
Creak.
Crunch, crunch.
The soles of the shoes rubbed against the ground, sounding like they were dragging their heels as they walked, gradually approaching the tent from a distance.
Fang Zhiyi recalled the contents of the notebook: the footsteps that appeared in the abyss, the omnipresent whispers... At this moment, human imagination was fully unleashed, and the words transformed into images that filled his mind, forming distorted and bizarre shadows.
He unconsciously took a step back, his back pressed tightly against the tent, his eyes wide open, staring intently in the direction from which the footsteps were coming.
Closer, closer.
Fang Zhiyi held her breath, her fingers gripping the notebook tightly as a weapon for self-defense.
A shadow fell on the tent.
Splash—
The tent zipper was pulled open, and a beam of light shone obliquely. Chu Zhao's voice came from behind: "I saw the light in the tent go out, what happened?" Moving the flashlight aside, he saw Fang Zhiyi holding a notebook as if to throw it at him. He paused for a moment, then asked, "What are you doing?"
Fang Zhiyi's hand slipped, and the notebook fell to the ground. He hurriedly caught it, saying, "N-nothing..." He quickly crawled out of the tent and looked around with lingering fear. The supply point faced a cliff on one side and was backed by the cave wall on the other. There was no one else in sight, and the footsteps he had just heard were from Chu Zhao.
Chu Zhao followed behind him, backlit, his features shrouded in shadow.
Fang Zhiyi: "..."
It seems I was just scaring myself; nothing happened.
He met Chu Zhao's gaze and gave an awkward laugh: "The flashlight just suddenly went out." He tried pressing the switch, but the light flickered and wouldn't turn on. He patted it hard and said in surprise, "Is it broken?"
Chu Zhao took the flashlight from his hand and examined it carefully: "It should be out of power."
Fang Zhiyi leaned closer: "What size battery do you use? Size 5 or Size 7?"
Chu Zhao shook his head: "These high-powered flashlights use special lithium batteries." He took out the batteries from the flashlight and showed them to Fang Zhiyi.
Fang Zhiyi searched the supermarket shelves, but found that the supermarket only sold common household batteries, specifically AA and AAA batteries; there were no lithium batteries.
He took back the flashlight, muttering, "Did the batteries run out so quickly?"
Flashlights are basic equipment that come with a backpack. The game provides them with enough supplies for 3 days, so they shouldn't have used them up so quickly.
Fang Zhiyi shook the now-dead flashlight, then stuffed it back into his backpack, intending to see if he could find a lithium battery at the next supply point.
Chu Zhao said, "My flashlight still has power, use mine first." He then handed it over.
Fang Zhiyi waved his hand: "You have the same one."
It's not just being polite; one flashlight is enough for two people. Alternatively, he could grab a household flashlight from the supermarket for emergencies, though it wouldn't be as bright.
Fang Zhiyi was about to go to the supermarket to find a flashlight when she suddenly heard Chu Zhao say, "Did you find something in the tent just now?"
Before Fang Zhiyi could grab a flashlight, her mind snapped out of the supermarket: "Huh?"
Chu Zhao: "I see you've been inside for a long time."
Fang Zhiyi didn't think much of it and took the notebook. "I found it in the tent. I was reading it carefully when the flashlight ran out of power, which startled me." He smiled sheepishly and added, "But what's written in the notebook is really scary."
Upon hearing this, Chu Zhao lowered his head and flipped through the contents of his notebook. The rustling of pages filled the air as he quickly finished reading. After closing the book, he said, "It's normal to experience auditory and visual hallucinations after spending so much time in a confined underground cave, especially since he was alone, making it even more likely for him to experience this." He repeated, "These are all normal."
Fang Zhiyi felt something was off.
Is this normal?
He looked at the last page of the notebook, where the entire page was filled with messy, distorted handwriting—"They found me."
Chu Zhao followed his gaze and said, "It seems he was eventually found by his teammates."
Fang Zhiyi felt a chill run down her spine and slowly said, "Is he really a teammate?"
Chu Zhao smiled as before: "Who else could it be?"
Fang couldn't quite explain his intentions.
He always felt that the "them" in the diary weren't his teammates. If they were, why was the writing so hurried, with the handwriting subtly revealing unease and...fear?
The cave was already gloomy and oppressive, and Fang Zhiyi felt a heavy weight in his chest.
Chu Zhao said, "You're overthinking it." He repeated, "It's normal to experience claustrophobia and hallucinations when a cave is enclosed and deep underground."
Fang Zhiyi: "...Is that so?"
Chu Zhao said definitively, "Yes. Let's go, aren't we heading to the next supply point?"
Fang Zhiyi had a slight headache: "Which way do we go..."
Chu Zhao pointed in a direction: "Here."
Fang Zhiyi was about to walk forward when he suddenly turned around and bumped into Chu Zhao behind him with his shoulder, pinning him to the ground.
