In fact, as long as one's willpower isn't too weak, no matter how seductive the illusions may be, as long as one firmly believes they are merely illusions, one should be able to escape unscathed and save their life.
At least, that's what Ke Xun believed.
So, after nearly being attacked by the illusions on the first night, he calmly passed each subsequent night without serious incident.
His previous experiences in the "Entering the Painting" group had become valuable experience and accumulation. As Wei Dong said, the current members of the "Entering the Painting" group rarely encountered ghosts or bizarre events that could frighten them anymore.
When the members chatted casually in their WeChat group, they often mentioned that Ke Xun was the one who had grown the fastest among them. From a chaotic and clueless young man when he first entered the group, he had grown into a mature, calm, reliable, and even protective figure like the team's guardian angel.
Wei Dong, who knew him best, said that he had become increasingly indestructible, both in spirit and belief, as well as in thought and emotion.
Ke Xun himself had once thought so too.
Until this realization persisted until darkness fell tonight.
Ke Xun and Mu Yiran sat in the corner of the central hall. The instant darkness invaded, Mu Yiran's hand, which had been clasped in his, vanished from his grasp.
The same empty, desolate darkness as the previous three nights remained; only the slow, viscous sound of the sea surging in the distance could be heard.
Ke Xun waited quietly for the illusion to appear, wondering what kind of scheme the despicable force behind it would concoct to bewitch them this time.
The sound of the sea gradually became clearer, as if it were right in front of him, at his feet. The vast, desolate auditory perception slowly contracted; the sea before him seemed to have a shoreline, with trees, flat ground, and even cars coming and going.
A biting, bone-chilling cold enveloped them from all sides, the temperature seemingly plummeting to below zero in an instant. Goosebumps rose on Ke Xun's skin.
The distinctive scent of midwinter filled the air; the north wind pierced his nostrils, scraping against his internal organs, causing a piercing chill to seep out from within.
Ke Xun shivered slightly from the cold, instinctively shrinking his body.
It was a winter scene.
Although all he could see was still a deep darkness, devoid of any images, Ke Xun could feel that it was winter, bitterly cold, perhaps the coldest winter he had ever experienced.
The water in front of him gurgled and thumped, like frozen ripples constantly colliding with each other.
Amidst the gurgling water, there were also sounds like ice cubes colliding, crackling and scattering fine ice shards, giving the unseen scene even more texture.
Ke Xun stared wide-eyed into the void of darkness.
In the darkness, his body trembled slightly.
"Xiao Xun."
A voice, incredibly familiar, as if it had echoed just yesterday, entered his ears from right in front of him.
Ke Xun's heart clenched, and he shuddered violently, whether from the cold or something else.
"Xiao Xun...Xiao Xun, are you doing alright all alone now?"
Ke Xun opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but his throat was dry and painful, and he couldn't utter a word.
"Xiao Xun...Son, do you miss your dad?" The familiar voice asked in the tone he knew best.
"...Get out...Get out!—Get out!" Ke Xun tried several times, finally managing to shout a hoarse, cracking sound from his dry throat.
That disgusting thing behind the scenes was so brazenly creating an illusion of someone who was no longer alive, completely unafraid of being seen through. Was this still bewitching? This wasn't bewitching; it was a brazen and extremely malicious provocation!
It was like a naked declaration: even if you clearly know it's an illusion, you still can't escape it; you will still die because of this illusion! Because it's an obsession you can never let go of, a scar that can never heal, a painful nightmare you can never get rid of!
Ke Xun had never been so angry, but this anger wasn't like a raging fire; rather, it was a boundless ocean, engulfing and suffocating him, heavy and suffocating.
Beneath this suffocating ocean of anger lay an endless, limitless sorrow and pain.
During the darkest, most depressed period of Ke Xun's life, he constantly longed to see his loved ones one more time, even just a glance, no, even just to hear their voices, even just a single word, a name, a soft cough…
Heaven knows how much he had craved these things.
And now, the thing he had longed for most, yet found most impossible, had suddenly become "real"—even though it was just an illusion. Yet, the endless longing he had buried deep in his heart erupted uncontrollably, like molten lava from an underwater volcano, surging forth wildly.
The raging waves on the surface, the dark abyss beneath, the underwater volcano.
Anger, sorrow, longing.
Ke Xun was suppressed layer upon layer on the seabed, unable to struggle.
"Xiao Xun...do you miss your father? Your father misses you so much. Your father worries about you, worries that you're not eating well, not dressing well, and not taking good care of yourself."
"Get out—get out!" Ke Xun roared hoarsely, "I'll fucking kill you! You know—I will definitely kill you!"
