Chapter 12: Secret Realm

The day before the full moon, Ji Yun and his group hurried over.

Ji Yun was very surprised not to see Xi Meng surrounding Wen Xi.

After his initial surprise, he was pleasantly surprised and said without hesitation, “Senior Sister, have you finally recognized the true face of that witch?”

At this time, most of the people in the secret realm had gathered here. Wen Xi took a look at every person who came; however, Xi Meng never came over.

Although she felt that Xi Meng was not heartless towards her, she always felt lost when she couldn’t see her. At this moment, Ji Yun approached her and said some unpleasant words.

Wen Xi glanced at him coldly. “She is not a witch.”

Ji Yun’s feverish mind suddenly sobered up after her cold glance.

Just now, he had been so absorbed in gloating that he forgot for a moment that between him and that evil woman, his senior sister had always favored the other side more.

Moreover, Ji Yun stole a glance at Wen Xi and was determined not to go through the experience on the spirit boat that night again.

“I’m sorry, Senior Sister, I just care about Fellow Daoist Xi Meng,” Ji Yun said to make amends. “Yes, I care.”

Wen Xi retracted her gaze, hummed nonchalantly, and said, “She left first because of something.”

After saying that, she ignored Ji Yun and continued to secretly observe the people who came in later. However, she waited until the moon was high in the sky, but she still did not see Xi Meng.

That night, the sky was as dark as ink, without a single star in sight, only a full moon hanging high above the valley.

The bright moonlight sprinkled on the stone walls of the valley, making the charred rocks sparkle. The entire valley, from top to bottom, was lit up little by little.

Everyone had been guarding the valley for a long time, but this was the first time such a strange sight had appeared. As they wondered, the ground beneath their feet suddenly began to shake violently.

The person at the center of the earthquake immediately stopped his sword in the air. With a loud bang, a deep square hole suddenly appeared in the ground, and at the entrance of the hole was a staircase leading downwards.

“The Flame Heart Palace is open.”

Someone said this, and the surroundings suddenly became lively.

Ji Yun also asked Wen Xi, “Senior Sister, are we going in now? This is just a screening checkpoint outside; there is no danger.”

The Little Netherworld Secret Realm opens once every hundred years. Initially, no one discovered that there was a Yanxin Palace hidden under the Yanxin Valley. It was only five hundred years ago that the main palace took the initiative to select disciples for inheritance, and then it slowly appeared before everyone’s eyes.

Although no one was able to inherit the art in the first four times, it left a lot of experience for future generations.

Ji Yun had already found out all the information before entering the secret realm, and he couldn’t help but show it off in front of Wen Xi.

Yu Xuan Zhenren had also discussed these matters with Wen Xi before coming here. Knowing that what Ji Yun said was right, he nodded and said, “Go in.”

Wen Xi was the first to step into the passage after he finished speaking. There was fluorescent lighting at the entrance, so she could still see clearly. The further she went in, the weaker the light became, leaving only darkness.

Someone tried to use the Minghuo Jue to light it up, but the flame only flashed for a moment before going out. Others followed suit, but without exception, they all failed.

The magic didn’t work, so Ji Yun thought for a while and took out the overnight pearl.

The pearl shone brilliantly, reflecting the scene in the passage very clearly. However, even so, it only lasted for two more breaths before the brilliance of the night pearl faded.

Wen Xi saw the principle clearly and stopped others from continuing the experiment. “No need to try again; there should be a formation or artifact that absorbs light in this passage, so let’s just go.”

The others also understood this truth, so they could only put their minds at ease and move forward slowly in the darkness.

There was no light, no sense of time, and slowly, even the people around her disappeared without her noticing.

She was the only one left in the long and dim corridor, and all she could hear was her own echo. A web woven of darkness and loneliness was closing in invisibly, trapping her inside.

After realizing that her fellow junior brothers and sisters had disappeared, Wen Xi stopped and began to ponder the real intention of the master of the hall in setting up this checkpoint.

