"The rules tell us not to believe any sounds we hear at night."

"But even if we don’t believe those shadows, how are we going to survive in such a bizarre environment?" Gongyang Jin asked.

At this point, Jiang Lingling, who hadn’t spoken much, raised her hand.

"Hmm!"

"She said that her seal traps weren’t triggered, and none of our attacks could hit those shadows, so Lingling believes those shadows aren’t real."

"Before we died, we were flooded with sounds and images, but we didn’t suffer any substantial harm."

"After we revived, we fell into a state of mental chaos, proving that our minds had suffered severe damage."

Li Lingzhen paused as she said this.

"All of this indicates one thing, the attacks from those shadows come from the mental level, which aligns with the reminders in the rules."

Jiang Lingling means that as long as we don’t believe the sounds we hear at night, we can avoid being attacked?

This is indeed a possibility.

"Hmm." After hearing Li Lingzhen’s "translation," Jiang Lingling spoke again.

"Lingling says she can place a seal in each of your minds, gathering your ’thoughts’ through the seal. Without ’thoughts’ as food, those shadows should disappear quickly."

This time, Jiang Lingling stepped forward.

Han Zhan immediately agreed, "No time to delay, let’s do it."

Jiang Lingling nodded and summoned the Haotian Tower, condensing special golden symbols from the bottom of the tower.

These symbols turned into golden light, flying toward Han Zhan and the other Contracted Spirit girls’ heads, merging in the blink of an eye.

As the golden light fused into the mental sea, Han Zhan could feel an additional layer outside his thoughts, something like a perceivable "membrane,"

it was this membrane that gathered and protected his thoughts.

The preparations were complete, and the night was gradually darkening.

The night fell once more.

In an instant, the outside of the Peach Garden was surrounded by countless shadows.

They were more like resentful souls who, after death, were unwilling to pass on and leave, entirely black, maintaining only a human form with nothing else.

When seen from the monitor, these shadows had already clung to the surveillance.

"Don’t lose your mind." At this moment, Han Zhan reminded, "Keep your consciousness clear, don’t believe these shadows, they are false, nonexistent, don’t be scared by them."

With Han Zhan’s reminder and Jiang Lingling’s seals protecting their mental seas, preventing their thoughts from dissipating.

"Hungry, I’m so hungry..."

"I want to eat Flat Peaches, I want to live forever, I want Ascension to Saint..."

"The Queen Mother of the West has wronged me, the Queen Mother of the West has wronged me!"

Various voices once again came in a torrent.

The shadows, twisted like wavy lines, crawled out from the monitors and started reaching out with tentacles towards Han Zhan and the others!

This time, Han Zhan and the others didn’t back away, nor did they make any unnecessary moves.

Indeed!

When these dark tentacles touched Han Zhan, they unsurprisingly passed right through him.

No harm was done!

Jiang Lingling’s speculation was correct, the nature of these shadows was that of mental creatures.

Only by believing in their existence could they cause substantial harm, and if you don’t believe they exist, they truly don’t!

The Flat Peaches on the Peach Tree still hung there.

They hadn’t turned into skulls gnawed by insects.

The shadows’ "wails" also began to lose their power, without "thoughts" to feed on, they were left repeating just "I’m so hungry," "I want to eat Flat Peaches," "Don’t believe the Queen Mother of the West," and a few other phrases.

The once fearsome shadows, once unmasked, turned into paper tigers, no longer scary.

As this fear subsided, the shadows’ figures gradually dimmed.

Ultimately, they vanished completely into the night,

as if they’d never appeared.

It’s all fake, don’t believe it!

...

"We’ve finally gotten through another hurdle, right?"

"This night should be safe now."

"We survived."

Watching the distant sky lightening,

the night receded, marking the successful passing of the third night.

A new Rhombic Crystal appeared, and after activating it, everyone sat down in the Crystal Area, enjoying a brief moment of relaxation.

On the third night, though they didn’t endure arduous combat, the mental stress was unprecedented.

Whether it was the close encounter with those terrifying twisted shadows or the immense pressure of having only one life left, it continually battered their nerves, attempting to break their will.

Fortunately, they made it through.

Now everyone’s strength had returned to Tier Seven, stronger than the day before.

They could continue to face the fourth day in a new state.

"The task of guarding the Peach Garden will end on the fifth day. Now it’s the fourth day, only one day away from ultimate success."

Same as always, it was time for Han Zhan’s recap session.

"There is only one more rule in the ’Flat Peach Garden Fruit Tree Care Rules’ that we haven’t touched."

"But the fifth rule is written more clearly and is easier to follow than the others."

The fifth rule is: Do not eat the Flat Peaches, absolutely not!

Stealing and eating Flat Peaches is a serious crime that angers the Queen Mother of the West. As long as Han Zhan and the others have even a little common sense, they would never do such a thing.

So this fifth rule is the easiest to follow.

That being said, Han Zhan and the others still dared not be too careless.

After all, now, except for Xia Youwei, they only had one life left, and if that was lost, it could mean actual death.

"Let’s go, let’s head in."

After saying that, Han Zhan was about to, as before, take the lead into the Peach Garden.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared before them, blocking their path.

When Han Zhan got a clear look at the figure, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

It was a monkey.

Its size was nearly twice that of Han Zhan’s, with muscular, robust body, and large protruding eyes that gleamed with a fierce and intimidating glow.

Its sharp, long fangs were exposed, making it look terrifying, with a cruel smile tugging at its lips.

Most notably, it was chewing on something.

That was a human arm.

And in the other claw of this terrifying Fierce Monkey, it held a human head.

The face on that head bore a kind, friendly smile, seemingly frozen forever.

"Where are you all rushing off to?"