I am a mortal who has achieved enlightenment through burning my secrets

Chapter 256 Memory Illusion
Watching Dugu Yan being born with a cry and then gradually growing up from an outsider's perspective.

The scope of his memories expanded from a warm embrace to the entire room, and finally to the entire Dugu Mansion.

However, whenever Lonely Goose falls asleep, the world turns dark. This is the world she remembers, and it gradually changes as her memories evolve.

He did not intend to modify the illusion when Dugu Yan was young, after all, raising a child is troublesome, so all that awaited him was a long period of loneliness.

One year, two years, three years, five years, eight years!
In the eighth year, Xiao Wuji finally made changes to the illusion.

This was the year that Dugu Yan's father passed away, and her mother followed him in death.

Without any apparent reason, the Dugu family was suddenly ravaged. People who had once served Dugu Bo came looking for him and, taking advantage of Dugu Bo's absence, massacred the entire Dugu family. Eight-year-old Dugu Yan was also kidnapped and sold to a human trafficker.

After enduring five years of imprisonment and torture, his life finally took a turn for the better.

A kind person bought her from human traffickers, and that kind person became a ray of light illuminating her dark world.

He taught her about spiritual practice and how to be a proper maid.

Five years have passed in the blink of an eye, and she has come of age!

But when she was about to fulfill her duties as a maid, he told her that he preferred mature married women.

So she left him and went to study at an advanced soul master academy, finding herself a genius boyfriend. She planned to give him her body on their wedding night, letting him enjoy everything she had.

So even when he later came to the academy, she still pretended not to know him.

In her first year of school, her biological grandfather found her and gave her plenty of care, but she could no longer have room for anyone else in her heart!
In the fifth year, to repay the kindness of being raised, she still told her grandfather the antidote she had heard from him.

But it almost cost him his life!

Fortunately, he is still alive; it was his grandfather who died.

That awful grandfather! He prevented her from giving him everything when she was at her most beautiful!

He refused to look at her for months after she was tied up in the house. She felt desperate, but the last bit of faith in her heart kept her going.

Until this day, he walked in...

"Yes, I'm sorry!" she apologized sincerely.

"It's okay, I forgive you!" he said gently.
"However, because of you, I was hurt, so you can never be my maid in this lifetime!"

"No, no, please!" she pleaded desperately, for it was the only belief that kept her alive.

"Don't worry, I won't abandon you. After all, I've raised you for so many years. But from now on, you'll only be able to live as a slave! Are you willing?"

……

My vision blurred for a moment, and the illusion came to an end.

"I am willing!" Dugu Yan almost roared as she spoke her heart.

"Alright, then you'll be my slave from now on!"

Xiao Wuji happily agreed, then raised his hand and waved it in front of him, only to find that the chains on Dugu Yan's body remained motionless and did not dissipate as he had imagined.

He suddenly froze. More than twenty years of memories had made it difficult for him to distinguish between reality and illusion! That's why he did such a mindless thing.

He carefully recalled the maid's name in his mind, then called out with some doubt:
"Like jade, like a flower!"

The two people waiting outside responded and came in. This made Xiao Wuji breathe a sigh of relief.

The two women were originally named Ruhua and Siyu. However, the name Ruhua always reminded him of a disgusting figure, so he slightly modified their names.

Finally, having not misremembered the names, Xiao Wuji gave instructions to the two of them separately:
"Push me into the room!"

"Go and take her to wash up first, then bring her to my room!"

"Yes!"

……

Back in his room, Xiao Wuji immediately buried himself under the covers. He remembered that he hadn't rested for over twenty years, but he didn't feel sleepy at all.

"My name is Xiao Wuji. I am a student at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Xue Qinghe and I are brothers... Brother Xue... Committee Member Meng..."

