Chapter 99 The Darkest Secrets

Chapter 99: Chapter 99 The Darkest Secrets

Chapter 99 — The Darkest Secrets

The 10 Lin Clan youngsters continued moving through the ancient maze.

The stone corridor stretched ahead of them, its walls covered with faint runes that occasionally emitted a dim glow.

Lin Chen walked near the front, carefully observing the markings. Lin Jue examined the walls for hidden formations, while Lin Yu paid attention to the fluctuations in the surrounding spiritual energy.

After walking for some time, Lin Jue suddenly stopped.

"Wait a moment."

Everyone turned toward him.

"What is it?" Lin Qing asked.

Lin Jue pointed toward the wall.

"These markings are similar to the ones we encountered earlier, but their arrangement is different."

Lin Chen approached and examined them.

"They may belong to another formation. However, I can’t determine their exact function from these markings alone."

Lin Yu circulated his spiritual energy and extended his spiritual sense toward the wall.

"There are faint fluctuations here. They’re difficult to detect, but something is definitely hidden within these walls."

Lin Mo folded his arms.

"Another formation? Does this maze have nothing better to do?"

Lin Zhen glanced at him.

"Would you prefer it to send something directly at us?"

"Of course not. I’m just saying that a little peace wouldn’t hurt."

Lin Qing shook her head slightly.

"Enough. We shouldn’t touch anything we don’t understand. Let’s remember the location and continue."

The others nodded, and the group proceeded down the corridor.

None of them knew that elsewhere in the maze, another group was about to face a danger far more insidious than a hidden formation.

---

Ji Xueyan led the younger members of the Ji Family through a wide stone passage.

The group had been exploring the maze for some time. Although they had encountered several confusing paths, they had managed to avoid any serious danger.

However, the passage ahead soon began to change.

The rough stone walls gradually disappeared, replaced by magnificent pillars of white jade. Brilliant lanterns illuminated the surroundings, and a gentle breeze carried the fragrance of flowers.

Before long, the group found themselves standing inside an enormous courtyard.

Ji Xueyan stopped.

"Everyone, stay alert. We were just walking through a stone corridor. How did we suddenly arrive here?"

The other youngsters looked around in surprise.

The courtyard was beautiful, almost unreal. Elegant buildings surrounded a crystal-clear lake, and the distant sound of flowing water filled the air.

One of the disciples frowned.

"Could this be an ancient inheritance site?"

"Perhaps," another replied. "But we shouldn’t assume anything yet."

Ji Xueyan nodded.

"Let’s investigate carefully. Nobody should wander off alone."

The group began examining their surroundings.

At first, nothing happened.

Then a young man near the back suddenly froze.

His face turned pale.

"No... that’s impossible."

Ji Xueyan turned toward him.

"Ji Mingyuan? What happened?"

The young man stared at a figure standing beneath a nearby pavilion.

The figure wore the robes of a man he had hated for years.

It was someone connected to a painful memory he had never shared with his fellow disciples.

"You..." Ji Mingyuan whispered.

The figure slowly turned toward him.

A cruel smile appeared on its face.

"Still pretending to be strong?" it sneered. "You couldn’t even protect the people who trusted you."

Ji Mingyuan’s breathing became ragged.

"Shut up!"

The figure laughed.

"Do you still remember what happened that night? You begged for help, but nobody came."

"SHUT UP!"

Spiritual energy exploded from Ji Mingyuan’s body.

Before anyone could stop him, he rushed toward the figure and unleashed a powerful attack.

BOOM!

The pavilion trembled as the attack struck.

But the figure merely smiled.

Then it disappeared.

Ji Mingyuan landed heavily on the ground, his eyes darting around the courtyard.

"Come out!"

Nobody answered.

Ji Xueyan frowned.

"Ji Mingyuan, what did you see?"

He didn’t respond.

His gaze had become unfocused, and his spiritual energy fluctuated wildly.

Suddenly, he turned toward another young man standing nearby.

"You! You were there that night!"

The other disciple stared at him in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"You watched everything happen! You stood there while they died!"

"Ji Mingyuan, have you lost your mind?"

