Chapter 202: Left Eye of Deceit and Treachery

Jiang Chaosheng suddenly felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.

For a moment, his mind was blank, completely shut down. He saw a hazy, indistinct whiteness.

A white…

What was it?

Before he had time to think, his clarity returned.

Jiang Chaosheng looked around.

The surrounding guests were all asleep.

Some were slumped over their tables, others lay in the aisles.

The nouveau riche man had collapsed at the entrance, his head cracked open and bleeding on the threshold.

But a blissful smile graced his lips. That bliss… held a hint of something sinister.

Jiang Chaosheng remembered that after the man had discovered Hai Yin was dead, he had scrambled to get outside like a spooked duck.

Clearly, he hadn’t escaped.

Jiang Chaosheng clenched his left fist.

‘Why didn’t I fall into a deep sleep?’

He touched his chest and thought inwardly:

‘Daji.’

Jiang Chaosheng received no response.

He understood.

Daji must have used some kind of Magic to block the Evil Qilin’s killing blow for him.

Just then, a surprised voice spoke up:

“As expected of Mr. Dusk. You actually managed to stay awake.”

Jiang Chaosheng followed the voice with his eyes.

In a corner of the hall, the Evil Qilin was soothing the baby in his arms.

Jiang Chaosheng’s gaze fixed on the infant.

‘The power that almost put me to sleep came from that baby.’

‘Strange.’

‘A baby…’

‘Is it a series ‘1’ living Taboo Item?’

‘That can’t be. The antique shop has no record of such a Taboo Item.’

‘Even I, the Manager, have never sensed this Taboo Item’s number.’

The Evil Qilin, holding the baby, walked over to a sleeping guest and said:

“His name is Zhou Linfeng. He’s a government official.”

With a monthly salary of only eight thousand, he somehow lives in a mansion and keeps a mistress.

He may have money, but he lives every day on pins and needles.

Even his dreams are usually about being taken away by disciplinary inspectors.

But now, he can have a beautiful dream about being an honest official, a dream that will last forever.”

The Evil Qilin passed him by and walked toward a rich man lying in the aisle.

The rich man’s sleeping posture was odd. He had a blissful smile on his face, yet tears of joy streamed incessantly from his eyes.

The Evil Qilin glanced at him and continued strolling toward the entrance.

“His name is Yu Zhang. He’s worth two hundred million, but his life is full of regrets.”

When his father passed away, he was at work and didn’t get to see him one last time.

His mother is gravely ill, and even with all his money, she can’t be cured. She relies on pounds of medicine every day just to stay alive.

His wife, who once loved him dearly, cheated on him because she couldn’t bear the loneliness.

In this dream, he’s still that same billionaire.

The difference is… his parents are healthy, and his loving wife is by his side.”

Jiang Chaosheng said grimly:

“So this is what you call ‘worldly paradise’? Letting these people live their entire lives in a false dream?”

The Evil Qilin paced to the doorway, turned back to Jiang Chaosheng, and said earnestly:

“Yes, Sir. The dream is fake, but the happiness is real.”

He looked down at the bleeding nouveau riche man slumped over the threshold.

“The splendor and riches of the Human World are nothing but passing clouds. The essence of their pursuit of glory is the pursuit of their own happiness. Unfortunately, money can’t buy all the happiness in the world. Take him, for example. He already has more money than he could spend in a lifetime, but what he wants is to become a high-society aristocrat. In reality, even if you gave him another five hundred million, he could never transform into a phoenix. A country chicken is a country chicken. At best, he’d just become a golden one.”

However, in his beautiful dream, he is the scion of an old, established family, with noble blood running through his veins.”

The Evil Qilin gazed at the bright moon. The moonlight cascaded over him, illuminating the triumphant smile in his eyes.

“Sir, this is bringing salvation to all sentient beings. They don’t need to endure ascetic practices like Buddha to enter Paradise.”

The Evil Qilin gently patted the baby in his arms.

The infant once again began to wail at the top of its lungs.

This time, the sound traveled far.

The maids walking in the garden immediately collapsed to the ground, falling into a deep sleep.

In the security office of the Dream Island Resort, guards slumped over their desks, instant noodles scattered all over the floor.

A hint of madness appeared in the Evil Qilin’s eyes.

“All beings are equal. Everyone has the right to experience happiness. Whether it’s my disciples, the workers here, the Investigators hidden among the guests, or the Taiping Daoists.”

I will use this child in my arms to make the entire world enter Paradise.

Salvation for all! A paradise on earth!”

The Evil Qilin turned his head, looked at Jiang Chaosheng, and tilted his head.

“And that includes you, of course, Sir.”

“Heh heh heh…”

Jiang Chaosheng couldn’t help but let out a series of derisive chuckles.

The Evil Qilin frowned.

“Sir, what are you laughing at? Don’t you wish to feel happiness?”

A smile still lingering on his lips, Jiang Chaosheng shook his head.

“I do, but I don’t want the happiness you’re offering.”

The Evil Qilin snorted coldly.

“Is it because you look down on this humble monk?

“Do you feel the happiness I offer is tainted?

“Or is it…”

The Evil Qilin’s eyes gradually filled with contempt.

