Douluo Dragon King: I am the Lord of the Abyss, the King of Eternal Night.

Chapter 426 The two Mings surrender, severing one of Tang San's arms!
"Why does Jiang Xiu believe so strongly that I will fall into the illusion? Who gave him the courage?"

A hint of confusion and doubt appeared in Erming's eyes, but being in the illusion, he could only watch, because the burning spiritual power of the Seven Old Demons was still restricting him.

In front of the wooden house, Xiong Xiaoling nestled against Erming behind her, whispering, "Atai, you're all I have from now on..."

Upon hearing this, Erming, who was standing next to Jiang Xiu, trembled violently. The nickname "Atai" was Xiong Xiaoling's unique way of addressing him.

The current timeline is the period after Xiong Xiaoling's entire village was burned to death, and he rescued Xiong Xiaoling.

Now, everyone connected to Xiong Xiaoling has perished in the fire, leaving only Erming as the only one remaining.

"Don't worry, Xiaoling, I will always be by your side and will never abandon you!"

As expected, Erming behind Xiong Xiaoling responded with a firm look in his eyes.

Upon hearing this, Xiong Xiaoling nestled even closer, the confusion about the future in her eyes slowly dissipating, replaced by deep affection.

When Erming, who was standing next to Jiang Xiu, saw this scene, a look of reminiscence appeared in his beast eyes, but the next moment he became somewhat inexplicably melancholy.

"At the time, I thought love could overcome everything, but in the end, I was wrong about her; she still left..."

Jiang Xiu raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, but did not say anything more, instead giving a meaningful smile.

The scenes in the illusion kept changing, and Erming and Xiong Xiaoling settled down in a small wooden house in the forest. Erming was in charge of hunting, while Xiong Xiaoling was in charge of weaving and cooking. They lived a very cozy life.

It even carries a hint of a secluded life where men farm and women weave.

Jiang Xiu's companion, Er Ming, watched this scene with a smile on his face. These were arguably the most interesting years of his long life.

He has people he loves, and even more people who love him.

But in the illusion, Erming's eyes always carried a trace of hesitation and gloom, because he knew that he was a soul beast, while Xiong Xiaoling was a human, and they were different races.

As the illusion shifted again, a resolute look appeared in Erming's eyes. He was going to reveal his identity to Xiong Xiaoling!
One morning, Erming left the cabin through the morning mist, leaving behind only some words and a map on the ground inside the cabin.

Upon seeing this, a trace of melancholy appeared in Erming's eyes, who was standing next to Jiang Xiu, because he knew exactly what those words and that painting meant.

The words acknowledged his identity as a soul beast and stated that he would spend ten days going out to do some things.

As long as Xiong Xiaoling remains in the wooden house for ten days, it proves that Xiong Xiaoling doesn't care about his identity as a soul beast, so he will stay with Xiong Xiaoling indefinitely...

That map shows the safe route out of the forest.

As Erming walked past him in the illusion, Erming slowly reached out his hand, wanting to say something, but he couldn't say anything.

"Erming, if you had the chance, would you still choose to reveal your identity to Xiong Xiaoling?" Jiang Xiu said softly.

"Yes!" After a moment's hesitation, Erming said slowly with a firm look in his eyes, "If I don't tell you, I will never be able to get over this, and I will never see Xiong Xiaoling's true colors!"

"Since she left, it proves that she never truly loved me, and I have no reason to stay!"

Seeing Erming's determined expression, Jiang Xiu's lips curled up, and he thought to himself, "You'd better not change your expression later."

Within the illusion, not long after Erming left, Xiong Xiaoling slowly woke up. Upon seeing the words and map on the ground, her entire body suddenly stiffened.

"Idiot! Idiot!" Tears streamed down Xiong Xiaoling's face.

And she cried for the entire day.

It wasn't until the next morning that Xiong Xiaoling composed herself and slowly began packing her belongings.

"See? She's the one who wanted to leave me! I don't need to feel guilty at all! We just parted amicably!"

Erming, standing next to Jiang Xiu, looked somewhat excited, as if he wanted to prove something.

But what he didn't notice was that Xiong Xiaoling's eyes were already filled with determination...

Jiang Xiu remained silent as he listened to Er Ming's words.

In the illusion, after packing her belongings, Xiong Xiaoling carefully closed the door of the wooden house and headed out of the forest following the route.

