I Use Illusions To Control The Whole World Chapter 34
The cellar
As Su Mu spoke, he took out a lighter to light Ye Fanyu’s cigarette, but Ye Fanyu immediately looked flustered. “Mr. Su, you’re too kind. Allow me.”
Without waiting for a response, he took the lighter and brought it back to Su Mu.
Click.
A small flame flickered between them.
“After you,” Ye Fanyu said.
Su Mu smiled. Of course, he understood what Ye Fanyu was really doing—he was worried the cigarette might be tampered with and didn’t dare light his own first. Su Mu didn’t expose him and let him go ahead.
After Su Mu took a deep drag, Ye Fanyu finally lit his own cigarette, pretending to take puffs and exhale smoke. But if one looked closely, it was clear he wasn’t actually inhaling.
“Can I have one too?” Li Qiang asked hesitantly, his voice shaking a little, clearly intimidated by the two.
“Of course.” Su Mu smiled, his expression polite and gentle, without a hint of arrogance toward ordinary people.
Li Qiang took deep puffs, but the more he smoked, the more confused he felt. There was no tobacco smell at all—just a mouthful of jasmine fragrance. But he didn’t dare say anything, assuming that powerful people simply liked this kind of cigarette.
Surrounded by the scent of jasmine, everyone’s tension eased a little. At some point, Wang Li, who had been crying silently, even drifted off to sleep.
“Mr. Su, I suggest you get some rest too,” said Ye Fanyu as he smoked. “We can’t leave the house during the day. We can only go out at night to look for food and candles. So we’ve been living on a reversed schedule—sleeping during the day and moving at night.”
“No hurry. I just arrived. I’d like to look around a bit. Maybe I’ll find some clues about the nightmare,” Su Mu replied with a smile, his gaze drifting slightly toward the hall.
The spacious living room was furnished simply but practically with wooden furniture. There was a pair of blue-and-white porcelain vases on the counter, and the floor was made of patterned ceramic tiles. In the northern corner of the hall, a wooden staircase led to the second floor.
“Although the decor is still modest, it’s clearly more refined than the other houses. This is the only three-story building in the village, so by logic, it’s most likely the home of the village chief.”
Ye Fanyu’s eyes lit up. “The village chief’s home might have food! To be honest, we haven’t eaten in three days. We searched a few houses at night, but found nothing. This house seems wealthier—maybe there’s something here.”
“Then let’s take a look together.”
“Alright.”
Su Mu took a step forward, but after two steps, he stopped and looked toward Yang Dongqing in the corner. “You come too.”
Yang Dongqing silently got up and followed behind without a word.
The three of them searched the three-story house thoroughly but found nothing unusual. It looked like a typical village home. If there was anything strange, it was how old everything felt—like it belonged to a rural village from decades ago, with no trace of modernity.
“No food again.” Ye Fanyu’s face darkened. Even Transcendents needed to eat, and three days without food was torturous. He could only place his hopes on Su Mu.
“Mr. Su, did you happen to bring any food?”
Su Mu shook his head. “Sorry, I didn’t bring any either.”
Ye Fanyu forced a smile. “Looks like we’ll have to wait until tonight.”
“Maybe not.” Su Mu suddenly smiled mysteriously. He bent down and touched the hard ceramic floor. When he straightened up again, the tips of his pale fingers were coated in a thin layer of dust.
He rubbed the dust between his fingers and focused on a corner of the hall.
Immediately, Zhao Chaoyao pulled a white handkerchief from his pocket and carefully wiped Su Mu’s fingertips clean with the utmost respect.
Ye Fanyu’s lips twitched. He asked tentatively, “Mr. Su… are you a nobleman?”
“Oh? Why do you think that?”
“It’s just that… your behavior and presence really resemble a noble.”
Su Mu responded with a polite smile but didn’t answer. He had grown up in the Lower District and had never seen a real noble. If someone like him was what people called a noble, then perhaps that’s all a noble was?
Seeing that Su Mu didn’t respond, Ye Fanyu quickly changed the subject. “By the way, Mr. Su, when you said ‘maybe not,’ did you mean you found something?”
He remained very courteous. In the Nightmare World, it was foolish to make enemies of other Transcendents when there were no conflicts of interest—especially someone like Su Mu, who clearly wasn’t to be provoked.
Su Mu nodded slightly and raised his serpent-patterned cane, pointing to the floor beneath the staircase. “There’s very little dust there.”
Ye Fanyu followed the direction of the cane and instantly brightened. “Maybe the village has a tradition of building cellars to store food. That could be a cellar!”
He rushed over. The shadow of the staircase slanted down just right to obscure the tiles beneath it. He reached out and touched the floor—it indeed had only a thin layer of dust, much less than the rest of the room.
Facing away from Su Mu, no one noticed the flicker of seriousness and caution in his eyes.
Such sharp observation! To be able to control so many people and still have that level of detail-oriented awareness… How many secrets was Su Mu hiding?
He had just searched the upstairs with Su Mu, yet hadn’t noticed anything unusual about the tiles under the staircase—or more precisely, there was no way to spot anything with the naked eye.
Who could see dust on tiles hidden in shadows?
This man must have some kind of detection ability!
Ye Fanyu wasn’t wrong. Su Mu hadn’t relied on his eyes—he had sensed it with Mental Power. His extraordinary Mental Power not only allowed him to hypnotize but also gave him heightened perception.
Knock knock.
Ye Fanyu tapped the tile with his knuckles, and a hollow echo rang out. His face lit up with joy as he turned back. “It’s hollow!”
He traced along the tile seam with his fingers until he found a raised edge. With a firm press, the tile lifted up, revealing a cellar entrance just big enough for a person to crawl through.
“Mr. Su, there really is a cellar.” Ye Fanyu walked over, thrilled, but didn’t go down immediately. He wasn’t a fool. Even though the house seemed safe, who could guarantee the cellar was too?
What kind of good person builds a hidden cellar in their home and hides it so well?
