Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

Chapter 316: Chapter 263: ”Illusions” in the Red Mist_2

”What does it mean?”

”Because, this hallucination is really so real...” Lou Fei’Er’s eyes became slightly hazy, just like when she first entered the cabin, ”Everything at home, my parents, their habits, what they say, all so real, and, and...”

”And what?” Lou Fei’Er’s tone and hazy eyes made Xu Xin feel a bit uneasy.

”And, in that hallucinated home, it seems... I never existed there...” Lou Fei’Er looked at Xu Xin, her eyes somewhat confused, ”Anything related to me in my memory is completely absent in this illusion.”

...What is she actually talking about, being so jumpy.

Xu Xin was somewhat speechless; he thought it was something major: ”Just a hallucination, just a dream, you took it seriously?”

”It’s not a dream!” Lou Fei’Er glared at him, ”Absolutely not a dream, because I am very conscious, I know I am in the Red Mist cabin, and I know I am inhaling the Red Mist, but I can clearly see everything, even change angles to observe! Moreover, I still clearly remember everything I just saw, this is definitely not a dream!”

Lou Fei’Er’s emotions were somewhat agitated.

”Alright, alright, not a dream, so why are you so agitated?” Xu Xin still didn’t understand.

”Because... because I feel, everything I just saw is not a hallucination, but a kind of... memory buried deep in my mind...”

”Memory?” Xu Xin was taken aback, ”Isn’t memory more normal? This Red Mist evokes your longing for home, is that what it means?”

”Of course not!” Lou Fei’Er stomped her foot, ”This is simply not my memory!”

”Huh?” Xu Xin really wanted to splash water on her to wake her up.

Is it memory or not memory, what kind of nonsense is she talking about, another cryptic speaker?

”Listen to me!” Lou Fei’Er, also hasty because of her vague words, said, ”What I mean is, this is not a memory I experienced on Earth! How to say, it’s like... memories from another parallel universe!”

She’s getting more cryptic.

However, Xu Xin could summarize what she meant.

She means, everything in her hallucination feels too familiar to her, almost like a memory, but such scenes are not things she has experienced before.

Déjà vu?

Xu Xin shook his head and asked, ”So, why do you feel this way?”

”Because, because...” Lou Fei’Er’s expression became somewhat panicked, ”Because, this hallucination is about my childhood home. But in that familiar home, all traces of me have vanished, the height marker I carved on the door frame, the countless designs I inscribed on the table with a small knife when I was naughty, and... none of them are there! And, and! My parents were discussing adopting a child, saying it was a pity they never had kids and wanted to adopt one, raise him, and have him care for them in their old age!”

Lou Fei’Er’s eyes carried a hint of fear: ”I seem... to have never existed... And, that scene was so real, so real it was as if I were standing there watching!”

”...Weren’t you adopted, did you see scenes of your parents before adopting you?” Xu Xin asked with an odd expression.

”Certainly not!” Lou Fei’Er laughed angrily, ”Why are you such a mood killer! I’m definitely born by my mom, I look a lot like my parents! Also, can’t I tell my parents’ age? In the hallucination, they were already in their fifties! That’s their current age!”

Xu Xin said nothing but fell into contemplation.

He actually understood Lou Fei’Er’s meaning long ago, but kept interrupting to ease the atmosphere, as Lou Fei’Er’s state was somewhat off.

But what she said was indeed worth contemplating.

She saw a world without her in the Red Mist.

In that world, she wasn’t dead or missing but simply... never existed from the start.

Could it be, what she saw was the scenario on Earth?

Now on Earth, perhaps it is as she saw, where no one remembers those who traversed into this world. Everyone has forgotten them, these survivors, even their existence has been erased, along with memories and traces, disappearing from Earth.

This speculation is quite creepy to think about.

However, it’s just a hypothesis after all.

”You’re not just making this up, are you?” Xu Xin looked at Lou Fei’Er with some suspicion, disbelieving her words, ”You didn’t fabricate it to scare me, right?”

”You jerk!” Lou Fei’Er’s face, which had just regained its color, turned red with anger again, ”I signed a contract with you, I can’t possibly lie to you!”

Who knows how binding the contract really is. Xu Xin pouted.

”...Don’t overthink it, it’s just a hallucination.” Xu Xin concluded.

Although he felt that this matter might not be so simple, if it indeed relates to Earth, to their original home, it would need thorough consideration, discussing it now is of little significance and would only waste time.

”You don’t think after inhaling so much Red Mist, you’ll see Earth, do you?” Xu Xin shrugged.

”Uh... that’s why I said, it’s memory!” Lou Fei’Er retorted.

She indeed felt it was too real, as real as being there personally.

”Whose memory, yours? Since you weren’t there in your hallucination, where did this memory come from? You saw it standing in void?”

”Uh...” Lou Fei’Er blinked.

”So, as I said, a hallucination is just a hallucination, just your imagination. It’s not unusual for such a peculiar world to create incredibly realistic hallucinations when you inhale the Red Mist, right?”

Xu Xin didn’t want Lou Fei’Er to be affected by this; she had a crucial task tomorrow and couldn’t be mentally unstable because of it.

”Is... is it normal?” Lou Fei’Er was somewhat shaken.

The sight she just witnessed was overly realistic, giving her a severe shock, even making her doubt her real existence. Xu Xin’s words calmed her a bit.

”Alright, go back and rest, we have things to do tomorrow.”

”Oh, okay.” Lou Fei’Er glanced at the cabin again, then turned to head towards her treehouse, muttering softly, ”Fake? Hmm, should... be fake, right?”

Who knows what’s real?

Anyway, it’s best to live in the moment.