Free Web NovelChapter 79: Chapter 79: Not a Dream Illusion
"Won’t he hold a grudge over this?" Hua was stunned; he thought humans were complicated creatures, very prone to grudges.
"Other people might, but not Dad." Tuantuan grinned.
She admitted the humans she’d met were all complicated, but Jiang Che was different; Jiang Che was so much more pure than any of them.
Hua admitted his mistake, and none of the evil spirits minded.
Besides, Hua had given precious recovery materials. Now that they were all one family, as long as you admit your mistakes in time, it’s not a big deal.
Hua didn’t dare look at the screen, because in the scene, the moment Xiong Jie stepped out, the Illusion Technique attached to him vanished.
In just a split second, Xiong Jie’s miserable screams echoed throughout Red Pearl Mental Hospital.
His body was heavily corroded, and he collapsed to the floor instantly, in unbearable pain.
Hua scratched his head in embarrassment. "It really is pretty serious, but I gave him Life Essence—he’ll recover instantly if he takes it now."
Tuantuan anxiously wanted to establish contact with Jiang Che, but Ding Ning stopped her.
"When he encounters danger he has to learn how to handle it himself, figure out the situation, and most importantly, use the materials and artifacts he already has." They can’t remind Jiang Che all the time, can’t be by his side every moment.
It happens to not be a do-or-die crisis right now, and neither is he in deadly peril.
It’s just that his body being corroded is causing some pain; if he never gets good treatment, then he might die.
But, right now it’s not truly dangerous yet.
Tuantuan nodded, restraining her urge to reach out to Jiang Che.
Jiang Che returned to reality a step ahead of Xiong Jie. The moment he crossed back, the Illusion Technique was lifted from him.
The Illusion Technique and spells like it have a distance limit between caster and target; the space between Dungeon and Human Realm is more than enough to break that limit.
As he landed back in reality, Jiang Che saw the pitted, uneven skin on his arms; some places had been corroded all the way to the bone, the white bones dehydrated and turned black.
The corrosion kept spreading, devouring the healthy skin around it, pain surging straight to his core.
He looked at the empty Red Pearl Mental Hospital. Now that he was back again, the place just wasn’t as lively as before.
The noisy patients from before were gone, the vortex in the sky had vanished, and the rowdy wealthy folks next door had gone silent.
This world felt deserted, like there was no one left but him, and Xiong Jie wasn’t by his side either.
Jiang Che checked the spiritual link between himself and Tuantuan, and it was still there—he could initiate contact at any time.
What scared him most, just now, was that everything that happened might’ve just been a dream.
He was afraid he’d end up all alone again, just like before.
Jiang Che’s thoughts started to sink; in his mind there was a family portrait, once full of chaotic black shadows, but now all the people were sharp and clear.
The backdrop was still the Blood Slaughter household—bloodstains on the floor, weapons hanging on walls, rusted, blood-caked knives laid out on the table...
It all looked strange and horrific, but Jiang Che thought, it was very warm.
This is what home looks like to him.
From behind the counter, voices drifted over. Jiang Che wanted to walk over, but the minute he took a couple steps, pain shot up from his soles straight to his heart.
The pain in his body worsened, too.
This wasn’t ordinary stomach acid—wouldn’t be easy to clear.
Looking at his own condition, Jiang Che realized immediately: what he’d gone through before seeing his wife wasn’t an illusion, it was real.
He was glad his wife hadn’t seen him in such a wounded state.
Glad he hadn’t made his family worry.
In just a few seconds, he decided: if he didn’t treat these wounds, his life would soon be at risk.
He remembered the three Life Essence pills Hua gave him, and swallowed one without hesitation.
As expected, the instant it touched his mouth, that dried-up stream spread through his whole body from his lips; the corroded bones began to whiten and repair.
The holes in his flesh visibly filled with fresh, pink new tissue.
It took less than three minutes for his body to mend, from swallowing that purple Life Essence.
The pain from before vanished like a dream; hearing voices from behind the counter, Jiang Che hurried over—he wanted to thank the nurse who’d let him into the Dungeon to find his family. Without her, he probably wouldn’t have found them at all.
But as he got closer, he discovered that the nurse was already gone; in front of her, the tablet was still playing tutorial videos on loop.
Jiang Che felt dazed—since he came back, he hadn’t seen a single person.
He was still zoned out when he heard Xiong Jie’s howl from not far away.
Excited, he rushed toward the direction; getting near, he saw Xiong Jie collapsed in pain, constantly groaning.
Ding Ning watched from Xiong Jie’s perspective and saw Jiang Che walk over, unharmed.
Her lips lifted unconsciously; this was exactly what she wanted Jiang Che to learn—only by using what you have does it have any real value.
At all times, items and artifacts, no matter how precious, always come second.
Life is the most important thing.
Xiong Jie lay sprawled on the floor, gazing at Jiang Che as his body twitched uncontrollably.
"Young master, call an ambulance, call an ambulance!" Xiong Jie fumbled for the phone by his side—he hadn’t taken it with him when he left.
Almost no one brings their phones into the Dungeon.
There’s no cell tower or signal inside, so bringing a phone is useless.
Even though it’s charged and you can do all kinds of things, humans share a common belief: technology is their most valuable asset. You can’t take devices like phones into the Dungeon, can’t let evil spirits learn about humans through these things.
The moment he got out, he felt his phone in his pocket.
He threw the phone to Jiang Che; that single move used up all his strength.
"Mama, Daddy is so smart!" Tuantuan’s eyes sparkled as she looked at him, perfectly unharmed.
"Mm."
Jiang Che walked quickly over to Xiong Jie’s side; he remembered Xiong Jie’s Life Essence was in his pocket.
He reached in and found it immediately. "Quick, take this—take it and you’ll be fine."
"No, no..." Xiong Jie shook his head desperately. "It’s just a little scratch, I’ll call an ambulance and it’ll be fine."
He gave Jiang Che a pained grin; Jiang Che had the exact same wounds as him.
But now, those holes corroded by stomach acid were already healed, new skin shining with a fresh pinkness—a clear sign of new life.
"I can’t take that. I’ll go to the hospital, this little wound is no big deal; I want to save the life-preserving stuff." He wasn’t like Jiang Che; he couldn’t bear to use it. He’d survived; now he wanted to test human medicine. Unless he absolutely had to, he wouldn’t eat it.