After Xiong Xiaoling left, Erming, who had been hiding in the shadows observing the place from within the illusion, walked out in anguish and indignation.

He had truly fallen in love with Xiong Xiaoling, but Xiong Xiaoling actually chose to leave!

In his grief and anger, Erming suddenly transformed into his true form as a Titan Ape, smashing their cozy little wooden house, where they had lived for so long, into ruins with a single punch, and roaring as he charged into the depths of the forest.

He was heartbroken...

At that moment, he felt as if the whole world had abandoned him, and he had become a failure...

"See? She made the choice first. I just gave in to her. As for destroying the wooden house, consider it the end of this relationship for me."

Erming, standing beside Jiang Xiu, looked at the ruins before him with a bitter expression on his lips.

The next moment, Erming forcibly suppressed his bitterness, turned to look at Jiang Xiu beside him and said in a deep voice, "Now you should know that I, Erming, have no inner demons!"

"Now this illusion should end!"

"However, to thank you for helping me overcome the thing I least wanted to see and for being able to see Xiaoling again, I won't kill you when I get out."

"Overcoming inner demons? No, the real show is just beginning." Jiang Xiu said with a slight smile upon hearing this.

"What do you mean by that?!" Erming paused, his eyes filled with confusion.

Jiang Xiu didn't say much, but instead flicked his hand slightly, and the illusionary time quickly passed.

In the blink of an eye, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

"What are you doing!" Seeing this, Erming suddenly felt uneasy.

"Could it be that Xiaoling will come back after she leaves?!"

Jiang Xiu remained silent, only accelerating the process.

Before long, five days had passed.

Erming seemed to have guessed something, his eyes fixed on the entrance in front of the cabin.

On the sixth day, a familiar figure appeared, and it was Xiong Xiaoling!
"No, no, no! That's not how it is! How could Xiaoling possibly come back..."

Erming shuddered violently, his eyes bloodshot. With his powerful god-level strength, he could no longer control his body; he was trembling.

Because he himself destroyed the cabin back then!
"You clearly gave her ten days back then, so why did you run away as soon as she left?"

Jiang Xiu said softly, "Actually, back then, the one who didn't believe in this love wasn't Xiong Xiaoling, but you, Erming."

"No!" Seeing Xiong Xiaoling about to see the ruins of the cabin, Erming could no longer hold back and rushed forward frantically, trying to hug and stop Xiong Xiaoling.

But his burly body simply passed right through Xiong Xiaoling, because this was from a third-person perspective...

Erming could only watch helplessly as Xiong Xiaoling saw the small wooden house that had become ruins, and could only see Xiong Xiaoling frozen in place.

He can't do anything, he can't change anything...

"Clap!"

Upon seeing the small wooden house now reduced to ruins, Xiong Xiaoling dropped the package she was carrying.

"Atai, where are you?"

"How did our home become like this..."

Xiong Xiaoling stared blankly at the scene, her body trembling uncontrollably.

"Xiaoling! No!" Erming looked at the girl, his eyes filled with disbelief. So Xiong Xiaoling had returned; he had made a mistake.

Just then, Xiong Xiaoling asked with grief in her eyes, "Atai, did you do all this?"

"You're such an idiot, an idiot!"

"Can't you see that I'm already carrying your child? A woman follows her husband wherever he goes, whether he's a chicken or a dog. Why didn't you just tell me you're a soul beast?"

"What an idiot! Even if I had your baby, I could never leave you!"

Upon hearing the word "child," Erming trembled once again.

Xiaoling already has his child!
"Could this be the origin of the Yuanen family...?"

Erming couldn't bear to imagine what would happen next.

"Erming, look at what's on the ground."

At this moment, Jiang Xiu pointed to the packages that had been scattered on the ground.

Inside the package were fresh mushrooms and a plucked white chicken...

This was exactly what Xiong Xiaoling fed Erming when they first met.

"I was so stupid, really." Erming murmured, his eyes glazed over as he stared at the fallen mushroom.

"Boom!"

Just then, a thick, dark cloud drifted over from the sky.

Soon, a torrential downpour began in the area. Erming shuddered in the rain. He wanted to rain on Xiong Xiaoling, but the cold raindrops passed right through him and mercilessly dripped onto Xiong Xiaoling.

Because this is a third-person perspective...

"Fake! Fake! These are all fake!"

Seeing Xiong Xiaoling shivering in the rain, Erming's eyes turned bloodshot, and he growled as he looked at Jiang Xiu beside him.

