V2: Chapter 38: Illusion: Miss Tentacle Isn't a Monster

At first, Laura was a little afraid to meet Liang Di's gaze. Whenever Liang Di looked at her, she would subconsciously turn her head away to avoid her eyes.

Liang Di was somewhat annoyed by this. "If you keep avoiding my gaze, I can't create an illusion... Besides, I haven't figured out this ability yet."

Laura adjusted her breathing, trying to appear less nervous. She made a decision, "Gladys, go behind me. Next time I turn around, you hold my head down so I can't turn and force me to look at Miss Liang Di."

Although Gladys still didn't understand what was happening, the blood cube in her mouth had already made her delirious. Like someone high, she bounced around and went to hold Laura's head down.

This time, Laura finally couldn't turn her head. Gladys was stronger than her and forcibly held her head down.

The two women stared at each other silently.

Liang Lin didn't dare look directly into Liang Di's eyes; instead, she focused on Laura's. If she noticed anything amiss, she would immediately pull Liang Di away. She wasn't sure if pulling her away would still work, but she wanted to try.

As a result, they stared at each other for a long time, but nothing happened. This time, Liang Di's pupils didn't even turn green; they remained a deep blue.

Liang Di scratched her hair in frustration. "Tsk, I can't control it either. If you force me to, I'll never be able to… In a relaxed state… it happens unconsciously, or…"

Liang Di looked at Liang Lin.

Liang Lin immediately looked away, her cheeks burning. She thought of those indescribable scenes again.

"It's okay, Miss Liang Di, try again."

Laura and Liang Di tried several times, but to no avail.

Until the last time.

Liang Lin noticed that Laura's eyes were gradually becoming hazy, and that familiar vortex appeared in her eyes. Liang Lin's scalp began to tingle; she couldn't bear to look at Liang Di.

Liang Lin initially thought they were about to succeed, but the vortex in Laura eyes suddenly disappeared, and Liang Di shifted slightly, sighing.

"Sigh... failed again."

I absolutely have no idea what to do! I really can't control or utilize this power.

"It's okay, if you fail, just keep trying."

After so many attempts, Laura actually relaxed, her mind wasn't so tense anymore, and her body felt limp as she leaned back in her chair.

They didn't know how many times they tried, until Liang Lin's stomach started growling, and Gladys was practically glowing with hunger, finally, Laura's body tensed up, and the vortex in her eyes gradually widened.

"Holy crap..."

This time, it seemed real.

Liang Lin exclaimed, unable to contain her excitement.

But soon, they realized something was wrong.

One second.

Two seconds.

Ten seconds!  

"Quick! Gladys! Pull those two apart!" Liang Lin casually tossed her pocket watch to the ground, stood up, and went to pull Liang Di away.

However, Gladys stood there motionless, refusing to move Laura.

Liang Lin was annoyed.

"You, is all you ever thinking about is food? I'm talking to you, didn't you hear me?"

But when she looked at Gladys, she noticed that her eyes had also become fixed, and there were swirling eddies in them. A blissful smile graced her face, and drool clung to her lips. It was obvious what she had seen.

"...Damn it!"

Liang Lin cursed. "You useless, incompetent woman!"

Liang Lin tried to pat Liang Di's shoulder to wake her up.

Just then, a flash of white light appeared before Liang Lin's eyes.

Bang!

Something exploded in the air, white feathers slowly falling, some landing on Liang Lin's head.

Liang Lin froze.

She saw it—she saw the angel wings Laura had described. The wings fluttered, protecting Gladys behind her.

What kind of angel wings were those? Those were demonic!

Countless eyes, densely packed together like frog eggs, gave her goosebumps. Before Liang Lin could even feel nauseous, she felt that Liang Di was now more likely to be in danger.

Looking at Liang Di, her expression had become blank, as if she were trapped in a hallucination.

At that moment, Laura suddenly awoke, her wings on her back vanishing abruptly. A wave of terror washed over her, her chest heaving.

"Just now, just now I think I was in a hallucination, that voice came back!" Just as Laura was about to continue, Liang Lin reached out and made a "pause" gesture.

"Stop!" She looked at Liang Di anxiously.

"Something's wrong, something's really wrong! You've already come out of the illusion, but Liang Di hasn't reacted at all. Look at her eyes! The vortex is still spinning!"

"She seems... to be suffering a backlash."

That's right, Liang Di, she's trapped in the illusion.

She felt like a monster.

No one wants to hear someone call them a monster, but she was always good-natured. Good-natured, yet hearing others call her a monster, a terrifying monster. Simple-minded, seemingly not very bright, always letting others bully her without fighting back or retaliating.

Her tender feelings couldn't withstand the slow, agonizing passage of time; they were all her heart. Weighing only a few pounds, even with the slow, agonizing torture, leaving her bloodied and battered, she always smiled, waiting for the day her light would return, waiting for that vow.

