The Thorne of Destiny-Chapter 87: Lies or Truth?

When the group saw that the mist beast had finally dissipated. They all collapsed from exhaustion. Even Julian could be seen on one knee, supporting himself with his sword.

Unlike the previous martial skills he had used, the Gale Edge was a top-grade, Gold rank martial skill. The amount of Qi he needed to use was enormous.

He was only able to use it once, which was why he wasn’t able to contribute to the subsequent attacks. Of course, the damage dealt from such a martial skill was no joke.

If he didn’t use that skill, the mist beast would have most likely picked them off one by one. When everyone was able to catch their breath, the remaining three members of the group went to check on their fallen members.

The one-armed man, who was the first one to face the mist beast, had already stopped breathing. His group members could see that he was already dead.

However, when they went to check on the other man, they found him struggling to breathe, in slow, raspy breaths. His chest was already caved in, covered in blood.

They could see some bones poking out from his chest. He was barely conscious, only able to force himself to breathe, however painful it may be.

From his condition, it would take at least a Rank 4 healing pill to save his life. None of his group members could afford such a pill.

The only one among them with any hope of having such a pill was the one that brought them here. The three remaining members turned their heads simultaneously towards Julain’s direction.

"Leave him, he’s going to die anyway. Just grab their storage rings. There should still be some useful stuff inside."

Julian stated after glancing at the condition of the man on the ground. Even if he had such a precious pill, he wouldn’t use it on someone other than himself.

"But Senior brother, he-" one of the remaining three wanted to advocate for the man on the ground, but he was cut off when he felt Julian’s intense glare on him.

"It is his honour to die for my cause." Julian’s words had a tone of finality, silencing any further opinions.

One of them reluctantly bent down and took the ring of the still-breathing man, while the other went to do the same for the one-armed man. Luckily, his storage ring wasn’t on the arm that he lost.

Both rings were presented to Julian, who took everything he wanted from both rings. Both storage rings were of the bronze grade, so there wasn’t much to take from both of them.

He casually tossed both rings back to the two who presented them to him, as if he were giving them a reward. The two men could only bow while accepting the rings as a sign of gratitude.

"Let’s go," Julian said casually, after he had gotten enough rest and restored his Qi using some pills.

After they defeated the mist beast, a circular formation lit up on the opposite wall from the direction they came in from. The wall then parted, revealing the exit from this room.

The path shown to them resembled that of the maze outside, making them relieved that they weren’t entering any other special room.

They weren’t paying attention, but they had been in this maze for at least a full day now. Though they couldn’t tell, due to the sky never changing. It had the same cloudy look that it had ever since they entered this mystic realm.

They left the room, leaving behind two of their companions, with one still barely alive. Well, not for long.

Luckily for them, there wasn’t any danger on their way, and they were able to gain a lot of ground. If one were to check from above, they would see that they had traveled three-quarters of the entire maze.

It wouldn’t be long before they would be able to complete it and head into the castle-looking building they had seen when they first entered the mystic realm.

******

Meanwhile, in another section of the maze, Adrian was facing his own dilemma. His mind was facing a precarious test, one that could cause it to collapse and turn him into a vegetable if something were to go wrong.

"Since when have I been trapped in an illusion?" Adrian muttered, his breath becoming quickened. In front of him was his father, still sitting down, still with a smile on his face.

But now things were different. Adrian could feel that everything around him was fake. Nothing was real.

He thought back to when it all began. When everything started. After racking his brain, a memory he seemed to have forgotten finally resurfaced.

He remembered that time when he came back from his training in the Misty Mountain. That familiar dread and panic washed over him once again. He turned abruptly towards his ’father’ and asked.

"Who are you, and where is my father?" His tone was rather calm, considering the situation he was in. He knew he couldn’t defeat someone of his father’s calibre, even if it was a fake.

"Adrian, it seems you have been stressed too much these days, making you unwell. I’ll call for a physician for you." His ’father’ answered him.

"I know you’re not my father. It should have happened when-" Adrian’s voice trailed off as he finally remembered something important.

The memory of when he received the pendant while he was in the Misty Mountain flooded his mind. He remembered the message he received with it that made him want to come home immediately.

He remembered the journey back and how he kept feeling anxious for no reason. He remembered the dread he felt when he entered Thorne City.

However, from that point, his memory seemed to have become jumbled. From that point on, everything went smoothly, nothing was wrong with his family, and everyone was alright.

But he could instinctively feel that this was not right. His feeling of dread and anxiety originated from somewhere and didn’t just evaporate into the air.

He thought over it again and again, but still couldn’t come to a conclusion. He was even beginning to think he was unwell, like his father had said, and wanted to retire to his room to rest.

Then something flashed in his mind, and he suddenly remembered something.

’Everything started with that pendant.’ He thought to himself as his hand instinctively went to his neck.

As soon as he gripped the pendant around his neck, a wave of torrential memories flooded his mind.

Memories of his family dead, memories of his home being destroyed, memories of being chased by demonic cultivators.

Everything flooded into his mind, threatening to overload it with information. The fog in his mind was finally lifted when he remembered everything.

Suddenly, the whole area around them started to shake. cracking sounds could be heard as if a mirror was shattering.

Except, it wasn’t a mirror that was shattering, it was the world around them.

The false world trembled like glass on the verge of collapse. Long, jagged cracks split across the air itself, running from the ceiling to the ground in chaotic lines. The bookshelves behind his ’father’ began to warp and bend, their contents turning to ash and drifting into the air like snow.

Tears had already started flowing out of Adrian’s eyes as he collapsed to his knees after he realised the full truth of his situation. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

"You could have lived peacefully," his ’father’ said, not even noticing all the destruction around them.

Adrian staggered to his feet, using the already disintegrating wall to steady himself. His mind was finally clear.

"I’d rather face the truth in agony... than live in comfort under a lie."

His ’father’ smiled this time more genuinely than the last.

His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but unfortunately, he was out of time. The sky collapsed, sending everything into oblivion.

Adrian ran towards the door, as if he were trying to escape. But that wasn’t what was happening. In truth, he just wanted to see his family one last time, even if it was all fake; spending this period of time with them still made him happy.

He wanted to say goodbye, but it was too late. Before he even reached the door,

A blinding light burst forth.

And then...

Nothing.

No room. No books. No scent of incense.

Just cold stone beneath his knees and the feeling of damp air brushing his skin.

He opened his eyes.

He was no longer in the manor.

No longer in his home.

He was kneeling at the center of a corridor in a maze, filled with an unknown gas.

Vast formation circles were carved into the walls of the corridor. The symbols around him glowed faintly, and he saw what looked like thousands of thin threads, like spider silk, receding into the formation, snapping one by one.

He was... alone.