Shen Zhou's Illusory Realm

Under the moonlight, the merman, beautiful to the point of being indistinguishable between male and female, parted his pale lips, his voice ethereal and pleasant. It was like the cry of a deer in a spring forest, yet also like the gurgling of a stream beneath winter ice.

"You only need to do one thing: continue to pretend to be their merchandise. Once on board, swallow this. I will handle the rest."

As per the merman's words, Lu Ge and the old man, like the skinny monkey before, numbly boarded the small boat. They unzipped the large travel bag, signaling Du Zhi Wei, who had just regained her freedom, to crawl back inside.

Du Zhi Wei took the beautiful pearl. If it were any other day, she would have been overjoyed to find such a pearl. She had an eye for goods and knew exactly how much a top-quality, large saltwater pearl like this was worth on the market. But at this moment, she lowered her head, looking at the pearl as big as a quail's egg, myriad thoughts flashing through her mind: what was this thing, what was its purpose, would it harm her body? Finally, she remained silent for a moment, choosing the most important question at hand to ask.

"Um... Lou Ge, swallowing something this big... won't it really choke someone to death?"

The merman's movements in the water paused. His eyes swept over Du Zhi Wei's mouth, then down her slender neck.

"Probably not, right?"

Du Zhi Wei's hand holding the pearl trembled. Then, gathering all her courage, she demonstrated a few first aid maneuvers for choking to the beautiful merman. With tearful eyes, she pleaded with him to remember, that if she choked, he must save her. She was young, she didn't want to die, and certainly didn't want to die from choking; such a death was truly terrifying! She already knew that non-humans existed in this world, so what if humans really turned into ghosts after death? If she died then, and other ghosts asked her how she died, what would she say? Answer: Choked to death. They'd ask for details. Answer: Choked to death by a pearl as big as a quail's egg. Just thinking about it made Du Zhi Wei's scalp tingle. So she demonstrated several times. Fortunately, the merman seemed good-natured. Seeing her dawdle, he didn't lose patience; instead, he watched seriously and slowly assured her that he had remembered.

Du Zhi Wei realized the merman's temper was better than that Mr. System's, and couldn't help but ask a few more questions.

"Are you really sure you remembered?"

"Truly remembered." The merman, who sang like a captivating siren, now spoke slowly with the innocence of a small animal unfamiliar with worldly affairs. He nodded seriously: "The King said, though you are humans, as long as you bear the King's mark, you are on our side. So rest assured, if you choke, I will definitely save you. If I cannot save you, I can call Hei Jing. She has immense strength; one punch will surely send your stomach flying out, absolutely ensuring you don't choke to death!"

Du Zhi Wei: "Although... but... we humans can't survive if our stomachs are knocked out."

Merman: "Ah? Is that so? It's just being knocked out, can't it be washed and put back in?"

Du Zhi Wei: "...I don't think so."

The merman sighed: "Humans are indeed fragile. But it's alright, I remember Mr. System is bound to a healing-type transcendent one among humans. As long as you have a breath left, she can save you. However, remember to prepare money; I don't have any."

Healing-type? Transcendent one? Du Zhi Wei appeared to be chatting with the merman, but was actually diligently memorizing these unfamiliar terms.

"Does finding that... transcendent one for treatment require payment? I've noted it."

Although the merman's act of drowning the skinny monkey was brutal, his attitude towards Du Zhi Wei was very friendly, answering every question.

"It's probably not what you think. The payment is because the premise for her ability to activate is to collect money. The more severe the injury, the more money required. Lan Ni said she's very short on money and loves it. When she first awakened, she really wanted to be a doctor who saves people, so the two combined, and she eventually awakened as a sinister doctor who likes to save people but extorts money. So try your best not to choke, otherwise, finding her for treatment will cost a lot. Lan Ni said that amount of money is enough to buy a mountain of cheese sticks."

Du Zhi Wei: ...The doctor the merman spoke of didn't sound very reputable. Also, what do you mean "try your best not to choke"? Is this something she can avoid just by trying? And cheese sticks, why mention cheese sticks out of nowhere?

Du Zhi Wei had a belly full of things to say, but she knew she had wasted too much time, so she crawled into the large travel bag, letting the old man zip it up.

Plunging into darkness, Du Zhi Wei couldn't help but feel afraid, and softly called out: "Lou Ge?"

"I'm here, swimming right under your boat. I'll board the ship with you later." The merman's voice reached her ears, calming Du Zhi Wei's mind slightly. Taking advantage of this, she pressed her hand to her chest, and following the previous method, summoned the holographic screen, studying the functions of the Strange Tale Secret Record.

