My Substitute CEO Bride

Nash returned to the stone house feeling sleepy, so he took off his clothes and climbed into Tatiana's bed. He wrapped his arms around her sweetly scented body and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Not long after, Tatiana opened her eyes. Seeing the weary look on his face, her heart ached slightly. She reached her delicate hand out to caress his chiseled cheek and whispered, "You scoundrel, you've stolen my heart." Nash's lips curved into a slight smile. "Really?" Surprised, Tatiana pulled back and exclaimed, "You... Why aren't you asleep yet?"

Nash teased her by lifting her chin and replying, "You woke me up. Now you have to make it up to me."

Looking down, Tatiana pressed her small hand against his warm chest and murmured, "How should I make it up?"

Nash just smiled slightly. "Figure it out yourself."

...

In the following 30-plus days, Nash worked tirelessly day and night, often skipping sleep and food. He had mastered over 500 pages of the tome.

One day, while walking through the bamboo grove, he realized he recognized the array patterns there. The grove contained over 30 arrays, but none were detection arrays, which explained their undisturbed life within.

Nash found 12 bamboo sticks with the word 'Illusion' written on them. Using a carving tool, he carved them up. As soon as he destroyed all 12 of them, the entire bamboo grove began to fall apart. The air twisted, and the surroundings changed drastically.

When Nash and Tatiana emerged at the summit of Malignant Mountain, they were met with breathtaking scenery.

However, Tatiana was visibly lost in thought. She was wearing a white dress and carrying a large white rabbit backpack with the cartoon water bottle hanging from her waist. They had been living in the bamboo grove for over a month, and during that time, their relationship had deepened significantly.

Tatiana bit her red lip, struggling to hold back tears. She knew it was time to wake from this dream.

"Tatiana, we finally made it out!" Nash exclaimed joyfully, wrapping her in a hug.

"Yes, we're out," Tatiana replied with a forced smile. If it were up to her, she would choose to stay forever in that illusionary array. Even if it were just a dream, she would rather never wake up from it. Noticing her unusual demeanor, Nash gently placed his hands on her shoulders and asked, "Tatiana, is something bothering you? You don't seem very happy."

Tatiana turned her head away and wiped a tear, her voice trembling slightly. "It's nothing. I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed with emotion."

Nash sighed inwardly but did not press further. He simply took her hand, and they continued walking. Over the past month, many intimate moments had peppered their relationship.

Strangely, Tatiana had not gotten her period yet, which might suggest that their bodies were attuned to real-world time outside the illusion. Her period only just ended before they entered the mountain. Since only four days had passed in the outside world, she was not due for her next cycle.

Their reentry into the real world brought both relief and a tinge of melancholy, especially for Tatiana, who secretly cherished the simplicity and intimacy of their life within the illusion.

After walking 200 meters, the stone

path they were following

disappeared. It was replaced by a

elinet

dirt road overgrown with weeds. Nash quickly noticed the array patterns on these weeds. He

stopped and said, "Tatiana, set these weeds on fire."

Tatiana waved her hand, and the weeds were instantly engulfed in a sea of flames. However, the fire did not reduce the weeds to ashes. The flames died down, and the weeds continued to sway in the wind.

Using her ability to see through

illusions, she quickly discovered that the nearby trees had the Detect Pattern etched on them. "The trees here are the array's key points. The weeds are marked with the Sword Pattern. This is a Killing Sword Array," she exclaimed. Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

"To break the array, we need to destroy those with the Detect Patterns, but the trees are surrounded by the weeds!" Tatiana gestured, and a basketball-sized rock flew toward the weeds. The weeds on the ground twisted wildly, sending out sharp sword forms that instantly reduced the rock to powder.

Nash smiled and said, "We can use another array to break the array!"