# 1652
Chapter 1652: The Real Counterfeit
Lin Qiye froze in place.
"What did you say?"
"Fake! They're all fakes!" The soldier, his hands covered in blood, grabbed Lin Qiye's wrist and tried to pull him behind him. With his other hand, he swung his halberd and slashed off the head of a Featherwood Forest soldier.
The Featherwood Forest soldier's eyes bulged as his head rolled to Lin Qiye's feet, dyeing the earth red.
"Why do you say they're fake?" Lin Qiye asked, frowning.
"Can't you see?" The soldier reached out and pointed at the Featherwood Forest soldier's corpse on the ground.
"See what?"
"It's a monster in disguise! The same kind we saw in the mountain stream—those willow-branch-like creatures!" As he spoke, the soldier stomped violently on the Featherwood Forest soldier's corpse.
Even after the corpse was completely mangled, Lin Qiye still couldn't see any resemblance to the Cthulhu Faction monster. Just as he was about to speak, several roars came from behind him:
"Kill all these monsters! Chang'an City cannot fall into the monsters' hands!"
"We swear to protect the Emperor unto death!"
"The Marquis is still in the palace! Rescue the Marquis!"
"Monsters... there are monsters everywhere in Chang'an City!"
"..."
Dense crowds of figures broke through the Featherwood Forest defense lines and, under the illumination of blood and fire, surged madly into Chang'an City like a pack of bloodthirsty hyenas.
Several soldiers charged into the city. Panicked screams came from the houses in the neighborhoods. They turned sharply to look. "There's a monster's sound over there too!"
They rushed to the door and kicked it open. The exclamations inside grew even more chaotic. Several civilians huddled in the room, their faces pale as paper. An infant's cries echoed through the streets.
The soldiers, gripping weapons stained with blood, widened their eyes and laughed:
"You think I wouldn't recognize you just because you're wearing those skins?!"
"Quick, over here! There are a few more here!"
Several soldiers charged into the room. Blades flashed with blood. The candle inside was knocked to the ground during the frantic search, and raging flames erupted from the room!
Piercing wails and pleas for mercy gradually stopped. Soldiers covered in blood dragged several corpses out slowly, leaving grotesque blood trails across the ground, reflecting a chilling crimson in the firelight.
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!!"
Hearing the commotion next door, a middle-aged man fled out of his house in terror. When he saw these blood-soaked figures, his face went white with fear and he turned to run into the distance!
The next moment, a figure on horseback swept across the street. A cold lance swept across, and the man's head was sent flying high into the air...
"I killed another one!!" The soldier stabbed the head onto the tip of his lance and raised it high, tilting his head back to shout.
Successive screams of agony came from all parts of Chang'an. As these thirty thousand troops charged into the city, the entire settlement was dyed in a layer of blood, spreading in all directions at a terrifying speed!
"You're insane?! There's no monster replacement here?!"
Lin Qiye witnessed this scene, grabbed the soldier's throat in anger, then stomped hard on the ground. The earth within several li shattered instantly. A blast of air knocked all the surrounding soldiers to the ground.
"Open your eyes wide! They're just ordinary people! There's no monster at all!"
The soldier's body was lifted single-handedly by Lin Qiye, like a helpless chick. But his eyes stared fixedly at Lin Qiye, then, after a moment, he spoke in fear:
"Monster... you're a monster too!! The real Commander Lin was killed by you in the smoke of the mountain stream! You're the monster that replaced him!!"
Lin Qiye's frown deepened.
"Kill him!! Avenge the real Commander Lin!!" With his roar, more than a dozen soldiers nearby who had been knocked down suddenly stood up, drew their blades, and毫不犹豫地 chopped toward Lin Qiye's neck!
Lin Qiye's gaze hardened. A killing intent surged outward. Sword light flashed in an arc around his body for an instant, and the soldiers' movements froze in mid-air.
A thin red line appeared at their waists. In their stunned gazes, their upper bodies cleanly slid off the clean cut and fell to the ground with a thud simultaneously.
Blood flowed. Then their corpses suddenly blurred, transforming into诡异 clusters of willow branches. After writhing on the ground for a moment, they gradually fell still.
Lin Qiye's pupils contracted slightly.
These willow branches were essentially identical to the monster's true form that had appeared after he killed his counterfeit in the smoke. However, the willow branch that had copied him back then had an eyeball on it as well.
So, all these soldiers had been replaced in that iridescent smoke?
But Lin Qiye clearly remembered that on his way back, he had conversed with these soldiers. Their habits, mannerisms, even their memories were completely unchanged from before—not at all like people who had been replaced!
"You actually killed them! You actually killed them! Damn it... I'll kill you!! I must kill you!!"
The soldier Lin Qiye held in the air witnessed the others being killed. His eyes were bloodshot, his expression livid with rage.
Lin Qiye turned to look at the soldier in his hand, and pointed his head toward the willow branches that had reverted to their true form, shouting:
"Open your eyes wide and look clearly! They are the monsters!!"
"They're not monsters!! Those are the monsters! You're the monster!" The soldier struggled and reached out his hand, pointing at the civilians being slaughtered on the street, and at Lin Qiye before him, screaming himself hoarse. "I'll kill you!"
Puff—!
Lin Qiye's hand suddenly tightened, crushing the soldier's throat instantly. The latter's head drooped limply. A moment later, his form transformed into a thick willow branch, swaying silently in the wind.
Lin Qiye's expression was grim.
In his mind, the moment he had personally killed the counterfeit in the mountain stream suddenly replayed—the fury in the other party's eyes.
"Fake! You're the fake one! You're a counterfeit made by the Cthulhu! You'll never be able to replace..."
At the time, Lin Qiye had found it strange. If someone had really disguised themselves as him, trying to take his place, why until the very last moment were his tone and expression so authentic?
It seemed... truly like himself, lying on the ground, facing the counterfeit about to take his identity, roaring in furious rage.
"People replaced by those things in that smoke retain all their memories and thought patterns, to the point where they completely believe they are that person?" Lin Qiye murmured to himself. "If that's the case..."
A counterfeit perfectly disguising as the real thing wasn't anything unusual. But if even the counterfeit believed itself to be genuine, that was problematic... Because it meant it could never reveal the slightest flaw.
Unless you personally killed someone and saw their corpse, it would be nearly impossible to distinguish whether they were real or a willow-branch counterfeit!