In the strange tale records section, she saw the introduction to the use of points, learning that she would later have to accumulate points to maintain her life, otherwise she would die. Du Zhi Wei felt no fear; instead, she felt a great weight finally lift from her heart. Indeed... there was no free lunch in this world. Since this rule existed, it proved that Mr. System wanted to maintain a long-term relationship, so she didn't have to worry about him abandoning her in the short term.

But what exactly were strange tales and transcendent ones? Du Zhi Wei navigated to the forum section, flipping through the posts. As each post and line of text appeared, Du Zhi Wei's eyes widened, her breathing becoming rapid. Halfway through, her heart pounded like thunder, almost daring not to read further, for she knew that if she continued, these unfamiliar and dangerous pieces of knowledge would surely overturn her perception of the world!

But in the end, she gritted her teeth and continued reading. Based on her deductions, she had finally pushed open a crack in the door leading to a new world, seeing another side of this world. From this moment, the worldview she had built over twenty years completely collapsed!

From the posts, it seemed she wasn't the only one bound by the Strange Tale Secret Record. Especially the post's author, Wang Xia, and Tang Nian Ke, who were initially ordinary, helpless people. This made Du Zhi Wei feel a sense of kinship with them even before meeting. Should she try posting to interact with these seniors?

Just as Du Zhi Wei was contemplating, the small boat, which had been moving swiftly, suddenly stopped.

Under the moonlight, a colossal cruise ship floated on the sea. This ship was over ten stories high, with nine visible decks, named Huanyou. True to its name, it was the Si Family's exclusive entertainment yacht, itself the final masterpiece of a renowned master. The best materials and most intricate structure ensured its safety was paramount. The interior was even more lavish and extravagant, with exquisite service. The ship sailed only once a year, each voyage lasting two months.

Perhaps to save face for the Si Family's old friends, ever since the Huanyou was launched three years ago, the heads of the top prestigious wealthy families closely associated with the Si Family were present every year. And to provide the best service, this colossal ship limited itself to only 30 passengers each year. Hundreds of crew members, chefs, servants, and a band served only these 30 guests.

Because of this, such an alluring ship had no online reputation; ordinary people had never even heard of a luxury ship with an initial construction cost exceeding two billion yuan. Currently, the Huanyou's reputation circulated only within a tiny circle of the upper elite.

Today was the Huanyou's first sailing of the year. On board, lights shone brightly. In the grand hall, long tables were laden with the most exquisite and delicious delicacies. Unfortunately, most people's minds were not on the food. Countless elegantly dressed young men and women smiled politely, chatting in low voices. Around them, handsome male and female servants moved back and forth with trays. A large band stood in a corner as a backdrop, performing. Occasionally, couples who caught each other's eye would glide onto the dance floor or make ambiguous moves towards secluded areas.

If the slum was hell, then this place was paradise. Under the dazzling lights, all the best things in the world gathered. However, in an area untouched by the lights, a small boat was daringly approaching this colossal ship. A moment later, a super-large black travel bag was carried onto the ship.

"Lu Ge, long time no see." The crew member responsible for welcoming enthusiastically greeted. "Why is your face so pale?"

Lu Ge's eyeballs twitched slightly, his eyes filled with fear and pleading, but the crew member didn't notice, still smugly saying: "Must be cold, right? Traveling here on a small boat in this cold weather, the wind cuts like a knife."

Lu Ge's heart was filled with intense fear. Having been in this business for so many years, he had heard many strange stories. After following Young Master Si, he heard even more that the bodyguards around Young Master Si were not simple, they were transcendent ones with special abilities. Thus, he vaguely knew that this world had another side. He clearly knew he had been ensnared; that "person" who surged from under the water was definitely an aberration, and Du Zhi Wei was on the aberration's side! Now that Du Zhi Wei was boarding the ship, the aberration surely wanted to follow!

Lu Ge wanted to scream, to call for help, to immediately tell Young Master Si about the aberration, so that Young Master Si would send bodyguards to kill the aberration and save him. But no matter how much his inner self struggled, he couldn't control his body even a little. He could only desperately open his mouth, hearing himself say: "Yes. So cold my face hurts."

[Fear value +600, +550...]

The crew member looked sympathetic, kindly asking if he wanted to go eat something warm with him. Lu Ge shook his head: "No need, there are still people waiting on the small boat. You hurry and check the goods so I can go back and rest early."

The crew member heard this and unzipped the travel bag. Du Zhi Wei was tense, ready to resist and flee immediately if the other party made any move. But the crew member only glanced at her and said: "Lu Ge, you're still so cautious. Just a woman like this, a little anesthetic would be enough, why wrap her three layers inside and three layers outside with tape?"

The tape on Du Zhi Wei had long since been removed by her. Hearing this, she was first stunned, then immediately realized this must be Lou Ge's doing. Seeing Lu Ge's normal expression and the crew member completely unaware of anything unusual, her reverence for Lou Ge increased by several points.

