Survival at Sea: I Became Number One by Growing Mushrooms

Xu Jiawei finally felt scared. The face was actually that of the woman in the previous photo. Had she run out of the photo?

Xu Jiawei immediately prepared to attack. Just as she gathered her energy, she suddenly stopped moving as if she had thought of something. No, this was an illusion. The one who had been holding her was Si Yunming. Si Yunming had said that they would not let go of each other. This female ghost was very likely Si Yunming.

In other words, the Dark God created this illusion so that they would kill each other!

Xu Jiawei immediately came to her senses, and her consciousness cleared from the mental pollution. Now her main goal was to resolve the hallucinations, and the only thing she could rely on was the Heart of Destiny that she kept close to her skin.

The moment she sensed the Heart of Destiny, a powerful light enveloped her, accompanied by the sound of shattering lenses. At that moment, she also felt the warmth of the arm that had been gripping hers.

Xu Jiawei opened her eyes again and was surprised to find that she was standing at the entrance of the pollution source, without moving forward an inch, and in front of her was a huge, broken mirror.

Did this mirror transport me into an illusion?

Xu Jiawei took out the Heart of Destiny and found that its light had dimmed and the entire equipment looked very worn. It seemed that she was able to get out of the illusion thanks to the Heart of Destiny.

Si Yunming held her arm tightly, his brows furrowed.

His eyes remained closed, and he seemed to still be trapped in the illusion, not yet awakened.

Perhaps the Heart of Destiny's energy was insufficient, so it could only pull itself out. Xu Jiawei had already shattered the mirror, and the illusion's control over Si Yunming had weakened.

At this moment, Si Yunming's brows relaxed, his expression gradually eased, and he was about to wake up.

During this hallucination, Xu Jiawei was clearly aware that she was in a hallucination, so she remained conscious. Although there were times when her consciousness was blurred, the Heart of Destiny always pulled her back.

Si Yunming slowly opened his eyes. He quickly scanned his surroundings and was somewhat surprised to find himself standing at the entrance of the pollution source. What was going on?

Even the system was momentarily surprised. Hadn't they already entered the source of the pollution? Why were they still at the entrance?

It experienced a moment of confusion; had it just fallen into an illusion?!

Has the Dark God's power already affected it? The system immediately began fixing the bug; if it weren't for the Heart of Destiny, even it would have been fooled this time.

This system bug must be fixed; we must not give him any opportunity to exploit it.

[Ding! Congratulations on successfully escaping the illusion! You have received a Diamond Chest*1]

I didn't expect to get a reward for escaping the illusion. This illusion was really amazing, otherwise why would the system give a reward?

Before them still stood that pitch-black castle. Upon closer inspection, the architecture was exquisite, clearly demonstrating the great effort and care the builders had put into its construction.

Thinking of that illusion, Xu Jiawei couldn't help but sigh. It truly lived up to its reputation as a source of pollution with a near-death experience. She almost fell into that illusion just by looking at it. In other words, the two of them had been acting out a one-man show in front of that mirror for so long.

Si Yunming looked at their clasped hands and breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he hadn't let go.

"It seems we've been tricked by the God of Darkness," Xu Jiawei said.

Si Yunming nodded helplessly; they had almost failed at just one entrance.

Xu Jiawei thought to herself, "It seems the Dark God has gotten smarter again, knowing to create an illusion that renders them immobile. If it's an illusion like the previous source of pollution, Xu Jiawei might kill them all in the illusion again."

This time, the God of Darkness directly put the two of them into a deep sleep.

The God of Darkness has learned his lesson, but was it worth expending so much energy to kill her?

The two held on even tighter this time, moving the mirror aside to reveal the gate to the palace. The gate was incredibly grand, and Xu Jiawei couldn't help but marvel at how meticulous the Dark God was, even the gate had to be carved so exquisitely—it was simply insane.

Xu Jiawei felt even more disgusted with this person who was a stray dog ​​who cared about whether the palace's patterns were beautiful.

The two exchanged a glance, pushed open the door, and entered. Inside the palace hung a huge portrait, but because of the shadow of the photograph, Xu Jiawei always felt that the portrait was terrifying.

Fortunately, the portrait wasn't of the woman in the photo. It was of a person whose face was obscured, dressed in a magnificent black robe. Could this be the God of Darkness?

Xu Jiawei took a closer look but couldn't see anything special about the portrait, so she continued forward. After passing the portrait, she was greeted by a winding passage and a densely packed room, which made her feel dizzy and disoriented.

What exactly is the Dark God hiding here? Why is it so special? Xu Jiawei complained, she was getting more and more curious.

The two began to walk around the corridor, not missing any of the surrounding rooms. Most of these rooms were empty, with only a few containing items such as bookshelves, tables, and chairs.

As for the books on the bookshelf, Xu Jiawei flipped through them all to prevent any clues, and found that these poems were all praising how great the Dark God was.

After reading the book, Xu Jiawei felt her brain had been polluted. The book practically praised the God of Darkness as a saint. Did they think she was stupid?

The book's content was utterly brain-dead. Xu Jiawei only flipped through it briefly and felt like her brain had been injured. Look at the words used to praise the Dark God!

Noble, kind, willing to give everything for the world, silently protecting everyone in the world, loving the world, embodying all the good things in life.

These assessments are not exactly the same as those of the Dark God; they are completely unrelated and simply treat people like fools. Anyone who believes them is a fool.

Oh, it seems like all their followers have believed it, but Xu Jiawei only felt that her intelligence had been insulted.

She tossed the book aside in disgust, while Si Yunming frowned as he and Xu Jiawei searched for clues together.

She glanced at the title of the book Si Yunming was holding: The Miracles of the Dark God. Oh, it was obviously brainless and idiotic praise.

As expected, Si Yunming's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and he couldn't help but say, "This Dark God... is quite narcissistic, he's just making things up."

Even a composed person like Si Yunming couldn't help but complain, which shows just how brainless the book's content is.

Xu Jiawei could only glance at the titles of all the books. She skipped over those that were obviously mindless praises, since she knew without even looking that they contained no substance.

She only flips through the contents of books with unusual names, but the probability of encountering books full of idiotic praise is still quite high.