Wen Wen looked at Tao Qingqing, tears welling up in her eyes, and felt a strange surge of satisfaction. The way she closed her eyes and cried out when her head was tapped was quite cute. It would be a shame not to tease her a little more.
So Wen Wen prepared to find another excuse to tap her a few more times. However, before he could act, he turned his head to look behind him.
"It seems something is chasing us."
A wave of heat washed over him as a giant, fire-faced phantom lunged at Wen Wen. It was the same candlelight ghost face that had nearly injured Tao Qingqing earlier.
In this illusory town, one couldn't gauge strength by sensing auras. However, Wen Wen had observed the creature before and knew it wasn't any special monster, but merely something constructed from illusions.
To Wen Wen, this candlelight ghost face posed no threat. He took out his Illusory Colorful Smoke Mouthpiece, placed it in his mouth, and exhaled towards the ghost face, forming a massive, red, smoky ghost face. It roared at the candlelight ghost face, startling it.
Taking advantage of its momentary daze, Wen Wen dashed beneath the ghost face and began to spin violently, forming a dazzling pink tornado.
"Seven Shark Combat Art: Shark Tornado!"
The strong wind pressure plastered the candlelight ghost face's face, and before it could attack, it was swept into the tornado, its fearful cries extinguishing completely.
After the candlelight ghost face disappeared, Wen Wen stopped spinning and, before he could catch his breath, noticed the air spontaneously igniting. The flames gathered again into a smaller candlelight ghost face, which grew larger and larger.
"This thing seems to be immortal, and it gets bigger the more it's attacked," Tao Qingqing warned Wen Wen.
Wen Wen shook his head and said, "Except for that guy, Ah Wei, I haven't encountered any other immortal beings. This move didn't kill it, but it means I haven't found its weakness."
With that, Wen Wen leaped to higher ground, found his direction, and flew straight towards it. The candlelight ghost face also clawed and thrashed, chasing after Wen Wen.
After flying for only a few seconds, Wen Wen landed on a pile of ruins, the site where Tao Qingqing had battled the Abomination Demon. Wen Wen unleashed countless black chains from his hands, instantly clearing away all the rubble and entering the cellar where Tao Qingqing had discovered the ancient book.
Inside the cellar, a single red candle was burning quietly.
The candlelight ghost face, much slower than Wen Wen, only now reached the outside of the cellar. Seeing Wen Wen's actions, it let out a ferocious roar, seemingly wanting to tear Wen Wen apart.
Wen Wen smiled and, extending two fingers, extinguished the candle's flame.
As the flame died out, the menacing face of the candlelight ghost face revealed an expression of fear. Its body shrank rapidly, finally disappearing amidst a mournful howl.
Before entering this illusory town, Mo Yadi had given Wen Wen many important instructions, one of which was how to deal with the illusions within the town.
Pure illusions require no logic whatsoever, but illusions like the illusory town, which blend reality and falsehood, must adhere to certain basic logical principles. For instance, flames cannot burn out of thin air.
"Now, the next step is to find that bastard impersonating me. In any case, I can't let him have an easier time than the last guy who impersonated me."
Tian Town wasn't large, but without the ability to sense auras, finding someone wasn't simple. Wen Wen could only have Tao Qingqing send out her little bats to monitor the entire town, and they would rush to any location where an anomaly was detected. The two of them waited in the town center.
After a while, the same children Tao Qingqing had encountered earlier came running and skipping over.
Wen Wen could clearly see that the little boy running at the front had his eye sockets pierced, yet he still wore a smile. This appearance was incredibly eerie.
Perhaps because this little boy was a repeat offender, or perhaps just because the illusion was mimicking something he did in life, he charged towards Tao Qingqing again, attempting to snatch something.
Tao Qingqing tried to dodge, but found that Wen Wen had already stepped in front of her, kicking the little boy flying.
"No need to indulge brats who try to take advantage. If they don't beat me, I'll back you up. When I was monitoring you, I was already very displeased with this guy," Wen Wen said, feeling refreshed after the kick.
Tao Qingqing smiled. This kick perfectly highlighted the difference between the real and fake Wen Wen.
Then Wen Wen said to Tao Qingqing, "Speaking of which, that imposter looked so arrogant, acting all high and mighty, picking his nose occasionally, and swearing at people. He was a complete idiot. How could you have been fooled by him for so long?"
Tao Qingqing blinked, unsure how to answer. Telling the truth would definitely lead to punishment.
"Murder! Murder! Zhao Xiaolei was kicked to death by a pervert in women's clothes! Wah, Mommy..."
A shout rang out. The little boy's companions, who had been scared into standing aside, suddenly burst into tears, running and screaming.
Wen Wen turned his head and saw that the little boy he had kicked away was rapidly decaying. His eyes had only been pierced before, but now they were completely unrecognizable.
He knew the force of his kick. Although it seemed exaggerated, it wasn't enough to turn a corpse into this state.
Furthermore, judging by the reactions of the other children, the decay hadn't happened immediately after Wen Wen's kick, but rather some time later.
As Wen Wen's thoughts paused, the entire town suddenly changed. The sky turned overcast, and the soil revealed a hint of dark red. The eerie scenes that Tao Qingqing had occasionally sensed now became commonplace throughout the town.
The peaceful town suddenly became extremely chaotic, filled with screams and cries. Fear became the town's sole emotion.
Although people had died occasionally before, those deceased continued to live with the townspeople, so they didn't notice anything unusual. But suddenly, dear friends and relatives who had seemed normal just moments ago turned into corpses that looked as if they had been dead for a very long time, causing the townspeople's emotions to collapse.
Wen Wen floated in mid-air, looking down at the town, a sense of urgency in his eyes. If he couldn't find the Abomination Demon quickly, who knew what this town would become.
Wen Wen was skilled at slaying monsters, but he lacked the ability to calm the panicked emotions of the masses. Trying to do so might only cause greater panic.
The screams continued for a while before the townspeople gradually calmed down. The cessation of screams was replaced by quiet sobs.
Although the corpses were terrifying and difficult for them to accept, and the sense of dread still lingered, they were, after all, inanimate bodies that couldn't cause too much panic.
But just as the townspeople began to feel a bit relieved, the corpses lying on the ground began to move again!