Chapter 497

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Chapter 497: Soul-Nourishing Grounds

Calm down, calm down… Nalan Qingshu repeated to herself in her mind.

Perhaps it was a nightmare, but she wasn’t her former self anymore. She should still be able to do something, to some extent.

Although the me in the dream is weak, helpless, and unable to do anything.

At present, I know very little about this dream, I must figure out if it is what I think.

There are also some differences between this dream and reality.

Father was assassinated in the palace, and then died after returning to Bi Fang Country.

The strangeness also comes from here. Bi Fang burned the entire Qingyang City, and it was nothing compared to the power of the sun falling.

If it is really a dream, perhaps I can find some answers here. This might be a fantasy world created by my father, or perhaps it is a world formed for some reason.

Nalan Qingshu couldn’t help but have doubts.

Looking up again, she looked at her father, unsure if it was just an illusion or a demon.

Nervously, she spoke, "Why are there so many guests today?"

"Why? Of course it is…" Lord Bi Fang paused for a moment. "Yeah, why?"

Nalan Qingshu saw the situation and immediately asked, "Is there something wrong with so many lords coming here at the same time?"

Lord Bi Fang frowned even more upon hearing this, and blue flames flickered in the depths of his eyes. "Hmm, indeed…"

Nalan Qingshu wanted to ask more questions.

Suddenly, a voice came from behind, and Nalan Jinghuai walked in. "Of course, it’s to welcome important guests."

Lord Bi Fang regained his composure and tapped his head. "I might be too tired lately, I can’t even remember these things? It’s an important guest, we must not neglect them. You should be well-behaved and listen carefully, Qingshu."

After saying that, Lord Bi Fang turned and left.

Nalan Qingshu wanted to say a few more words, but her mother lightly pat her head. "Listen, your father is very busy. He has put a lot of effort into this matter. You shouldn’t misbehave at this time."

She looked at her mother and continued to ask, "What is it exactly? Why are so many lords coming here?"

"They said it was an important guest…"

"Which important guest? Who specifically? Why are they here?" Nalan Qingshu kept asking.

Nalan Jinghuai didn’t answer, but instead waved his hand, indicating for his subordinates to remove all the gifts that were brought.

"Mother, please answer me, it’s really important!" Nalan Qingshu continued to inquire.

Nalan Jinghuai glanced at his daughter, furrowed his brows, and then sighed softly, "Why do you keep asking about these things?"

"I…," Nalan Qingshu blurted out instinctively, "I feel like the nobles have bad intentions!"

"When have the nobles ever had good intentions?"

"What if they stand up together, what if, what if…"

"Alright," Nalan Jinghuai interrupted his daughter, "Since you’re so worried, come with me, and I’ll show you something."

Nalan Qingshu followed her mother’s footsteps as they walked deeper into the palace.

There was a pond of lotus flowers here. Mother and daughter walked on the pond, perhaps influenced by Bi Fang, even in winter, the temperature remained warm, and the lotus flowers still bloomed.

"Sit down," Nalan Jinghuai gestured.

"Mother, what do you want to show me?"

"You’ll know soon," Nalan Jinghuai said calmly, "But before that, be patient and wait."

Nalan Qingshu’s bottom stuck to the chair, afraid to move under her mother’s stern gaze.

Unbeknownst to her, there was a huge black shadow slowly swimming beneath the lotus pond.

…

Time was passing by every minute and second.

"Are we just waiting here?" Muren asked, confused.

"Then what?" Bai Wei countered, "I understand that you want to go in, but there’s no future if you rush the tower from the start. Even beginners who only know the basics know that they need to wait for the minion wave and farm."

"Who understands this?" Murong Nu slammed the table, "And what’s with your eating spree?"

With a bun in his left hand and a fresh milk tea in his right, Bai Wei said, "It tastes great, don’t you want some?"

"I’m not eating!"

"There are some fries over there… birds should like those."

"I’m not a bird!!" Murong Nu frowned, "How can you eat that?"

"This illusion is so realistic, you can feel everything you eat and drink." Bai Wei licked his fingers, "Fries and ketchup are the perfect combination, they could even turn into cards that you can use in battles."

"You came to Qingyang City not to save people, but to mooch off free food and drinks?"

"You’re wrong, I gave money." Bai Wei snapped his fingers, and a gold coin spun in the air.

