Chapter 33 Everything that led to the destruction of this world

Following the instructions of the Crane Master, the three of them traveled through the night.

Qiu Chi: "So, the reason you dared to fight the Five-Star Demon was because you already saw someone on the mountain?"

Fang Nian: "What do you think?"

Qiu Chi: "I didn't expect you, a madman, to be so clever?"

Fang Nian: "I'm just crazy, not stupid. These are two completely different things."

The mountains that rise abruptly from the vast plain of Wangcheng give people a very abrupt feeling.

The lights lit in the mountains were just like the lights of countless homes in the city that Fang Nian remembered.

Even Fang Nian, in a state of no thought, could not quite distinguish between them.

However, in the eyes of a clear-headed person, those pillar-shaped buildings are ultimately different from real skyscrapers.

Arriving at the Pillar Mountain Tower where Crane Master said he was retrieving the Mysterious Presence, the three saw a gate ten feet high.

The door is shaped like a roaring skull.

Ren Qiushui stepped lightly through the skull gate.

Qiu Chi quickly caught up: "Sister, wait for me."

Fang Nian followed the two inside.

Ren Qiushui paused, but didn't turn around: "Fang Nian, now you can see the true nature of the Netherworld. After you've seen it, go back. The City of Delusion is not a place for you."

Fang Nian: "Go back? Baihua is after me."

Ren Qiushui: "Believe me, this place is a hundred times more dangerous than Baihua."

As she spoke, Ren Qiushui turned around.

The instant she turned around, a ghostly figure appeared beside Ren Qiushui, roaring as it pounced on her.

Then they were separated by a blue barrier.

Ren Qiushui: "In the night of Wangcheng, homeless people are attacked by all sorts of bizarre and fantastical things."

"These things are called delusional ghosts; they are monsters born from mistakes made using delusional methods."

"In Wangcheng, housing is very expensive."

"Like one of the rooms in this Pillar Mountain Tower, it needs a Mystic Gem every month."

As she spoke, Ren Qiushui raised her right hand, with a gem that shone with seven colors between her fingertips.

The next moment, the gem took to the air and flew towards the passageway.

A key flew over even faster.

Ren Qiushui picked up the key and opened a door next to her.

The houses inside were revealed.

Or rather, it was originally a cave carved out of the rock, but it was made to resemble a building.

Fang Nian observed the corridor and roughly understood.

Yellow talismans were pasted on the doors of inhabited houses, while red plaques were hung on unoccupied houses.

Ren Qiushui and Qiuchi walked into the newly opened door, took down the red plaque, and affixed the yellow talisman.

Ren Qiushui placed his hand on the door, about to close it, and said, "This is your first time in Wangcheng, and you don't yet have the aura of the Netherworld on you, so the Netherworld ghosts won't attack you on the first night, but tomorrow will be different."

Fang Nian listened attentively.

After exiting the state of no-thought, Ren Qiushui should still be able to remember most of what he told him.

"Fang Nian, I've said it before, our fate has run its course. It's better for you to stay on Witch Demon Mountain than to go deep into the Demon Sect. At least on Witch Demon Mountain, no one can kill you."

"Now that you have the protection of an elite disciple, living in seclusion in the Witch Demon Mountain is your best option."

Fang Nian saw Ren Qiushui about to close the door: "Fine, a ghost kills people... So if you shut me out, isn't that murdering your husband?"

As she spoke, Fang Nian laughed.

Ren Qiushui didn't want to say much on this topic.

As she closed the door, she said, "Now you can walk down this corridor and you'll see how they collect the supernatural."

"After you've finished watching, go back."

"Bang!"

The door closed.

Fang Nian looked in the direction Ren Qiushui had pointed before closing the door.

In any case, we must find out exactly what the mystical illusion is.

In Wangcheng, the netherworld is money. If you don't know where money comes from, how can you make the most of it? What's the point of talking about making money?

Fang Nian walked forward.

What is called a corridor is actually a cave dug out of the mountain.

It's just that it's dug into a square shape.

The rock face tells some ancient stories.

This is definitely not a cave that has been around for just a day or two, or even a year or two.

The cave ceiling was blackened by smoke, clearly the result of years of accumulated smoke.

This must be over a hundred years old.

From deep within the cave came a muffled voice: "Another one dead."

Fang Nian paused for a moment, then continued walking forward.

"Damn it, now that one person is dead, where am I supposed to find another to fill the gap?" The deep, menacing voice rang out again.

Fang Nian walked to the end of the corridor and turned left.

Ahead was a large, empty cave.

