Don't provoke mentally ill people in the infinite flow genre!

Yi Zanglan was caught in a deep nightmare. In her dream, she stood in front of a carved bronze mirror, but the reflection in the mirror was not herself.

The person in the mirror had their hair tied up with a golden crown and wore a dark red court robe. Their face was blurred and indistinct.

She clearly heard her own voice asking, "Who are you?"

"Emperor Akihito, your mother."

A sudden gust of wind arose from all sides, and countless dried corpses crawled out of the coffin, baring their fangs and claws as they approached her menacingly.

She wanted to resist, but her body seemed to be bound by some force, and she couldn't move no matter what she did.

Before she was completely engulfed by the horde of corpses, she saw her reflection in the bronze mirror vanish into thin air, eventually transforming into a streak of crimson light that disappeared into her brow.

……

……

Yi Zanglan suddenly opened his eyes. At the same moment, the iron chain around his neck tightened, and his throat bones made a cracking sound as if they were about to break.

Intense pain and suffocation surged through her like a tidal wave. She slammed her head against the edge of the bed, her whole body trembling, but she didn't utter a sound, only gritting her teeth and silently resisting the force.

Unlike before, she did not stop thinking to alleviate the pain. On the contrary, her mind was unusually clear at this moment, and she was even trying to sort out some questions and speculations that had already arisen.

She fell off the bed and lay curled up on the ground for a long time until Su Su entered the inner hall to bring some freshly cooked porridge. Seeing her like this, she was almost scared to death and rushed forward.

"What's wrong, Captain? Is it hurting again?"

Yi Zanglan lay there, pale-faced, letting her hug him and sway back and forth. After a long while, he let out a long sigh and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"It's alright."

"Are you really alright?"

Perhaps it was comfortable to be held like this, Yi Zanglan rested on Su Su's arm for a while before nodding.

"real."

"and you……"

"Are they awake?" she said. "Get them all up and gather here; I need to have a meeting."

Su Su was stunned, then quickly reacted: "A meeting? Captain, have you come up with a way to break this deadlock?"

"I suppose so." Yi Zanglan paused, then asked, "How much time has passed?"

She was asking about the time since everyone developed the emerald erosion condition. Su Su understood what she meant and answered.

"It's been about three hours, and it's already late at night."

The two men lifted their sleeves to check and found that light-colored bruises had indeed appeared on their skin.

"Okay, there's still time—by the way, do you know how to do your hair?"

Because the topic changed so quickly, Su Su couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Huh? Tying your hair up... I'm not very good at it, but I can still do it."

"Then help me style my hair into a bun." Yi Canglan propped herself up, walked to the bronze mirror, and sat down, adding, "Try to make it look pretty."

She stared at her reflection in the mirror for a long time before picking up the hairpin Tang Yunxi had given her from the table and holding it in her palm.

* * * * * *

As per Yi Zanglan's request, Su Su and Li Siqi went to notify the members separately. After receiving the news, everyone rushed over as quickly as possible, including Shen Yubai, who was still recuperating.

However, they searched the entire Hongde Hall but could not find Yi Zanglan. It was not until they went outside the hall again and looked up that they discovered that under the dim moonlight, Yi Zanglan had somehow climbed onto the roof and was looking down at them.

She changed into a light blue casual dress, and the jade hairpin in her hair bun matched perfectly, like a newly sprouted willow branch, fresh and bright.

"Is everyone here?" She sat there with her legs dangling in the air, speaking calmly. "I thought that since I'm the team leader for once, I should hold a meeting to talk about some serious matters, so that this trip won't be in vain."

These words were so strange that they gave all the members a sense of foreboding. Yan Zhao took two steps forward, trying to make his tone sound as gentle as possible, like coaxing a child.

"Lanlan, is something on your mind? You can come down and talk about it slowly, there's no need..."

Before she could finish speaking, Yi Zanglan suddenly raised his hand and tossed a few loose pages of the book at her.

As the pages of the book fluttered in the wind, Yan Zhao subconsciously summoned his raging claws, which accurately caught the book mid-air.

She lowered her eyes and read for a moment, then looked shocked: "That old blue book...did you tear it?"

"Yes," Yi Zanglan nodded in agreement. "At first, I was just guessing and thinking of tearing it up first, but then I had a dream just now, and I'm basically certain now."

"..."

Yan Zhao's reaction was probably too strange, and the other teammates, seeing this, gathered around him with concern.

Shen Yubai pulled the top two pages from Yan Zhao's hand, quickly glanced at them, and seemed to understand something. He suddenly looked up at Yi Zanglan.

"Lanlan, could it be that you are actually...?"

The ink on the pages had blurred somewhat, but the writing was still legible:

[Upon ascending the throne, Emperor Akihito, emulating his mother Emperor Yunxian, was obsessed with achieving immortality. He even devoutly believed in unorthodox and evil arts, extracting the essence of living people and supplementing it with countless elixirs in order to prolong his life.]

[The emperor neglected state affairs from then on, rashly forging an alliance with the Lei Kingdom, allowing the Lei Kingdom's conspiracy to succeed, ultimately leading to chaos and widespread suffering.]

[He later died due to a curse, and as punishment from Heaven, his soul was trapped in the Inner Court's mortuary, unable to escape. If a close relative were to intrude, they could possess a person's body, creating illusions to seek an opportunity to seize control.]

