Chương 592: Chapter 587: Lost In Paradise

The stone corridors that had felt oppressive were suddenly gone. I was somewhere completely different to the palace of the Dreamgod, I found myself in a place that looked like home… Fortunately, it wasn't the home from Earth, that would have been very concerning if the palace was able to touch my memories as Kane. And it wasn't even Ke Yin's home in the Floating Reed village. It was actually Hou Hongyun's home, or at least what his home would have been had his life gone a different path.

I was standing in a courtyard in front of a modest but well-maintained house; it gave the vibe of the type of home a retired cultivator would settle down in to live out the last few years of their life in peace. Before I could figure out what was going on, the door opened and a middle-aged woman with kind eyes walked out, and when she saw me, her face lit up with joy.

"Kangwei!" she called out.

"You're home early!" My breath caught in my throat as I realised who this woman was, this was Xu Lianhua, Hou's mother, she had died the same day she gave birth to him. But at this moment, she looked alive and healthy, she was walking towards me with her arms open to give me a hug. And it wasn't just her, behind her another figure appeared. This one was a man, tall with refined features. I also knew who he was. This was Xu Weiming. The father of Hou.

The same man who had died defending his wife and baby on that very same day.

"Ah, there he is, our boy," he smiled.

"Let me guess, Master Jian worked you too hard again?" I didn't even get a chance to reply because my mind was racing, trying to figure out what the hell was going on, what was I seeing right now? And those two weren't the only dead people standing before me, a third person came out of the house. This one was an elderly woman with gray hair carrying a tray with teacups.

"Oh, Kangwei, you came in good time." As soon as she saw me, her wrinkled face broke into a smile.

"I just finished brewing the tea you like, the one that makes it easier for you to meditate. Come over here and sit down, my boy, you look pale. You need some food in you." It was seeing this face that hit me the hardest. This was Li Nai, or better known to me as Grandmother Hou, she was the midwife who had rescued baby Hou and raised him as her own child. It was her death when he was eleven that left him alone on the streets. It was her death that had been the hardest thing for him to get past.

"Grandmother…" It took me a second to realise the word came out of my lips and not someone else's.

"What's wrong, boy?" her smile faltered and a concerned look appeared in her eyes.

"Did something happen in training. I told that Master Jian not to overwhelm you, no matter how talented you might be. A young man like you needs time to grow." Before I could respond, movement caught my eye. Three more figures appeared at the edge of the courtyard, they were armed with swords. Just when I was about to tense up, worried that this was going to be some sort of confrontation, I heard the familiar laughter coming from them.

The first figure was Lu Chenyang, but this Lu Chenyang looked completely healthy, there were no signs of the spiritual injuries that had crippled his ability to dream walk. The older man walking beside him, demonstrating a sword technique was Master Jian. And the young student who was replicating the technique on his first time seeing it was Tian… Well, a younger version of him, maybe fourteen or fifteen, still learning the basics, but talented enough to pick up everything on his first attempt.

"Come on, son," my mother said, taking my arm gently.

"Stop staring at them. I know you want to join them for more training, but you've been outside in the sun for too long, it's time you take a break and have some tea." I didn't say anything, I just let her guide me towards a shaded area beneath a large tree where a table had been set up. Grandmother Hou began pouring tea as Master Jian finished their training session and the group joined up. Taking this scene in, I realised what this was.

This was paradise, or at least it was the paradise that Hou Hongyun would have wanted. What else could he ask for? Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. His parents and Grandmother Hou were all alive and proud of him. Lu Chenyang was fully healed. Master Jian and Tian were both here, training together. Everyone I'd lost or left behind, all here, all happy.

The tea was perfect, the weather was perfect, and the conversation flowed naturally as everyone caught me up on their day. My mother went first, telling us about the garden. My father mentioned a technique he'd been refining and how he hoped he could teach it to me one day. Grandmother Hou shared gossip from the nearby town about a girl that had run off with a ruffian that took her fancy.

Lu Chenyang told stories about his latest research into dream cultivation theory and how he planned to retire here instead of returning to his sect. Master Jian broke down Tian's forms as young Tian asked questions about sword principles that would baffle most sword masters, they sure as hell stumped me. Then it was my turn, they pulled me into the conversation by asking me about my training, my progress, and what I planned for the future.

