Chapter 406: Chen Ling's Confusion

“A-Yan…”

Chen Ling quickly spoke, “Is that really you? Are you truly alive?!”

On the other side of the reflection, Chen Yan fell silent.

After a moment, he replied:“As long as you believe I'm alive, then I am.”

“Where are you?!”

“I am with you.”

As soon as he spoke, the churning mirror fragments on the river surface began to sink continuously towards the bottom. Dense ripples, like those in rain-filled puddles, started disturbing the water between the two figures.

Chen Yan's figure instantly blurred in Chen Ling's vision. He gasped, reaching out to touch the water...

The next moment, the water's surface suddenly grew still.

The water was perfectly motionless, not flowing in the slightest, like a smooth mirror reflecting Chen Ling's image.

However, the "Chen Ling" in the reflection wasn't wearing the large red opera robe; instead, he wore a thick cotton coat. The two figures met each other's gaze through the mirrored surface.

“It's you…” Chen Ling's gaze was complex.

“It is,” the Chen Ling in the cotton coat spoke calmly. “I shouldn't be here... That mirror separated us.”

“What do you mean?”

“I am you, and you are me. From the moment you arrived, we became one.”

Chen Ling was silent for a moment.“I thought you'd resent me for taking what should have been yours.”

“If it weren't for you, I would be dead, and so would A-Yan... You extended his life and carried my memories. Why would I blame you?”

“If we are one, then why are you here?”

“Because you are lost,” the Chen Ling in the cotton coat said. “Your confusion is so profound that even the mirror couldn't fully resolve it. Therefore, it could only split our memories, allowing us to engage in this self-dialogue here.”

“...Self-dialogue?”

“Precisely. As I said, I am you, and you are me... We simply represent different memories. Our conversation is, in essence, your inner monologue.”

Chen Ling looked at his reflection, then recalled the moment earlier in front of the mirror when he seemed to split into three.

“I think I understand our connection now...”

Chen Ling was never just Chen Ling. He was Chen Yan, he was Chen Ling from District Three, and he was also the transmigration Chen Ling... One body, two sets of memories, had shaped the current "Red Heart 6," filled with contradictions and confusion.

“But I still don't understand.” Chen Ling's brows furrowed. “Everyone says I'm full of confusion, but where does it originate?”

Since the True Self Mirror had revealed the relationship between the three of them, his confusion should have vanished. Yet, why did he end up shattering the mirror himself?

In the reflection, the Chen Ling in the cotton coat slowly shook his head.“Your confusion isn't about us... it's about yourself.”

“Myself?!”

Chen Ling couldn't grasp his meaning. Although they were fundamentally one, the True Self Mirror had completely separated their memories into distinct entities. In other words, Chen Ling was now speaking with a version of himself from his subconscious...

He was waiting for himself to provide an answer.

“Transmigrator Chen Ling.” The Chen Ling in the cotton coat slightly narrowed his eyes, his pupils, shimmering with purple light, seemed to pierce through Chen Ling entirely.“Are you truly a transmigrator? Do you actually believe in the concept of transmigration? Who... exactly are you?”

The instant those last words echoed, Chen Ling felt a lightning bolt explode in his ear. The scene before his eyes shattered piece by piece, and the Chen Ling in the cotton coat vanished amidst the rippling reflection.

Chen Ling plunged endlessly downward through the abyss of darkness, like a corpse falling into a void. His pupils constricted to pinpricks!

Transmigration... A transmigrator...

Chen Ling finally understood the origin of the boundless confusion deep within his subconscious.

Prior to this, Chen Ling frequently questioned his own identity. He had assumed this self-doubt stemmed from whether he was "Chen Ling" or "Chen Yan," but now it was clear that this questioning actually originated from his subconscious "self."

After being crushed to death by a chandelier, did his consciousness suddenly travel hundreds of years through time to inhabit the body of a boy with the same name?

And this boy happened to have a brother with supreme talent in opera who died alongside him, giving him the chance to become "Chen Ling," resulting in a "three-in-one" scenario with a probability of less than one in a billion?

A moment's thought revealed the anomaly; this didn't resemble a "coincidence" at all. It felt more like a meticulously orchestrated "game."

In other words, his supposed "transmigration" might not be what he imagined at all...

It was as if an invisible hand had suppressed his thoughts, making him subconsciously overlook this question and never doubt the reality of "transmigration." But when the Chen Ling in the cotton coat uttered those words, he was jolted awake as if from a dream, a clammy sweat breaking out all over his back!

If even the transmigration was a lie... then what else around him was real?

As Chen Ling continued to plummet through the abyss, he seemed to sense something and looked down towards its depths... In the endless blackness, a gargantuan entity, vast as a star, lay coiled. Before its immense size, Chen Ling was like a drifting speck of sand, tiny and fragile.

Chen Ling knew this was a fragment of the "confusion" within his own subconscious, a "delusion" so profound that even the True Self Mirror could not shatter it.

What kind of secret could be hidden within such immense "confusion"?

Chen Ling's body continued to fall towards the colossal shadow, seemingly on the verge of being completely swallowed. Just then, a fragment of the mirror fell from him...

In the fragment's reflection, the Chen Ling in the cotton coat was falling alongside him, a hand appearing to reach through the mirror towards Chen Ling.“No matter who you were before, now we are all Chen Ling...”“A-Yan is our brother; protect him.”

Chen Ling's large red opera robe fluttered in the abyss. He paused for a moment, then also extended his hand, reaching out to touch the "Chen Ling" in the mirror's reflection...

When the two hands met through the mirror fragment, the Chen Ling in the cotton coat transformed once more into a ball of light and shadow, merging back into Chen Ling's body!

The next moment, the abyss around Chen Ling transformed into an endless purple light, engulfing him like a surging tsunami!

On a soft, white bed, Chen Ling, covered in dried blood, abruptly opened his eyes!

He instantly sat up, large beads of sweat rolling from his temples. His face was pale, as if he had just woken from a nightmare.

“Was that a dream... or...?”

The final image of the Chen Ling in the cotton coat touching him surfaced in his mind, leaving him pensive.

A gentle breeze swept through the open window, making the sheer curtains dance dreamily.

Chen Ling sat motionless on the bed, like a statue, seemingly struggling to recall something. After an unknown period, he scratched his head and murmured to himself,“Strange...”“My confusion... what was it about again?”

Audience Anticipation: 3

In the void behind Chen Ling, pairs of scarlet eyes slowly emerged, their gaze hinting at a smile...

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