Ji Mingyuan roared and attacked.

The other disciple barely managed to raise his weapon before the strike landed.

CLANG!

The impact sent him stumbling backward.

"Stop!" Ji Xueyan shouted.

But Ji Mingyuan had already launched another attack.

The two youngsters began fighting desperately.

Several others rushed forward to separate them.

That was when the real nightmare began.

---

One of the Ji Family disciples suddenly screamed.

"YOU!"

He pointed at a fellow clansman, his face twisted with hatred.

"You’re the reason my family was destroyed!"

The accused disciple stared at him.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Don’t pretend you don’t know!"

The first disciple drew his sword.

"You murdered everyone I loved! Today, I’ll make you pay!"

He charged forward.

The other youngster was forced to defend himself.

Within moments, the 2 were exchanging attacks with lethal intent.

Nearby, another disciple had fallen to his knees.

A woman stood before him, her face covered in blood.

"Why did you abandon me?" she asked softly.

The young man trembled.

"No... I didn’t abandon you."

"You promised you would protect me."

"I tried! I really tried!"

"Then why am I dead?"

The woman stepped closer.

The young man covered his ears.

"Please, stop!"

But the voice continued.

"You were afraid. You ran away and left me behind."

"No!"

He suddenly raised his head.

His eyes were filled with bloodlust.

"You’re lying!"

Spiritual energy erupted from his body, and he attacked the woman with everything he had.

The figure shattered like glass.

Yet the attack did not stop.

The young man turned toward the nearest person and unleashed another strike.

His fellow disciple barely had time to scream before the attack struck him.

Blood sprayed across the courtyard.

The entire area descended into chaos.

Every cultivator was seeing something different.

For one, a trusted friend had become a hated enemy.

For another, a family member who had died long ago had returned to accuse them of betrayal.

Some saw the people they had failed to protect. Others saw those who had humiliated them, abandoned them, or destroyed everything they had once cherished.

The illusion had reached into their deepest memories and dragged their darkest secrets into the open.

It knew what they feared.

It knew whom they hated.

And it knew exactly which wounds had never healed.

The most terrifying part was that the illusions did not merely show them painful memories.

They made those memories feel real again.

The hatred, grief, guilt, and rage returned with overwhelming force, clouding their judgment until they could no longer distinguish their fellow disciples from the enemies in their minds.

They began attacking one another.

Some tried to defend themselves, believing they were being ambushed.

Others fought back with murderous intent, convinced that they were finally facing the people responsible for their suffering.

The courtyard became a battlefield.

"Everyone, stop fighting!" Ji Xueyan shouted.

Her voice was drowned out by the sounds of clashing weapons and desperate screams.

She rushed toward 2 disciples who were attacking each other.

"It’s an illusion! Wake up!"

Neither of them reacted.

One struck the other across the chest.

The injured disciple staggered backward, blood spilling from his mouth.

Before he could recover, another attack landed.

He collapsed.

A brilliant golden light suddenly enveloped his body.

The light rose into the air, and his body disappeared from the courtyard.

Ji Xueyan’s eyes widened.

"He’s been eliminated!"

She finally understood the true danger.

This was not an ordinary illusion that could be ignored once its deception was recognized.

The formation was manipulating their minds so thoroughly that they were willing to kill their own companions.

And anyone who died in the illusion would be eliminated from the trial.

"EVERYONE, STOP!"

Ji Xueyan released her spiritual energy, sending a powerful wave through the courtyard.

Several nearby disciples staggered.

For a brief moment, their movements slowed.

But the illusion immediately changed.

The courtyard disappeared from Ji Xueyan’s sight.

---

She found herself standing in a vast, dark hall.

The floor was covered with broken weapons, and countless figures knelt before a towering throne.

At the top of the steps sat a man whose face she recognized immediately.

Her heart tightened.

"Father?"

The man looked down at her.

His expression was cold.

"You’ve disappointed me."

Ji Xueyan froze.

The voice was familiar, yet the words struck her like a blade.

"You were given every opportunity," the figure continued. "You were praised as a genius. Everyone believed you would bring glory to the Ji Family."

