Liu Hai shook his head fiercely after hearing Zhang Nu’s words. How could he possibly not be afraid in this situation? Snakes were his worst fear, and now there were an ocean of them surrounding him. It was already a miracle that he hadn’t completely collapsed from fear. He couldn’t just ignore it and pretend everything was fine. Every time he closed his eyes, the terrifying scene played over and over in his mind.
Seeing Liu Hai’s reaction, Zhang Nu understood just how terrified he was. If Liu Hai couldn’t confront this fear, they would both be trapped in this illusion forever. Worse still, they might die here once their spiritual energy was exhausted.
"Liu Hai, do you really want us to stay trapped here forever? If you can’t overcome this fear, we won’t be able to escape," Zhang Nu said, urging him.
Liu Hai understood the gravity of the situation, but understanding wasn’t enough. He simply couldn’t overcome the terror he was feeling.
"Zhang Nu, I beg you, please stop pushing me. I can’t face this, I just can’t pretend these snakes aren’t here. Maybe you should go on without me. I can’t overcome this fear," Liu Hai replied, his voice filled with helplessness.
It was clear that if Liu Hai could have overcome this challenge, he wouldn’t have said such things. Zhang Nu knew how much Liu Hai valued his life. Hearing him speak like this filled Zhang Nu with guilt. He blamed himself for not realizing this was a trap earlier and for not warning Liu Hai in time, leading them to this dangerous situation."Liu Hai, it’s alright. This is my fault for not realizing something was wrong sooner," Zhang Nu reassured. "Trust me. Close your eyes and don’t think about anything. Leave everything to me. When you open your eyes again, we’ll be back in the real world, and this terrifying scene will be gone."
Hearing Zhang Nu’s words, Liu Hai knew that his inability to overcome his fear had already caused Zhang Nu a lot of trouble. If he continued to resist, there would be no way for either of them to escape. While he could accept being stuck due to his own shortcomings, he couldn’t bear the thought of Zhang Nu being trapped as well because of him. Zhang Nu was loyal and would never abandon him.
"Zhang Nu, thank you... for not giving up on me," Liu Hai said, closing his eyes and placing all his trust in Zhang Nu, surrendering control of the situation entirely.
Zhang Nu felt a surge of warmth after hearing Liu Hai’s gratitude and seeing the trust he placed in him. Since Liu Hai believed in him so completely, he couldn’t afford to let him down. He was determined to lead them both out of this danger.
With that thought, Zhang Nu closed his own eyes and began chanting a calming incantation in his mind. Slowly, a yellow aura appeared around him, expanding outward. The aura began to clash with the swarm of snakes surrounding them, and soon enough, the yellow energy overpowered the snakes, vanquishing them completely.As Zhang Nu sensed what was happening, he opened his eyes. The sight before him was almost unbelievable. He and Liu Hai were still on the second level of the mountain, and standing right in front of them, preparing to attack, was none other than the Tree YaoGuai that had previously fled. The snakes they had seen in their dream were nothing more than the Tree YaoGuai’s branches.
"Liu Hai, wake up! We need to fight again," Zhang Nu urgently called out.
Liu Hai immediately opened his eyes without any hesitation. He had already taken Zhang Nu’s words to heart and trusted him completely. Upon seeing the Tree YaoGuai, Liu Hai felt both a wave of relief and disbelief. However, now that it was confirmed to be the same Tree YaoGuai, Liu Hai was eager to take his revenge.
"So, it was you, Tree YaoGuai, playing tricks on us, scaring me like that for so long!" Liu Hai growled. "You’ll pay for it now!"
That pent-up frustration from earlier? It had all been building up for this moment. Zhang Nu found the scene amusing---it suited Liu Hai’s bold, impulsive character perfectly.
The Tree YaoGuai, however, looked stunned. It hadn’t expected Zhang Nu and Liu Hai to break free from the illusion, especially considering how powerful the Illusion YaoGuai’s techniques were.