415 So-called Growth (2/2)
His mood worsened. He did not want to do this but now, he had no other choice. His body quickly swelled. Horns grew from his head and flames burst from under his feet. Bat wings sprouted from the flames behind his back. Controlling his image, he transformed into an incubus. He reached out, slamming toward the door's lock.
Crack. Before he even applied pressure, the door opened…
He was stunned but quickly started laughing in self-mockery. This guy's will had probably caved in long ago under the Illusion's torment. With such weak defense, he probably could have just nudged the door open.
He pushed it open. There was heavy fog behind the door. As if a splendid city had been obliterated, tombs rose up between the ruined walls. Ghostly white fog shrouded the place, seeming to hide countless secrets.
Seeing this, the musician's blood chilled.
This was a psycho!
Everyone would construct a refuge in the depths of their consciousness. It was a place to put all the secrets. It was a corner for their souls to hide and heal. The musician had seen wooden cabins on fresh green prairies and castles on islands in a storm. He had seen bustling cities, dazzling palaces, and even bloody dismembering workshops and terrifying basements decorated with human skin… But the lowest level of this guy's consciousness was a devastated cemetery?!
The musician looked at the tombstone closest to him. Walking closer, he finally saw the name clearly. Shaken, he looked to another tombstone. The name was the same. Staring at the rows of tombs, his skin crawled. The hundreds upon thousands of tombstones all had the same name—Ye Qingxuan!
”This psycho…” A chill ran through the musician's mind. Now, he finally realized that this was not a sanctuary at all. This was Ye Qingxuan's burial place! How many times had this guy killed himself?!
”That was the me who wanted to become an artist,” someone beside him said quietly. ”I used to be talented in drawing. My mother wanted me to become an artist.”
The musician spun around and saw the figure that had suddenly appeared. The young man touched another tombstone and sighed.
”This is the one who wanted to become a poet. I had many wishes as a child and many paths I wanted to go down. Unfortunately, none of them came true. There are many of me here…many weak ones. They've all died.” Looking up, he said calmly, ”When you kill your younger self, you grow up. When you kill your weaker self, you become braver. I think that maturing is a process of continuously killing yourself, right?”
The musician stared in shock. The chill spread and he did not know what to say. Why are you here? he wanted to ask but it went unsaid.
If Ye Qingxuan could appear here, it meant that he had escaped from the illusion. The musician racked his brain trying to think of why. His shadow grew more menacing with undisguisable animosity.
”You're looking for this, right?” Ye Qingxuan held a small box. Rather than a lock, the lid was only tied with a piece of thread. It looked childish and laughable. ”Sorry, this can't be yours.” The box fell from his hands back into some unknown place, locked in the depths of the dream.
Ye Qingxuan stared at the invader and said softly, ”You can't take anything from here.”
The musician's expression darkened. His shadow grew strangely, swelling as if it was boiling, and spread in all directions.
”You can't use it anyway, so why can't I take it?” he asked coldly. ”Sorry, I wanted to avoid this situation. After all, mind transformations are more painful…But sadly, you don't give me any other choice.”
”I'm actually quite experienced in competing over will.” Ye Qingxuan laughed. ”So you shouldn't talk like a hot shot.”
”We'll see!” The musician disappeared and was replaced by a pure black sky vault. A wild consciousness burst forth with a rumbling music score. It collapsed Ye Qingxuan's dreamscape in an instant, digging deep into his mind. Like a thunderstorm, countless locusts descended from the sky. It was like the destructive plague from legends. They devoured everything in sight. The dreamscape also fought back.
This was inside the prison and it was impossible to use the aether sea's strength. The enemy's strength was restricted to the Musician level. Ye Qingxuan never thought that he could lose to a Musician level man in a fight of will and mind!
Their minds changed thousands of times within an instant. They collided and clashed, using themselves as weapons to stab the other! This was the least technical battle in the School of Mind but it also relied most heavily on one's strength. Everything was built on their will and tenacity, their changes of technique, and experience. Everything was decided on the foundation. The more they fought, the more scared the musician felt. He could not find any trace of Ye Qingxuan's encroachment and hint.
It was seamless and his colorless river was all-consuming. Every gap in the turning thoughts was a chance. He could sense the tiniest weakness and take advantage of it.
Within an instant, the musician had removed dozens of hints from his mind. They had all been planted without him realizing when he slightly let down his guard. Plus, this guy could not even fight actively and could only defend passively.
If he could sense the aether, the scales would be tipped! Where did this crazy man come from? Was he a musician secretly trained by the Dark Forest, Mindfulness, or some other Mind School?
His profile only said that he did not have a School of Mind mentor and had only dabbled in it…what bullsh*t! His skills and foundation were even more stable than the musicians! With his encroachment and hint planting skills, he was darker than dark musicians!
Who did he learn from?!
On the other hand, Ye Qingxuan was also struggling. Unexpectedly, he was not losing because of technique but because of…his tenacity?!
The assassin who had invaded his mind always attacked like it was a suicide mission. The man tried to destroy Ye Qingxuan's mind even if it meant dying himself! Every attack on his consciousness shook his heart and soul. Every attack used up all his potential. His mind was spinning in overload.
If Ye Qingxuan could leave his dreamscape, he would see that his body was convulsing as blood flowed out of his eyes, nose, and mouth.
How was the assassin a musician? He was clearly a suicide terrorist! There was no sign of the early greed and hesitation. It seemed to be a totally different person.
Ye Qingxuan would practically be defeated with every attack. Most of his efforts were spent on the aftershocks. The invisible river managed to take the brunt of things. The enemy was not scared of dying but Ye Qingxuan was!
If the assassin's thoughts did not suddenly go stiff and show a bunch of flaws, Ye Qingxuan would not even be able to disturb the man. He couldn't help it. The dumb were afraid of the shocked. The shocked were afraid of those who did not care about their lives. Ye Qingxuan had been shocked for so many years. It was his first time seeing someone flirt with death like this.
What was going on?!
The assassin was thinking the same thing at the moment. He had messed up and continued making mistakes. He was tied with a musician who could not even sense the aether and was now at a disadvantage! While he hesitated, he realized that his mind was turning slower and slower…
A hint! A hint had been planted in him!
His thoughts were shaken. He had almost been successful but no matter what, he could not find where the hint came from!
In the end, it suddenly dawned on him.
That box!