"You made all of this up, didn't you!"

“This was all recorded by the Yuanen family, that is, by Xiong Xiaoling herself. You may not believe it, but it’s true,” Jiang Xiu said softly.

Looking at Jiang Xiu beside him, and then at Xiong Xiaoling in the rain, Erming clutched his head and shook it frantically.

"No! I don't believe it! I don't believe it!"

"I can't tell! I really can't tell!"

But with the Yuanen family around, he already understood that Xiong Xiaoling was indeed pregnant with his child back then, and it was very likely that all of this was true!

At this moment, Xiong Xiaoling moved. She whispered as she picked up the things on the ground and ran towards a tree.

"This couldn't have been done by Atai. After all, he loves me so much, how could he destroy our home..."

"The cabin must have been blown down by the wind, that must be it... I'm carrying Atai's child, I absolutely cannot get sick..."

"Atai just went out on business. It hasn't been ten days yet. He'll be back on the tenth day..."

"When Atai comes back, we can rebuild our home together. It's okay...it's okay..."

Looking at the small, thin figure under the ancient tree, Erming felt even more pain in his eyes, because he knew very well that he would not be coming back.

He never even returned, in order to escape this place of sorrow.

"Jiang Xiu, let me in! Let me in! I don't want to watch anymore! I'd rather stay in this illusion forever!"

"Please help me, please help me, please..."

Erming could no longer bear it and roared furiously at Jiang Xiu. He didn't want to see Xiong Xiaoling's disappointed eyes, and he didn't want to see that figure trembling in the cold rain.

"Erming, I'm sorry, I can't help you either. Besides, this is all fake, it's an illusion, isn't it?"

Jiang Xiu said softly.

"No! It's true, it's true! Xiaoling still loves me!" Erming shook his head frantically.

"This world may be fake, but love is real!"

Jiang Xiu looked at Er Ming, a slow smile spreading across his face. He knew that Er Ming's mindset had begun to change.

Immediately, Jiang Xiu waved his hand lightly, and the illusion transformed once again.

After the rain stopped, Xiong Xiaoling began to tidy up the small wooden house, which had become ruins, with a determined look in her eyes.

"Atai will definitely come back. It hasn't even been ten days yet, he will definitely come back."

In the blink of an eye, another four days have passed. Xiong Xiaoling has already built a simple little nest out of wooden planks and even cooked a pot of warm chicken stew with mushrooms.

Xiong Xiaoling stayed in front of her little nest, constantly looking outside, waiting for someone to return.

But this was destined to be impossible; the pot of chicken stew with mushrooms was destined to gradually lose its warmth as the wood burned to ashes...

Time passed, and Xiong Xiaoling's belly grew bigger and bigger.

"Atai, it's been so many ten days already, why haven't you come back yet... It seems like our baby is about to be born..."

The illusion kept changing, and Xiong Xiaoling's voice kept reaching Erming's ears.

"Atai, my stomach hurts so much, I think I'm going into labor. Where are you? If I die, will I be able to see you again...?"

"Atai, I didn't die. Our child was born, a boy, and he looks just like you..."

“Atai, you come from the primeval forest, and meeting you is the greatest blessing of my life, so let this child take the surname Yuanen… um… let’s call him Yuanen Sitai…”

"Atai, please come back. Let's live a good life together as a family. I've finished building the wooden house little by little..."

"Atai, our children are growing up..."

"Atai, I'm sick, I'm bedridden and can't move. It feels like I'll never see you again..."

"You were so foolish back then. After that fire, you were all I had left in my world. So what if you're a spirit beast? You were all I had..."

The illusion slowly dissipated, finally settling on Xiong Xiaoling closing her eyes in melancholy.

Erming was completely stunned by this scene. It turned out that Xiaoling had been missing him all these days while he was away...

"I can't do anything, I can't do anything at all..."

Erming seemed to have his Dao heart shattered, staring blankly at Xiong Xiaoling on the bed.

When he tried to touch Xiong Xiaoling, his hand passed right through her face.

Because this is a third-person perspective...

Last time he could still feel Dong'er's warmth, but now he could only stare blankly at her.

But just then, Jiang Xiu's voice slowly rang in Er Ming's ears.

"Erming, if I could revive Xiong Xiaoling, would you be willing to follow me?"

These words struck Erming like a thunderclap, instantly filling his dazed eyes with excitement.

(End of this chapter)