Chu Zhao: "What are you doing!?"
Fang Zhiyi pressed down on his neck and said coldly, "You are not Chu Zhao."
Chu Zhao frowned and shouted, "Fang Zhiyi, are you crazy? You're just like the people in the diary, you're hallucinating!"
The echo reverberated in the abyss.
I'm going crazy! I'm going crazy! I'm going crazy!
Hallucinations hallucinations hallucinations—
Fang Zhiyi felt dizzy for a moment, and Chu Zhao's face twisted and magnified, revealing black lines that wriggled closer.
"You're too tired, Fang Zhiyi, you're too tired, you should get some rest."
"If I'm not Chu Zhao, then who am I? Take a good look at me again."
"Fang's meaning—"
The sounds overlapped and repeated in my ears.
Fang Zhiyi hesitated for a moment, then became firm again: "You are not Chu Zhao."
This was the third survival world he had spent with Chu Zhao. Although the time was not long, it was enough for him to get to know Chu Zhao better.
If it were Chu Zhao, he would never say that Chu Zhao was crazy or hallucinating. Faced with his speculation, Chu Zhao would only believe it, rather than try to refute or deny it in various ways.
"You're not Chu Zhao!" Fang Zhiyi grabbed his neck, gritting her teeth. "Don't try to lie to me."
Seeing that he wasn't fooled, "Chu Zhao" let out a cold laugh. The lines on his face twisted, and after he completely lost his disguise, a black shadow more than 2 meters tall appeared in front of him. It had long arms and legs, sharp claws, and looked thin but was incredibly strong. It flipped Fang Zhiyi over one by one.
Bang!
Fang Zhiyi fell to the ground, his arm scraping against the ground, leaving a long trail of blood.
The shadowy figure followed closely behind, and a cloud of black mist wrapped around Fang Zhiyi's hands and feet, dragging him step by step toward the cliff.
Fang Zhiyi's face was almost pressed against the edge of the cliff. If he turned his head, he would be met with the eerie wind blowing up from below. The stones at the edge swayed and fell with a rustling sound, quickly swallowed by the darkness below. If he fell, he would truly be smashed to pieces.
He gritted his teeth, gripped the shadowy figure's shoulders tightly, and kicked off with his feet, trying to break free from the figure's control.
The shadowy figure was simply too strong; its arms were like cast iron, holding him down firmly, making it impossible for him to break free.
In the struggle, Fang Zhiyi took another step closer to the abyss, half of his body already suspended in the air, feeling the chill of the wind.
I'm going to get first place!
Above the abyss, a cluster of bright red flowers emerged, swaying in the wind.
Strength and speed +100%!
Fang Zhiyi suddenly exerted his strength, twisting his waist and unleashing superhuman power in an instant. He slammed upwards, causing the dark figure to take a step back. He took the opportunity to climb back from the edge of the abyss, and as soon as he stood up, he saw the dark figure pounce on him again.
With the boost from "I'm going to be number one!", his strength was comparable to the shadowy figure, barely holding on. However, the effect of "I'm going to be number one" only lasted for one minute. As time ticked by, the speed and strength boost was about to wear off, and he had to defeat the shadowy figure before he became weak.
Change your title to "Snow Hunter".
The little red flower disappeared, replaced by a pair of sharp eyes.
Fang Zhiyi took a step back, as if he was forced to the edge of a cliff because he couldn't defeat the dark figure.
Without hesitation, the dark figure pounced forward in one fell swoop.
Now!
Fang Zhiyi suddenly turned to the side, grabbed the dark figure, and used his shoulders and arms to drag the figure backward.
The figure was 2 meters tall, but incredibly thin. Standing on the edge of the cliff, it teetered on the brink of collapse. With that push, it lost its balance and fell straight down the cliff.
"ah--"
An echo came from the bottom of the abyss, and the dark figure was quickly swallowed by the darkness, turning into a cloud of black mist.
The next moment, the effect of "I will take first place!" disappeared, and Fang Zhiyi completely lost his strength, collapsing to the ground. Perhaps due to overexertion, he felt a splitting headache, and everything before him seemed to be being torn apart.
He closed his eyes, then opened them again, and the scene before him had changed; he was back inside the tent.
The flashlight shone on the notebook, clearly revealing a line of messy, illegible writing: "They found me."
Fang Zhiyi's heart skipped a beat. Was everything that had just happened an illusion?
No, no, [I want to be number one!] fell silent, the soreness in his body and the wounds on his arms reminding him that everything was real.
But why did he end up back in the tent? Is he caught in a loop?
Fang Zhiyi's head started to hurt again.
If he couldn't figure it out, he simply stopped thinking about it.
Whether it's a loop or not, you can tell by whether a fake Chu Zhao appears outside the tent.
He waited quietly.