He slowly rose from the throne.

"But what have you actually accomplished?"

Ji Xueyan clenched her fists.

"That’s not true."

"You are still too weak."

The hall trembled.

"You cannot protect your family. You cannot overcome this trial. And when the time comes, you will watch everyone around you perish because of your incompetence."

"Stop!"

Her voice echoed through the hall.

The figure descended the steps.

"You know I’m right."

"No!"

Ji Xueyan’s spiritual energy surged.

The figure’s face changed.

The familiar features twisted into something horrifying, and the hall filled with the sounds of countless people screaming.

The kneeling figures lifted their heads.

Every one of them had the face of someone Ji Xueyan had failed to protect in her darkest memories.

They stared at her with hollow eyes.

"You abandoned us."

"You were too weak."

"You should have saved us."

Ji Xueyan’s breathing became unsteady.

For a moment, the weight of those accusations threatened to overwhelm her.

Then she remembered where she was.

The ancient maze.

The second trial.

The warning engraved into her mind since entering this place.

What she saw could not always be trusted.

She closed her eyes.

The voices grew louder.

The accusations became more vicious.

But Ji Xueyan forced herself to remain still.

She circulated her spiritual energy, focusing on the fluctuations surrounding her rather than the images before her.

The hall was filled with spiritual energy, but its flow was strangely irregular.

Every time the voices grew louder, the fluctuations intensified.

Every time she felt the urge to respond emotionally, the formation’s energy surged.

She gradually understood.

The illusion was feeding on her reactions.

The more she believed what she saw, the more firmly it held her mind.

She took a deep breath.

"You may know my memories," she said quietly. "You may even know my fears."

Her spiritual energy gathered around her body.

"But you are not real."

The throne shattered.

The hall collapsed.

The countless figures dissolved into darkness.

Ji Xueyan opened her eyes.

She was back in the courtyard.

Her forehead was covered in sweat, and her breathing was slightly uneven.

But she had escaped the illusion.

Unfortunately, the nightmare around her had not ended.

---

"STOP! ALL OF YOU, STOP!"

Ji Xueyan’s voice rang through the courtyard.

She saw her fellow disciples attacking one another from every direction.

One youngster was swinging his sword at a companion whose face he believed belonged to his sworn enemy.

Another had unleashed a series of powerful attacks against a disciple who had done nothing to provoke him.

Two others were locked in a desperate struggle, each convinced that the other had betrayed their family.

They could not see the truth.

They could not hear her.

Ji Xueyan rushed toward the nearest pair.

"Wake up! Look at me! It’s me, Ji Xueyan!"

The two disciples continued fighting.

She grabbed one by the shoulder.

"STOP!"

He turned toward her.

For a fleeting moment, she thought he had recognized her.

Then his eyes filled with murderous rage.

"YOU!"

He raised his weapon and attacked.

Ji Xueyan’s expression changed.

She dodged the strike and struck his wrist with a precise blow, knocking his weapon aside.

"It’s me! You’re attacking your own people!"

He didn’t listen.

His face twisted in hatred as he attacked again.

Ji Xueyan was forced to restrain him.

But while she was occupied, another disciple fell beneath a fellow clansman’s attack.

Golden light enveloped the fallen cultivator.

He disappeared.

Ji Xueyan turned sharply.

"No!"

She rushed toward the remaining disciples, trying to stop them one by one.

It was useless.

They couldn’t hear her.

Even when she stood directly in front of them, they saw someone else.

To one disciple, she appeared as a hated enemy.

To another, she was a traitor who had supposedly betrayed the Ji Family.

Every attempt to help only made the situation more dangerous.

She could not attack them seriously without risking their lives, yet they were fighting as if everyone around them deserved to die.

Another golden light appeared.

Then another.

One after another, the Ji Family youngsters were eliminated from the trial.

Some fell after sustaining fatal injuries in their own illusions. Others were struck down by companions who could no longer recognize them.

Every disappearance left Ji Xueyan more desperate.

"PLEASE! STOP FIGHTING!"

Her voice cracked.

