I Use Illusions To Control The Whole World Chapter 36
Evil in the cellar
It was a filthy little face, with only the area beneath her eyes relatively clean, exposing a patch of fair skin—clearly the result of tears. Although smeared with dirt, one could vaguely make out her delicate features. She couldn’t be called a stunning beauty, but she carried a gentle charm, like a girl from a modest household.
The most striking part was her eyes—clear like a spring, though now entirely clouded with fear. When she saw the steaming hot dumplings in front of her, a hint of life finally returned to her lifeless gaze.
“Tingting, did my father abuse you again?” the young man asked, a trace of anger flashing in his eyes as he looked at Tingting’s haggard state.
“Don’t worry. I’ll definitely get you out of here! Come, eat some dumplings first. You have to hang in there.” He carefully picked up a dumpling, blew on it gently, and held it up to Tingting’s mouth. Tingting struggled to open her mouth and slowly began to chew in small bites.
“Is it good? I made them myself,” he asked, his eyes glowing with anticipation. His voice carried an urgent yearning, like a child waiting eagerly to hear praise after offering a gift.
“It’s… delicious,” Tingting whispered. A pure, untainted smile appeared on her dirty face. That smile held no trace of pretense, and her clear eyes curved into crescent moons.
Hearing her response, the young man trembled with excitement. “That’s great! I knew you’d like it, Tingting. After all, I made these dog meat dumplings with my own hands!”
“D-dog… meat?” Tingting’s body gave a slight shiver.
The young man grew even more excited, “Yeah! It’s that old yellow dog you raised since childhood. Don’t be fooled by how old it was—it still had some strength. When I went to kill it with a knife, it nearly bit me!”
The pure smile that once lit Tingting’s face stiffened inch by inch, until it shattered. Her once-bright and clear eyes dulled, like they were covered in a layer of dust—dust that no amount of tears could wash away.
“Eat, Tingting! You’ve always loved dumplings, haven’t you?” The young man crudely shoved another dumpling toward her. “Come on, eat it!” His face twisted into a grin of frenzy and malice.
“Hahaha… what an idiot. You actually believed me? That old dog’s been dead for a long time. Ever since you were imprisoned, it sat at the door of that broken grass hut of yours, refusing food and water. It died long ago! Where would I find dog meat? I could at most dig up two dog bones for you!”
Crack… crack…
That was the sound of Yang Dongqing’s fists tightening with such force that it resembled metal grinding. His expression darkened, and his eyes blazed like a volcano on the verge of eruption, fury boiling within him.
“This beast…” he growled, teeth clenched to the point of nearly shattering. If the scene before him hadn’t been a vision, he would’ve already charged in.
But what followed was even more horrifying. After feeding her the dumplings, the young man, now frenzied, began to assault Tingting. The cellar filled with his wild laughter and her anguished screams.
“So, Tingting, did my father ever come here?”
“Tingting, do you know what I love most about you? It’s that filthy little body of yours! Hahaha…”
“You bastard!” Yang Dongqing could no longer contain his rage. He lunged forward, fists swinging violently toward the man—only to strike empty air.
“It’s useless. Everything you’re seeing already happened. You can’t change it now,” Ye Fanyu said.
Yang Dongqing’s chest rose and fell violently, his eyes bloodshot. He turned his head away, unable to bear watching any longer.
Soon, the man left, leaving behind a barely breathing Tingting and the deathly still darkness of the cellar.
It was as if all her tears had dried up. Tingting stared blankly at the trampled dumplings on the ground. The scene looked completely still, as though time had frozen. But everyone present knew it hadn’t. Tingting in the vision was trapped in boundless despair and grief.
Suddenly, Su Mu, ever alert, noticed a change in the image. He pointed to a shadow in the corner.
“A shadow has appeared.”
Everyone tensed and instinctively spread out, but soon realized the shadow wasn’t in the real world—it was within the vision.
In the corner of the cellar where Tingting sat, a shadow stirred silently. It twisted and stretched, gradually rising into a humanoid form.
It looked exactly like the shadowy figure Su Mu and the others had seen before—thin to the point of appearing skeletal, with long arms that nearly dragged on the ground.
The shadow walked lightly toward Tingting. She stared at it in a daze, showing no fear, as if she had already given up all hope.
Under her gaze, the shadow gracefully extended an arm. It was a long, slender limb formed of darkness, as if offering an invitation.
“Are you the nightmare Grandma talked about?” Tingting asked weakly.
The shadow didn’t reply. It merely extended its arm further, stopping right by Tingting’s hand.
Without hesitation, Tingting—her small hand still cuffed—gripped the shadow’s hand tightly.
And the vision abruptly stopped.
The group fell into silence. Tingting’s suffering weighed heavily on them all.
Su Mu pondered aloud, “If this is Tingting’s nightmare, then what’s with the shadow? It should be a monster from her nightmare. But from the time-slice footage, the shadow also appeared in Tingting’s real life.”
Ye Fanyu added, “Maybe the shadow is a creature from someone else’s nightmare. It crossed over into reality, found Tingting, and triggered some kind of reaction—leading to this nightmare. Or maybe this isn’t even Tingting’s nightmare. The shadow itself might be the source.”
“Either way, the shadow is key. Perhaps the solution to ending the nightmare lies with it.”
They discussed briefly, but no one could reach a conclusion. Eventually, they returned to the surface.
“Mr. Su, I’m going to rest for a while in one of the rooms on the second floor. We didn’t find any food this time, so I’ll have to save energy by sleeping. I’ll leave daytime duties to you,” said Ye Fanyu, visibly exhausted.
Su Mu nodded and let him go. After three days without food or rest, even the strongest person wouldn’t last.
He quickly made arrangements for Zhao Chaoyao and the others to rest.
Then he took Yang Dongqing to a room on the third floor.
Yang Dongqing was his personal bodyguard, so there was no way he would let himself sleep in one room and send Yang Dongqing to the next like an idiot.
In the third-floor room, Yang Dongqing’s expression was grim, clearly still immersed in the pain of Tingting’s experience. He might be a Transcendent, but he was still a young man—a passionate one—and his sense of justice couldn’t accept such cruelty.
Su Mu lay on the bed, calmly staring at the ceiling, deep in thought about the connection between Tingting and the shadow. As his mind drifted, he suddenly felt a rush of heat in his nose. He reached up to touch it.
His fingers came away stained with a smear of bright red blood.
