Chapter 177: with translation of chapter title

Lin Yifan let Ruan Qingtan pull him forward, but his eyes vigilantly swept the surroundings.

The street remained bustling, the sunshine still warm; honestly, Lin Yifan actually felt a little reluctant to give up this sunshine‑like warmth.

Since arriving in the Survival Realm, every day has been rainy; even when it isn't raining, the whole world is shrouded in mist, a dreary gray expanse.

Not to mention sunshine, he had never even seen a trace of azure sky.

In such a harsh environment, Lin Yifan felt deeply stifled; he truly missed sunshine and longed for blue skies and white clouds.

So, even knowing that everything before him was false, he couldn't help reaching out, wanting to feel as much of the sunshine's warmth as possible.

At that moment, Ruan Qingtan suddenly spoke:

"Lin Yifan, isn't this sunshine warm? Do you like such warm sunshine?"

Lin Yifan blinked, not understanding why she suddenly asked that, but he answered truthfully:

"The sunshine is very warm; I even feel a little reluctant to let go of this warmth."

Ruan Qingtan immediately replied: "Then let's hold hands and live forever under this warm sunshine, okay?"

"I really hate days without sunshine!"

At first hearing, her words seemed perfectly fine, but for some reason Lin Yifan instantly felt she was probing something.

Yet when he lowered his head to look at Ruan Qingtan's face, he found no clue.

But Lin Yifan trusted his sixth sense, after all this world is fake, and the sunshine is fake too!

Ruan Qingtan saying that was more like tempting him to stay here.

For a normal couple, that would be absolutely abnormal.

So Lin Yifan simply decided to turn the experiment around.

"Qingtan," he suddenly said, "if one day you discover this world is actually a huge lie, what would you do?"

Ruan Qingtan's steps halted, she turned to look at him and laughed, "Pfft—why are you saying such weird things today?"

She reached out and pinched his cheek, her tone light: "Haven't you been staying up late reading sci‑fi novels until you're obsessed?"

Lin Yifan did not laugh.

He just quietly stared at her, his eyes filled with probing and coldness.

And Ruan Qingtan's smile gradually faded; she furrowed her brows and feigned speechlessness, saying:

"……Are you serious, or is this some kind of test you're giving me?"

"Of course I'm serious." He nodded, his face solemn, and said:

"If one day you discover we're trapped in a loop, and each time I kill you, would you hate me?"

The air seemed to freeze for an instant.

Ruan Qingtan's smile froze instantly, but she quickly recovered and replied in a pleasant tone:

"I would never hate you! My love for you is something heaven and earth can attest to, sun and moon can bear witness to; no matter what you do to me, I won't hate you, because I know you must be acting against your will."

Those words sounded truly sincere.

But Lin Yifan instinctively found them false and laughable.

At this moment, he finally became convinced again that Ruan Qingtan is the key to breaking the situation.

Meanwhile, the library's doors were already within reach, yet Lin Yifan's steps grew slower and slower.

Ruan Qingtan seemed to sense his hesitation, turned her head, and in her clear eyes a fleeting red glint flashed, barely noticeable.

"What's wrong? Spacing out again?" She tilted her head, her tone affectionate with a hint of reproach: "You're really strange today."

Lin Yifan fixed his gaze on her eyes, trying to catch that fleeting abnormality.

But her expression remained natural, as if the earlier abnormality had merely been his illusion.

"Nothing much, just feel that there are very few people in the library today." He replied lightly, while staying secretly alert.

Because before his eyes, the library wasn't merely sparsely populated—it was completely empty.

Even the librarian at the entrance was absent.

Only the doors stood wide open, which is highly unusual.

And Ruan Qingtan now grew a bit impatient: "Oh! At this time everyone's in class, so it's normal for the library to be empty. Besides, we wanted to take advantage of the emptiness for a date, but you keep overthinking—stop dawdling, let's go in!"

Saying that, she grabbed Lin Yifan's hand and pulled him into the library.

Inside the library the light was bright, the shelves neatly arranged, a few students scattered about quietly reading—everything looked perfectly normal.

Yet Lin Yifan's nerves grew even tighter.

The more normal it seemed, the more uncanny it felt.

Ruan Qingtan pulled him straight to the innermost row of shelves, her fingertips lightly brushing the spines, finally stopping at a book with a dark‑red cover.

"Look, I've wanted to borrow this book for a while but never found it." She smiled, drew the book out, and handed it to him: "Today my luck is really good."

Lin Yifan lowered his gaze; the book's cover bore gilt lettering that faintly gleamed—Item: Red Moon Covenant.

His pupils contracted sharply.

Red Moon!

As expected, the core of this Illusion Realm lies right here!

He suppressed his inner turmoil, feigning calm as he asked: "This book… what does it talk about?"

Ruan Qingtan blinked, her smile sweet: "It's about a very romantic legend, concerning the Red Moon and an eternal oath."

She turned the pages, her fingertip lightly touching a certain line.

"Look, it says here—'When the Red Moon descends, all lost souls shall find their haven; I am that haven!'"

As the pages turned, Lin Yifan immediately smelled an intensely familiar stench of decay.

That was the smell of Maggot Human Bone!

And when Lin Yifan's eyes fell upon the page, he saw the words twisting as if they were alive.

No! Strictly speaking, those words came to life like maggots, gradually forming a new sentence:

"Sink down, this is your last redemption."

His temples throbbed, and countless whispers seemed to echo in his ears, noisy and bewitching.

It seemed to want to drag him into an endless abyss, turning him into a walking corpse forever sinking.

No! This is a trap!

This is a trap that wants to turn him into Maggot Human Bone!

Lin Yifan snapped back to reality, jerked back a step, and slapped the book from Ruan Qingtan's hand.

"Enough!" he shouted low, his voice holding suppressed anger, "What Title: God of the Red Moon, what damn salvation, you're just a bunch of disgusting bugs; I will absolutely not become like you!"

The book slapped onto the floor with a "Pa—", its pages fluttering on their own, rustling loudly, finally stopping at the last page—

That was an illustration: a blood-red moon hung high in the sky, below stood two silhouettes, one was him, the other was Ruan Qingtan.

Beneath their feet were countless twisted, kneeling figures.