AITAMITB Chapter 123

For a few tens of seconds, Phyllis thought she was still dreaming.

But soon, she snapped out of it, breathing heavily and wearing a face full of lingering fear.

In the dream, she watched helplessly as she transformed into another person, her limbs and mouth out of her control, and her consciousness constantly fading. It was a bit terrifying. Phyllis dared not imagine what would have happened if she hadn’t woken up in time. Perhaps another consciousness would have truly replaced hers.

She feels gratitude towards Bai Jingru, who awakens her.

Even though Bai Jingru’s appearance in her dream is somewhat illogical, she still says, “Thank you for saving me. I’m Phyllis, from the Alliance of Gods.”

“Bai Jingru, just call me Bai.” Bai Jingru confidently extends her hand and helps Phyllis up from the ground.

As Phyllis wakes up, Arthur also opens his eyes, looking warily at the two individuals who clearly don’t belong to their team. He questions, “Who are you, and why are you here?”

“She is Zhao Xiaokui’s girlfriend. You know Zhao Xiaokui, right? She sensed that Zhao Xiaokui might be in trouble, so she rushed over from Huaxia to check on her,” Bai Jingru points to Shen Zhifei.

Shen Zhifei nods at the two. There are many similarities between Phyllis and Zhao Xiaokui’s abilities, and she can sense that what they’re saying is true. Phyllis’s expression softens. “You’re talking about Xiaokui. I know her. She should be in the inn now.”

Among the members of the Alliance of Gods, only Arthur and Phyllis have been awakened.

When the two open their eyes, their expressions are still hazy. Upon seeing Arthur, they promptly salute and report, “Reporting, Captain.”

Arthur’s face darkens like the bottom of a pot.

Although the others haven’t awakened yet, they can’t leave them lying outside like this.

Arthur and Phyllis decide to put them in the car and take them back to the inn to assess the situation.

They are still unaware of whether it’s only them trapped in the illusion or if everyone has fallen victim.

Nevertheless, it’s better than staying outside.

The two awakened members of the Alliance of Gods, even after receiving Arthur’s reprimand, are still disoriented, unable to distinguish between the illusion and reality. Arthur and Phyllis have no choice but to leave them in the car and go to move the other teammates who haven’t awakened.

Bai Jingru, with her enhanced physical abilities after awakening her extraordinary powers, assists Phyllis in lifting the members of the Alliance of Gods.

While lifting their teammates, Phyllis suddenly sniffed and said to Bai Jingru, “…What brand of perfume are you using? It smells really nice.”

Bai Jingru: “…”

She raised her hand to smell herself, only catching the scent of post-long-travel sweat.

“Is there something wrong with your nose? Besides, forget about not wearing any perfume, I haven’t showered for two days. How did you smell any fragrance? Is my body odor too strong?”

Phyllis couldn’t explain.

“But it really smells good…”

Phyllis also knew that saying such things sounded awkward.

But she couldn’t help but speak her true feelings.

In the places where the light couldn’t reach, her snow-white cheeks blushed slightly. For a moment, her emerald green eyes looked as deep as agate.

The flow of time in the illusion is evidently different from that in reality.

Just like in a dream, many people spent a long lifetime in their dreams, only to wake up and realize that it had only been one night.

In the joint convoy, some people had studied such phenomena and voiced their concerns.

Their time was tight, so tight that anomalies could happen at any moment.

“He’s not breathing!” At this moment, a black man suddenly exclaimed.

He reached his hand to his teammate’s neck, forcefully probing for a pulse, even bending down to press his ear against the chest. In the end, he had to admit that his teammate had indeed stopped breathing, and his heart had ceased beating.

“Eddie, Eddie! No, no—wake up, please wake up, I beg you, wake up.”

The vice-captain of the Night Walkers heard his lament and approached, patting the man’s shoulder, saying, “Get a rope, tie him up. Our captain mentioned that if someone dies in the illusion, there’s a high chance of being replaced by another entity. You wouldn’t want to face an attack from your comrades later, would you?”

Tears welled up in the eyes of the man who lost his companion. With trembling hands, he placed a suppressor on the lifeless body of his teammate, and using a special rope, securely bound him.

Someone solemnly stated, “The battle may have already begun.”

Only in this way would there be cases of people dying.

Eddie, now restrained, wasn’t the first to succumb; soon, a second, then a third followed.

They sequentially lost their breath, their heartbeats ceased, and teammates had to endure their grief, restraining them just like Eddie.

One of Eddie’s teammates couldn’t bear it and sat beside him. If Eddie showed any signs of transformation, he was ready to be the one to end Eddie’s life.

He shared the bond with Eddie to the person next to him, saying, “We grew up in an orphanage together. Eddie awakened as a supernormal earlier than me. At that time, I was still an ordinary person, but he never looked down on me. He always took care of me like a younger brother. He didn’t want me to come on this mission…”

As he spoke, the person next to him suddenly moved.

