Chapter 155: Old Things (Part 6)

What exactly is going on?

Could it be that the person she saw earlier was Guan Niang’s daughter? It didn’t seem like it—her age didn’t match. Xu Qianyu had a strong feeling that it was Guan Niang who raised her, but for some reason, it seemed as though her presence had been erased from the household.

The house and the courtyard, even the custom-made jade rabbit moon lamp, were all familiar to her. Yet there was something strange about it—an unsettling sense of unfamiliarity in the most familiar places.

Xu Qianyu felt anxious, peering through the carved window and the trees into the backyard where figures flashed. She could faintly hear a house servant ask, “Miss, what do you think?”

Miss?

Xu Qianyu thought of Xiao Dong. When she left home, she had asked Xiao Dong to pretend to be the young lady of the house. If there were other young ladies in the family, it could only be her.

But then she heard a lazy, female voice reply, “The lamps in the house have all been replaced with Chen Ji’s revolving lanterns, and outside the courtyard, a hundred of them have been hung with riddles. People who come from immortal sects have seen all sorts of fine things, and showing off is like displaying an axe in front of a carpenter. It’s better to make it more interesting.”

Xiao Dong would never speak like that.

Xu Qianyu extended her spiritual sense, passing over the “Miss,” who was holding a silk gauze shawl in her hand, her embroidered skirt fluttering. Her gaze landed on a pale, proud, and aloof face.

Shui Weiwei.

Shui Weiwei had her hair styled in a youthful bun, still not mad. She plucked a flower and sniffed it at her nose, her appearance somewhat unfamiliar.

Xu Qianyu withdrew her spiritual sense, a terrifying suspicion stirring within her.

The Shui family they had just entered wasn’t the current Shui family, but the Shui family from many years ago!

So, where were the current members of the Shui family? Xu Qianyu was about to leave when two ice needles shot out from behind her. The two butterflies fluttering below the window shattered into mist in response. Shen Suwei gently pulled her sleeve. “We’re in a formation.”

“You’re awake.” Xu Qianyu turned around to adjust his breathing. “Are you feeling better?”

She had adjusted his condition earlier, but the spiritual energy in his meridians was flowing backward. As soon as her spiritual energy entered, it was repelled, so Shen Suwei had stopped her from touching him.

“It’s temporarily safe here.” If it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t have entered the house just now. Shen Suwei opened his eyes, his pupils now dark and round. “I’m losing my sensitivity to demonic energy right now, so I can’t sense much.” After a moment, he parted his lips. “I’m sorry.”

Xu Qianyu became anxious. “Why are you apologizing?” She realized her voice had become too loud and quickly lowered it. “Senior Brother, sorry, I didn’t mean to be harsh.”

She took a pill from the mustard seed golden pearl and stuffed it into his mouth.

Shen Suwei’s whole body tensed, half-conscious, his teeth clenched. Xu Qianyu couldn’t get it into his mouth, so she anxiously leaned down to transfer her energy into him.

As soon as their lips touched, the sword energy around his body suddenly turned into countless vines. Xu Qianyu was pulled into his embrace. She didn’t want to lie on top of him, but his hand was pressed against her lower back, like shackles binding her.

Shen Suwei felt the person in his arms first tense up, then loosen and softly fall against him, as if afraid of hurting him. He slowly caressed her back, inhaling her scent. His inner demons, filled with greedy desires, seemed to have been soothed by her presence.

Xu Qianyu shifted slightly and slowly slid to the side. Then, a wooden box fell from Shen Suwei’s realm and landed on the bed. Xu Qianyu opened it and saw that it contained the snacks that Guan Niang had given her when she left home.

Shen Suwei said, “Eat it now. It won’t last much longer.” Then, as if remembering something, he added, “When I was in seclusion at Snow Cliff Cave, I left your chest behind for you. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to store it, but if I entered the Nightmare, the Ice and Snow Realm would become more dangerous, and these things wouldn’t be able to be stored either.”

