If The Persona Is Wrong, Everything Else Is In Vain - Chapter 25

The taut string of Lin Luo’s nerves snapped instantly at the sound of a pebble suddenly tumbling from around the corner.

Whoosh!

A blurry, dark shadow flashed past his eyes with lightning speed, moving so fast it left only a trace of an illusion.

Lin Luo held his breath, his heart drumming wildly against his chest. When it came to the unknown horrors hidden in the dark, he wasn’t actually much braver than Gu Ning. But since he had already “talked the big talk,” he couldn’t back out halfway. More importantly, he was physically wedged in place, trapped between the crowd pushing from behind and the darkness looming ahead, leaving him stuck in a dilemma.

Someone in the back gave a sudden shove, and Lin Luo was pushed straight out. Perhaps it was just an illusion, but the freezing air of the “Glacier Summit” blasted him in the face instantly, far colder than before.

In the darkness, a pair of green eyes flashed as they caught the stray light. Followed by a drawn-out, raspy “Meow~”

Only then did everyone see clearly that it was a jet-black cat. Its fur was sleek and shiny, and it was standing imperiously a third of the way down from the very peak of the “Glacier Summit,” looking down upon the crowd.

“A cat? And here I thought it was some kind of monster.” Someone in the back let out a sigh of relief. “Scared the wits out of me.”

Someone teased him, “Look at how spineless you are. What else could it have been?”

The man refused to back down and shot back, “It’s the middle of the night in a deep forest and remote mountain. Who knows what kind of things could be out here?”

He glanced at the pitch-black surroundings and couldn’t help but shudder. “Besides, this karst cave doesn’t just have the tourist route. Who knows what’s on the other side of the…” He didn’t finish his sentence.

Lin Luo snapped back to reality. He quietly wiped the sweat from his palms onto his clothes, forced a smile for the camera, and said, “What everyone is looking at right now is the final stop of this punishment, the ‘Glacier Summit’…”

As if on cue, an eerie blue light slowly lit up from the very bottom of the mountain, creeping upward. Once the translucent blue light completely saturated the mountain from the inside out, revealing its entire shape, a radiant “ice mountain” grandly unveiled itself to the world.

Without Lin Luo needing to utter another word, the reason why this scenery was named “Glacier Summit” became blindingly obvious.

Once the lights fully illuminated the area, the reward placed by the director’s team during the day suddenly came into view on the “summit,” which stood about ten meters high. As long as they retrieved that treasure chest, they would obtain a “cheat code” for tomorrow’s mission.

Lin Luo took the ladder handed over by the director’s team, double checked the sturdiness of the safety harness on his body, and propped the ladder against the “ice mountain.” People on both sides quickly stepped up to hold it steady.

Zhou Wan tugged blankly at the corner of Lin Luo’s shirt, gazing at him with wide, pleading eyes.

Lin Luo looked down at him, lowered his voice, and said, “I’m fine. I’ll be right back.”

But Zhou Wan didn’t listen obediently like he usually did. This time, he seemed incredibly stubborn, refusing to let Lin Luo climb up no matter what.

At first, Lin Luo wondered if Zhou Wan had held in his rutting period for too long, resulting in some kind of aftereffect, or if it was a reaction to the suppressants. Either way, he figured he needed to wrap this up quickly so he could take Zhou Wan down the mountain for a check-up. But at this very moment, he changed his mind.

Because…

Peering past Zhou Wan’s calm, vacant exterior, he saw a deep, hidden anxiety buried in his eyes. He also felt Zhou Wan gripping his palm tightly, quietly tracing a few words onto it.

“Don’t go. It’s a trap.”

Lin Luo froze. He exchanged a deep, meaningful look with Zhou Wan, then looked up at the people standing behind the glare of the lights and several massive cameras. They were all familiar faces, some looked confused, others expectant, showing no signs of abnormality.

That was until his gaze landed on a familiar figure tucked away in a dark corner, wearing a black baseball cap. He was dressed in a black tracksuit, and his skin was dark. If one didn’t look closely in the shadows, it would truly be difficult to spot him at a glance.

He was seemingly observing the situation here under the radar, occasionally pressing his cap lower.

A flash of insight struck Lin Luo’s mind, and he suddenly remembered something.

He turned to look at the treasure chest that was within arm’s reach atop the “Glacier Summit,” then looked back at Zhou Wan. Curling his lips into a smile, he gently ruffled Zhou Wan’s hair and said softly, “Wait for me to come back.”

With that, he directly pulled his hand away. Zhou Wan tried to grab it a moment too late, catching nothing but empty air.

Lin Luo climbed up halfway with great ease. The teammates below were reliable, holding the ladder firmly for fear of letting him fall.