He instantly forgot the warning from the vice-captain, eagerly looking at the person who had revived. With surprise, he exclaimed, “Eddie!”

Eddie’s eyelashes trembled, opening his eyes.

His eyes were distinct in black and white, large and round, giving off an exceptionally sincere appearance.

He tried to move but realized he was restrained. A puzzled expression appeared on his face, “Evan, what’s happening to me?”

“Thank goodness, you finally woke up!” Evan exclaimed tearfully, reaching out to untie the ropes from “Eddie.”

At this moment, someone nearby noticed the scene, suddenly slapped him, and angrily exclaimed, “What are you doing? Have you forgotten what the person from the Huaxia team said?”

“He is Eddie, Eddie has awakened, we don’t need to restrain him!” Evan loudly defended Eddie.

Eddie, looking puzzled, asked, “What exactly happened? Why did you tie me up? I can’t feel any supernormal abilities… Evan, quickly release me; the suppressor is making me extremely uncomfortable.”

Onlookers cast skeptical glances at the man who spoke and asked, “Are you really Eddie?”

“Eddie” replied, “If it’s not me, then who else could it be?”

Evan, eager to untie him, was stopped by someone who said, “Let’s not rush; let’s wait until Xiakui comes out.”

Regarding Zhao Xiaokui’s words, this group of people was mostly skeptical. On one hand, they approached the supernatural world with considerable caution, being careful at every step. On the other hand, their closest teammate was the one who encountered the problem, and it was challenging for them to harm familiar faces when the other side naturally displayed affection.

After “Eddie” woke up, among those who had already passed away, new individuals woke up one after another.

No one took the initiative to act against these awakened individuals, including the vice-captain who reminded everyone of Zhao Xiaokui’s warning about the replacement’s identity.

It wasn’t until a pair of twin sisters, where the deceased sister woke up, calling out her sister’s name.

The busy sister turned to her and asked, “What did you call me?”

“Emily, these ropes are uncomfortable, and the suppressor is making me feel uneasy. Can you help me untie them?”

Emily walked over and crouched in front of her sister with a similar face.

As she examined the face that seemed like a mirror image of her own, she suddenly smiled and said, “Alice never calls me Emily.”

The “sister” lowered her head, only to see a gleaming dagger stab into her own heart.

She seemed unable to believe that her sister was so decisive, revealing a shocked and pained expression on her face, “Emily…”

Emily remained impassive, gripping the knife handle, even twisting it in a circle inside the “sister’s” heart.

Blood quickly gushed from the chest.

The expression of the “sister” changed from disbelief to stupefaction.

The light in her eyes gradually faded, and she finally fell into Emily’s arms, closing her eyes.

Emily held her sister, her expression blank. She remained motionless for several seconds before suddenly bursting into loud sobs.

“Alice—”

She loudly called out her sister’s name. Others were shaken by her decisiveness and felt the sorrow in her heartfelt cry.

Evan was stunned.

He pointed at the two sisters huddled together and exclaimed, “Emily, she’s your sister! How could you do this to her?”

“My sister is already dead,” Emily, with tear-streaked makeup, replied indifferently. Black eyeshadow ran down her eyes, creating two eerie curves. She tidied her sister’s hair and continued, “We are telepathic twins. When she passed away, I sensed it. The one waking up in this body is just a lost soul that took over my sister’s body.”

Evan looked at Eddie.

“Eddie” gazed in Emily’s direction, evidently concerned for her. He appeared sorrowful and said, “This relic is too dangerous, unexpectedly leading to such events.” Catching Evan’s gaze, he dryly chuckled and added, “Hey, buddy, you’re not suspecting me, are you? Want me to recite all the embarrassing things you did as a kid in front of everyone?”

Initially skeptical of him, Evan hesitated upon hearing this.

What if, he thought, what if his Eddie, while being replaced, struggled and woke up just in time?

He didn’t dare to act decisively like Emily, killing her own sister as she did.

He could only pin his hopes on Zhao Xiaokui, who was sitting crookedly on a chair not far away.

Hopefully, the miraculous Xiaokui could bring his Eddie back to him.

Just as he looked towards Zhao Xiaokui, the instruments continuously running tests in the room, hoping to break the illusion, suddenly emitted a sharp scream.

Everyone was puzzled, asking, “What’s happening? What’s going on?”

At that moment, the off-road vehicle carrying the members of the Alliance of Gods and Shen Zhifei was approaching the inn.

Seeing the additional lights not far away, before they could breathe a sigh of relief, Shen Zhifei suddenly shouted, “Stop!”

Bai Jingru, who was driving, didn’t hesitate to hit the brakes.

Simultaneously, an explosion echoed from the second floor of the inn, and several figures were thrown out from it.

---