At the beginning, everyone had fallen into misunderstanding and kept being alert to the unknown dangers in the darkness, but they never thought that darkness itself was a danger.

In the endless time and space, one’s own senses become useless; the people around you suddenly disappear, and if you can’t find a way out for a long time, you may collapse and lose control if you are in a bad mood.

So, it’s a test of your state of mind.

After realizing this, Wen Xi stopped moving forward and sat down steadily to start practicing.

Sure enough, not long after she did this, the scene in front of her began to change.

Feeling the sudden light in front of her, Wen Xi opened her eyes and found herself back on the sand dunes outside Yanxin Valley.

And Xi Meng was right opposite her.

Wen Xi’s mind went blank for a moment, then she remembered:

Two days ago, after she had a disagreement with Xi Meng, the other party left alone. She chased after her but didn’t catch her. She was afraid that her junior brother would come and wouldn’t be able to find her, so she had to wait where she was.

It must have been the third day, and Xi Meng finally came back.

When she saw someone, Wen Xi immediately stood up excitedly. “Xi Meng, you’re back!”

Xi Meng nodded and asked with a smile, “Well, I’m back. Are you waiting for me?”

Wen Xi agreed, looked at Xi Meng, and said, “I thought about it for a long time after you left that day. The owner of the secret realm collected many small Nether Flames. If there are really any left, there shouldn’t be only one. So we can actually work together to find them. Even if there is only one left in the end, we can compete fairly at that time. What do you think?”

“You’re right.” Xi Meng nodded in agreement, a little guilty on her face. “I was too impulsive that day and shouldn’t have treated you like that. In fact, I regretted it after I left. Compared to that dead thing, I care more about you. So even if there are no extra flames later, I won’t snatch them from you. Ah Xi, I’m sorry, please don’t be angry with me, okay?”

Wen Xi looked at her with a complicated expression and said, “I have never blamed you.”

“I’m glad you’re not angry with me.” Xi Meng showed a relaxed smile on her face.

“Do you still want to leave now?” Wen Xi asked.

Xi Meng took two steps forward and said, “I won’t leave…”

Along with her words, there was also a dagger in her hand.

Wen Xi’s eyes moved slightly, and she raised her hand to hold Xi Meng’s wrist. With a pull and a push, she took the dagger away and stabbed it into Xi Meng’s heart. The series of actions were quick and neat, without a trace of hesitation.

“You… why?”

Xi Meng’s face was still filled with astonishment, not understanding why the other party did this.

Wen Xi said indifferently, “You are not her.”

This illusion is indeed ingenious and can even modify a person’s memory silently, but as long as it is fake, there will definitely be flaws.

No matter how similar the imitation is, it is not that person, not to mention that the other person’s acting is not similar at all.

The real Xi Meng would never say that she would give up for her, and would never come back to her at this time.

So after she said that, Wen Xi immediately realized that something was wrong, and her memory automatically corrected itself. She naturally knew that the person in front of her was a fake. The reason why she didn’t expose her was probably because she really had such an expectation in her heart, and she just did what she wanted.

Wen Xi took a step back and watched the person in front of her turn into smoke and disappear along with the illusion around her.

The next moment, she found herself suddenly in a large empty square, in front of which was a towering palace. Above the palace was a huge blue flame, which illuminated the palace and the surrounding square.

Wen Xi recognized the ball of blue flame as the small Netherworld Flame she was looking for. However, this fire was just an illusion created by the owner of the palace using a formation, and it was not real fire.

When she came over, two or three people had already come out from the corner of the square before her.

Wen Xi took a glance and found that they were none other than Shuang Qishui and Zhu Liao, with whom she had fought before. The remaining one was someone she had never seen before.

The other party obviously also noticed Wen Xi. When he saw her looking at him, Shuang Qishui immediately stared back at her, letting out a strange “hehe” laugh.