"Xiao Xun, don't you want to talk to your father? This might...be the last time we, father and son, can talk...Xiao Xun, don't you...want to hear your father's voice a little longer?" "
Get out..." Ke Xun grabbed his hair with both hands and buried his face in his arms.
He wanted to hear it, he wanted to hear it, even though it was just an illusion, he still wanted to hear the voice he longed to hear most.
He missed that voice so much, so much that every time he thought of it, his heart ached. This pain wouldn't lessen with the passage of time; the death of a loved one is a wound that can never be healed in everyone's heart.
"Xiao Xun... Dad is sorry for leaving you alone in this world, for making you suffer so much pain and hardship all by yourself. It's Dad's fault. Dad isn't a good father. I hope... I hope in the next life, you can have a better father who will care for you and protect you for the rest of your life..."
"No..." Ke Xun opened his palms and covered his eyes, his deep and suppressed voice struggling to escape from under his hands.
An illusion, it's just an illusion, fake, of course it's all fake... But he still wanted to continue listening to his "father" speak to him, even if every word he uttered made his heartbreak more intense, more soul-wrenching.
"Xiao Xun... Dad is so sorry that I can't be there to watch you grow up, that I can't see you grow from a handsome young man into a strong, mature, and responsible man. Dad is so sorry that I can't see you achieve success, find the person you love, marry her, and have a child as adorable as you were when you were little... Dad can no longer protect you, can no longer be with you for most of your life... Xiao Xun... Dad is so sorry, Dad has made you suffer..."
"No... no..." Ke Xun murmured, his voice choked with sobs as he tried to suppress them.
"Xiao Xun, do you miss Dad?"
How could I not miss him? I think about him when I eat at the empty table at home, when I stand by the window looking out at the city, when I fall asleep at night, when I open my eyes in the morning, on rainy days, on snowy days, when I walk down the street, and every father I see reminds me of him.
"Xiao Xun, do you miss your father?... Son, when I was alive, the thing I wanted to hear most was you saying to me... You love me... Xiao Xun, do you miss your father? Do you miss him?"
Ke Xun covered his eyes, his heavy breathing tinged with a nasal tone.
He breathed for a long time, and the voice created by the illusion fell silent, as if quietly waiting for him.
Finally, Ke Xun managed to squeeze out a hoarse sob, a sound he had been suppressing: "...I want to..."
Suddenly, a biting wind rushed towards him, almost piercing his skin. The howling of the north wind echoed in the darkness, along with the rushing sound of the river. Not far in front of Ke Xun, a piercing scream suddenly rang out: "Someone's fallen into the water—help! Someone's fallen into the water!"
"—Help!" A familiar voice shouted, and footsteps thumped away into the distance.
Ke Xun's body stiffened abruptly, then he began to tremble uncontrollably.
With a "splash," it sounded like someone had jumped into the water, struggling to swim, mingling with the rushing water, the sound of ice shattering on the surface, and the screams and shouts of alarm. Every sound was exceptionally clear in Ke Xun's ears, even the heavy breathing of that familiar voice.
"Almost there, almost there—"
"That person is almost there! He's close to the drowning person!"
"He's grabbed the drowning person, he's grabbed the drowning person!"
"No, his clothes are too heavy! He didn't have time to take them off when he jumped in to save the person, and the river water is too cold—he's starting to struggle!"
"Almost there, almost to the shore, give it your all!"
"Oh no! Oh no—the rescuer is running out of strength—he's starting to sink—"
"Save him! Save him—he's sinking! He's sinking!"
"He saved the drowning person! The drowning person is out of danger, the rescuer…"
"The rescuer is dying! He's dying… the rescuer… the rescuer is dead…"
Ke Xun shivered, his whole body shaking violently, even the sobs in his nose were broken by the shaking.
A sensation like sinking into deep water surged towards him from all directions, the bone-chilling cold and the suffocating feeling of being crushed by the water pressure, penetrating every pore and internal organ with unmistakable realism.
Ke Xun instinctively gasped for breath. Amidst the gurgling sounds of the water, he suddenly heard that familiar voice again: "Xiao Xun... Daddy's in so much pain... Can you feel it, Xiao Xun? Daddy's so cold in the water... so cold..."
"—Shut up!—Shut up!" Ke Xun tried to suppress the voice with his own, but it was no use. The voice seemed to be completely out of sync with his own, unaffected by his presence, and still penetrated his ears clearly.
Ke Xun covered his ears tightly with his hands, but the voice pierced through his hands and went straight to his eardrums. He could do nothing
; it was all just an illusion. He could only endure the torment of the sound and the physical sensations, the most unbearable, excruciating pain.