An ordinary passageway is only three meters wide and three meters high, but this large cave is more than several hundred square meters in size, and the top is more than ten meters high.

It's like a natural cave.

At this moment, many people stood together.

They all turned around when they heard the sound and looked at Fang Nian.

People like Fang Nian, whose limbs are completely normal and who have no trace of supernatural energy, are extremely rare here. It's obvious at a glance that he's a newcomer to the city.

The leader of the group's eyes lit up, and his nose twitched: "Such strong demonic power."

As he spoke, he took a few steps forward, walked to Fang Nian's side, and began to look her up and down before finally asking, "Are you interested in joining the mining team?"

Fang Nian: "A mining team? What do they do?"

As she spoke, Fang Nian also began to sized up the other person.

This man was a stocky, short fellow, less than 1.7 meters tall, with a light stubble beard. His features were not delicate; his face was thin, but his cheeks were rather large.

There's nothing particularly special about his features, but when combined, they give him a very strong and resolute look.

The burly man said, "The mining team, of course, is there to harvest the delusions."

Fang Nian's eyes lit up: "You're short-handed? Can I see how you mine before making a decision?"

The strong, muscular man said, "Sure, but if you want to come and watch, be careful not to lay a hand on me. You don't have any protective gear; if you do, you'll die."

"My name is Liu Fu, and I am the captain of this mining team. Our team is called the Yin Money Team."

Fang Nian: "Fang Nian."

Liu Fu hesitated for a moment, then said, "That sounds familiar... Never mind, let's go."

Liu Fu walked towards the passage on the other side of the cave, and the others quickly followed.

Fang Nian: "So, how exactly does delusion arise?"

As they walked forward, they saw that the passageway was no longer a square shape, but resembled an ordinary mine tunnel. Fang Nian continued to ask, "Why is this passageway different from the one outside?"

Liu Fu: "That's a residential area outside, a residential area where you have to pay a monthly rent fee to stay."

"This is the Kaishan area, where a large number of laborers dig through the mountains to build the Zhushan Tower."

Fang Nian frowned: "This Pillar Mountain Tower looks at least a hundred years old, right? And it's still under construction? That's incredibly slow... Could it be mortals or a one-star demon excavating it?"

Liu Fu: "Otherwise what?"

Fang Nian was taken aback: "A cultivator at the level of a five-star demon should be able to excavate an entire mountain like this into rooms in a few days, so why do we need mortals to do the excavation?"

The team members all burst out laughing when they heard this silly question.

One of them spoke up: "From outside? Then let me ask you, this plump, well-fed landlord can push a peasant three times over with one hand, so he should be able to cultivate the land of three peasants by himself, right? Why doesn't he farm the land himself?"

Fang Nian realized what was happening.

A five-star demon should be someone qualified to charge fees here, not someone who comes out to dig up mountains.

Liu Fu: "If no one dies, where does this superstition come from?"

Fang Nian: "Is there any connection between delusions and the dead?"

Liu Fu asked in surprise, "You didn't know?"

Fang Nian pondered: "Mingwang, wang means delusion, and ming means the afterlife... so mingwang is the delusion of the dead?"

Upon hearing this, some people nodded while others shook their heads.

Liu Fu: "The underworld is indeed the world after death, and it's not wrong to say that the delusions of the dead are the fantasies of the deceased. But to be precise, it should be the delusions of the deceased before death."

The corpses lay beside the road in front of the cave.

Liu Fu: "We've accumulated this much over time, we can start digging now."

As he spoke, he took out a bag of dull, transparent gemstones and distributed them to everyone. Then he explained to Fang Nian, "These are raw gemstones. We need to refine our delusions into water and pour them into the gemstones to form a 'Netherworld Delusion'."

As he spoke, he took out a seven-colored gemstone, which was none other than Mingwang.

With a raw stone in one hand and delusions in the other, Liu Fu said, "Although their wishes in life were just delusions, after death, these delusions can help people fulfill any wish. Isn't that amazing?"

As he spoke, Liu Fu raised the Netherworld Gem, his demonic power surging: "Break through the illusion!"

*Click*

The illusory gemstone shattered instantly.

Seven-colored light flowed out from it.

The dazzling light made Fang Nian somewhat intoxicated.

This is delusion, an ideal of a human being in life; how could it not be dazzling and radiant?

But when a person dies, ideals become mere fantasies.

But what can this delusion, combined with demonic nature, accomplish?

Liu Fu manipulated the seven-colored light to flow throughout his body: "There are three uses for the illusion."