Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 611 - 552: Wax Oil

"Having your memories tampered with is devastating, but knowing it’s happening and being powerless to stop it is even worse."

Ji Xingwang gazed at the people arguing incessantly in the hall, feeling a chill permeating his entire body.

It was just a trivial ripple caused by the Dream Eater’s slumber, yet it made everyone turn against each other with hatred.

"...Teacher?"

Guan Anyan’s voice trembled, "Our numbers have increased again."

Ji Xingwang turned his head and saw that the disciples from Lu Li Academy had increased again.

He knew the exact number of people who had been added but couldn’t tell who they were—his mind was clear, telling him he knew everyone. Ning Tiangong, gifted yet loved to sit at the back row and doze off during lectures; Jian Nian, silent and believed that diligence could make up for lack of talent, studying harder than anyone; Zhuo Xinzhi, seemingly arrogant and dismissive but at heart a good-natured child...

Ji Xingwang’s complexion turned pale. He realized that the ten rooms Lu Li Academy had booked the day before couldn’t accommodate so many people. Among them, there must be a Nightmare.

Who could it be?

His memories were seamless, detailed to the minutest bits, containing both beautiful and not-so-beautiful moments.

"How about we try recalling together?"

A Doctor suggested, "With so many people, it’s impossible for a Nightmare to fabricate perfect identical memories in everyone’s minds. There might be discrepancies. We can use these loopholes to identify who is a Nightmare and eliminate them."

"No! No recalling!"

Ji Xingwang shouted urgently, "Stop recalling, or more Nightmares will appear! We’ll die faster!"

The case of Zhou Chengcai was a stark reminder. Zhou Hongmao had initially sensed something amiss and tried to kill Zhou Chengcai. However, as Zhou Hongmao continued to recall, his memories were increasingly tampered with, and he eventually accepted Zhou Chengcai’s existence.

"What should we do then?"

The Doctor gritted his teeth, "Just wait here to die?"

Everyone’s Qi Seas were evaporating and draining at an accelerating rate.

"Let me think of a way!" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Ji Xingwang closed his eyes, resting his forehead on his fist, desperately searching for a solution.

On the other side of the hall, Song Shaoyuan lost his balance and stumbled to the ground.

His Spiritual Vein Talent was not outstanding and his cultivation progress in the Academic Palace was only moderate. Now in the High Order of the Body Concealing Realm, he felt the negative effects of the draining Qi Sea particularly acutely.

"Shaoyuan!"

You Xiao, holding a child, hurriedly helped him up. Song Shaoyuan staggered against the wall, gasping heavily.

"You alright, son?"

His parents looked at him worriedly, and You Xiao’s sister, You Fu, also supported her lover with a worried expression.

When he first came to Chang’an, he had been kidnapped by Jiao Cheng, the local bully of Pingkang Square. This happened because he had secretly pledged his life to the sisters You Xiao and You Fu. Luckily, his brother Li Ang helped him escape unharmed, and he eventually won their hearts. Now You Xiao had given birth to Song Zhilei, and You Fu was pregnant. With both parents alive and a promising future ahead, could this beautiful life really be just an illusory bubble...

"I’m fine..."

Song Shaoyuan managed a smile more painful than crying, but despair enveloped his heart.

His Qi Sea was evaporating, indicating that a Nightmare existed among the people he knew.

Who could it be?

His parents? He vividly remembered falling into the river while playing at age six. His father, who normally couldn’t swim, had unhesitatingly jumped into the icy water and pulled his barely breathing self out. When he fell gravely ill at nine, all the doctors, including Li Ang’s father, Li Hanquan, said he was beyond help. His mother, in despair, had recited the Bodhisattva Sutra for three days and nights at home, praying ceaselessly. He remembered the pride and joy on his parents’ faces when he topped the State School exam, and recalled entering the Academic Palace, seeing his parents after several years, their hair turned white, and the mixed emotions in his heart. It was all real.

His daughter? Impossible—it was just three months ago at the Golden City Mansion when he first held his daughter, heard her cry, felt her warmth; that heartfelt emotion was definitely not false.

His wives? Impossible—underneath the flowers and moonlight, holding two beauties, he swore eternal vows. Those deeply engraved memories felt almost tangible.

"Ang?"

His mother’s call pulled Li Ang back from his heavy thoughts. He came to his senses and looked down at the back of his hand.

His Qi Sea was evaporating, Life Force was draining away, and wrinkles were already forming on his skin. Mo Si could not help him in any way as the Dream Eater was draining the essence of life. Even if Li Ang removed all restrictions and allowed Mo Si to erode every part of his body, his brain would still age and weaken over time, leading to inevitable death. Moreover, he had tried using Mo Si to secretly infest his parents and Chai Chai, scanning them, but the results showed nothing out of the ordinary. Just like himself, their bodies were also slowly decaying. Before truly dying and melting into wax, a Nightmare was indistinguishable from an ordinary person...

As time progressed, the hall became more crowded.

Finally, THUD.

An elderly man clothed in brocade with white hair, clutching his heart, fell to the ground.

His Life Force had been drained, his skin dry like tree bark.

His children and grandchildren screamed and crowded around him, but the next second, they melted and fractured, collapsing to the ground as wax.

"I don’t want to die, I really don’t want to die!"

A Steward from the Flying Company, his face contorted, drew a Dagger and stabbed his companion.

SHLICK!

The blade sliced through clothes and pierced the heart. The stabbed companion, with a face full of shock and disbelief, collapsed backward and melted into wax.

"HUFF, HUFF..."

The Steward stood panting heavily, his pupils violently trembling, completely unaware that all eyes had turned to him.

Someone in the crowd shouted in fear, "He killed someone!"

"I didn’t kill anyone!"

The Steward from the Flying Company sharply turned towards the source of the voice, fiercely saying, "What I killed was a Nightmare, not a human! I just want to live, what’s wrong with that?!"

His voice, like a copper bell, resonated heavily in everyone’s heart.

A young woman, tears streaming down her face, lifted her child, and amid its cries for mercy, she smashed it to the ground.

CRASH.

The child melted into wax, spreading on the ground.

The young mother knelt, weeping uncontrollably. Her mind was filled with memories of her child.

The man who had previously pushed his wife suddenly exploded into action, seizing a sword from a Lu Li Academy disciple and stabbing his childhood sweetheart, the wife he had grown up with.

The stunning woman looked down, sorrowful and blank, at her abdomen, pierced by the Longsword. The man’s expression froze abruptly.

What spilled from the woman’s wound was not wax, but blood.

"How can this be?! Fake, it must be fake!"

He released the sword in panic and took half a step back, but he stumbled, nearly falling. His palms, hair, and even his face were slowly melting.

His wife wasn’t a Nightmare; he was.