Techniques and Dao

Chapter 96 Illusion
Hua Sheng was a little confused. At this moment, the nurse walked in and asked Hua Sheng, "Why did you come in like that? Get out quickly. Mie Ying just took her medicine and needs to rest."

As she spoke, the nurse pushed the flower basket outside.

"Then I'll come next time." Hua Sheng quickly waved to Mie Ying.

"Oh, right, although my sister has a bit of a princess complex, she likes you. She keeps telling me she misses you..." Mieying gave a silly smile. "You...you should remember to come visit her often."

Before Hua Sheng could reply, the nurse pushed her outside the door.

The door slammed shut.

But instead of returning to his ward, he placed his crutches by the corridor and sat on the floor outside his room. The floor and walls were cold, seeping through his light blue hospital gown down his back. He tried to use the coolness to calm his churning heart.

After some time, the nurse came out of the ward and was surprised to see Hua Sheng: "What are you doing sitting here?"

Hua Sheng picked up her cane, stood up unsteadily, and asked the nurse, "Is Mie Ying asleep?"

"She's asleep, don't disturb her. She can't sleep for more than an hour each time, and her health is getting worse and worse. Sigh!"

"What's going on with her? She knows me, can she tell me why she lives here? And what's wrong with her hair? The last time I saw her, she had short brown hair, how did it turn into long, dark red hair?"

“That’s a wig,” the nurse said. “Come with me.”

The nurse led Hua Sheng to the lounge and told her about Mie Ying's condition.

“The Shadowbreaker isn’t what it seems,” the nurse said.

Hua Sheng thought about himself for a moment and said, "You could have guessed that."

"You'd never guess." The nurse's lips twitched slightly. "Mieying is actually a boy."

Hua Sheng was so surprised he couldn't close his mouth: "A man?"

The nurse said, "I know what you're thinking. You think he's like you, but..."

"What's going on?"

"He used to be a handsome young master from a wealthy family..." the nurse recounted. "You know, young masters like him always have a way with girls."

The nurse said that Mieying was originally a very intelligent and wealthy young master from a family with two daughters and one son. He was the youngest. When he graduated from high school, he was accepted into an Ivy League university in the United States. So he asked his parents for money to take him and his two older sisters on a trip abroad as a reward. At the same time, because he had many female friends in high school, he invited six of his close female classmates for the graduation trip.

He had planned the entire trip, including the destination and itinerary, all by himself over a week. It was supposed to be a ostentatious graduation trip for a rich young master. However, tragedy struck during the trip. The van that Mieying had rented was caught in a landslide and rolled down the mountain. Not only that, but due to a gasoline leak, the vehicle exploded and caught fire. In the explosion, he was the only one who escaped the flames because he was thrown out of the car window. Mieying, who miraculously survived, with more than a dozen fractures all over his body, single-handedly carried eight charred and unrecognizable female corpses out of the car and stayed alone beside the eight charred bodies for an entire night.

Out of guilt, he slashed his neck with broken glass, the wound reaching his trachea and esophagus. Fortunately, a rescue team arrived at the bottom of the valley and rushed up to intubate him and stop the bleeding, saving his life.

After waking up in the hospital, Mieying told others that he dreamt that his life was saved not by a rescue team, but by his deceased sisters and classmates. To allow their souls to live on, he let them inhabit his body. Afterward, Mieying bought many different wigs and dresses, often dressing up as different people and claiming to be different individuals.

However, naturally, no one believed her; everyone thought she was delirious due to schizophrenia. He felt that nine souls lived inside his body, so each time he slept for only a few minutes, another soul would wake up. Due to lack of rest, his physical functions deteriorated, and his illness worsened. To ensure he got enough rest, the doctor could only prescribe sleeping pills.

A month later, Mieying's mother died of grief, and a year later, his father was diagnosed with liver cancer and soon passed away. His relatives hired a very capable lawyer who divided up most of his parents' assets, leaving only a small portion to pay for medical expenses. Since no one was willing to take care of Mieying anymore, he was sent to this hospital, and no one ever came to see him.

Moreover, the effects of the sleeping pills on Mieying are increasing daily; even the strongest sleeping pills can only put him to sleep for one or two hours now. If the dosage were increased rashly, the user's life would be in danger.

"Remember to visit her often..."

Stepping out of the lounge, Hua Sheng couldn't quite place who Mie Ying was, remembering what Mie Ying had just said to her. A mix of emotions welled up inside her, as if a heavy stone was pressing down on her heart.

