Chapter 542: Is This Illusion or Reality

An Lin’s mother was a woman by the name of Mu Yudie who died in a car crash.

It was exactly because of that incident that his father became depressed and developed a gambling habit to vent his emotions.

The result was bankruptcy, which was followed by a few million yuan worth of debt. An Lin was captured by the debt collectors before encountering that mysterious immortal, and after that, he began his journey in cultivation.

All these events led directly to one another, and An Lin would not be the person he was today if any of those events had not occurred.

But now, his mother had just reappeared before him.

Resurrection from the dead?

No! Everything is fake in this illusionary world. Resurrection from the dead doesn’t exist!

However…

An Lin stared at his mother, seemingly in a trance. He sensed her familiar presence as he listened intently to everything she said in fear that she would suddenly disappear.

So realistic… It really was so realistic…

Regardless of whether it was her smile or her voice, all of it was identical to his memory of her.

“Little Lin, why are you crying?” Mu Yudie furrowed her brows as she held An Lin’s hand in her own with a concerned expression. “Did something happen?”

Xu Xiaolan was also startled by his tears and turned an inquisitory gaze upon him.

An Lin wiped the tears from his face and resisted the urge to envelop his mother in a tight hug before shaking his head. “I’m fine. I just thought of some sad past events… Let’s go eat!”

Inside the dining room, a large plate of braised pork joint appeared particularly eye-catching amid the various other dishes on the table.

An Lin recalled back to how he was quite a picky eater when he was younger, which resulted in him becoming sickly thin.

That was when his mother decided to research cooking methods for pork joint, as it was said to be a great dish for weight gain.

Thus, the exquisitely delicious braised pork joint was born, and An Lin’s mother successfully conquered his stomach through her cooking!

Soon after An Lin started junior high school, his weight ballooned from forty kilograms to eighty kilograms.

His mother then decided that she would never cook braised pork joint for An Lin ever again.

An Lin cried like an oversized man-child upon hearing his mother’s announcement back then. It was still quite an embarrassing experience for An Lin to recall.

In order to be able to eat braised pork joint again, An Lin embarked on a weight loss journey, and he finally shed a significant amount of weight when he was in senior high school.

An Lin’s mother promised to cook him braised pork joint after he began attending university. Her thought process at that time was that An Lin would rarely come home as he would be boarding at university anyway, so even if she cooked braised pork joint every time he returned home, he still wouldn’t get fat.

Unfortunately, the accident occurred after his university examinations.

The memory of the braised pork joint that An Lin had yearned for many years became just that; a bittersweet memory locked away in his heart.

…

An Lin sat down at the table before picking up a pork joint with his chopsticks and biting down on it.

Rich and aromatic, fat but not greasy…

It was still that familiar taste and that familiar recipe…

Why is the taste of the pork joint so realistic here… It’s clearly just an illusion!

He had already forgotten what the pork joint tasted like, only that it was extremely delicious. Why was it that this braised pork joint would rekindle the taste in his memory that he had clearly already forgotten? Why was it so identical to the pork joint dish that his mother once cooked for him…

Tears began to flow down An Lin’s face again when his heart was overwhelmed by emotion.

Xu Xiaolan, An Mingchuan, and Mu Yudie were all dumbstruck. Why was he crying again?

“Little Lin… are you sure you’re ok?” An Mingchuan couldn’t help but inquire.

An Lin knew that he had let his emotions get the better of himself, and he hurriedly shook his head. “I’m fine, it’s just that the pork joint is so good, it drove me to tears!”

An Mingchuan’s face convulsed slightly upon hearing this. Couldn’t he at least have invented a better excuse?!

A gentle smile appeared on Mu Yudie’s face as she put another piece of pork joint into An Lin’s bowl with her chopsticks. “Eat some more if you like it so much. I’ll cook it more often for you. Since you’re cultivating now, there’s no chance for you to get fat again!”

“Hmm…” An Lin nodded as he suppressed his tears before picking up the second braised pork joint.

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Before everyone knew it, most of the pork joints on the large plate had been consumed by An Lin.