Murong Nu’s expression was complicated. "Where did you get the gold coin from?"

"Imagination, conceptualization."

"Manifesting fantasies? That ability is…"

"Creating something out of thin air is impossible. I just used a little trick. In the realm of illusions, thoughts become reality. So, I should have a wallet in my pocket, and inside the wallet, there should be money. And in the wife cake, there should also be…"

"Why can’t I do it?"

"Because you don’t believe in yourself and you keep yourself outside of the illusion. That’s why you can’t even taste the food." Bai Wei took a bite of a roasted bun. "But I can taste it, and it’s delicious. And because what I taste is equivalent to collective gustatory memory, I don’t have to worry about the intake of calories. No matter how much I eat, I won’t feel stuffed."

"It’s meaningless." Murong Nu said dispassionately. "You can’t even satisfy your hunger. It’s like drinking the wind."

"It depends on whether you eat to satisfy your hunger or just for pleasure." Bai Wei said, "I’m the latter… And do you think I’m only eating?"

Murong Nu gestured for him to continue making up the story.

"I am experimenting with how far this dream scenario can develop, being able to recreate memories of taste. It proves that this fantasy world called Qingyang City still preserves fragments of countless people’s memories." Bai Wei coated a French fry with tomato sauce and took a slow bite. The combination of sourness, sweetness, and salt melted in his mouth. He chewed a few times and then made a crunchy sound.

Murong Nu, "？"

Bai Wei slowly spat out a gold coin from his mouth.

Murong Nu, "！"

He dropped the bag of French fries from his hand and sprinkled gold coins all over the ground.

Murong Nu, "！！"

Bai Wei clapped his hands. "I have figured out the basic mechanism of this fantasy world. Non-existent things are like archived records in a library, accessible whenever needed. The memory storage is immense, which is why it’s strange that I can freely manipulate this fantasy world, but…"

He reached out and put his hand on the shoulder of a passerby. The person turned to look. "What’s the matter?"

Bai Wei pulled back his hand and said, "Just a reminder, the fries next door are half price."

"Oh, thank you, but I don’t eat fries. I eat mouse slices," said the passerby as they touched their cat ears.

Murong Nu asked, "What were you trying to do just now?"

Bai Wei explained, "To get rid of the other… but it failed. It seems that in this dream world, it’s not possible to erase specific spirits, but basic concept objects can be created. So, what about powerful concept objects? Is this place a replication of memories, a reproduction of scenes, or simply a combination taken from memories?"

Murong Nu couldn’t understand what the other person was saying anymore and had a confused look on their face.

At that moment, a few streams of colorful lights streaked across the sky and landed right in front of the palace.

"It looks like something is about to start," Murong Nu said. "Quick, take a look."

Bai Wei looked into the distance and saw different flags. "It seems like these are the nobles… but they shouldn’t gather here, and they shouldn’t die in Qingyang City. There are no powerful demon kings here."

Murong Nu had a sudden realization. "Is this some kind of concept taken from memories, like you said?"

"It should be."

"Can it be erased?"

"Let me try…" Bai Wei tried several times and shook his head, saying, "No, it’s very strong. It is indeed an illusion, but it has thickness."

"What does thickness mean?"

"For example, a single memory is like a piece of paper, but if you repeat it countless times, it will have thickness. It’s like stacking layers of paper people together, increasing their thickness. Unless I delete it a thousand times in a row, it cannot be erased," Bai Wei explained.

Murong Nu sighed, "So you haven’t figured anything out? How do we get in then?"

"The key is not how to get in, but rather what I just said… the memory that has been repeated at least a thousand times," Bai Wei paused.

Murong didn’t understand.

"Lord Bi Fang was jointly killed by the feudal lords, and now it’s a reenactment of the situation back then," Bai Wei stated, each word pronounced distinctly. "If the dream of destruction is repeated every night for three whole years, does that mean it has been repeated over a thousand times? Perhaps this is the true reason why the souls of Qingyang City cannot find peace."

Murong felt a chill down his spine, shocked to learn that he was ranked fourth on the blacklist. He stammered, "Are you saying… this dream, no, this illusion is…"

"It’s artificial," Bai Wei said slowly, emphasizing each word. "This Qingyang City, the illusory one, houses hundreds of thousands of lost souls."