Even though this wasn't real, and I hadn't lived this life, I found myself automatically responding to these questions, somehow just knowing the right thing to say. Despite the confusion that I felt, I had to admit I was also feeling a fuzzy sensation inside my chest because this was what it felt like to have parents, to have family, to belong somewhere without questions or complications. This was everything I wanted in all of my lives…

As the sun moved across the sky, we made plans for tomorrow like there would definitely be a tomorrow….

"You've grown so much," my mother said at one point, gently caressing my cheek.

"I'm so proud of the young man you've turned into."

"Everything we sacrificed was worth it," my father nodded." Seeing you here healthy and strong, that's all we ever wanted, son."

"You were always such a kind boy," Grandmother Hou squeezed my hand tightly as though she didn't want to lose me.

"Even when things were hard, you never lost that kindness. That's rarer than any cultivation talent."

"To family," Lu Chenyang raised his cup in toast.

"To friends who become family. And to finding our way home."

"To home," we all repeated, raising our cups in unison. For a moment, and just for that single moment, I gave in and let myself believe it. I wanted this to be real, I wanted to stay here in this paradise. But that wasn't possible. It didn't matter what I told myself, this was all a fantasy, and it became pretty evident when I looked around closely at my surroundings. The first thing that I noticed was that when Grandmother Hou laughed, the sound looped slightly.

When my father reached forward to pick up a sandwich from the plate, the movement looked unnatural, it was what I'd expect from a robot that had been programmed to behave like a human. What was even more eerie was the smile on my mother's face, it never changed. A real smile would change, shift with the mood and context, but my mother's smile stayed fixed on her face no matter what happened. And then I realised that the sun hadn't moved.

I was wrong to think that it had, but when I actually focused on it, I realised it was simply giving the illusion of movement, the illusion of time passing. As much as I didn't want to accept it, this wasn't real, but of course it wasn't real, I had known this from the moment I had arrived. Yet why did my chest hurt? Why was my breathing growing heavy? And why were my palms sweating despite the perfect temperature? It was probably because this was everything I could have wanted.

It was everything Hou Hongyun had dreamed of during those cold nights on the streets of Winebridge City. All he had wanted was: family, safety, and love. What disgusted me was that the trial had reached into those memories, extracted the deepest desires, and built this paradise around them. It was beautiful, and it was definitely tempting, but it was also a lie.

What was terrifying was that maybe this would have worked had I only been Hou Hongyun, but I was actually a wisp of Ke Yin's consciousness sent here to participate in a tournament. The trial clearly didn't seem to know that so it had accessed Hou's memories and desires, but it didn't understand that those belonged to someone who no longer existed in any meaningful way. I was more than Hou. I was Ke Yin. My memories, goals, and experiences were more than what Hou had gone through in this world.

It actually encompassed multiple worlds, worlds that needed me more than this one. If I stayed here and accepted this illusion, I would end up losing myself. That would entail forgetting who I actually was in favor of who a part of me might have become. And that wasn't something that I could do, so I clenched my jaw and began to channel red sun energy through my body.

The aggressive, dominating power was perfect for this situation because it wanted to consume and conquer, and that's exactly what needed to be done with an illusion like this. I let it fill my right arm, felt the flesh begin to shift and transform. The first one to notice it was Grandmother Hou.

"Kangwei?" she called out, her eyes wide.

"What are you doing?" This caused the others to notice. Master Jian's hand moved to his sword. Lu Chenyang's spiritual pressure flared defensively.

"Kangwei, dear, what's wrong?" my mother asked, slowly getting up.

"Where did you get access to such dangerous energy?" As my arm finished transforming, I looked at Grandmother Hou, at this perfect recreation of someone who raised this version of me despite having no obligation to do so.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"I know you're not real. But I'm still sorry."

"Not real?" She stepped back.

"Kangwei, what are you talking about? We're your family. We're here. We're real."

"No," I said softly.

"You're what the trial thinks I want. And you did a good job, I have to admit that. This is exactly what Hou Hongyun would have wanted." I moved forward.

"But I'm not just Hou Hongyun anymore." My transformed arm reached out faster than she could react. The vines wrapped around her waist, thorns sinking into the flesh causing her to gasp in pain.

"I'm Ke Yin," I said. Then I pulled, and my arm contracted with all the force red sun energy could provide. Grandmother Hou came apart into fragments of light that dissipated before they hit the ground. The others screamed. My parents rushed forward. Master Jian and Tian drew their swords. Lu Chenyang's spiritual pressure exploded outward. They came at me together, and I destroyed them all. I didn't want to, but I didn't have a choice.