Starting as a prodigy wanting milk? A world-destroying deception in the opposite direction.

The moment the voice fell, Shen Zhen felt an irresistible, immense force seize his body.

He was pinned to the steps by this invisible force and could not move!

His head was forcibly lifted, facing the empty stage, and his eyelids were forced open by a force, forcing him to "watch".

In his vision, the "Shen Zhen" in the mirror was slowly curving into a cold and eerie smile.

Immediately afterwards, on the empty stage, the light and shadow began to distort and change.

Sudden.

Whoosh—!

The sound of the rain was deafening!

But what Shen Zhen saw was rain that wasn't falling from the sky.

The torrential raindrops broke free from the mud, pouring up from the puddles on the ground and shooting rapidly towards the gloomy sky.

A blurry yet warm female figure turned back in the rain, her eyes filled with endless reluctance and determination.

That was his mother; her figure swayed in the rain.

"Zhen'er...step back!"

Her voice tore through the distorted air in front of her, hoarse and resolute.

Then came a silent explosion, with intense light engulfing everything.

That was the most painful scene in his memory!

"No! Mother!"

Shen Zhen wanted to speak, but found that even his voice had been taken away. He roared in his heart.

"Xiao Shen, what's wrong with you?!" Lei Lie said sternly.

He noticed that Shen Zhen stood frozen, as if her soul had been ripped away, her eyes staring blankly at the empty stage.

Ren Fei and Miao Erhu also hurriedly called out, but to no avail.

Lei Lie quickly took out his compass, and saw the pointer spinning wildly, indicating that the surrounding energy field of mental dust was extremely chaotic.

He muttered incantations, and a faint light emanated from his hand, enveloping Shen Zhen, but the light shattered like a bubble as soon as it got close.

"Something's wrong, something's targeting him!" Lei Lie's face turned ashen.

Upon seeing this, Ren Fei and Miao Erhu's expressions changed drastically, and they immediately stepped in to help.

The talisman between Ren Fei's fingers instantly ignited with a clear light, transforming into a stream of light that shot towards the barrier surrounding Shen Zhen; Miao Erhu shook the copper bell violently, and the booming sound waves also crashed against the invisible barrier.

But the two forces dimmed and dissipated the moment they touched the barrier.

"Damn it, this is weird!" Miao Erhu was both anxious and angry.

"Our attacks are completely ineffective!"

Lei Lie bit his fingertip, smeared the blood on the center of the compass, and shouted:

"Open it!"

The compass suddenly burst out with dazzling golden light, and three golden chains, like spirit dragons, spiraled towards the invisible force surrounding Shen Zhen, emitting a "sizzling" sound.

The barrier fluctuated violently and was finally torn open with several tiny cracks.

"Ren Fei, Miao Erhu, hurry!"

Ren Fei understood and immediately poured all his mental energy into the talisman paper, and Qinghui crawled into it through the crack.

Miao Erhu rang the bell again, and the sound waves condensed into a sharp blade, trying to break through the crack in the barrier.

Shen Zhen felt the restraints on her body loosen slightly.

But it only lasted for a moment.

An even more domineering force surged from the depths of the stage, instantly mending the cracks and completely shattering the combined power of the three.

Miao Erhu and Ren Fei felt a metallic taste rising in their throats, and Lei Lie was also shaken and took a few steps back before regaining his balance. The golden light of the compass dimmed immediately.

A rescue operation, from initial probing to full-scale attack, and then to utter defeat, happened in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, Shen Zhen was greatly shocked and a thought that would never normally arise in her mind came to mind.

Why?!

Why me of all people?!

The job of "Soothing Gods" appears to be a divine duty to maintain peace in the world, but in reality, it involves constantly dealing with inexplicable risks, and one careless move could lead to utter ruin.

Just like a mother.

He is now as if he has been forcibly thrown into a stage tailor-made for him, forced to participate in a play with a pre-written script.

Just when his mental endurance was at its limit.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the "audience" below the stage. On their numb faces, the corners of their mouths began to turn up in unison, forming a cold, stiff smile, carrying a strange sense of satisfaction.

"Look, the audience... is very satisfied with your... performance."

The voice rang in his mind again, with a hint of mockery and amusement.

Shen Zhen had a feeling.

The show has only just begun.

And he became a prisoner on this bizarre stage, stared at by the audience.

He fought fiercely.

But as soon as the thought of resistance arose, the corners of the mouths of the "audience" below the stage slowly drooped, as if expressing their dissatisfaction.

"Your performance... has become less exciting."

"Look... the audience isn't satisfied."

The voice rang out again, as if it came from an extremely cold place.

Only then did he realize that the resentment, anger, and even hatred for his mother's death surging in his chest were being amplified by an external force, almost overwhelming his reason.

This was not his intention.

"No!"

Shen Zhen roared inwardly, his remaining rationality keeping him clear-headed.

In an instant, an even more terrifying scene appeared.

The faces of the "audience" below the stage suddenly twisted and deformed.

Some faces are completely covered by countless eyeballs, all whites of the eyes, without pupils.

Some have only a big mouth on their face, without a nose or eyes; others have faces covered with small, broken teeth that rub against each other and make a "crunching" sound.

"It's the Illusionary Desire Demon!" Lei Lie suddenly roared.

"This thing can reflect the seven emotions and six desires."

It amplifies the emotions in one's heart to an infinite degree, making people lose themselves in an illusion, and once they are immersed in it, they can never wake up!

Xiao Shen, don't believe what you see!

These words struck Shen Zhen like a thunderbolt, instantly reminding him of the records about it in classical texts.

The Phantom Demon is the most skilled mind manipulator among the mutated beings. It feeds on "emotions," and the stronger the emotion, the greater its power.

The "Shen Zhen" in the mirror is still smiling.

The mother's figure in the rain suddenly twisted, her gentle face turning ferocious, and she screamed shrilly:

"Why are you just standing there watching? You're a useless piece of trash!"

"That's not how it is!" Shen Zhen screamed in her heart, tears streaming down her face.

He clearly remembered that his mother had deliberately drawn God's wrath upon herself to cover the people's retreat.

That was the glory of the one who comforted the gods, not his fault.

The power of the illusionary succubus is too domineering!

The turbid current of negative emotions almost dragged him into the abyss of despair.

Another thought arose in his mind that he had never dared to admit: if he had been stronger back then, could he have saved his mother?

Do not!

It's all an illusion.

He forcibly suppressed this thought.

His younger sister Shen Xuan's smiling face flashed through his mind. He couldn't let himself get lost in it; he still had people to protect.

The "Shen Zhen" in the mirror seemed to sense his resistance, and her smile became distorted.

The "audience" members, whose faces were entirely white, began to blink indiscriminately; the "audience" members, whose mouths were all large, opened their throats and roared silently, exuding an extremely eerie atmosphere.

Everyone seemed to be very dissatisfied with Shen Zhen.

Shen Zhen felt his spirit being eroded little by little, and his mother's roars grew louder and louder, as if they were about to pierce through his soul.

Just as the soul was about to be torn apart and consciousness was about to completely sink.

A sudden change has occurred!

The torrent of despair that the demon of illusion poured into his mind seemed to trigger some kind of hidden instinct.