A Life with You

71. Illusion

Previously...

A black light exploded as the murmurs came to an end. The two laid unconscious on the ground while their face scrunched up in discomfort.

"A-Tian has fallen in slumber, Taiyang while finally rise with Yue Liang..."

Third Person POV

Jiang cheng opened his eyes in the familiar dark space. At this point he was tired of dealing with demon. He stood up from the ground which was filled with black liquid. He tried to wipe off the black liquid from his sleeves when a pink petal fell on his knuckles. 

He picked it with his dirty hand which burnt the petal immediately. He soon saw another petal landing on his arm making his raise his head to view the large cherry blossom tree shedding its leaves.

He was stuck in a daze when he heard light giggling sounds from behind. He quickly went behind the tree and peeked out. 

He looked at three familiar figures laughing near the bridge. A sudden realization hit him and when he looked around the place suddenly turned into something similar to Lotus Pier. But no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't identify them.

He slowly came out from his hiding as he saw the three walking away.

He closely followed suit but still hid behind the bushes and trees. He was confused at why he would be following someone but whenever they moved away, he'd automatically follow them.

He came to a stop when he felt someone's gaze on him. He slowly turned around but was left with the view of the dark space. He quickly forwarded towards the three when he suddenly hit his head against the tree. 

He quickly rubbed his head, crying in silence. He glanced at the tree, ready to burn it down but something else caught his eyes. He looked around, only to find cherry blossoms everywhere.

He promptly took a step back when he felt water splash against his feet. The entire ground was filled with the black liquid which dyed his feet black.

He looked back up at the tree which shook making all the petals to fall on him before burning away. With each petal, he felt new memories rush into his head. But none of them were his. It was someone else, but it felt like his.

His head rang and all the trees showered their petals at him. Each one burned a new memory in him. His legs dropped to the ground with a loud splash as he held his head, trembling in pain.

It all happened too fast but for all he could remember, he saw his reflection walk towards him before his eyes closed. 

-

The three searched all around the Pier, looking for the two Jiangs. Wei wuxian was close to losing his mind but he bit his lips, trying to calm down. The three of them split up to search around. He walked back to Jiang cheng's room, rechecking for his presence. 

A sudden idea bloomed in his head, and he immediately bit his thumb and used the blood to make a talisman. Now all he needed was a thing that belonged to Jiang cheng. He searched around finally agreeing to use the purple ribbon which the Jiang wears all the time. 

His eyes burned red as the talisman light up. He quickly went to the main building to look for his husband and Zewu-jun. 

When he reached the main building, he saw Zewu-jun staring into the roof. Wei wuxian rushed in catching his attention. 

His hands tightly held the talisman as his chest heaved a breath. 

"Zewu-jun, I found a way to find him!"

He showed the talisman to the other who looked a lot relieved.

He immediately called for his brother with the Gusu Lan butterfly message. Lan wangji soon came rushing in, seeing the two discuss about something. 

The three followed the talisman which flew in one direction. It was heading towards the city but took an abrupt turn when it crossed the Lotus Pier and fell to the ground.

Wei wuxian was surprised. He couldn't understand why the talisman suddenly fell. What was it supposed to mean? 

Lan xichen took a step outside the gate and looked at the Pier which looked peaceful and quiet. The two inside were not seen from the outside. 

He stepped back in and saw two fierce corpses stand before him with their clothes.

The white Gusu lan clothes contracted the rotting figure while the black and red robes looked like it was going to fall off the corpse's shoulders.

He took out his Shouyu before slashing the two in one strike.

His feet headed for the main hall where he found something suspicious. The hall was awkwardly silent without a living soul inside. When he opened the door, he was met with another fierce corpse imitating Jiang cheng sitting on his seat. 

He slashed it and jumped up to the ceiling where he found an illusion talisman stuck somewhere discreet between the wood.

He analyzed the talisman before tearing it into shreds. He felt something was off when a huge amount of fierce corpse rushed in towards him. 

Lan xichen stood before hundreds of fierce corpses which he slashed through. He made his way to the center where he supposed they were respawning from.

His white robes were stained with another fresh splash of blood as the sword pierced through another group of corpses. The corpses became denser as he moved towards the center. He finally took out Liebing and jumped high up before making an array, killing all the corpses.

He looked around at the Pier below him, his bloodied robes fluttering with the wind. He was still stuck in an illusion. He caught a glimpse of a bronze metal which had a red stone glaring at him. His fingers came to a stop, and he pierced down with a strong spell formed in his palm.

The moment he touched the metal, he felt himself fall into the abyss.