She always told herself, how could a monster feel sadness? Monsters don't have hearts, they don't have human emotions, they don't know pain.

Two prominent canine teeth were faintly visible. She turned, walking slowly forward against the light, her shadow was her only companion.

In those years of constant beatings and verbal abuse, only her faith and that promise sustained her through her arduous journey.

Storybooks said monsters were straw that had come to life. She thought it was true; straw embedded in one's chest has no heart, and a gust of wind would carry away its warmth. That's why it was so resolute and callous; any higher and it would scorch everything.

The calendar relentlessly wore itself down, light and rain coming and going in turn.

At dusk, she walked hand in hand with her beloved under the setting sun, and finally, she spoke.

"Hey, do you remember when you said you'd marry me when we were little?"

"Huh? Haha~ That was just a child's joke. How do you remember? I don't remember anything at all."

Her cheerful tone made no sense to anyone else, but she suddenly felt helpless, unsure what to do. She felt a mix of bitterness and anger, but she couldn't vent it.

She forced a smile and quietly patted the rapidly vibrating spot. Gently and slowly, as if to soothe it. But the external force could never reach that area; the pain still lingered, rising up her throat, tightening and suffocating her.

She almost frantically thought, monsters don't feel pain. They don't feel any pain. Monsters can't be without pain.

They have no heart, they don't feel pain.

But why does it hurt so much?

She smiled until she was exhausted, unable to walk.

My eyes is burning; it must be from the intense sunset, right?

She lied to herself. She secretly revealed the truth in her heart: So, even a monster like me, an outcast, feels pain.

This monster was willing to adapt to and conform to this world that didn't belong to her, this world filled with malice towards her, for the sake of her beloved. She would hide all her emotions flawlessly, as long as the person she loved was happy.

Her body slowly cooled, stiffened, like a lifeless straw frame.

"...What's wrong?"

It was Liang Lin's voice.

Liang Di stared ahead, the familiar face in the oil lamp light gradually blurring in her mind's eye.

"Nothing's wrong, what's different about me?" She smiled, revealing two canine teeth.

Whether it was her imagination or not, she thought she saw redness in those eyes.

She shook her head, "I don't know, it's just... you seem a little different."

Liang Di's smile widened, "It's just your imagination. What's different? You're overthinking it. Maybe, maybe there are difference, but they're all for our better survival in this world, aren't they? For us."

She turned to leave, but after two steps, the other called out to her.

Liang Lin frowned, annoyed, "Tsk, do you think I'm stupid?"

She turned sharply to look at her, her smile turning pathetic, "No, nothing."

"You treated me like a fool, not me. You always saw me as a fool, a monster who couldn't love, an alien who knew nothing. Monsters have no heart, they know nothing."

She felt a burning liquid about to burst forth.

She looked up at the bright moon, and was suddenly blinded. She closed his eyes; something that shouldn't be there slipped down her face.

Liang Lin hesitated for a moment, then asked softly, "Are you... crying?"

She shook her head. "No."

She pointed to the oil lamps disguised as moonlight.

"The moon is too bright, it's dazzling."

The moon was too bright. Was it?

.....

Yes, too bright.

So bright that for a moment, she forgot she was a monster. Just like Liang Lin when she was a child, it made her forget she was different from normal people.

"If it's really too dazzling, come closer to me. I'm standing in the shadows; there's no light here."

Liang Lin reached out her hand. "Without light, you won't feel the glare, nor any warmth.'"

Liang Lin was smiling, a smile that could captivate Liang Di.

"Liang Di, this is your world… You need to understand what you truly are, where you belong. Don't remain lost. Come back, come with us."

That voice had been bewitching her in her mind.

"In our world, humans are the smallest, most pathetic creatures. Although I don't know what your father was thinking, merging with a woman who couldn't produce a complete child, I must say, you are a magnificent defective product! Come, come here. Here, humans are the outcasts, the smallest ants, ants we can crush at will."

Liang Di looked at Liang Lin before her.

Finally, she smiled with relief.

"Thank you, thank you for saying those words to me just now. Thank you."  

Liang Lin was taken aback, thinking that Liang Di had decided to go with her. Her face beamed with undisguised joy as she waved repeatedly at Liang Di, "Come on, child, come on. If you come, I'll take you away, take you our paradise."

Liang Di stood still, smiling, and shook her head.

"The 'thank you' I meant was thank you for what you said earlier. It made me realize clearly that you are not Liang Lin. My Liang Lin would never have said those things, much less have stood in the shadows, letting me come over, letting me merge into the shadows with her."

Mentioning Liang Lin, Liang Di's face softened.

