Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 609 - 550: Fake

Jin Wusuan wagged his finger and ordered the steward, "Go fetch the shackles."

"Yes."

Manager Jin nodded and commanded the guards to do as instructed.

Ji Xingwang’s brow relaxed slightly as he said, "With the Du Stone Shackles, we can interrogate the travelers one by one..."

"Two hundred twenty-five!!"

Ji Linglang, who had been coldly observing the hall from a corner, suddenly shouted, "The numbers don’t match!"

She strode to the front of the counter, drew the longsword from her waist, and threw it.

The longsword suddenly accelerated in mid-air and carved the number 225 on the wooden plank above the counter.

Ji Linglang turned around, scanned the entire hall, and said in a deep voice, "The number of people has increased."

She had been observing everyone in the hall. Without realizing it, the already cramped space seemed even more crowded, as if some people had appeared out of thin air.

Buzz—

Over a dozen Spiritual Senses swept across the area. Everyone, including Li Ang, all the Mind Study disciples of Lu Li Academy, and some of Jin Wusuan’s guards, employed their Spiritual Senses to investigate.

The number of people in the inn had reached as many as 256.

How could there be an increase of thirty-one people?

Those without cultivation were instantly panicked, eyeing others with suspicion. Even the expressions of the Lu Li Academy disciples changed—they hadn’t noticed when so many people had appeared.

"Everyone quiet down!"

Lu Qingya used the Loud Sound Skill to amplify his voice and said sternly, "Without a register, everyone report your room numbers. Don’t give evil cultivators an opportunity."

He ordered the academy disciples to take an unused register from under the counter and begin registering each traveler.

Logically, people appearing out of nowhere, without identities, should have been spotted immediately.

However, after registering more than sixty people, each claimed they and their companions were staying in the same room. It was impossible to identify any problems.

"...Our group of eleven is staying in the deluxe room on the third floor, room number ten."

The man who had previously claimed to be the steward of the Yu Long Trading Company told Ji Xingwang, "I can name every one of them. I’m He Rongfeng. This is He Zhiqiu, my younger brother. And this is Kou Mufei, the Yu Long Trading Company’s Huzhou steward..."

"Wait a minute!"

Manager Liu suddenly shouted, "Each deluxe room has only three beds at most! How can eleven of you squeeze in there, especially with family members?"

"We..."

The man suddenly froze. That’s right, eleven people, including women—how could they possibly all squeeze into the same room? But that wasn’t right. He distinctly remembered a group of them checking into the inn yesterday during the day...

Ji Xingwang swiftly raised his palm, unleashing the Quicksand Technique and instantly trapping all members of the Yu Long Trading Company in place.

"Spare us, noble sir!"

He Rongfeng struggled in the quicksand and cried out in panic, "We are not from the Demon Sect!"

"I didn’t say you were."

Ji Xingwang transformed the quicksand into rope-like shapes, binding the arms and mouths of the Yu Long Trading Company members. He then had the Lu Li disciples use the Du Stone Shackles to restrain several of them.

Then, using a compass-like device similar to the Knowledge Protection Cultivation Plate, he checked their Qi Sea Spiritual Veins to see if they were cultivators.

The inspection revealed that none of the Yu Long Trading Company members possessed Spiritual Vein Talent.

They also weren’t wearing any disguise masks. The blood that flowed from them was normal, not that of a demon in transformed shape.

What was even more bizarre was that when Ji Xingwang questioned the other guests in the inn, they all claimed they had indeed seen these people from the Yu Long Trading Company yesterday. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Illusion..."

Ji Xingwang clenched his teeth, his gaze as sharp as a knife, cutting through the people from the Yu Long Trading Company.

He would rather go to the Ten Thousand Desolate Mountains and battle sky-obscuring demon beasts than face the Alien demons capable of creating such an eerie situation.

"It’s not an illusion."

"It’s altered cognition."

A calm voice emanated from the crowd.

A middle-aged traveler, who had claimed the day before to be from the Zhang Family of Runzhou, stepped out from the crowd. With a flick of his wrist, a sleeve sword shot out from his palm.

Whoosh—

Everyone saw a blur flash past. The middle-aged traveler appeared before the counter, holding Zhou Chengcai’s head, which he had apparently severed without anyone noticing.

Thud.

Zhou Chengcai’s headless body gushed blood as it pitched forward and collapsed onto the floor.

"Chengcai!!"

The silk merchant Zhou Hongmao saw his younger brother beheaded. His eyes burning with fury, he rushed forward to fight the middle-aged traveler.

However, in the next second, a sizzling sound, like oil in a hot pan, erupted from Zhou Chengcai’s corpse.

The body, along with its clothes, visibly disintegrated and melted, slumping down like molten candle wax.

Even the head in the middle-aged traveler’s hand melted beyond recognition.

"See? It was a Fake."

The middle-aged traveler tossed aside the melting head and flicked the waxy, blood-like substance from his sleeve sword.

"But, but..."

Zhou Hongmao was at a loss for words. His brother Zhou Chengcai was a Fake? But he clearly remembered every little detail of their lives. They had grown up together; he was a year older but had always been shorter than his brother. When he was bullied as a child, it was his brother who had stood up for him and taught the neighborhood kids a lesson.

"It’s all fake!"

The middle-aged traveler emphasized, "It was a Fake created by a Dream Eater based on your memories!"

"Sir, who exactly are you?"

Lu Qingya, who had been silent until now, moved his wife and child behind him. He slowly asked, "How do you know the identity of these Aliens?"

"Don’t you recognize my voice, Brother Qingya? Well, it’s understandable. We haven’t seen each other in over a decade."

The middle-aged traveler gave a bitter smile. With a tearing sound, he ripped off the disguise mask he was wearing, revealing a careworn, resentful face. "I am Chen Wanyi."

Lu Qingya’s eyes widened slightly, and Li Ang too was startled.

Chen Wanyi. A Priest from the Judgement Court of Taihao Mountain. He had appeared with Shangguan Yangyao and the others not long ago when they encountered the Ghost Shovel in the Turkic lands.

"Deputy Envoy Chen, it’s good to see you’re unharmed."

Lu Qingya cupped his hands in a salute. He had known Chen Wanyi for thirty years. They had even fought demons together in the past. Lu Qingya considered him an acquaintance from his time associated with Taihao Mountain. But why was Chen Wanyi here now?

"We were sent to the Yu Country under orders from the Torch Language Mechanism."

Chen Wanyi noticed Lu Qingya’s confusion and explained, "Three months ago, the Torch Language Mechanism, on a whim, issued a prophecy.

A Level 1 Demon Beast named Dream Eater is about to awaken in the heartland of the Yu Country.

If it were to escape, the consequences would be unimaginable. That’s why I was specifically dispatched deep into the Yu Country to search for the Dream Eater.

Brother Qingya, you know how it is. The higher-ups just give the orders, and we subordinates have to run ourselves ragged.

Our group, operating undercover, investigated extensively. We finally deciphered the prophecy’s vague clues, which led us all the way to the Dream Eater’s presumed location—Luzhou."

Chen Wanyi paused after speaking, his gaze sweeping over everyone present. He then said in a low voice, "According to the prophecy, the Dream Eater can freely read, alter, and fabricate people’s memories, creating flawless Illusions.

It can even, to some extent, change reality and manipulate causality through dreams.

It has already targeted us."