Xu Qianyu immediately hugged his neck. “I understand.”

“Why did the backlash from killing that snow demon affect you so severely?” Shen Suwei asked.

He explained, “There are five types of flames in this world, from yang to yin: Phoenix Flame, Li Flame, the Three Fires of the Central Sovereign, then Abyss Flame, which you’ve never truly used.

The last is Qing Yan. Qing Yan is the most yin of all flames, born from water. When used, it leads to slaughter and destruction, also called ‘Hellfire.’ It is a forbidden technique, not meant to be used lightly, because destruction comes too easily, and it can easily draw cultivators into the path of killing.”

That day, it was just like this—he had destroyed the floating grass Shenchong, whom he had raised himself, and his mother. He turned what had been a chaotic palace full of demons into dust in an instant. If it weren’t for Xu Binglai breaking through his rib, Qing Yan would have burned endlessly in silence.

Countless terrifying illusions and sounds, like ghost fires, were dispelled by Xu Qianyu’s worried gaze, and the rampaging demonic energy was forcefully suppressed.

Shen Suwei pressed her hair back. Xu Qianyu, lacking much experience in dealing with such matters, felt that she couldn’t handle the situation alone.

“You give me an hour,” he briefly instructed before closing his eyes.

When Xu Qianyu saw Shen Suwei, now as still as an ice sculpture, fear gripped her. She leaned down to listen to his heart and waited until she heard the clear and steady beat, then her emotions slowly settled.

“Don’t disturb him; he’s just in meditation.” A voice came from the mustard seed golden pearl, startling Xu Qianyu. “He has frozen his meridians to control the demonic energy.”

There was a long silence before Wuzhen’s voice continued, “…After I took the Demon King’s residence, I became very weak.”

Xu Qianyu asked, “So?”

“I’ve been in the Dream Shadow Tube, sleeping, sealing off my five senses. Don’t be afraid.”

“What’s there to be afraid of?” Xu Qianyu’s expression was complex. She then grew serious.

“Master, you’re a cultivator; can you tell what kind of formation this is? Why is it showing us past events?”

“It’s an illusion.”

“Is it fake?”

“No,” Wuzhen replied, “Creating a completely false illusion requires a lot of spiritual energy. Since the Great War Era has ended, no cultivator can do it. Most illusions are built on a foundation of truth.”

“What do you mean?”

“This place is still an ordinary household, with only a few people and things fabricated. Most of the people here actually exist; they are just being misled into believing they’re in the past, seeing each other as they appeared in the past. Cultivators are ranked into ten realms; this kind of detailed illusion can only be done by those in the ninth realm or above. In my lifetime, I was only at the seventh realm, sorry.”

“Then, the people here, the ones that exist—are they in danger?”

“Shen Suwei’s judgment is correct. So far, it doesn’t seem to be a killing trap. It’s just that everyone is stuck in the illusion, like a long dream they can’t wake from. Over time, cultivators will lose spiritual energy, and mortals will deplete their vitality. It’s best to break through the illusion as soon as possible.”

Xu Qianyu felt a surge of anger. She couldn’t figure out who had used her family as part of this illusion, nor did she understand their intentions. Was it targeting her? If she found out, she would make them pay the price.

Now that she was in the illusion, all she could do was stay calm and act according to the situation.

Outside, the house servants were busy hanging lanterns. The sun was setting, and the night was beginning to fall. The illusion occurring at this moment must have some meaning.

Xu Qianyu silently watched the round moon hidden behind the clouds. She had a feeling that something would happen during the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet.

Her birth’s Mid-Autumn Festival…

No matter what, she would stay with Senior Brother for an hour first.

*
Meanwhile, Hua Zimei and Tu Zhuang were bickering.

Hua Zimei said, “I told you, Penglai is really unreliable. Four people came, one is gone, two are lost, and the last one left. Now there’s only the two of us left. How are we supposed to form a team? We should just disband.”