The black cat simply stood its ground, watching Lin Luo gradually approach it. If not for its blinking, intelligent eyes and its initial “frightening” entrance, it looked just like a stuffed plush toy.

However, just as Lin Luo drew close to the black cat, it suddenly leapt, landing squarely on his shoulder. The sudden addition of weight and impact startled him, causing his grip to slip slightly. His body swayed downward, but luckily his feet didn’t lose their footing on the rungs.

The people below gasped collectively. The director shouted, “Are you okay?”

Lin Luo paused for a moment to steady himself and even out his breathing. Taking advantage of the chaos, he cast a glance toward the direction he had targeted earlier. As expected, the man in the baseball cap was still staring intently in his direction. Strangely enough, the black cat seemed to possess a spiritual intuition, as it followed his gaze and looked down as well.

It even looked in the exact same direction he did.

Lin Luo sneered in his heart. Is that all?

If he had to make a bold guess…

Below, Xiao Yang quickly noticed Lin Luo’s gaze. He hurriedly lowered his head, tugged at his baseball cap, and walked away.

The moment he turned around, the black cat leapt off Lin Luo’s shoulder. It nimbly bounded from the “summit” all the way to the ground, weaving past one person after another with agile movements, heading straight in the direction of the departing Xiao Yang.

The sudden unexpected turn of events sent a jolt of alarm through everyone’s hearts.

“How about we just forget it?” the director called out from below to Lin Luo, who was about to reach the top. The director couldn’t help but think to himself that this show was turning out to be far too eerie.

“Almost there.” Lin Luo gritted his teeth and climbed onto the final rung, reaching out to grab the treasure chest at the top.

But whether the ladder wasn’t long enough or the angle was wrong, no matter how he shifted his posture, he was always just a tiny bit short of reaching the chest. Within moments, he broke into a sweat.

Suddenly, amid his frantic efforts, he spotted a small protrusion to the side. If he grabbed onto it, he could use the leverage to lean half his body outward, bridging the exact distance he lacked to reach the treasure chest.

After a brief hesitation, he directly reached out and extended half his body.

Fortunately, just as he anticipated, he successfully grabbed the chest. Unfortunately, that protrusion wasn’t sturdy.

Lin Luo wobbled at the top of the ladder, causing the entire ladder to sway along with him. After a bout of precarious shaking, thanks to his friends below having a solid center of gravity, locking into a firm horse stance, and refusing to loosen their grip for a single second. Lin Luo managed to avoid falling straight down.

After surviving this harrowing ordeal, the director immediately called a halt to the filming and ordered the crew to bring him down safely.

“Wait a minute,” Lin Luo called out.

Just as he stabilized his stance, he looked closely and caught a few wisps of red bleeding through the blue light of the “Glacier” atop the summit.

It was bleeding through from the back, reflecting across the mountain peak like a thin, faint line.

His gaze followed the red light downward, and an open space entirely different from this side entered his field of vision.

Like the tourist route, that side was fully illuminated by lights installed on the rock walls.

The difference, however, was that the area over there was bathed in a deep, dark red light. Directly ahead, the rock wall was arranged in tiers like a flight of steps. Upon them, ancestral tablets were lined up neatly in a pyramid shape, tapering off toward the top.

On the altar table at the very bottom, a wide variety of offerings covered the surface. Under the glow of the ever-burning longevity candles, the faces of two people standing before the altar were illuminated.

Behind the “Glacier Summit” was actually the ancestral hall of Shuihe Village.

And as a local, Lin Luo was actually just finding out about this today.

When he was a child, he had come here with his parents and the village elders to pay respects.

He had even observed this “giant stone” directly facing the tablets back then.

Indeed, back then, without the accompaniment of lights, the entire “glacier” looked like nothing more than a dull, greyish-black boulder from that side of the space.

The glacier was half icy-blue and translucent, and half dim and lifeless.

He too used to kneel on the prayer mat to kowtow to the ancestors, praying for protection, just like the person down there was doing right now.

The person standing to the side making a respectful bow was the first to notice Lin Luo’s presence. He looked up toward this side, a flash of astonishment flitting across his face when he saw Lin Luo’s visage.

It was Wei An, whom he hadn’t seen in days.

Wei An frowned and tilted his head slightly, before letting out an ambiguous smile.

Immediately after, the person who had been kneeling on the prayer mat with his back bent in devout prayer also stood up. He was still clutching a stack of joss paper in his hand and had just set his brush back on the inkstone.

Following Wei An’s gaze, he looked over in confusion, only to be yanked back by Wei An, who said, “This will do.”

“But I think…” The boy stared at the joss paper for a long time, saying uncertainly, “Will this really work?”

The boy looked to be about ten years old, appearing like a middle school student. He wore a tattered school uniform, had a buzzcut, looked as thin as a rail, and kept his eyes downcast, not daring to look anyone in the eye.