One minute, two minutes... no footsteps or figures appeared, and the light from his flashlight remained on. He shone the flashlight outside and decided not to wait any longer, but to take the initiative, lifting the tent flap and stepping outside.
Upon emerging, he discovered the supply point was shrouded in a thick black mist. His vision blurred, and a burning sensation rose in his throat. He covered his mouth and nose, waving away the mist: "Chu Zhao—"
He found Chu Zhao not far from outside the tent.
Chu Zhao's eyes were tightly closed, as if he were trapped in a nightmare, his brows furrowed and cold sweat pouring down his face.
Fang Zhiyi grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard: "Chu Zhao, Chu Zhao!"
After being called twice, Chu Zhao gradually responded. His eyelids trembled, and he suddenly opened them, taking a deep breath.
"Zhiyi...?" Upon seeing Fang Zhiyi, Chu Zhao's first reaction was to be on guard, then he realized what was happening and explained, "I just encountered a fake you, and it even tried to push me off a cliff..."
Fang Zhiyi nodded: "I encountered that too."
The two looked at each other and said in unison, "Fog."
It appears that this black mist drifted up from the bottom of the abyss and has hallucinogenic properties, producing illusions that are somewhere between reality and illusion.
The injuries on their bodies prove that if they were pushed off a cliff in the illusion, they would certainly have been smashed to pieces in reality.
Fang Zhiyi took a pack of N95 masks from the supermarket and handed it to Chu Zhao: "Wear this."
Whether it's useful or not, it's always good to be on guard.
Chu Zhao took the mask and put it on.
Fang Zhiyi pulled upwards: "Let's go."
The fog wasn't spreading quickly, only covering the area around the supply point. For safety's sake, it would be best to leave this area first.
Fang Zhiyi glanced at the map fragment, and after confirming the direction, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and began to climb. Climbing the cliff face, he occasionally looked down.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he always felt like there was a pair of eyes watching him from the abyss.
Even after leaving the fog, the tingling sensation didn't disappear.
Fang Zhiyi climbed to a more spacious spot and sat down to rest. Looking down, she saw that Chu Zhao had also climbed up.
The two sat shoulder to shoulder above the abyss.
After a moment of silence, Fang Zhiyi couldn't resist her curiosity and asked, "What did you see in your hallucination?"
Chu Zhao said, "A fake one is trying to trick me into getting close to the cliff so he can push me off."
Fang Zhiyi blinked: "Do you believe me?"
Chu Zhao glanced at him and said, "No."
Fang Zhiyi: "How did you figure out it was fake?"
Chu Zhao: “Words, demeanor, actions… that thing only looks exactly like you, but is actually completely different.” He paused, “The eyes can lie, but the heart cannot.”
Fang Zhiyi's toes wobbled in mid-air as she chuckled and said, "You seem to know me quite well."
Chu Zhao: "Aren't you the same?"
Fang Zhiyi: "That thing was too fake, completely different from you." He remembered something and took out the notebook from his pocket. "I found it in the tent."
Chu Zhao took the notebook and carefully read through it. After a while, he closed it and said, "The owner of the diary must have experienced the same thing as us."
Fang Zhiyi glanced at the notebook again: "It doesn't seem to be written here."
Chu Zhao said, "Sometimes, diaries can be deceiving. People always subconsciously deceive and hide the parts that are unfavorable to them." He pointed to the diary entry for Day 1, "What if he hadn't gotten separated from his teammates in the first place?"
The contents of the diary cannot withstand close scrutiny.
If someone gets separated from their teammates in a cave, it's highly unlikely they would calmly write in their diary. Of course, writing in a diary is abnormal in itself, unless they want to clear themselves of some suspicion.
For example, a suspect in the murder of a teammate might use a diary to create an alibi.
"Perhaps he murdered his teammates in the cave and then encountered fake teammates in a hallucination, which would explain why he wrote something like 'They've come to find me' in a panic. Otherwise, someone who has been separated from their teammates should be overjoyed to see them again."
Fang Zhiyi couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine when she thought about such a scene.
Chu Zhao briefly ended the topic: "It's just speculation, though."
[You have learned one fragment of the truth about the expedition team]
Fang Zhiyi: "It seems you guessed right."
Chu Zhao: "Is there a prize?"
Fang Zhiyi shrugged: "It seems not?" He smiled, leaned over and kissed him, "I can reward you."
Chu Zhao's gaze deepened: "This reward exceeds my expectations."
After resting for a few minutes, Fang Zhiyi regained some strength and looked down to see the supply point at her feet.
The fog that had enveloped the supply point didn't catch up; instead, it slowly receded.
From the depths of the abyss, a heavy breathing sound seemed to echo, as the mist was swept into the darkness, awaiting the next surge of the rising tide.
Fang Zhiyi had a premonition that the next time would come soon: "Let's set a code, and then we'll know whether it's real or fake when we fall into the hallucination again."
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