The Illusion

"Yu'er? Wake up my daughter, what are you doing?" Su Xin Yu heard a voice which she had longed for for years now. When was it that she heard it last time? When she was seven? Yeah, that was the day wasn't it? When they took him and threw him in the confines of that prison room in the dungeon.

She only remembered crying bitterly as she was separated from her dad's arms. When she was snatched to Dean Li's arms, she, a seven year old kid, had already known something bad was happening to her dad. Even as a kid, all she felt was helplessness.

But what could she have done? She just cried and cried, on losing her one and only family. Her tears would not stop for days. She had actually gone in and out of consciousness for a year before she decided to find her dad on her own and exact revenge on that greedy man.

However, when she came to, the Dean announced that her dad had fled the prison dungeon somehow. If he was successful in running away, the nature had plenty of resources to support him. He never returned to the tribe either, but Dean had planted spies there as well, just in case.

And he never made any contact with her either. She had long accepted the possibility that Dean Li might have just murdered him because her dad would not put the whole tribe and their dwelling place in jeopardy by revealing the secrets of dungeons. Those traps were the only things keeping Dean Li from blasting the caves and obtaining the treasures beneath.

And yet, when she heard the voice, it sounded so real, as if her mission had been successfully completed. Even before she opened her eyes, a pool of tears formed in her eyes.

"Dad?" she called. She had forgotten his face and was struggling to open her eyes. Why? She just wanted to see how he was doing.

After putting much strength, she suddenly opened her eyes. Blinded by the white light surrounding her dad's figure, she squinted her eyes. Finally the person's silhouette became clearer and clearer.

Even if the face was looming over here, she could not see it properly. However, the warmth was definitely from her father.

"Dad! Is that you?" she choked on her own words. Had she really found him?

"Yu'er! It's been so many years, how are you doing my child?" the man asked while patting her head.

"Now that I have seen you, how can I not be happy? Ten years dad, I have been looking for you for ten years. Where were you? Why did you not send me any signal?" she whined and wailed.

"I am sorry my daughter. I should have come to you sooner. Let's go, I will take you out from here and then we can go home," her dad helped her sit and used some kind of power to move a few rocks to become her support.

Wait, what? Her dad had magical powers? Oh well, he had lived for ten years in the dungeons, anything was possible. But how did he recognize her in the first place? And why could she not see his face at all?

Throwing these questions at the back of her mind, she tried concentrating hard to see his face. But the light behind him was so blinding, and everything was so white, she still could not see. Her blurry vision was not helping either.

"Dad, where are we going?" she asked, still in her groggy state.

"Obviously, home," the figure answered. He had already started leaving, his back was turned towards her

"Dad, can you teach me how to read those carvings on the wall before we leave?"

The figure halted his steps and turned around. "What carvings are you talking about my dear?"

"The ones on the walls here," she looked around and everything was still white. She saw the figure grinning, his pearl white teeth the only thing visible on his face. Su Xin Yu was spooked out of her wits. She was already having doubts about this person before her being her dad but this was scary.

"I… I don't want to go. I want to decipher the engravings first," Su Xin Yu tried to reason with the person before her timidly. By now, she had concluded in her heart that this was one of those illusions that Chen Chen had seen. He saw gold and she saw her dad. It probably showed them what they wanted the most in life. Or something like that.

The figure in front of her started walking towards her, speeding his pace, his arms in the air like he was coming for her neck. Within a few seconds, it was strangling her, a strength she had never felt. She had trained herself on the rugged mountains, she herself was not lacking. But this man was at some other level.

It felt like her windpipe had been choked, she was trying hard to get some air, but in vain. She was seeing her life slipping away by the moment right now. Her small pounds on the man's hands were not working. She just wanted to give in.

Then suddenly, she felt someone providing her air externally. What?

"Xin Yu! Xin Yu!" she heard from somewhere. It was a familiar voice too, the voice she wanted to warm up to but was still hesitant. But that voice, that voice was her only way out. She focused hard on the second voice. She knew this was an illusion. Her dad would not do anything like this. He loved her very much.

"Tsk, you had company. Fine, since you won, I will give you the key. This is a reward for realizing the truth of this place. There has ever been only one other person who has done it. Remember them," the figure let go of her neck and the background changed to red words blazing in fire, all entering to her mind. She struggled, it was a painful process.

And then she opened her eyes, gasping for air. Her eyes were full of tears.

She felt someone's hands on her chest, like the person was trying to do CPR on her. She looked and found a sweaty Li Ming Hao, trying very hard to bring her back.

When he finally saw her waking up and coughing, he let go. "Xin Yu are you okay?" he asked wiping his sweat. Rocky licked her face.

"I found the key," were her first words.