……

What exactly happened in the inner court mortuary at that time was unknown to anyone except Yi Zanglan, and the team members had no idea who she saw in the mirror.

Perhaps, what they seemed to be leaving the mortuary was actually just stepping into another, more realistic illusion constructed by Emperor Akihito.

Therefore, whether it was the palace servants coming and going or the ministers in the court, they were all stupid and dull, like pre-programmed machines; the hawkers' cries in the market were all the same, and the old doctor who talked to them would mysteriously disappear.

The twelve-year-old Yi Zanglan in the illusion is not the Xiaowu Emperor as everyone thinks, but the Mingren Emperor who is plotting to seize the body.

She exists as the core of the illusion. When the time runs out and everyone dies from the Green Erosion Syndrome, Emperor Akihito will completely possess this body.

"I've always wondered why I can't summon my own weapon and have to wear this annoying dog leash." Yi Zanglan sneered, "So it turns out it was all fake, and of course I'm not real either."

"No, even if it's all fake, you are real." Tang Yunxi couldn't help but retort, her voice trembling with tears. "You are Lanlan in your youth, born from her memories. Emperor Mingren can create illusions, and he can destroy this place, but he cannot destroy your soul. You are you!"

Yi Zanglan fell silent. She pulled the hairpin from her hair, held it in her hand and examined it repeatedly. After a long while, she spoke softly.

"The gift you gave me is so beautiful. I've never worn anything so pretty before," she said. "Although I still can't remember it, I'm starting to believe that if I can bring all of you together, then I must have become a pretty good leader in the future."

Everyone's eyes instantly welled up with tears upon hearing this, and Wu Ying choked back sobs as she affirmed, "You were born to be a leader."

Qin Shaoyu had been hiding at the back of the group for a long time, not daring to look at her. Now, he finally mustered up his courage and shouted out with tears in his eyes.

"Captain, even if you're leaving, could you at least come down from the roof? Everything's been a mess since yesterday, I haven't even had a proper chat with you, you...you could at least let me hug you?"

"Haven't you chatted yet? You're the noisiest person in this group." Yi Canglan glanced at him, then slowly looked away. "I'm not going to go anymore. Even if it's a dream, getting too close makes it hard to let go."

She looked up at the sky above, the hazy moonlight blending into her clear eyes, silently transforming into a stillness.

She sighed: "Alright, that's fine. The person you're waiting for should be back soon, and I also have my own things to do."

Winning this round won't restore her memories, and she can't stay with them until the end.

She needs to die in this illusion, along with the remnant soul of Emperor Akihito, in order to bring back the real Yi Zanglan.

This is the only explanation, and the only solution.

She was willing to let them be together, after all, longing is a long process, just like Ah Lang was still waiting for her.

Even if we are destined to part ways at the age of sixteen, at least the final moment has not yet arrived, and we should not prematurely incur the pain of separation and sorrow.

She pulled a dagger from her sleeve, held it up to her eyes and throat, and finally chose to press it against her heart.

"I've killed many people, but this is the first time I've killed myself." She smiled, raised an eyebrow arrogantly, and tilted her head to signal to them. "The thought of meeting again after more than ten years suddenly makes me feel... life isn't so hard after all."

"Until we meet again, everyone."

The next moment, the blade pierced his heart without hesitation, the force so great that it went deep into the hilt.

She let go, like a bird free in the wind, and fell backward from the roof.

"Lanlan!"

"team leader--!!!"

The members of Black Wind Stronghold rushed forward, instinctively trying to catch her.

However, a sudden gust of wind arose, and black mist instantly enveloped the entire Hongde Hall. Everyone felt dizzy and then collectively fell into a void of darkness and chaos.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

They didn't know how much time had passed, but when the members opened their eyes again, they saw a bright moon in the sky and found themselves lying at the gate of the Inner Court Mortuary once more.

This is where the illusion begins. When Emperor Akihito's remnant soul perished, everything returned to its origin.

Everyone stood up and subconsciously rolled up their sleeves to check, only to find that the wounds they had suffered in the illusion had healed without a trace, and the blood that had seeped from their wounds in the past few days had turned red.

They stared blankly at the ruins of the mortuary before them, then suddenly seemed to wake from a dream and rushed into the courtyard.

……

The scene was still littered with severed limbs and debris, a complete mess. Most of the stone wall had collapsed, and the carved bronze mirror had been shattered into dust.

The giant scythe with its black handle and silver blade reflected a chilling light in the boundless night, while its owner, dressed in black, with his long hair billowing wildly in the wind, stood tall and straight like a drawn sword.

Yi Zanglan stood there, as if many memories that shouldn't exist appeared in her mind, finally settling on her tearful eyes from her youth and the jade hairpin tightly clutched in her palm.

Perhaps, the regrets of what is missing will always be made up for in another form.

She remained silent for a long time until she heard footsteps behind her, at which point she turned around.

All the members were already standing behind her, each of them gazing at her with tears in their eyes, silent yet fervent.

If we say we'll meet again, then we will.

"Yes, the situation here is indeed a bit complicated, which is why I was delayed." She raised an eyebrow and smiled gently. "I hope you all don't think... I'm too late."