Chapter 15: The Shattering of the Illusion!

“Hubby...”
“Wifey...”
“Hubby, I’m scared...”
“Wifey, you’re truly remarkable...”
“Hubby, stay with me...”
“Wifey, I...”
“What are you standing there for? Hurry up and come in! Give me the full performance!”

Just as Chu Tian and Chen Meng were about to stage a touching scene outside the operating room, Chen Meng suddenly grabbed Chu Tian and pulled him inside with her.

“Ah~~~”
“Damn it—”

Inside the operating room, Chu Tian cried out as if bitten by a dog.

Amid a loud wail of newborn cries, Chu Tian looked down at his arm, which Chen Meng had bitten until it bled, and cast her a look of grievance. “You could’ve just shouted a couple of times to act like you’re giving birth, but why did you have to bite me?”

“Well, someone has to shout, otherwise it wouldn’t seem real,” Chen Meng replied.

Chu Tian rolled his eyes. Her belly deflated like a burst balloon in an instant, and then a little baby appeared out of thin air—that made it real?

As Chu Tian and Chen Meng spoke, their gazes turned to the child “born” by Chen Meng.

At that moment, the little ghost doctors gathered around, all staring at the tiny ghost playing the role of the infant, about their own size.

“Can I hold my baby?” Chen Meng’s voice carried a hint of fatigue, yet her face seemed to glow with a faint light of maternal love.

After all, in this illusion, Chu Tian and Chen Meng had truly played the roles of a young married couple for several months.

Even if it was just acting, they had sincerely longed for the child’s arrival.

At that moment, the ghost doctors all fell silent.

They quietly placed the child wrapped in swaddling clothes beside Chen Meng, whose eyes softened with tenderness as she looked at the baby, as if it were truly her and Chu Tian’s child.

“Hubby...” Chen Meng looked up at Chu Tian and gently said, “Let’s give the baby a name.”

“How about... Chu Meng’er?” Chu Tian suggested, glancing at the wrinkled little infant.

Chen Meng smiled faintly at the child and softly whispered, “Sweetheart, you have a name now. You’re Chu Meng’er—your father’s surname and your mother’s name. You are the most beloved little treasure of your mom and dad.”

The little baby seemed to sense something and began to wail loudly.

Throughout the entire hospital, besides the little ghost doctors around Chu Tian and Chen Meng, countless unseen eyes in the darkness suddenly began to cry out as well.

For a moment, the whole hospital was filled with the cries of infants.

The wails of a hundred ghosts, mourning and heartbreaking!

Yet the crying seemed to have no effect on Chu Tian and Chen Meng at all.

Time within the illusion appeared to accelerate.

After leaving the operating room, the illusion didn’t fade. The two continued their roles as new parents, living in the hospital.

However, the child they cared for changed daily.

Chu Tian realized that the ghost infants of the hospital took turns enjoying this role-playing experience. Every day, a new ghost’s spirit merged into the baby, each little ghost seemingly agreeing to enjoy one day as a child with parents.

Chu Tian and Chen Meng happily played along.

Day after day, month after month, as if fast-forwarded, Chu Tian and Chen Meng’s daughter, Chu Meng’er, suddenly grew to be three years old in the blink of an eye.

Life seemed unchanged; the family of three treated the entire hospital as their home.

But one day, as little Chu Meng’er sat on the bed playing with an origami crane folded by Chu Tian, she suddenly asked, “Daddy, do you think my birth was a mistake?”

Such a question from Chu Meng’er startled Chu Tian out of his leisurely parental reverie, almost drowning in the illusion.

He looked at her thoughtfully and said, “The birth of life is the greatest miracle in this world. How could it be a mistake? Actually, a child’s arrival should be the most beautiful surprise for parents.”

“So, I am the most beautiful surprise?” Chu Meng’er’s lips pouted, tears streaming down her face. “Then why... why don’t they even want to see me?”

Chu Tian fell silent in his chair. Chen Meng came to his side, placed a hand on his shoulder, and gently said to Chu Meng’er, “Maybe it’s because you’re too blessed, and they can’t handle that blessing. Those without good fortune can’t be your parents.”

“Then... is the outside world good or not?” Chu Meng’er turned to look out the window, but the view beyond had vanished, replaced by pitch-black darkness.

“The outside world...” Chu Tian and Chen Meng held Chu Meng’er together and looked out the window.

“The outside world can be tough, even painful,” Chu Tian said. “But it has blue skies, white clouds, the fragrance of flowers, and birdsong. If life is a journey, no matter how difficult, experiencing it is far richer than never trying at all. So whether it’s good or bad, little Meng’er, you have to go see for yourself.”

“Don’t be afraid. If you get tired, just turn back. Mommy and Daddy will always be here!” Chen Meng whispered softly.

Chu Meng’er sat in Chu Tian’s arms, Chen Meng gently stroked her head, and silent tears streamed like a fountain...

At that moment, the illusions before them shattered like a mirror.

Nearly four years of memories within the illusion replayed and peeled away piece by piece.

Though they hadn’t moved, everything around them seemed to accelerate rapidly.

The scenes before them shattered and reset.

Chu Tian and Chen Meng found themselves back in the dilapidated hospital on that dark night.

The Chu Meng’er who had been in Chu Tian’s arms had vanished, replaced by a barefoot little girl in a red dress floating before them—her appearance exactly like Chu Meng’er.

The Ghost King!

This hospital had become a breeding ground for the Ghost King but had never succeeded in nurturing one. Chu Tian and Chen Meng had hoped to dispel the grudges of these ghost infants, but unexpectedly, their presence had caused all the ghost infants to gradually merge into the body of Chu Meng’er over the three years spent raising her in the illusion.

Originally, Chu Meng’er was just a ghost infant playing a role, but in the end, she became the embodiment of all the ghost infants growing together—this three-year-old girl before them!

The result of so many ghost infants merging into one was that Chu Meng’er had truly become the Ghost King.

Back in reality, the Chu Meng’er standing before Chu Tian and Chen Meng looked at them with a voice tinged with distance and remoteness: “Are you two... not afraid of me?”

Chu Tian and Chen Meng exchanged a glance, smiled gently, and replied warmly, “Have you ever seen any parents afraid of their own child?”