Chapter 21

Illusions of the Past

I used the “Water Curtain Veil” that Yin Ze taught me to temporarily block the sword, then gently pushed the water wave and slipped into a corner. Logically, Fu Chenzi should have chased after me, but unexpectedly, when I hid like this, he wandered around like a headless fly and turned to attack Yin Ze instead.

Surprisingly, Fu Chenzi could actually fight Yin Ze for dozens of rounds. In the blink of an eye, they were flying around the small hall, their swordsmanship clashing, and the sword energy shattered several stone pillars.

Finally, Yin Ze knocked Fu Chenzi back with his elbow. Fu Chenzi’s back hit the wall, and just as he was about to charge again, Yin Ze grabbed his neck and pushed him high up against the wall with one hand. I said, “Grand Master, don’t kill him.”

Yin Ze didn’t even turn his head and directly swung his sword, cutting off Fu Chenzi’s head.

I felt a sudden churning in my stomach and couldn’t even speak. My legs went weak, and I collapsed to the ground.

“Don’t be so surprised, get up. That’s just an illusion of Fu Chenzi made into a physical form.” After saying that, Yin Ze threw the corpse to the ground.

Sure enough, the corpse turned into a wisp of smoke and disappeared in an instant.

I got up from the ground and asked in confusion, “Why is there an illusion of him here?”

“There are many monsters in the world who can create illusions. If you ask me, I don’t know. We can only keep going forward and see.”

As soon as Yin Ze took two steps forward, I quickly blocked his path. “Wait, could we be under an illusion too?”

After I said that, he didn’t answer, and I didn’t ask. There was a brief silence between us. I quickly changed the subject, “I mean, could I be under an illusion?”

“That depends on your willpower.”

It was like he didn’t answer at all. But after thinking about it, I decided not to worry. Whether it was a demon or a monster, they would all be afraid of the Divine Lord. As long as I followed him obediently, I would be safe. I continued to follow behind him obediently.

However, as soon as we entered a door, we found that the surrounding scenery had changed: by a long summer river, cranes flew up, startling white feathers. A group of children with green hair squatted by the shore, carving ice sculptures from water and playfully throwing ice shards at each other.

A little girl in the middle of the crowd suddenly stood up, opened her bright eyes and looked over. Her eyes were as green as jade, her skin was like snow, and her two small braids swayed in the water, making her look like a doll made of peach blossoms and snow.

She waved to us, her voice clear and sweet, “Brother! Brother! Don’t always sit there alone, come play with us!”

This little girl looked so familiar. Her big eyes were curved into two long, crescent-shaped smiles, and she ran towards us, extending her lotus-root-like arms. She was so cute that I couldn’t help but reach out to her.

However, Yin Ze raised his sword and cut her in half. I was almost disgusted by the bloody scene again.

The surroundings returned to normal, and Yin Ze pointed his sword at the two halves of the child and said, “This is you.”

Then I realized. No wonder she looked familiar, it was me when I was young.

But even after recognizing me, the Grand Master still cut me so quickly. It was really heartbreaking. The Demon Valley was so desolate, the ghost fire had already dimmed...

“It seems these are all Fu Chenzi’s memories,” Yin Ze looked around. “Since even things from your childhood have been brought up, it means he has been captured by the monster.”

“Then we have to go save him quickly. Is he in the Demon Refining Valley?”

“He must be not far from here.”

We walked forward for a while, and there was a sunny avenue. Pear blossoms were blooming like snow, and we walked along the avenue. Behind a pear tree, a girl’s face suddenly appeared.

“Wow!” she exclaimed, as if trying to scare someone. Then she smiled brightly, tilted her head, and her two long twin braids hung down, with pink peach blossoms adorning her hair and wrists. It was as if the petals were naturally grown on her.

She beckoned to us and whispered, “Brother, come quickly, I’ll tell you, Han Mo is sleeping under this tree, drooling all over his face, it’s so ugly. Hey, look at this.” She picked up a pear blossom petal and rolled it up, “I’m going to put this in his nose...”

She took two steps and then stopped, turning around. “Huh? What’s wrong? A petal?” She looked at her shoulders, sleeves, and collar, but couldn’t find the petal. She looked so silly, not realizing that the petal was actually on her head...

I remembered that I had indeed done this. I had stuffed a petal into Han Mo’s nose, but that useless guy snored so loudly that he sucked the petal into his throat, almost choking him. Because of this, my father scolded me for three whole days, scolding me whenever he saw me. It was such an unpleasant memory.

However, I had completely forgotten the detail of the petal on my head. Why did Fu Chenzi remember it so clearly... And in Fu Chenzi’s memory, I was so beautiful and lively that I even felt a little inferior.

Of course, in the end, Yin Ze swung his sword again and cut the girl in half.