"My Liang Lin has always stood in the sunlight, standing in the sunlight, waving to me, hoping I would become better and better."

"I cannot change the world, so I can only change myself."

Though these words were tinged with helplessness, Liang Di still smiled, a sorrowful smile, but her heart had become resolute once more.

"Although I am a monster, I am also a human being."

"If it means turning me into a completely cold monster, then forget it."

"I still want to hear Liang Lin's proud words, and that subtle, unspoken care. I still want to feel Octaville's concern and guilt towards me. I still want to feel Hilary's wavering feelings, that despite some resentment, she was still willing to give me another chance."

"Family, love, friendship, and even the simplest kindness between strangers. These human emotions are things you monsters can't feel, aren't they?"

As she said this, Liang Di seemed to have found peace.

She turned away completely, deciding to turn her back on the monster world.

"Sorry, I'm not one of you. Goodbye."  

Behind her, the monster roared in defiance, but Liang Di was overjoyed. She felt she was the bravest and most resolute person at that moment, a true human being who had learned human emotions.

"Liang Di..."

"Liang Di..."

"Liang Di..."

A voice kept calling her from beside her ear, a voice so familiar.

"Sister Liang Lin?"

But, without her noticing, Liang Di's world had turned pitch black. She raised her hand, but couldn't even see her own fingers.

"Liang Di!"

"Liang Di!!"

The voice beside her continued, calling her relentlessly, trying to pull her out of this dark world.

Liang Di frantically waved her hands, knowing she was trapped in an illusion, and she wanted to wake up.

The voice persisted, calling her relentlessly, even becoming somewhat hoarse. Liang Di felt her body being shaken violently.

It seemed, it seemed...

Light seemed to reappear before her eyes.

What was that?

A white light swept over her.

"LIANG DI!"  "

The call was deafening.

When Liang Di opened her eyes again, she saw Liang Lin, her face filled with anxiety and beads of sweat on her forehead. Liang Lin was gripping her shoulders tightly, shaking her frantically.

Seeing Liang Di slowly open her eyes, Liang Lin finally breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to Laura, who was clumsily drawing a teleportation array on the ground, and said, "It's alright, you can take your time drawing now. Liang Di is awake. It seems like nothing's wrong."

Liang Di stared blankly at Liang Lin.

"Were you the one calling me the whole time?"

Liang Lin turned her head back, rolled her eyes, and said irritably, "Isn't that obvious? If I didn't call, who else would have? I've been calling for ages, and you didn't say a word. You scared me to death!"

Her voice was hoarse as she spoke, clearly from shouting too loudly.

Liang Di suddenly smiled, a particularly sweet smile, like a budding flower.

"Sister Liang Lin, you still care about me."

Huh?

This sudden, ambiguous remark left Liang Lin, who had just relaxed, completely bewildered, frozen in place.

"What did you just say?"

"I said, 'Sister Liang Lin, you still care about me.'"

Liang Di laughed for a while, then burst into tears, tears falling onto her hands and Liang Lin's arm.

Initially, Liang Lin wanted to curse at the teasing remark. But, the moment she opened her mouth, seeing Liang Di's tearful eyes, the words she was about to say stuck in her throat and she swallowed them back.

"You…"

Liang Lin couldn't bear to see girls cry. She became flustered. Her hand, which had been on Liang Di's shoulder, now hesitated, unsure whether to keep it or remove it. She wanted to use her sleeve to wipe away Liang Di's tears, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Liang Di didn't give her much time to hesitate. Sitting in the chair, Liang Di suddenly hugged Liang Lin tightly, burying her face in her chest and crying as if she had suffered a great injustice.

This time, Liang Lin didn't push her away.

She thought that this girl must have encountered something terrible in the illusion, which was why she was crying like this.

Perhaps she had seen the painful experiences she had suffered during the years she was treated like a monster?

Thinking again of the suffering Liang Di had endured, Liang Lin's heart ached. Sure enough, she still felt sorry for Liang Di.

A pair of hands slowly rested on the back of Liang Di's head, gently patting it, seemingly to comfort her.

Liang Di's crying gradually subsided, finally returning to calm.

However, the two remained in this position for half a minute. Liang Lin didn't dare remove her hands; she was afraid that if she did, the girl in her arms would start crying again.

Just as the atmosphere was about to become awkward, Liang Di voluntarily pulled away from her embrace.

Liang Lin breathed a sigh of relief and looked down, just in time to see Liang Di's face streaked with tears, looking like a pitiful little kitten, so endearing. Her heart inexplicably softened completely.

That's right, Liang Lin is a total softie, sweet girl type.

"Sister Liang Lin...you know what? I saw you there, but I recognized you at a glance, that wasn't you!"

Liang Di seemed to be asking for praise, looking at Liang Lin expectantly, hoping to hear a few words of compliment from her.