Nobody answered.

The courtyard was filled with screams, the clash of weapons, and the sudden flashes of golden light.

Then, gradually, the fighting began to subside.

Not because the remaining disciples had regained their senses.

But because almost all of them were gone.

Ji Xueyan stood amid the wreckage, breathing heavily.

Only 2 other Ji Family youngsters remained.

A young man named Ji Minghao stood several steps away, his clothes stained with blood. His weapon trembled in his hand as he stared at the empty spaces where his fellow disciples had disappeared.

Beside him stood Ji Ruolan, a young woman whose face had gone deathly pale.

Both had managed to resist the worst of the illusion, but neither had escaped its influence completely.

Ji Xueyan hurried toward them.

"Are you both alright?"

Ji Minghao swallowed hard.

"I... I saw my older brother."

His voice trembled.

"He died years ago. But he appeared before me, blaming me for not saving him."

Ji Ruolan lowered her head.

"I saw my mother. She kept telling me that I had abandoned her."

She clenched her fists.

"I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t stop hearing her voice."

Ji Xueyan fell silent.

She had experienced the same thing.

The illusion had not relied on random tricks. It had reached into their hearts and found the memories they least wanted to confront.

Then it had turned those memories into weapons.

She looked around the empty courtyard.

So many of her fellow disciples had entered the maze with her.

Now, only 3 members of the Ji Family remained.

And she could not forget that she had been unable to save the others.

"Let’s leave this place," she said at last. "We cannot afford to remain here."

Ji Minghao and Ji Ruolan nodded.

The 3 youngsters began moving toward the far end of the courtyard.

But before they could take more than a few steps, the entire space suddenly trembled.

The beautiful buildings cracked.

The crystal-clear lake turned black.

The white jade pillars crumbled into dust.

The illusion was collapsing.

Ji Xueyan immediately released her spiritual energy to protect herself and the other 2.

A brilliant golden light descended from above.

It enveloped the remaining members of the Ji Family.

For a moment, Ji Xueyan felt a powerful force pulling her away from the courtyard.

Then the entire scene vanished.

---

Elsewhere in the maze, the 10 Lin Clan youngsters continued exploring.

They had just finished examining another set of mysterious markings when a distant tremor passed through the corridor.

Lin Qing immediately raised her hand.

"Everyone, stay alert."

The tremor lasted only a moment, but the runes along the walls glowed brighter than before.

Lin Chen frowned.

"That energy fluctuation came from somewhere deeper inside the maze."

Lin Yu nodded.

"I felt it too. It was strong, but I can’t tell what caused it."

Lin Jue looked at the glowing markings.

"The formations are becoming more active."

Lin Mo sighed.

"Wonderful. Just when I thought this place couldn’t become any more troublesome."

Lin Zhen glanced at him.

"Keep complaining. Perhaps the maze will hear you and send something especially troublesome our way."

Lin Mo gave him an annoyed look.

"Why would you even suggest that?"

Despite their exchange, everyone remained vigilant.

They continued forward, unaware of what Ji Xueyan and the others had endured.

---

At that moment, a deep, ancient voice echoed throughout the maze.

It reached every surviving cultivator, regardless of their location.

"Cultivators, you have witnessed only the beginning of the Maze of Ancient Illusions."

The voice was emotionless, yet its words carried an inexplicable weight.

"Your memories, your fears, your regrets, and your deepest secrets are all doors through which deception may enter."

A brief silence followed.

Then the voice continued.

"Do not assume that recognizing an illusion will guarantee your survival. Do not assume that escaping one deception will protect you from the next."

The runes across the maze illuminated simultaneously.

The stone corridors trembled.

Hidden formations awakened in distant chambers, and countless faint lights began moving through the walls like stars beneath the earth.

"From this moment onward, the illusions will become more terrifying."

The voice paused.

"Some of you will question what you see."

"Some of you will question what you remember."

"And some of you will no longer know whether the people standing beside you are friends... or enemies."

A chilling silence settled over the maze.

Then the final words echoed through every corridor.

"Welcome to the true beginning of the Maze of Ancient Illusions."