"Better safe than sorry." Lu Ge said: "Alright, you've seen the person, I'll be going now."

The crew member nodded goodbye, not noticing that the moment Lu Ge turned to leave, his face turned even paler. Lu Ge returned to the small boat. The old man's face was terrified, yet his mouth uncontrollably said: "You're back. Then let's set off together."

No!

Lu Ge and the old man simultaneously had their hearts seize up in fright, their faces contorted with terror, tears streaming from their eyes. But just as they had never cared about the pleading eyes of Du Zhi Wei or many "goods" before, that invisible force controlled them, making them start the small boat and move away from the cruise ship.

After two soft sounds, the boat vibrated slightly and then no longer appeared. Beneath the sea, the shadow of a large fish flickered. Following the direction the fish swam, even the small boat vanished without a trace. The cold, deep seawater concealed everything. Only the soaring fear values on the aberration simulator served as proof of everything that had transpired.

A moment later, the merman's head emerged from the sea, looking towards the cruise ship not far away. Streams of ivory-white mist were emanating from the lowest deck of the cruise ship, silently enveloping the entire vessel. Yet, despite such a clear sight, no one on the ship noticed it. The source of the mist was Du Zhi Wei, or more precisely, the Shen Zhou Pearl inside her.

The merman... strictly speaking, he wasn't a merman; this body was merely a puppet formed by condensed energy. His true form was a Shen Zhou Pearl.

[Shen Zhou]
Aberration Level: Level 7.
Aberration Type: Mobile Aberration.
Aberration Host: The Shen Zhou Pearl in the throat.
Shen Zhou pursues malice, feeding on human evil desires. He can perform short-term mental manipulation through singing or other body parts as intermediaries. He can split into sub-pearls, only one at a time. Setting a sub-pearl as a marker will cause mist to rise, automatically generating an illusory realm based on the malice in people's hearts. Once the illusory realm is formed, even Shen Zhou itself can only modify it to a small extent. Once a sub-pearl takes effect, Shen Zhou cannot be touched or concealed by magic. Each sub-pearl can only generate an illusory realm once; if Shen Zhou actively dispels the illusion, the sub-pearl also disappears.

Rule of Death: Shen Zhou cannot actively kill people, but can issue three marks each day to amplify the malice in people's hearts, or modify the illusory realm, luring people to slaughter each other.
Rule of Survival: If the sub-pearl can be found and destroyed, the illusory realm can be broken. Shen Zhou must publicly announce this rule of survival to everyone within one hour of the illusory realm's formation.

Having suffered a great loss at the hands of Huan Xi Shen, Ye Yu naturally wanted revenge, and to seek revenge, she had to become stronger. Furthermore, while the software was powerful, the hardware was a bit lacking. Earlier, when using Tu Si Zi to fight against the Huan Xi Sect, Ye Yu had already felt the core of the aberration simulator heating up. In the past few days, she tried donning the Tu Si Zi shell two more times, and the core became increasingly hot, as if it could explode at any moment. Ye Yu immediately realized that if she didn't upgrade this Level 6 core, it would truly "die" on her.

Unfortunately, Level 9 aberrations were not like common vegetables. The Shen Zhou investigation team also had real capabilities; thanks to their dedicated protection of the world, Ye Yu had only heard of a few Level 9 aberrations, all of which were forbidden zones for humanity. Ye Yu knew her limits; although she was already considered a Level 9 expert, the four Level 9 experts of the Shen Zhou headquarters hadn't been able to deal with those areas, so for her to charge in alone would be foolish.

Fortunately, Ye Yu had previously collected the cores from the corpses on the battlefield: twelve Level 6 cores, along with some Level 5 and Level 4 cores. In total, nearly a hundred cores, an absolutely enormous fortune. What made Ye Yu happiest was that the Huan Xi Sect had lost so many elites; they definitely wouldn't be able to recover in a short time!

Regrettably, she didn't find the Third Elder's core. That day when she woke up, she saw the snake beauty's corpse on the snow, her 10-meter-long body severed into several pieces. Looking at the breaks, the snake skin inside was empty, without a core, only continuously emitting a sweet, smoky fragrance. Ye Yu knew Huan Xi Shen was sinister; seeing no core, she didn't touch it and fled immediately. The Third Elder's core was not found, and the First Elder also disappeared. Ye Yu felt it was a great pity, but at least there was still one Level 8 core she could use.

Ye Yu immediately "fed" that core to the aberration simulator, then fed ten Level 6 cores to the Strange Tale Secret Record to upgrade it to Level 7. She added many functions to it, such as mental linking, Mr. System's language pack, and direct binding via a holographic screen, bypassing mobile phones. To ensure members had loyalty to the team, she also emulated the Huan Xi Sect, making each person bound to the Strange Tale Secret Record have a fish-tail tattoo on their chest as a mark.