I mourned for my “corpse” for a moment and continued to walk forward with Yin Ze.

The next scene was very familiar: outside the dungeon, the moonlight was like a band, and the grass was lush. A girl wearing a white cloak with hair like smoke and willow, her cloak trembling slightly with the breeze.

She raised her eyes and smiled at us, her bright eyes filled with stars. “I love my brother too.”

My heart jumped into my throat, and I quickly grabbed the sword from Yin Ze’s hand, splitting the phantom in half and returning the sword to Yin Ze.

Yin Ze took the sword and thought for a moment. “So, these are the moon, the dungeon, and the grass.”

“Yes. That night, besides that, we didn’t do anything else.”

“Not bad, you’re still so straightforward.” Yin Ze actually looked at me with a rather appreciative expression.

We passed through many doors, each revealing an illusion of Fu Chenzi: him studying, practicing martial arts, and even scenes of him with me. In most of these memories, I was present. It made me strangely sad to realize that for all these years, he had been just as alone as I was.

Finally, we entered a door, and the scene was completely different: stars twirled, the Milky Way stretched across the sky, like a celestial night. We were standing in a stream, with colorful boats and three miles of lotus flowers.

By a pool of water, ripples shimmered like silk. At the edge of a pavilion, the head of a colorful boat appeared, and the water reflected the silhouette of a woman on the boat.

In the reflection, she carried a basket filled with stars, using water as her ornament and the wind as her robe. Her fingers were white and slender, and her eyes were soft and charming. The reflection was not clear, but the scene was so beautiful that no painting could capture it.

Seeing Yin Ze take a step forward, I thought he was going to cut her in half with his sword again, but instead, he just stared at the silhouette, his eyes wide. Finally, the colorful boat moved slowly, and the woman on the boat appeared before us.

She scattered the stars in her basket into the stream, her expression melancholy, and tears like stars glistened in the corners of her eyes. I had always hated seeing people cry, and whenever someone cried, I would be flustered and upset.

However, this was the first time I had seen a girl cry so beautifully that I wanted to paint this scene and hang it on the wall.

She was so beautiful. If the Lingyin-transformed Diaochan was a tangible temptation, then this woman was a divine beauty that could only be admired from afar. It was no wonder that after leaving Suzhao, I had traveled all over the world. Seeing these beauties was like having my eyes massaged.

While I was still admiring the beautiful woman, I heard Yin Ze say softly, “Shang Yan...”

I looked at him in confusion. Then I heard the fairy-like voice of the woman say, “Tian Heng, what are you doing there? Come here, come to Mother...”

The fairy looked worried, put the basket on the bow of the boat, lifted her skirt, and stepped down from the boat, her bare feet stepping into the stream.

“Don’t come down, the water is cold and will hurt you.” Yin Ze dropped his sword and strode forward.

“Grand Master, wait!”

I quickly followed him and grabbed the hem of Yin Ze’s robe, but he pushed me away with a palm.

He was so strong that I almost fell to the ground, but fortunately, I reacted quickly and grabbed his arm. I shouted, “Divine Lord Yin Ze! Don’t go any further! That’s just an illusion, not a real person!”

He finally stopped and stood still for a moment, then shook his head.

Then he looked at the crying fairy in front of him, then turned to look at me who was pulling on him with all my strength, his eyes returned to their usual indifference. “Go, give me the sword.”

I picked up the sword. Seeing him silent, I took the initiative to step forward and cut the illusion of the fairy in half. Then, the beautiful scenery of the fairyland around us turned back into the bloody lower level of the Demon Refining Valley.

A voice echoed in the empty room, “Oh, what a pity. Divine Lord Yin Ze, so high and mighty, almost fell into my trap.”

“Floating Life Emperor, I knew it was you.” Yin Ze sneered, “What, you’re still not reconciled to being sent here by Shang Yan five hundred years ago and being locked up in this godforsaken place for so many years? But I didn’t expect to use her as bait, and it actually worked. No matter if it’s you or this brat’s father, seeing her, even if you know it’s fake, you’ll be like a dog that’s been given a bone.”

From the door ahead, another Fu Chenzi appeared.

He hung his head, his eyes glowing red, dragging his sword, swaying like a zombie. Behind him, there was a little white tiger cub flapping its wings and swaying unsteadily - it was Xuan Yue!

Floating Life Emperor said, “If it weren’t for this little monster waking you up, I would have another plaything. Little monster, don’t try to run away later.”

I said, “I’m not a monster, I’m a spirit!”

Floating Life Emperor simply ignored me, “Divine Lord Yin Ze, this is your own disciple. Today, he must die. Let’s see if you can split him in half again.”

With that, Fu Chenzi slowly raised his head and pointed his sword at us.

Xuan Yue also raised its little head, waving its claws, its eyes blood-red as it roared at us.