This experience, akin to living another life, was unbearable for Xiao Wuji. He could only desperately try to recall everything in his memory, trying to make his somewhat hazy memories clear again. For three days, Xiao Wuji didn't eat or drink a drop, using this near-self-hypnosis method to recall his memories. He finally managed to largely eliminate the influence of the illusion on him; he had completely forgotten some minor details, and they were almost impossible to retrieve!
"This soul skill is truly terrifying; it can even conjure up memories from Dugu Yan's subconscious that she herself doesn't remember."

"However, the advantages are also obvious. While in the illusion, I can also learn or create something!"

Recalling the complete list of soul beasts that he had memorized while watching Dugu Yan read a book, Xiao Wuji's view on soul skills finally changed slightly. Perhaps this was not a bad thing!

……

Just as Xiao Wuji was planning to explore how to use his soul skills, the people in the neighboring mansion were going crazy!

"What? He and that woman have been inside for three days and haven't come out yet!"

"Not eating or drinking, you're really forgetting yourself!"

"Aren't you afraid of suddenly dying in bed?!"

Looking at the secret letter in his hand, Xue Qinghe wished he could rush in, grab Xiao Wuji from the bed, and throw him into the river to sober him up.

"man!"

Tearing up the secret letter in his hand, Xue Qinghe became increasingly angry.

After calming down, she immediately ordered the people outside, "Someone, go and invite Earl Xiao over. Tell him I have something important to discuss!"

Snake Spear and Bloodstain outside the door exchanged a glance, both showing a helpless expression. Women are such a hassle. Fortunately, they are both single.

……

"Master, His Highness the Crown Prince requests your presence!"

Hearing the sounds outside, Xiao Wuji poked his head out from under the covers and said in a slightly stiff voice, "I'm going right now!"

He threw off the covers, and with Dugu Yan's help, he sat in a wheelchair and was then pushed toward the Crown Prince's residence.

"My dear brother, you are truly blessed to have such a talented young woman as Dugu Yan in your household!"

Before even entering Xue Qinghe's study, Xiao Wuji received a blessing from his "good older brother," though it sounded rather sarcastic.

Xiao Wuji raised his only remaining left hand, signaling Dugu Yan to stay where she was, then summoned his martial spirit and pulled himself into the study.

"If Brother Xue likes it, then I'll give it to you. I just trained it, and it's very obedient!"

"But remember to be careful when using it, she's covered in poison!"

Outside, hearing Xiao Wuji's words, Dugu Yan trembled violently, but she didn't utter a word. This was her destiny. If His Highness the Crown Prince agreed, she would definitely make sure he became closer to her master.

"hehe!"

Xue Qinghe sneered and said, "Don't even think about it, I don't have such a perverted habit!"

"I just want to remind you, don't waste your talent on this! Three whole days, aren't you afraid of exhausting yourself to death!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Wuji realized she had misunderstood and explained:
"I don't have time to deal with him. Staying indoors is just to alleviate the side effects of my soul skill!"

Hearing that Xiao Wuji had not yet taken any meat, Xue Qinghe's anger subsided considerably, and she became even more interested in his soul skills.

"Oh? Your two soul skills have significant side effects?"

"I haven't even tried the first soul skill yet, but the side effect of the second soul skill is that it can trap both me and the enemy in an illusion for anywhere from a dozen years to over a hundred years. In reality, only a moment has passed!"

"I used it three days ago and was trapped in an illusion for more than 20 years. As a result, I can no longer distinguish between reality and illusion. Even my own memories have been affected by the illusion, and I have forgotten a lot!"

Xiao Wuji concealed part of the effect of his second soul skill, mainly because such a soul skill that could arbitrarily modify people's memories was too outrageous and too easy to arouse people's suspicion.

"Such an outrageous soul skill?"

Xue Qinghe was also greatly shocked. As expected of a mutated martial soul, even its soul skills were so outrageous, but they didn't seem to be very useful.

"Brother, your soul skill is really useless. It seems to have no other use besides trapping the enemy, right? And the side effects are so great!"

"No, you're so wrong!"

Xiao Wuji smiled and shook his head, saying:
"I am the master in the illusion. If I torture a person in the illusion for decades, then that person is no different from being dead even if he is alive."

(End of this chapter)