Lian Yunzhi: “Actually, I have a lot of questions for you.”
A Qing eyed Mu Cheng warily, standing there like a wooden post, and said nothing.
Lian Yunzhi turned to Mu Cheng: “Take Fang Tianxin back to the Cave Mansion first. I’ll be there soon.”
Mu Cheng stood motionless.
Lian Yunzhi walked over and patted his head: “Be good. I’ll give you something tasty later.”
Mu Cheng gazed at him wistfully, still unmoving.
Lian Yunzhi frowned, somewhat troubled.
But in the next instant, Mu Cheng wrapped an arm around Lian Yunzhi’s waist, brushed his lips against them, then picked up Fang Tianxin and left.
A Qing gaped in astonishment: “…I thought he was mad. Turns out he’s just stupid?”
Lian Yunzhi angrily whipped him with a Vine.
A Qing’s face instantly paled from the pain, and he promptly shut his mouth.
.
“Who exactly are you? What’s your relationship with Fang Tianxin? How did you get in here?” Once Mu Cheng had left, Lian Yunzhi cut straight to his most pressing questions. “Don’t try to hide it anymore or play mysterious. I want out just as much as you do.”
A Qing tugged at his lips, staggered to his feet, and leaned crookedly against a tree trunk: “You want out? You could leave anytime if you wanted.”
Lian Yunzhi frowned: “I won’t kill Mu Cheng.”
A Qing lifted his eyelids to look at him: “Why?”
Lian Yunzhi considered several answers, finding none quite right. Finally, he met A Qing’s gaze and said slowly, “The Pills I just gave you were mixed with a Poison Pill.”
A Qing’s expression changed abruptly.
Lian Yunzhi: “I have the antidote, but it depends on your cooperation.”
A Qing’s demeanor stiffened.
Lian Yunzhi: “Can you answer my questions properly now?”
Instead of pointless counter-questions.
A Qing: “…I’m called Fu Qing, Fang Tianxin’s servant boy.”
Lian Yunzhi: “A Golden Core cultivator disguising himself as Qi Refining, serving in front of a Foundation Establishment cultivator?”
Fu Qing fell silent.
Lian Yunzhi paused, then said earnestly, “Fang Tianxin is my best friend. I’ve never thought of harming him. If possible, I even want to take him out of this Illusion Realm too.”
Fu Qing turned his head to stare at a nearby tree.
The tree was only half left; the other half had turned to Black Mist, floating absurdly in midair—that was the world now.
That was Fang Tianxin’s world. He had nearly become like that tree himself.
“I’m called Fu Qing,” Fu Qing said softly. “Fang Tianxin is my junior sect brother…”
.
Twenty-eight years ago, anomalies arose in Xiaoze State: radiant rosy glow, rampant plant growth. Everyone said an Immortal Treasure had emerged, and Fang Tianxin had joined the treasure hunt.
Lian Yunzhi: “Not you?”
Fu Qing closed his eyes: “I was in seclusion at the time and knew nothing of it… Had I known, I never would have let him enter such danger. As the Sect Leader’s Son, what need did he have for some Immortal Treasure? He just went for the excitement.”
Fu Qing took a deep breath and continued: “…Five years ago, when I emerged from seclusion, I learned he had not only gone treasure hunting but vanished.”
Lian Yunzhi: “Vanished?”
Fu Qing: “That night in Xiaoze State, not only plants grew wildly—rivers and canals did too. Among them was one with pink water, crystal clear, dense with spiritual energy. Its bed was not pebbles but Top-Grade Spirit Stones, each glistening… That river is now called the Lost River, for everyone who drank its water back then was dragged into it and disappeared.”
Lian Yunzhi thought for a moment, then manipulated spiritual power to conjure an artificial river channel on the ground: “Like this one?”
Fu Qing: “Exactly the same. You’ve recovered your memories? You came in by drinking from that river too, didn’t you?”
Lian Yunzhi said nothing.
Because it was the little river channel in the Mu Mansion Small Residence, flowing day and night with blood from Mu Cheng’s fingertips. Lian Yunzhi had seen it for over ten thousand years.
Lian Yunzhi glanced at the Black Mist on Fu Qing, thicker than on Fang Tianxin, and asked, “Did you and Fang Tianxin both drink the river water?”
Fu Qing shook his head: “Tianxin didn’t drink it. He only picked up Spirit Stones from the water and absorbed their spiritual power. I did drink, though—I arrived too late, and the Spirit Stones were all taken.”
Lian Yunzhi recalled those eleven Lin Xian Sect disciples without Black Mist: “What about the other eleven? Did they enter the same way?”
Fu Qing: “They were unluckier—all dragged in, intentionally or not, by those who drank the water.”
Lian Yunzhi mostly understood now.
That pink river was Mu Cheng’s blood river. Everyone who drank its water was pulled into this world, shadowed by Black Mist, assimilated just like the devoured souls.
Lian Yunzhi asked further: “Why are you different? How do you know so much?”
The others, whether they drank the blood water or not, had all “lost” themselves.
“I was once at Soul Transformation realm, only falling to Golden Core due to an accident. But my cultivated Divine Soul Technique remains. Plus, I came prepared, bringing countless sect treasures. Naturally, I differ from the rest.”
Fu Qing paused, then said, “Moreover, after drinking from the Lost River and entering this Illusion Realm, I received instructions from an Immortal.”
Lian Yunzhi: “Instructions from an Immortal?”
Fu Qing nodded solemnly, his tone laced with reverence: “As I was dragged into the river and entered this Illusion Realm, I heard an Immortal speak in a youthful voice: Kill the Demon Head Mu Cheng to leave the Illusion Realm. The method: Use Soul Scattering Needles, forged from the Spiritual Pine in the Broken Cliff Secret Realm, and pierce them into his spine.”
Lian Yunzhi closed his eyes.
…What instructions from an Immortal?
It was merely Mu Cheng’s death wish.
For a moment, Lian Yunzhi did not know whether to be angry that Mu Cheng had delegated his task to others or… saddened.
[Sorry, Zhi Zhi. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust you. I was out of my mind then and forgot I’d already entrusted it to you. Don’t be sad.]
A voice suddenly rang in Lian Yunzhi’s mind.
Lian Yunzhi immediately retorted mentally.
[I’m not sad because you gave the task to someone else. I—]
Lian Yunzhi’s mental transmission cut off abruptly.
He turned stiffly.
There stood Mu Cheng, carrying the dazed, dreamlike Fang Tianxin, his dark eyes gloomily peering from behind a massive tree, expression inscrutable—clear-minded or stubborn?
As their gazes met, the world around Lian Yunzhi shifted once more. This time, not collapsing, but… rebuilding.
Earth formed into green brick tiles, plants twisted into roof tiles.
The faint pink river channel Lian Yunzhi had casually conjured remained, stretching endlessly to end before Mu Cheng at a tall, bizarre giant tree hung with Soul Locking Chain and Soul Fixing Needle.
This place had become the small courtyard that imprisoned Mu Cheng for ten thousand years.
The only difference: Mu Cheng was no longer nailed to the tree.
Mu Cheng dropped the stunned Fang Tianxin and walked step by step toward Lian Yunzhi.
“Zhi Zhi.”
Lian Yunzhi retreated at once, nervously and swiftly hiding the Storage Bracelet containing the Soul Scattering Needles behind his back—
“I don’t want to kill you!”
Mu Cheng paused, then smiled beautifully, eyes curving.
He reached out, grasping Lian Yunzhi’s fingertips very, very lightly.
“—Shall we leave together?”
