Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 280 What are you most afraid of?

"It's not your fault, I'll treat your wound."

Zhou Zhao's ears twitched. The faint sound in the cave was gone. He didn't know if it was because the wind above had stopped or because Gongzi Yu, who was controlling everything, had completely left.

She looked around and saw a flat, large rock not far away, so she pulled Su Changying and walked towards it.

"Sit down... Does it hurt?"

Su Changying smiled at Zhou Zhao, "It doesn't hurt, it's just a minor injury. Look at Yin Huan, she stabs herself again and again, but she's still lively and energetic, isn't she?"

As Su Changying spoke, she reached out and pulled out Zhou Zhao's green fish dagger, then pressed acupoints to stop the bleeding.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Zhao quickly took out some wound medicine from his sleeve.

Looking at Su Changying's bleeding wound, she felt a tightness in her chest. "What illusion did you see? Now that you've broken free and recognized me, why did you make me stab you? Even if pain is useful, it's only useful if it's in your own body."

What if I stab you, but you still don't wake up? You're so close to me, I might slip a coffin nail out of my sleeve and plunge it into your neck.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, recalling Su Changying's kiss earlier, he coughed lightly, "Take off your clothes."

As soon as she said that, her ears turned red.

She only wanted to apply medicine to Su Changying, but she felt a strange sense of shame because she was saying this while thinking about it.

Su Changying looked at Zhou Zhao and chuckled. He took off his outer robe, revealing his wound.

"Young Master Zhou, if you don't apply the medicine soon, I might bleed out..."

Zhou Zhao suddenly came to her senses, glared at Su Changying with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. She quickly bent down, poured the wound medicine onto Su Changying's wound, and tore a piece of cloth from her own undergarment to bandage his wound.

The wound was deep and looked quite shocking.

She stabbed Su Changying without her control.

How could she possibly tie Su Changying's hairpin?
She didn't recognize Su Changying, but Su Changying recognized her. This made her feel somewhat guilty towards him.
Zhou Zhao stared at the wound, lost in thought for a moment.

As she was thinking, she heard Su Changying's deep voice from above, "It's different. In your eyes, I am the murderer who killed Zhou Yan, so of course you should take action. You are Lord Zhou of the Court of Justice, and it is your duty to hate evil."

In my eyes, you are Zhou Zhao. And at that time, I was not sober, but once again forgot that I was Su Changying.

Besides, it wasn't you who stabbed me, it was me who let you stab me.

I'm a rather cunning person. I figured if Zhao Zhao stabbed me in the back, she'd only have eyes for me afterward. After all, there are plenty of other people waiting to compete with me for Zhao Zhao! Being with Han Xincheng, I'm bound to learn something."

Zhou Zhao felt increasingly uncomfortable as he listened.

She looked at Su Changying opposite her expressionlessly, "I must not have woken up from the illusion yet, right?"

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he walked to where they had been before, squatted down, and then reached out to pinch the mud on the ground. "My godfather's move is too powerful. It's like a legendary magic. I've been investigating cases for so many years and read so many books, but I've never seen such a divine method."

This is simply beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he recalled the Six Paths Heavenly Book.

Is there anything more illogical in this world than "A Letter to My Deceased Wife"? "Your godfather used his voice to hypnotize you. When you were up there, everyone clearly heard the voice, but only the four of us were trapped in a cage-like illusion... No, it shouldn't be called an illusion, but rather that our minds were bewitched and we experienced hallucinations."

What Han Ze and the others saw was the killing of evil spirits. Why were only the four of us in the dungeon?
Because you and Jingyi actually experienced that scene, and heard that sound back then, you were immediately plunged into nightmare memories after hearing it.

After you fell into the illusion, you leaned against a pillar in the main hall, your hand constantly stroking the wall. Ah Huang and I were both bewitched for the first time, and upon seeing your actions, we immediately thought of the dungeon. Because Ah Huang and I had been to that dungeon and discovered the inscriptions on the walls, we wondered how you had endured it there through sheer faith.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he collected some of the powder from the ground and wrapped it up.

"The so-called illusion is just the fear deep in your heart. After we came down, the sound became much quieter, almost imperceptible, and it was different from the wailing and howling up there. I guess this sound is the second command for you."

This sound can trigger your deepest nightmares.

So, I witnessed my adoptive father kill my brother, and then I lost my mind and wanted to kill him in return!

A dream world isn't a castle in the air; it must be a scene you've experienced or imagined.

Because she found out that it was Zhang Ran who made an appointment with Princess Changyang, the scene of Princess Changyang calling Zhang Ran appeared. She had never seen her adoptive father, only the portrait left by Chen Jiyuan, so in the illusion she saw a man wearing a jade hairpin standing in the shadows.

"After we came down, we fought those Taoist priests for so long without any problems. But when we got to this place, we immediately fell into an illusion. Just now, when I squatted down, I saw some special white powder in the soil here."

I suspect they discovered that we regained consciousness easily before, so they sprinkled some special mind-altering powder here.

Thus, we were immediately trapped in an illusion.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, his thoughts became increasingly clear.

She turned around, her gaze fixed intently on Su Changying. "And I suspect that my godfather's methods might originate from the real 'Six Paths Heavenly Book.' Changying, what did you see before?"

She began to suspect that the bamboo slip held in Zhou Yan's hand, the one that contained the "Letter to My Deceased Wife," was the real "Six Paths Heavenly Book."

What is Su Changying most afraid of?
Su Changying slowly put on his clothes, stood up, and walked towards Zhou Zhao.

“I’ve forgotten once again that I am Su Changying. I am a spy raised by my adoptive father since childhood, disguised as Su Changying, deliberately waiting for you in Tianying City. And the latest order I received from my adoptive father is to kill you.”

He hadn't regained his memory yet; all he saw was Zhou Zhao looking panicked and calling out for her brother.

She was clearly disoriented. At that moment, all he had to do was draw his sword and pierce her pale throat to kill her and complete the task his godfather had given him.

His hand was already on the hilt of the sword, but he couldn't pull it out.

He didn't want to kill Zhou Zhao.

He didn't know why either.

Looking at that face, he simply couldn't bring himself to draw his sword at her.

The moment the dagger pierced her chest, Su Changying instantly regained consciousness.

It's good that he didn't draw his sword.

"The knife didn't stab you, but you became sober. Of course, it's because Lord Zhou of the Court of Justice felt that it was definitely not normal for the murderer to stand still while you stabbed him and even hugged him. If it's not normal, it's an illusion, and you will immediately become sober."