Although Tu Zhuang didn’t like Yun Chu, he had to defend him: “Didn’t you see he didn’t leave voluntarily? That old man appeared out of nowhere, and Yun Chu’s face turned red from being choked.”

The “old man” referred to Elder Yi. Not long ago, Elder Yi had appeared from the void, scolded Yun Chu for handing over the Ice Spoon to Xu Binglai, choked him by the neck, and took him away.

“As teammates, shouldn’t you worry about his safety? What about Xiaolu and Xu Qianyu? Don’t you want to look for them?”

“That’s also Penglai’s internal management problem. What does it have to do with me?” Hua Zimei instructed A De to pack their things and decided to part ways. Tu Zhuang wasn’t a righteous man either. He grabbed his puppet and prepared to leave, but seeing as Xu Qianyu had lent her cloak to him, he decided to search for the missing people one last time before heading back.

In the search, he saw a small white figure wandering outside their inn. Tu Zhuang focused his eyes and shouted, “Xiaolu!”

To his surprise, the figure, startled like a bird, turned and ran. Tu Zhuang’s puppet “whizzed” and extended a fine thread to chase after it, but in the darkness, an enormous shadow resembling a bird appeared in the distance. The puppet suddenly sensed great danger, stopped abruptly, and made a “crackling” sound as the wind blew.

Tu Zhuang quickly retracted the thread, but it was too late. The puppet exploded, and Tu Zhuang was knocked unconscious by the shock.

Tu Zhuang hadn’t seen clearly who the shadow was, but Lu You, who was closer, saw it clearly.

The puppet behind them exploded into pieces, and Lu You screamed in fright. When she looked back, she realized the figure in the moonlight wasn’t a bird with spread wings but a woman.

She was dressed in a magnificent, elaborate gown, standing gracefully beneath the moon. The moonlight shone on her embroidered gauze, reflecting a glowing sheen—like the goddess of the Luo River (Water) emerging from the water or a lady stepping out from behind a screen.

She carried a lantern and walked toward Lu You, her skin illuminated by the light, glowing as white as snow. However, the lantern did not contain the usual five-colored wick but instead held a ball of purple light, within which a butterfly’s shadow fluttered its wings, trapped.

“It’s you…” Lu You, who came from the Lingyue Immortal Sect, recognized the person before her—an elder from the Lingyue Immortal Sect, “Luo Shui Yuanjun (Lord Luo Shui).”
Luo Shui was named for her gentle beauty, and whenever she appeared, she always drew the curious gazes of disciples. But Lu You did not like her. Years ago, when Luo Shui Yuanjun (Lord Luo Shui) fell ill and failed to cultivate spiritual herbs, she was expelled from the Lingyue Immortal Sect by Elder Yin Xiangjun. There had been friction between them.

“What did you just say?” Luo Shui stepped closer, her voice gentle. “’Why hasn’t the world reset?’”

Lu You crossed her arms tightly and stared at her, feeling a chill creep over her body for reasons she could not explain.

She was certain that Xie Yuzhen had already been sealed away because the panel showing her progress with the Demon King had completely disappeared. She had thought that by destroying the mission, the world would reset just as it had last time. But when she woke up, nothing had changed. She still had only a single spiritual root, and her body was plagued with pain, her system malfunctioning.

“The Demon King is dead,” Lu You whispered through her tears, not caring whether the person before her understood. She spoke in a daze, “It should have reset. It shouldn’t be like this.”

Luo Shui listened for a moment, then said softly, “You think the world didn’t reset because your ‘conquest of the Demon King’ failed?”

“Isn’t that so? That’s how it was last time!”

Luo Shui looked at her with pity. “No. It’s because you died.”

“That’s impossible.” Lu You felt as if struck by a thunderbolt. “I was waiting for the wedding in the Demon Palace. The palace was surrounded by layers of demon guards. How could I have died?”

Luo Shui Yuanjun (Lord Luo Shui) smiled. “Years ago, someone killed everyone. The only ones left alive were me and Xie Yuzhen.”