"Damn it!"
As his body continued to fall, all he could see was an increasingly deep darkness. After an unknown amount of time, Yin Ming made solid contact with the ground.
Feeling the pain emanating from his internal organs, Yin Ming finally couldn't help but curse the "national essence".
This man in white is really something else. After unlocking Yin Ming's memories, he didn't give him much time to react before grabbing him and dragging him into Lingyao's illusion.
Yin Ming was so angry he almost laughed. If they were going to force him into the illusion anyway, why did they have to ask for his opinion with all that nonsense beforehand?
Does he really think Yin Ming can't escape his grasp, so he's taking his time, playing a cat-and-mouse game with him? Or is it, as he said, that he wants Yin Ming to 'die knowing why'?
What a strange person.
What's even stranger is that after entering the illusion, the white-robed man's aura completely disappeared in an instant, as if Yin Ming was the only person there from beginning to end, and the white-robed man was just something he imagined.
Is this the tenth realm expert, appearing and disappearing without a trace?
Perhaps it's because he currently has no cultivation, so the man in white can easily hide his tracks in front of him.
Yin Ming sighed silently. Now that he was in, he could only take it one step at a time.
only……
Yin Ming turned his head to examine his surroundings. Was this the illusion originating from Ling Yao's heart? Why was it so dark and there was nothing there?
As if in response to Yin Ming's heartfelt wish, a bright light suddenly flashed across the scene before them, and a stream of light swirled into a cocoon, eventually transforming into the appearance of a child who was about three years old.
The child's eyes were clear and innocent, misty with tears. His pink lips were pressed tightly together, and his chubby little hands were clutching the dirty hem of his clothes.
Yin Ming stared blankly at the scene before him, having no idea what was happening.
Fearing this might be a trap set by the man in white, Yin Ming didn't dare to step forward for a moment, but just watched from a distance, waiting for the other party's next move.
A few minutes passed, but the child did not do anything strange.
Yin Ming lowered his guard and was about to step forward to ask questions when a hand with distinct knuckles suddenly emerged from the darkness in front of the child, trying to wipe away his rolling, glistening tears.
Yin Ming was immediately surprised, not expecting that there was another person in this darkness!
Could it be... that man in white?
As the hand touched the child's cheek, a burst of light suddenly shone from the child's body.
The light emanated from him, spreading out in ripples, and wherever it passed, the light quickly built bricks, tiles, grass, and trees.
The world was thus restored to light, and a few moments later, the surrounding scenery was fully revealed.
Yin Ming then realized that he was standing outside a shrine draped with white silk ribbons.
The owner of that hand was none other than Ling Yao, whom Yin Ming had been longing for!
Although the man in white and Ling Yao look exactly alike, after the incident with Ling Yue, Yin Ming would never mistake them for each other again.
He hadn't even admitted his mistake at first. It was Ling Yue who deliberately imitated Ling Yao's demeanor and personally admitted that he was Ling Yao, and said so many things that only the two of them knew, which led Yin Ming to be temporarily deceived.
Yin Ming knew he was terribly wrong back then, but he had to admit, he seemed to have a bit of an understanding of the "stand-in literature" genre...
Of course, understanding doesn't mean liking; when he later found out that Ling Yue was a fake, he also rejected his advances.
This kind of thing will never happen again.
Yin Ming calmed himself down and looked down at Ling Yao in front of him.
He was dressed in red, with his full head of silver hair cascading down his back. He was bending down, carefully wiping away the tears on the child's cheeks.
But his hand pierced through the child's body the moment it touched him, and he could only watch helplessly as the child's tears fell more and more, and his expression grew increasingly sorrowful and forlorn.
The child seemed oblivious to Lingyao's presence. He kept glancing back into the ancestral hall, then nervously twisted the hem of his clothes before finally stammering, "Grandma..."
Hearing his whisper, Yin Ming frowned slightly. When he saw the delicate features hidden beneath his dirty face, Yin Ming choked back a sob.
Could this be... Lingyao at age three?
However, Yin Ming's previous illusion was a real experience from a first-person perspective, and that realistic feeling made Yin Ming blur the line between reality and illusion.
Why is Lingyao, now reborn, in the same frame as his three-year-old self?
Even though everything happening before her eyes was so dreamlike, wouldn't that make it easier for Lingyao to realize that she was in an illusion, thus making it easier for her to wake up and break free?
Yin Ming's deep thought naturally did not interfere with what was happening in the scene.
Suddenly, two simply dressed men emerged from the ancestral hall. Upon seeing the three-year-old child standing timidly at the entrance, one of the men spat and muttered curses:
"What the hell is this bad luck? I just stepped out and saw this jinx. I hope I'm going to have some serious trouble later."
"Speaking of which, wasn't it he who killed Grandma Ling? How can he still have the nerve to stay here?"
Seeing that his insults were too harsh, the other man looked on with pity, tugged at his hand, and advised:
"Hey, don't say that. Grandma Ling fell ill because she was overworked. What does it have to do with him? He's also very sad because his only relative is gone. Just say less."
The man whose wrist was grabbed rolled his eyes in annoyance and pulled his wrist back to his chest.
"Am I wrong? Isn't Grandma Ling overworked because of him?"
He gave the child in front of him a look of disgust, then said coldly, "Sad? Why doesn't he just go and die? Who knows how much more trouble he'll bring if he stays in the village!"
The man who had initially tried to mediate immediately changed his expression upon hearing this, and rebuked him with a stern face: "Tiger, what you said is really going too far. If you can't speak properly, then shut up!"
The man called Tiger snorted coldly and turned his head away, saying nothing more.
The man who was trying to mediate looked down at the little child, his expression softened, and he squatted down to be level with him, affectionately patting the child's head.
"Little Yao, Uncle Erhu didn't mean to scold you. It's just that Grandma used to be very good to Uncle Erhu. Now that Grandma has passed away, Uncle Erhu is very sad, and that's why he's a little irritable. You'll forgive Uncle Erhu, right?"
The child looked up blankly, not paying attention to their conversation, and whispered, "Then... can I go in and see Grandma?"
Upon hearing this, Tiger immediately sneered, "You dare to go in and try! She's already dead, and you're not even letting her rest in peace!"
The man who had tried to mediate immediately turned cold, stood up, and shielded the child behind him.
"Can't you understand me when I'm talking to you properly? Why the hell are you arguing with a child? What's wrong with you?! Grandma Ling's most precious child is her grandson. Don't you think about how heartbroken she would be if she heard these words!"
Tiger paused, his face turning pale and then red, but he didn't say anything more.
Seeing his reaction, the man trying to mediate softened his tone, "If you truly still remember Grandma Ling's kindness, you should treat Xiao Yao well, instead of saying such nonsense!"
"Alright, don't forget we came out to buy paper money. It wouldn't be good if we missed the appointed time."
The man turned to face the small child, his thin lips pressed tightly together on his slightly weathered face, as if he was worried that if he let the child go in by himself, he would be subjected to such harsh words of abuse.
He then bent down and stroked the child's head, saying softly:
"Of course Xiao Yao can go in, but you'll have to wait for Uncle. When Uncle comes back, he'll take you in to see Grandma, okay?"
Upon hearing that he could enter the ancestral hall, the little child's eyes lit up, and he obediently nodded, "Okay!"
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