If before Ye Yu was merely fabricating stories, only wanting to borrow power to protect herself, this time she genuinely wanted to properly manage the force belonging to the Queen of Strange Tales. Next, she used two Level 6 cores from the White Shark and Niu Mo, along with a pile of Level 5 cores, for the Strange Tale Secret Record to create a new Level 7 aberration: Shen Zhou.

For Ye Yu, Shen Zhou's most useful aspect was not creating illusory realms, but that he could smell the malice in people's hearts. The stronger the malice, the higher the probability of committing evil. Where there are evildoers, there will naturally be victims, and the purest faith always arises from the deepest despair. Ye Yu needed faith, so she came. She knew that faith could not be coerced, so she wouldn't force it, only offering a choice to those in despair, just as she had given Du Zhi Wei a choice.

In a small bar on the cruise ship, enchanting lights flickered. Several young masters embraced scantily clad hostesses on leather sofas. Outside, the cold wind howled, but inside the room, it was warm as spring. There was even a bit too much "springtime" in the air; their hands uninhibitedly reached into the girls' clothes, casually flirting. In a corner not far away, ambiguous gasps even echoed. If an old TCM doctor were here, one glance would reveal that these young masters had pale faces, a symptom of kidney deficiency.

As incompetent playboys, they had tasted the pleasures of the world since their teens. Over the years, they had no shortage of women, and their tastes grew increasingly picky. At this moment, even surrounded by beauties, they still felt a bit bored. Someone couldn't help but urge: "Young Master Si, when will the good stuff you mentioned finally arrive?"

"I've been waiting here."
"If it's not coming, just say so, so I can go back to sleep."

"What's the rush, are you all lust demons reincarnated? Can't you be a little patient?" Si De Hao picked up his phone, about to urge his subordinate, but upon seeing a message, a wicked smile appeared on his face. "There's news, the person has been brought to my room."

He withdrew his hand from the beauty's clothes beside him, stood up and dismissed the girls, then excitedly led his bad friends towards the room on the upper floor. Along the way, under the dim lights, they saw many men and women embracing each other: bald men and scantily clad beauties, plump noblewomen and robust young men, and some even reaching out to the servants in ascetic uniforms—or rather, this was also part of their job; the ascetic attire was originally a selling point.

This was the Huanyou, where as long as you had money, you could enjoy anything. Si De Hao's group of young masters disdainfully watched the scene; they were tired of these games, only commoners with limited knowledge would settle for such things. Someone sneered: "Young Master Si, how are we going to play later?"

Si De Hao: "Of course, I go first. After I'm satisfied, you can play however you want."

"I heard Young Master Si once pursued that woman, right? Are you really going to let us play with her? Just warning you, I play rough; don't blame me if she dies."

"Hahaha, Gu Chu, you really dare to say that. Aren't you only good for three minutes? Yet you dare to claim you're strong?"

"He Sheng, you bastard, who said I'm three minutes? Have you tried it? Or were you hiding under my bed timing me?"

"Hai Qin said it!"
"I didn't say it! Jiang Shu said it!"
"Hahaha, alright, alright, I misheard, okay? Gu Chu is the strongest, a great mighty man!"
"Nonsense, I'm clearly the strongest!"
"It's me!"

The young masters laughed boisterously. Si De Hao heard this and revealed a sinister smile. "Don't worry, when I say you can play, you can play. That woman dared to reject me repeatedly, making me lose face. If I don't make her suffer a bit, she'll think this Young Master Si is a kind person!"

"When she's played to death, just throw her directly into the sea, then let's see if she still dares to reject me!"

Several young masters, birds of a feather, immediately laughed and flattered Young Master Si's domineering spirit, saying that women who refuse a polite invitation and demand punishment must be made to suffer!

When the door of the luxurious cabin was opened, the arrogant and vicious words of the young masters drifted inside. Du Zhi Wei, standing in the bedroom with a pale face, immediately turned to look at the merman by the window.

"They're here, what do we do now?"

A streak of water appeared by the window. The merman, bare-chested, had droplets of water flowing down his black fish tail, wetting the soft, high-end carpet. He opened his mouth, emitting an ethereal, pleasant sound: "You don't need to do anything, just stand there and watch."

Du Zhi Wei: Watch? Watch what?

Bang! The room door was roughly pushed open. Si De Hao strode into the bedroom, and with a glance, saw Du Zhi Wei lying on the bed, her hands and feet tightly bound with tape. Facing those beautiful eyes filled with helplessness and fear, Si De Hao's spirit and lower body simultaneously became excited.

"Du Zhi Wei, long time no see. The last time we met was three months ago, I think, when I brought 99 roses to find you, and you rejected me again, making me a laughingstock! Today, you must pay a heavy price for that!"