Everyone gathered together after their meal to chat about daily matters. They talked about managing the medical clinic, some interesting news from Tai Chu Continent, and a whole host of other conversation topics…

An Lin greatly cherished his time here even though he knew this was all an illusion. Despite this knowledge, he still felt extremely warm and happy under such an environment. His whole family was by his side, as was the love of his life; was there anything else that could be better in his life?

After dinner, the stars began to appear in the night sky.

An Lin walked into the courtyard to look up at the moonless night sky as a myriad of thoughts welled up in his mind.

“You’ve been acting really strange today…” A gentle, pleasant voice sounded from beside him.

An Lin turned to discover a pair of beautiful eyes surveying him.

Under the light of the stars, her face was a little less vibrant, but a lot gentler and softer.

“That’s true. I suddenly became quite emotional…” An Lin smiled.

“It’s not that…” Xu Xiaolan tilted her head to the side with a complex smile on her face as she said, “I have a nagging feeling… that you’re not him.”

An Lin’s eyes widened in shock as he stared at Xu Xiaolan.

Never would he have thought that Xu Xiaolan would say something like this.

“Are you surprised?” Xu Xiaolan smiled and continued, “To be honest, I initially thought you were only uncharacteristically emotional today. However, upon further inspection, I discovered that although you are An Lin, you’re not the An Lin that I know!”

“Hmm…” Her bright eyes flashed as if she was finding the words to elaborate on her thoughts. “You look exactly the same and have identical personalities, but… you’re like an An Lin that has had different life experiences…”

An Lin was truly shocked this time, and a peculiar feeling welled up in his heart.

Was this an illusion or a parallel reality? Just what kind of world was this?!

“You are still the intelligent Xiaolan that knows me better than anyone else,” An Lin conceded with a smile. “Then, can you tell me the experiences you had with the An Lin that you know?”

Xu Xiaolan’s eyes narrowed while she smiled vibrantly. “I would love to. But you have to return my An Lin to me after I’m done.”

An Lin chuckled a little awkwardly. “I AM An Lin…”

“But you’re not the An Lin that shares the same memories as me. If it wasn’t for the genuine and familiar emotions in your eyes, I would have thought that you had been possessed!” Xu Xiaolan retorted.

An Lin had no counterargument to this, so he could only nod in response. “Alright. Your An Lin will be back after I leave this place!”

Thus, Xu Xiaolan began recounting her experiences with the An Lin of this world.

They met each other in the Divine Court of this continent and were disciples from the same sect.

Xu Xiaolan recounted how they met, how they became acquaintances, as well as a series of events etched deeply into her memories, which led them up to this point.

One hundred years after their first meeting, they finally became Dao partners.

It was at that time that An Lin told her his biggest secret.

He actually came from a faraway planet and transmigrated to this Tai Chu Continent!

Xu Xiaolan didn’t mind. She invited An Lin’s parents from that faraway planet so that they could attend their wedding. After that, they all lived together as one big, happy family on this continent.

The story was very long, and An Lin was a little overwhelmed after listening to all of it.

The story consisted of a series of wonderful memories, some of which were happy, some of which were sad, but all of them were deeply etched into Xu Xiaolan’s heart.

Earth was the same, but this Tai Chu Continent was different…

After listening to Xu Xiaolan’s story, An Lin felt like there were only two possibilities. Either everything was real and this was an alternate reality, or those two red-robed elderly men were the greatest directors to ever live! Was it really worth going to such extensive lengths just to create an illusionary realm?!

An Lin heaved a long sigh, and his expression became conflicted as he stared at Xu Xiaolan.

Another An Lin? Another Xu Xiaolan?

Even all his beast pets and his other friends had the same personalities as they did from his reality, but all of them had different life experiences.

Another An Lin… The current An Lin was a little envious of the An Lin in this world.

This was the happiest life imaginable to him.

However, none of this belonged to him.

Perhaps…

Regardless of whether this was an alternate reality or an illusionary world, he had to bid farewell to this world…