Wen Xi frowned slightly and could hardly control the urge to burn the person with fire.

Fortunately, Ji Yun appeared in time and temporarily dispelled her idea.

Afterwards, the remaining people also appeared in the square one after another, until a day later, when no new people appeared around.

Wen Xi took a quick look and found that the number of people left in the square was about one-fifth less than the number of people who were previously in Yanxin Valley, and among them, there were even more than ten disciples of Yiyuan Sect.

What worried Wen Xi the most was that she still didn’t see Xi Meng among these people.

It was impossible for the other party to fail such a simple test of state of mind. So, was it a disguise? It seemed that the other party would not see her again until the end.

Wen Xi felt melancholy, thinking of the counterfeit in the illusion just now. She felt even more regretful. If she had been more eloquent, this would not have happened.

Wait until everyone is gathered.

The palace gate finally opened.

As soon as the door opened, several people from the Yinhun Sect rushed in first, regardless of the danger. This move prompted the others to follow suit, fearing that the people in front would snatch away all the treasures.

Wen Xi also gave a few instructions to the fellow disciples behind her before leading them into the hall.

Four groups of people had entered and exited the Yanxin Palace. All the treasures visible on the surface had long been looted, and the only things left were the four walls with murals on them.

And these four walls were the key to entering the next level.

The paintings on the wall had almost no specific form, but varied from person to person, and the scenes that each person saw were different.

This was about the second round of screening.

Wen Xi first came to the first mural.

There was a painting on the wall of a man in black dancing with a sword. The man’s sword was sharp and powerful. Once the sword was out, it seemed to be wrapped in the power of thousands of stars and was full of murderous intent.

Just one picture was enough to make one’s heart tremble.

Wen Xi had been practicing Taoism with a sword since she was young, but she had not yet found her spiritual heart.

In the past, she had read thousands of sword techniques of the sect, and when she entered the sect’s sword pool to comprehend the sword intent, she was not moved. But at this moment, she was suddenly moved.

Wen Xi could not help but take a step forward. Just as she was about to take a closer look, the scene in the painting suddenly changed. The man in black was no longer there, nor were there any sword moves or sword techniques.

There was only a river with blue fireflies floating on it, a white path beside the river, and the sky above was dim and dark. The whole picture gave people a feeling of depression and darkness.

Wen Xi didn’t believe it, so she blinked and looked again. The scene on the screen turned back to the original man in black.

Is it an illusion?

Wen Xi thought it was not the case, but when she continued to watch, the scene did not change again. Although the swordsman’s sword moves were still outstanding, Wen Xi no longer felt as shocked as before.

After she memorized the sword style, she came to the second mural.

But the man in black still appeared on the screen, and his determination was also exquisite. However, just like before, after two breaths, the man disappeared and turned into the river again.

Compared to the first painting, there was a black-backed, white-bellied monster by the river, which looked like a deer but was not a deer. Wen Xi couldn’t help but think of the long-extinct local beast. In the picture, the monster was drinking water by the river, and the fluorescent light in the water was swallowed into its stomach.

After a few more breaths, the scene returned to its original normal appearance.

This was the case for two paintings in a row, and Wen Xi realized something was wrong, but she still went to the third mural.

As before, the painting on the third wall also underwent a transformation.

But this time, it was no longer the river that appeared, but a beautiful and kind-looking woman. The woman lowered her eyebrows and was looking at an empty lotus-shaped candlestick in her hand.

Wen Xi looked at the picture and suddenly felt a strange feeling in her heart. Her intuition urged her to go to the fourth picture quickly. However, just as she was about to turn around, the woman in the picture suddenly raised her head.

Just now, she had lowered her eyebrows and didn’t seem to have any objection, but when she raised her eyes, Wen Xi discovered that the woman’s eyes were purple, and there was no pupil in her eyes. There was only a deep and weird feeling that could suck people in.

And Wen Xi, the next moment, indeed disappeared from the spot.