Suddenly, she understood why Dr. Yu Ran hadn't wanted to tell her about Mie Ying living here. In this world, Mie Ying only had himself. He had to visit Mie Ying more often, no matter what identity Mie Ying might present to him. Everything was so realistic; beautiful things only existed in fairy tales. Reality was mostly suffering. Most of life's choices were simply choices between varying degrees of pain.

Hua Sheng began to accept the real world and even expressed his desire to learn something in his spare time at the hospital. Seeing Hua Sheng gradually recovering, Dr. Yu Ran was also very happy and bought some self-study exam books, saying that if he was willing to enroll in a self-study exam course, Dr. Yu Ran would be willing to teach him after get off work. In this way, he could obtain a college diploma in less than two years.

With a degree, you can find a job in the future. Although you may not earn a lot of money, at least you won't have to depend on others anymore and can support yourself.

Of course, the "cat nurse" also read through Hua Sheng's book, which was hundreds of thousands of words long. Her boyfriend worked as an editorial assistant at a publishing house, and the cat nurse also strongly recommended it to him, hoping to help Hua Sheng get published.

Time flies, and two months have passed since he returned to the real world. Hua Sheng has also begun to like this real world. He is determined to face reality, because reality also has things he looks forward to; at least he knows that many people care about and love him. However, since injuring his leg, he is often awakened by nightmares in the middle of the night.

It was a nightmare of being plunged into an abyss. There was nothing in the dream, no image of any other world, only darkness and the process of myself constantly falling. When I woke up in the middle of the night, my pillow and clothes were soaked with cold sweat, and sometimes even the sheets were not spared.

Besides that, he felt more and more awake every morning.

He began to distinguish between fantasy and reality.

He resolved to look up and keep moving forward on this path of real life.

But to his surprise, when he finally raised his head, he saw the figure of Taishang Xiaojun.

The incident occurred early that morning.

It was an ordinary day, nothing out of the ordinary. After finishing the porridge the nurse brought him, Hua Sheng didn't finish the remaining steamed bun. He thought it might be due to loss of appetite caused by staying in the ward for too long and lack of exercise.

For some reason, he saw the bright morning light outside the window and suddenly felt like going out to bask in the sun. So, he went downstairs alone for a walk, leaning on his cane.

The morning temperature was slightly low, and Hua Sheng's hospital gown seemed a bit thin, but it didn't matter. The grass outside was damp with dew that had condensed the night before. The dewdrops were crystal clear, shimmering with tiny sparkles. Stepping on the grass felt like stepping on a carpet woven from crystal.

Hua Sheng walked forward at a leisurely pace. He had plenty of time and wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere. He didn't care which way he went; no matter where he went, he wouldn't leave St. Pingning Hospital.

He paced back and forth on the grass, encountering no one. As he moved from the side closest to the hospital building to the other side of the entrance, he saw a figure standing outside the hospital gate. Hua Sheng had never been outside the hospital before. It was a road, and perhaps because St. Pingning Hospital wasn't located in a busy area, there was no bustling traffic, not even a single car passing by.

The figure was wearing a white Supreme T-shirt and jeans, with Warrior sneakers on his feet. The outfit was familiar. He looked up and saw the face that was supposed to appear.

That was a boy with a thin face and a shimmering earring in his left ear. That was Tai Shang Xiao Jun. Tai Shang Xiao Jun stood at the hospital entrance, dressed the same as when they last returned to the human world.

Hua Sheng suddenly realized that he had completely forgotten about the existence of Tai Shang Xiao Jun. So, who is Tai Shang Xiao Jun in the real world? What is his name?
Regardless of his name, Tai Shang Xiao Jun is a very important character in his own novel. Judging from his attire standing outside the hospital, he should be different from Wei Yu, Mie Ying, and himself; he's not a hospital patient. He must also have his own name. His real name.

However, he couldn't remember what the Supreme Lord Xiaojun's name was, so he tried asking him.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun was also looking at him. From his eyes, Hua Sheng could tell that this person recognized him.

He was somewhat relieved that the situation wouldn't be too awkward, so he waved to the Supreme Lord Xiaojun.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun nodded to him with a serious expression.

Hua Sheng, leaning on his crutches with difficulty, walked step by step to the hospital entrance, forcing an apologetic smile, and said, "Hello, I'm Hua Sheng. I'm sorry, I'm staying in this hospital, my mind is a bit confused, and I don't remember your name?"

"I am Taishang Xiaojun! Don't you remember me? Are you crazy or what?!"

Taishang Xiaojun looked puzzled. Then she uttered those words that almost made Huasheng's heart stop beating—

"I am the Supreme Lord of the Daoist Academy! Hua Sheng, you are trapped in an illusion! Wake up!"

(End of this chapter)