“Or is it that you, too, believe the dream is false, and therefore the happiness it brings is also false? If you were to examine any one of them with the most advanced medical equipment right now, the results would show that they are experiencing genuine, bona fide happiness.”

Jiang Chaosheng’s smile vanished. He stood up, his face devoid of expression.

“But you’ve taken away their right to choose. You’ve made yourself… a God, playing with the Human World.”

The Evil Qilin’s brow furrowed.

Jiang Chaosheng paced over to the rich man named Yu Zhang, squatted down, and wiped away the tear track of joy from his face.

“Do you think he would rather spend a happy life in a false dream, or wake up and save his mother? If the him in the dream knew his mother was still struggling for life in the intensive care unit, would he still be able to enjoy the dream you’ve given him with a clear conscience?”

The Evil Qilin’s frown deepened.

Jiang Chaosheng suddenly nodded and said:

“This world certainly has its share of cowards. People who would rather hide in illusion than face reality and shoulder their responsibilities.”

Jiang Chaosheng stood up, walked toward the Evil Qilin, and reached behind his back to draw the Penalty Fire Flintlock Gun.

“Let’s look at it another way. Humans can’t survive for long immersed in a dream. A week at most. Do you think they’ll be happy when the human race is extinct?”

The corner of the Evil Qilin’s eye twitched violently.

‘Perhaps many people would think, “What the hell does the extinction of humanity have to do with me?”‘

‘But the term “humanity” includes the dreamers’ parents, children, and lovers.’

‘If they were willing to cast aside their bonds with their loved ones, perhaps my efforts would be unnecessary.’

‘Take that security guard at the door.’

‘He’s enduring hardship here to pay for his sister’s tuition.’

‘If he didn’t care whether his sister lived or died, why would he be so exhausted?’

‘The problem is, they do care. They care!’

‘Could I be wrong?’

‘If I’m wrong, then what do all these years of effort amount to?’

‘No… could it be an obsession?’

‘Have I become attached to this illusion?’

The Evil Qilin slowly closed his eyes.

“Sir, you are not a Buddhist Disciple, yet you have managed to shake this humble monk’s Buddhist heart.”

He suddenly opened his eyes, which were riddled with bloodshot veins.

“You are silver-tongued, Sir. Why don’t we see if you, too, will be immersed in the dream.”

Jiang Chaosheng had already raised the Penalty Fire Flintlock Gun.

The Evil Qilin roughly snatched up the swaddled baby, held it in front of him as a shield, aimed its eyes at Jiang Chaosheng, and said sinisterly:

“Now, let this humble monk see your desires, Sir!”

The baby’s eyes were closed as it cried in pain.

With one hand, the Evil Qilin kept prying at the infant’s eyelids.

The baby kept shaking its head, trying to avoid the Evil Qilin’s hand.

But how could an infant possibly resist the manipulations of an Extraordinary Being like the Evil Qilin?

Finally, the baby opened its eyes.

The right eye was clear, bewildered, and pure, like a lake.

But the purple left eye was… evil, treacherous, and ominous, filled with malice.

The pupil, larger than that of a normal infant, darted around erratically in its socket.

With every rotation, the baby seemed to feel pain, and its cries grew louder.

Already so weak, the infant now cried until its face was drained of all color.

Blood slowly trickled from the left eye.

Realization dawned on Jiang Chaosheng.

‘So it was this thing.’

At first, Jiang Chaosheng had thought the Evil Qilin had somehow fused the Taboo Item 1-09, Nightmare, into the baby’s body, thus perfectly evading his senses.

But it turned out… to be something far more malevolent than Nightmare.

The Left Eye of Deceit and Treachery!

Number 3-03.

Jiang Chaosheng didn’t know the origin of this item.

It was even a bit strange.

‘The Left Eye of Deceit and Treachery possesses such immense power. Logically, Deceitful and Wily should be one of the Deities.’

‘Yet the Left Eye of Deceit and Treachery isn’t a ‘0’ series Taboo Item.’

He knew that this thing’s ability was ‘Fallen Paradise’.

In truth, Jiang Chaosheng didn’t know what ‘Fallen Paradise’ really was.

In religious legends, Fallen Paradise seemed to be some kind of world that caused people to sink into depravity.

Looking at it now, that Fallen Paradise was probably these people’s dreams.

Jiang Chaosheng’s mind instantly fell into chaos. He once again saw the flashes of white from when he was dizzy.

Now, he saw it clearly.

That whiteness… was the spray of waves on a riverbank.

He knew where this was.

This… was the unresolved sorrow buried deep in his heart.

The corner of Jiang Chaosheng’s eye twitched. While resisting the power of ‘Fallen Paradise’, he stared at the Evil Qilin and said earnestly:

“I will kill you.”

For the first time, Jiang Chaosheng’s state of mind fluctuated violently.

‘How dare he…’

‘How dare he desecrate her memory?’

A grim smile formed on the Evil Qilin’s lips.

“Sir, the intelligence on Niu Lang is with the butler. If you can resist the temptation of paradise, then go and get it. If you can’t, then even you, the immortal Mr. Dusk, will be considered dead.”

A sharp pain stabbed through Jiang Chaosheng’s brain, and he couldn’t help but close his eyes.

The cresting waves became even clearer.