“It will work.” Wei An patted his shoulder, comforting him, “As long as your heart is sincere, it will definitely work.”

Lin Luo took a closer look at the paper in the boy’s hand. There seemed to be ink on it, and it appeared to have some words written on it, but it was too far away for him to see clearly.

Before he could make his next move, he heard Wei An’s voice ring out again, saying, “Don’t you agree?”

The boy hesitated for a moment before nodding, “…Yes.”

He kept his head lowered the entire time, so he didn’t realize that Wei An’s question wasn’t actually directed at him.

Lin Luo froze as a wave of shock hit him. An ominous feeling welled up in his heart, and a sudden sense of suffocating tightness gripped his chest. He locked eyes with Wei An from over ten meters away, completely bewildered.

Immediately after, Wei An placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder, turned around, and led him out. Meanwhile, Lin Luo was firmly called down by the director, who kept urging him from below.

He held the treasure chest tightly against his chest, his mind racing with a thousand thoughts. The production crew had to ask for it several times before he belatedly handed the treasure chest over.

When the contents of the card inside were displayed before the camera, it felt exactly like a twist of fate.

Written on it were the words. Reaping Without Sowing.

Yet, this card was something Lin Luo had obtained after “going through countless hardships” including but not limited to overcoming his psychological fears, hanging by a thread, and uncovering a secret.

The words Reaping Without Sowing seemed like a fortune telling slip, requiring the viewer to decipher its underlying meaning themselves. It felt like a summary, and even more like a self-mockery of what was predestined in the grand scheme of things.

“Since this punishment was completed by…” The director glanced at Zhou Wan, wiped the sweat from his brow, and continued, “…was completed by two guests together.”

“Therefore, the reward mentioned on this card will also be shared by both of them.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the hype crew began to cheer and applaud. In reality, everyone still had lingering fears, but for the sake of the show’s entertainment value…

Lin Luo was weighed down by heavy thoughts. All the way back, he kept pondering what Wei An meant. A segment of memory felt on the verge of resurfacing in his mind, yet it stubbornly refused to break through.

He instinctively felt that he seemed to have lost a very important chunk of memory.

At the mouth of the cave, Gu Ning had already struck a pose. The moment the lights and commotion emerged, he hurried over to meet them on the main path, stepping right in front of Lin Luo. He was about to put on airs, but when he caught sight of Lin Luo’s soul absent state, he lost his own composure first.

“What’s wrong with you?” He shot a sidelong glance at Lin Luo. Unable to completely drop his pride, he kept his neck stiff and his face cold.

“Oh.” Lin Luo snapped out of his daze. His unfocused eyes locked back onto Gu Ning’s face. He blinked blankly and suddenly asked, “Gu Ning, are you okay?”

“What could possibly be wrong with me?”

“Aren’t you afraid of the dark?” Lin Luo said bluntly.

Gu Ning wanted to keep up his front, but he was completely broken by that one sentence. Quietly looking around, he began to shout loudly to drown out Lin Luo’s voice, “What? You’re afraid of the dark? Then let’s hurry down the mountain!”

With that, he threw an arm around Lin Luo’s shoulder, tucked Lin Luo’s head under his armpit, and dragged him straight to the front of the line.

Once they were a bit further away from the crowd, he said through gritted teeth, “Would it kill you not to expose my secrets?”

Lin Luo realized after the fact that he had misspoken. He immediately apologized, saying, “I’m sorry.”

Gu Ning felt his forehead. “Do you have a fever?”

He then used his other hand to feel his own forehead. “Your brain must be fried. You’re usually pretty sharp.”

Finally, he came to a conclusion, “Or maybe you’ve been possessed by something. Either way, you’re definitely not Lin Luo right now.”

“I told you that you shouldn’t have gone in. Look at what a mess this has turned into.”

Lin Luo weakly brushed his hand away and shook his dizzy head. “I’m fine.”

After a moment of silence, he glanced at the crowd trailing a short distance behind them, then looked at Gu Ning, who had a large headlamp strapped to his brow. He asked tentatively, “That thing of yours…”

“Which thing?” Gu Ning asked.

“Just… didn’t you find a psychologist for me before?” Lin Luo bit his lip. “Did they figure out the root cause of my claustrophobia?”

Gu Ning froze. He took the headlamp off his head, held it in his hand, and said evasively, “No, we still don’t know what the root cause of your condition is.”

“Then did you find that missing piece of my memory?” Lin Luo pressed further.

Gu Ning hurriedly quickened his pace by a few steps, stepping directly onto the village’s main road, where the glow of the streetlights enveloped them, bringing a full sense of security.

He said, “No, not that either.”