Sophia looked up at the sound and saw a tall boy with black hair and black eyes.
He felt very familiar to her, but she couldn't recall who he was for a moment.
While Sophia was sizing up Li Andy, Li Andy was also sizing her up.
Compared to Sophia in her teenage years, the younger her was truly underdeveloped, so malnourished that she had no curves at all.
One couldn't tell that she would become so ample when she grew up.
Her face, however, was similar to how it would be when she grew up, pretty and well-defined.
Even covered in blood, one could tell she was a beautiful embryo.
"Who are you? I think I've seen you before," little Sophia asked blankly, her consciousness still seemingly hazy.
Li Andy put her down and handed her a baseball bat:
"Kill it, and you'll regain your memories."
The spider-man, who had been sent flying, had now climbed back up, continuously shouting curses like "bitch, dog couple" from his mouth, and slowly approached with distorted steps.
Unlike Li Andy's relaxed demeanor,
in Sophia's eyes, that man was like an incredibly terrifying monster.
With each step he took, his body expanded by several inches, and he hadn't even walked halfway before his back hit the ceiling.
Things in an illusion are linked to the mind.
The more you fear it, the stronger it becomes!
Sophia trembled, wanting to escape, but her shoulder was held down.
"Don't have any psychological burden!"
"You're acting in self-defense!"
"Scum, he deserves to die!"
Li Andy blocked Sophia's retreat, making her face the monster directly.
He took out the "Omamori" amulet with his right hand, letting its light envelop them both.
Sophia looked at the approaching monster, gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and swung the bat.
The bat touched the monster, and with a "bang," the monster vanished like smoke.
The air was silent for several seconds before Sophia slowly opened her eyes.
Her expression was somewhat dazed, but the memories in her mind were rapidly returning.
"Andy?" she called out tentatively.
"Yes, it's me," Li Andy replied.
The surrounding scenery became blurry and dim, gradually turning into nothingness.
Immediately after, both of them suddenly lost their balance.
Sophia subconsciously hugged him tightly, falling into the abyss with him.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in another world.
Surrounding her were lush, green peaks.
Their current location was on a staircase leading to the mountaintop.
And her body had returned to its original state.
"Can you get up? You're a bit heavy..." a familiar voice sounded from beneath her, and she subconsciously looked down.
Li Andy was lying on the ground, his hands sliding on her legs, looking at her with a playful expression.
Sophia frowned, pushed his hands away, and moved off him.
Although her expression was one of disdain, the force of her push and her hesitant attitude... always gave Li Andy a feeling of playing hard to get.
He didn't know if it was a stereotype brought about by game character expressions.
Li Andy got up, dusted himself off, and then walked up the mountain.
Sophia hesitated for a second, then quickly followed.
"Where is this?"
"Youxi's nightmare illusion."
"Nightmare illusion... is it like mine?"
"Yes, it's like yours, both are scenes distorted and projected from real memories."
Sophia pursed her lips, clenched her fists, and said:
"I... killed my father."
"Oh."
"Oh?"
Seeing Li Andy's calm demeanor, Sophia couldn't help but frown:
"Don't you feel anything?"
"What should I feel?"
Li Andy smiled, surrounded by green mountains, but his demeanor remained as gloomy as ever:
Sophia bit her lower lip, her expression conflicted.
Li Andy said:
"If you killed him, you killed him. He deserved to die. If it were me, I would have done it long ago."
Sophia was startled for a moment; this rhetoric was very anti-dogma, but hearing it, she felt inexplicably relieved.
Even her steps quickened slightly, subconsciously wanting to get closer to him.
Even though her ankle still hurt a little.
It was as if Li Andy had become her accomplice.
"Hey, Andy... where is this? I mean, its corresponding location in reality," Sophia asked with her hands behind her back.
"It should be the southwestern region of East Flame. Youxi's father is from East Flame."
"But isn't Yuquan Youxi a name from the Land of Falling Cherry Blossoms?"
"She changed her name later and took her mother's surname."
"What about you?"
"Me? I don't have that memory..."
"...Just say if you don't want to," Sophia mumbled softly.
In this back-and-forth, the two gradually reached the mountaintop.
As their gaze extended, on the other side of the peak, a blood-red, murky pool appeared, strikingly conspicuous amidst the green mountains.
And beside the blood pool, a man and a woman were facing off.
The man was wearing a yellow Taoist robe and holding a wooden sword;
the woman was dressed in a red and white Miko outfit, holding a Kagura bell.
Their appearances bore a two-point resemblance to Yuquan Youxi.
"Reiko..."
The Taoist man sighed, his eyes filled with disappointment:
"Are even you going to stop me?"
"Husband, stop this! Your path is wrong!"
The Miko's expression was anxious, her tone mournful and indignant,
"Where is Xiaoxi? Where is she? I want to take her away!"
The Taoist man's face immediately darkened:
"She is my daughter! You Japanese woman, I won't kill you today, but get back to your borderland of Falling Cherry Blossoms immediately!"
"You!"
The Miko's heart was broken; she raised her Kagura bell, and divine light enveloped her.
The Taoist man's gaze was cold; he pointed his sword at the Miko, and yellow talismans flew.
Husband and wife of yesteryear, enemies of today.
The spells from both sides clashed together.
"Magic, it's magic!"
Sophia was filled with astonishment, constantly tugging at Li Andy's sleeve with her right hand.
"It's not magic, it's Taoist techniques and divine techniques," Li Andy corrected, swatting her hand away.
"Is there a difference?"
"Uh..." Li Andy was stumped by the question.
Broadly speaking, there didn't seem to be any difference between the three; their essence was all extraordinary power.
"Ahem, professionally speaking, it's not called magic anyway," Li Andy didn't want to change his statement.
Sophia frowned, could only say "Oh," and still didn't let go of his hand, just turned her gaze back to the scene.
As the battle between the two intensified, the central blood pool continuously vibrated open.
A lotus stone statue carved with seven arms rose from the blood pool.
And inside the stone statue, a porcelain-white girl in white clothes and black hair sat within it.
"It's Youxi!"
Although the other party had become younger, Sophia still recognized her best friend at a glance.
She picked up the baseball bat, about to step forward, but her waist was embraced by someone.
Li Andy pulled her back and said:
"Don't rush, this is an illusion. We need to find the right node. Let's watch the show first."
More importantly, this was content he hadn't seen in the game!
Roughly speaking, it was like getting free DLC!
Sophia pursed her lips and followed him to hide behind a nearby rock.
At this moment, Yuquan Youxi, in the center of the lotus stone statue, slowly opened her eyes.
After a brief moment of confusion, she cried out in terror:
"Father, Mother, what are you doing?"
"Xiaoxi, I'll take you away right now!"
The Miko's eyes lit up, and she immediately increased her power output; the sound of the Kagura bell echoed throughout the mountains.
The Taoist man angrily swung his sword:
"You Japanese woman! I shouldn't have brought you to East Flame!"
"Father, Mother, stop fighting!"
The girl cried, looking pitiful.
Li Andy watched this strangely-styled family drama with great interest.
After the fight continued for a while, the Taoist man's expression gradually became possessed; he leaped up and flew above the blood pool.
"Since none of you believe me... then I'll let you witness with your own eyes how I become an immortal!"
With that, he actually slashed his own throat with his sword.
"Husband!!!"
The Miko let out a desperate cry but was powerless to stop anything.
The Taoist man laughed wildly, blood foam gushing from his neck, his broken voice accompanied by the surging blood foam:
"Hahahaha! Xiaoxi, quickly help... your father... ascend!"