Mo Chuan slowly opened his eyes, attempting to get up in a world that was spinning.
"This is... the Loulan Palace? I can... I'm back..." Mo Chuan sighed with relief. As he tried to rise, several items fell from his embrace, hitting the ground with a crisp metallic clang.
Mo Chuan peered into the darkness and was startled to find the bronze phoenix mirror, shattered into several pieces.
As if the sound had alerted something, the lamps on the walls suddenly lit up, illuminating the entire room.
Mo Chuan scanned his surroundings, a cold sweat breaking out. The room he was in was none other than the bridal chamber where he and Luo Ni had spent a blissful night in the illusion. Even most of the furnishings were the same, except that the bed had been replaced by a stone sarcophagus, surrounded by over a dozen decaying skeletons.
"It seems... not everyone can awaken from an illusion..." Mo Chuan wiped the sweat from his forehead, planning to find an exit.
Just then, a sound of shifting sand arose, and Mo Chuan immediately summoned his grappling hook, on guard.
Yellow sand slowly seeped from the stone brick floor, rising and coalescing to gradually form a human shape.
This figure made of yellow sand was none other than the Imperial Guard Captain Mo Chuan had ordered to help Luo Ni escape.
Strangely, this illusion was the only one Mo Chuan had ever awakened from with complete memory. After all, Mo Chuan could recall many details of this bridal chamber with perfect clarity.
Upon seeing Mo Chuan, the Imperial Guard Captain did not attack. On the contrary, he bowed to Mo Chuan, then carefully picked up the shattered pieces of the bronze phoenix mirror from the ground, presenting them to Mo Chuan in his palms.
Mo Chuan retracted his grappling hook, cautiously accepting the pieces of the bronze phoenix mirror. He then watched the Imperial Guard Captain, waiting to see what he intended to do next.
The Imperial Guard Captain pointed to the bronze phoenix mirror in Mo Chuan's hand, then to the stone sarcophagus, gesturing for Mo Chuan to place the mirror on it.
Mo Chuan was initially wary, but to his surprise, after completing these actions, the Imperial Guard Captain simply dissolved into loose sand and disappeared.
"In the sarcophagus... could it be her..." Mo Chuan's right eyelid twitched. He unconsciously walked forward and began placing the pieces of the bronze phoenix mirror onto the stone sarcophagus.
When Mo Chuan placed the last piece, the stone sarcophagus seemed to activate, and the bronze phoenix mirror slowly merged into it.
The entire bridal chamber began to tremble, and sand and stones continuously fell from the ceiling.
Mo Chuan transformed into the form of [Hell Walker·Divine Dragon Venerable] and observed the surrounding changes.
With a violent tremor, the entire Loulan Palace seemed to come alive. Countless snakes, rats, and venomous insects hidden in the darkness fled, and lamps lit up one by one, illuminating every level of the Loulan Palace.
Mo Chuan, at the epicenter of the tremors, clung tightly to the wall to avoid falling.
Just as the Loulan Palace appeared on the verge of collapse, a clear spring indeed seeped from the stone bricks beneath Mo Chuan's feet, quickly soaking his ankles.
Since Mo Chuan wore iron armor and was not afraid of drowning, he watched as the water level of the spring rose, eventually rapidly submerging the stone sarcophagus.
*Click.*
The lid of the stone sarcophagus loosened.
Golden patterns, resembling abstract murals, began to emit an unusual radiance as they were soaked by the spring water. After the person in the sarcophagus awakened, the spring water retreated back beneath the ground as quickly as it had emerged.
Mo Chuan quietly watched everything unfold. It was only when golden sunlight once again streamed through the windows, previously obscured by large rocks and yellow sand, that he suddenly realized hundreds of yellow sand Imperial Guards stood behind him.
These soldiers held spears and shields, their faces expressionless, yet their bearing conveyed a sense of solemnity and reverence.
Finally, the stone sarcophagus opened.
A golden-haired woman, clad in golden armor and a white gauze robe, slowly floated out from the coffin. The golden sand within the coffin gently supported her as if a pair of tender palms.
The woman ultimately hovered in mid-air, spreading her arms. The walls behind her reflected beams of golden sunlight, enveloping her in streaks of sacred light.
At this moment, all the yellow sand Imperial Guards knelt uniformly on the ground, their heads bowed, paying homage to the Empress of Loulan.
Mo Chuan narrowed his eyes, looking closely. The woman's face had the milky, delicate white skin of a newborn, but Mo Chuan did not see her familiar sapphire-blue eyes – those eyes that often showed defiance, petulance, and brimming tears.
Instead, she wore a cold, hawk-shaped golden mask.
The woman extended a hand, her slender fingers moving slightly. The shattered pieces of the bronze phoenix mirror appeared in her hand, and with a few wisps of gentle golden light, the mirror was reforged.
"You have made me wait a long time... my lord..."
The moment the woman spoke, she dropped a bombshell.
Mo Chuan looked around in surprise, finally confirming he was the only living person. He subtly whispered, "System, why has this illusion actually affected reality?"
"This system cannot explain it. Host, it is not impossible for you to consider this a connection from a past life to the present..."
"Shut up!"
Mo Chuan directly ended his unreliable conversation with the system and then tentatively asked, "Uh... are you mistaking me for someone else?"
The result was completely beyond Mo Chuan's expectation.
The woman visibly pouted. Even through the mask, Mo Chuan could imagine Luo Ni looking at him with wide, tearful eyes, then saying with a touch of wronged petulance, as if to a spoiled child:
"You... you don't want me anymore?"