The young man, naturally, was Chen Kuang.
Just moments before, he had activated the Langhuan shard's formation inside his room, triggering the illusion contained within.
Using the Langhuan Illusion as a bridge, he successfully transitioned from reality into the Great Void Illusion Realm.
At that moment, his passive skill "One Split Mind" was triggered.
He could clearly perceive that his physical body remained in place, but his consciousness had split into two parts, each generating a separate perspective.
It felt just like a Primordial Spirit leaving the body, one consciousness remained inside the room, while the other now existed inside a prison cell.
And he had to process both perspectives simultaneously.
This "dual-simulation" mode of mental operation was... oddly fascinating.
As for side effects... he felt a bit motion-sick.
One consciousness was active and moving, while the other was stationary. The cognitive dissonance between the two created a sense of delay or lag, he would definitely need time to fully adapt to the state of One Split Mind.
Chen Kuang took a deep breath and simply began cultivating in his real-world body.
By now, the Chen Family had likely already received word that the Prefectural Governor and the Enlightenment Envoy were conspiring to conduct a human sacrifice.
The atmosphere within the residence was unusually heavy, an ominous storm looming on the horizon.
Some servants had already been dismissed, and Chen Rong and Chen An had gathered their followers in the main hall to discuss countermeasures.
As for Chen Kuang himself, no one had time to check in on him for now.
Only Chen Ning had lingered outside the eastern wing for a while, hesitating with a conflicted expression.
Since returning from the Envious Fish Hermitage the other day, her unease had slowly settled. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how familiar that strange zither music had sounded.
That distinctive tone, she couldn't have mistaken it.
It was too similar, identical even, to the music her elder brother had once played.
But recalling how that mysterious senior had refused to answer her questions, and how her brother had reacted with indifference, she no longer dared to speak her suspicions aloud.
After a long hesitation, she bit her lip and quietly left.
Outside the room, Qingcuo stood silently. She noticed but did nothing to stop her.
She simply looked up toward the sky.
The weather wasn't looking good today.
The sky gradually darkened, dense clouds gathering and rapidly spreading across the heavens.
Drip.
The first drop of rain struck the eaves and then came along a crack of thunder..
"Boom! Crash..."
Torrents of rain came pouring down. The ground quickly turned dark and wet, and the bamboo in the courtyard bent under the onslaught.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
A man beating a gong ran through the street, shouting loudly:
"The Dragon King has returned! The Dragon King has returned!"
"The Governor will perform a sacrifice! Or else the next year will bring disaster! Come see for yourselves!"
"Knock, knock."
The doors of the Chen residence were struck, but no answer came from within.
Zhou Yanwei called out: "Is anyone home? Please inform Chen Kuang, I've come to see him."
"Creeeaaak.."
The doors finally opened, and a nervous guard peeked out.
"What do you want with our Young Master?"
Lin Eryou, holding an umbrella, smiled. "Just tell him, does he still remember the one who gave him a melody? I have another piece of sheet music to offer."
He waved a sheet of paper, densely packed with writing.
The guard blinked, remembering that the young master was a musician, and quickly ran off to report.
...
Meanwhile, Chen Kuang, adjusting to the dual perspective, examined the familiar cell around him.
Hmm... the place where the dream began.
Unexpected.
He had thought that the princess's illusion would start at her birth.
But instead, it began in a prison.
Still, that worked better. A familiar starting point was much easier than some unknown world.
What he hadn't expected, though, was that this illusion realm... seemed bugged.
Chen Kuang turned his head toward the corpse beside him, his expression complicated.
In both his past and present life, he had always looked like this.
That corpse was clearly the original Chen Kuang of this world.
Or rather, the version who was never possessed by a transmigrating soul, just an ordinary street musician.
After the execution of the Liang Emperor, he had been so terrified he fell into a fever and died after two or three days.
Perhaps because of Chen Kuang's transmigrated identity, his miraculous revival had created a contradiction the illusion could not resolve.
He had not respawned into the corpse.
In a way, this confirmed how unique this illusion realm truly was.
It could actually recognize that this version of Chen Kuang was different.
It was truly simulating a parallel world based on reality, using logic to project the course of events.
"Sun and moon under the same sky, to exchange this world-", it was not just an empty slogan. It could actually happen.
If... the Demon Sword succeeded this time.
And now, Chen Kuang had seemingly become an unrepairable bug within the illusion.
Looking down, he nearly laughed out loud.
His clothes had changed, they were the same casual outfit he had been wearing when he died before transmigrating: a short-sleeved T-shirt and sweatpants.
No fatal wounds, though.
And, he still had his cultivation!
He checked and found his half-step Innate Realm cultivation to be fully intact.
Coming into this illusion, he had prepared himself to regress or even lose his abilities entirely.
What a pleasant surprise.
With his cultivation intact, things would go much more smoothly.
He looked toward the dazed little slop bucket across from him, thinking he'd scared her, so he waved with a smile.
But the princess didn't respond and just stared at him in a daze.
"Your Highness? Your Highness?"
Chen Kuang crouched in front of her and waved a hand.
"How many years have passed for you in this illusion? Don't recognize me anymore?"
"You have a shadow," she suddenly said.
Then she stepped closer and stared at him, her gaze completely unfamiliar.
"Of course I remember you. You are Chen Kuang."
She pointed at the corpse on the floor, calm as ever.
"I've looked at your corpse sixty-four times."
Chen Kuang was stunned.
He sucked in a sharp breath.
Tie Baiyuan had already explained how this illusion worked.
It was an endless loop.
Until it achieved its intended result, it would continue cycling.
Only when the world had undergone earth-shaking change would it release the host's consciousness.
And if this illusion had already repeated sixty-four times...
Then this little princess was no longer the naive little "slop bucket" he remembered.
Chen Kuang straightened up and said solemnly:
"Your Highness, please tell me everything you've experienced."
"I also have some questions for you."
The little princess looked again at the corpse.
"You... weren't supposed to be alive."
"AHHH!"
Suddenly, Chu Wenruo shrieked and ran over, grabbing her daughter and stumbling back in terror.
She had woken up groggily to the sound of voices and, upon opening her eyes, saw a man identical to the corpse in the next cell standing right in front of her.
Naturally, she was scared out of her wits.
"A ghost! There's a ghost! Someone come! Help!"
Chu Wenruo screamed uncontrollably, not giving her daughter the slightest chance to explain.