The blue sky lay draped over the pines and clouds, while the dreams of cranes remained clear amidst a thousand peaks.
When Qian Yu opened her eyes, Bai Liuli and You Suqi were gone.
Even the nearly 100 disciples of the Human and Demon Races who had entered the Secret Realm with her had vanished without a trace.
“Sister Qi!”
“Sister Bai!”
She called out their names, but there was no response.
In the vastness of the world, she was entirely alone.
She looked out, seeing only a landscape of white clouds and mountains that appeared fresh after a recent rain.
In such a peaceful, immortal scenery, where was there any sign of the peril-filled Ancient Saint Crater described to her?
It even looked somewhat like the Luoxia Immortal Sect.
To be precise, it didn’t just look like it; this place seemed to actually be the Luoxia Immortal Sect!
Qian Yu’s pupils constricted suddenly.
Just now, across that familiar yet strange ancient bluestone path, she had spotted a familiar thatched hut.
Stepping inside, she saw the rough wooden beams, the leaky thatched roof, the window frames covered in old paper, and the wooden bed beneath her that was hard enough to bruise.
Even the air, a mix of old wood, dried herbs, and a hint of mildew, was intensely familiar.
This was the small thatched hut where she had lived for more than ten years in the Luoxia Immortal Sect!
‘But I was just thinking about where to find Shizun’s remnant soul after entering the Ancient Saint Crater. How did I end up in my own little hut in the blink of an eye?’
‘Could I have fallen into a hallucination caused by the Heart-Bewildering Mist?’
Qian Yu suddenly snapped to alertness.
Before entering the Ancient Saint Crater, You Suqi had explained the dangers inside to her in detail, and the Heart-Bewildering Mist was one of them.
It was formed from the residual Laws of the Dao left by an Ancient Saint and directly infected a cultivator’s soul.
Once caught, one would fall into an endless, inescapable hallucination.
The current situation certainly looked like she had fallen into the Heart-Bewildering Mist.
“Fortunately, I came prepared.”
It would indeed be troublesome for a normal cultivator to fall into this hallucination, but before they arrived, You Suqi had given Qian Yu a Zen Lotus Seed specifically for this purpose.
As long as she ground it into a powder, mixed it with her own essence blood, and applied it to her forehead, this seemingly realistic hallucination would collapse on its own.
“Heh heh. As expected, a cost-effective strategy is the most convenient.”
Following the method You Suqi had taught her, Qian Yu quickly applied the powder made from the Zen Lotus Seed to the center of her brow.
The corners of her mouth curled up in a mix of three parts aloofness, three parts mockery, and three parts indifference.
Waiting for the hallucination to shatter, she let out a soft snort.
“How dare mere Saint Laws show off their meager skills before a master! Hallucination, break!”
The little half-yao closed her eyes, striking a cool pose. However, the expected sensation of the hallucination shattering never occurred.
When Qian Yu opened her eyes, the sect was still the same sect, and the thatched hut was still the same hut.
Aside from a stupid bird perched on a large tree outside squawking in confusion at her, nothing had changed.
She was still inside the hallucination.
‘Is my pose wrong?’
Qian Yu’s eyelid twitched.
She tried several more times, even grinding more Zen Lotus Seed powder to apply, but without exception, the so-called hallucination didn’t show even a single ripple.
?
‘How is this possible!’
This Zen Lotus Seed had been personally bestowed by a Venerable of the Demon Race after learning that You Suqi was coming to the Ancient Saint Crater.
It was impossible for it to have no effect at all.
Even if it couldn’t break it all at once, it should have caused some fluctuations in the surroundings.
A situation like this, where it had no effect whatsoever…
Gazing at the stupid bird outside the window, which seemed amused by her strange behavior, a sudden realization flashed through Qian Yu’s mind.
‘What if this isn’t a hallucination?’
‘If this isn’t a hallucination, wouldn’t that explain why the Zen Lotus Seed failed?’
Just as she was about to think further, a hurried knocking on the door abruptly interrupted her thoughts.
She instinctively went to open it, only to be met with a barrage of curses that added to the confusion in her mind.
“Qian Yu! What’s wrong with you? Didn’t I tell you to come find us yourself this afternoon?”
A cute girl with twin tails entered her sight.
The familiar pink dress, the familiar white silk stockings… Who was this if not Tang Qiurou, the girl who had been imprisoned in the dark underground dungeon by Nalan Yunyan’s orders and never seen again?
‘Why is she here? And what does she mean by “come find them this afternoon”?’
‘What is she referring to?’
‘It couldn’t be…’
Listening to those familiar words, an indescribable sense of bewilderment and absurdity flooded Qian Yu’s heart.
‘Could I have returned to the past? Isn’t this the day I took the money and agreed to go scratch Gu Qinghan’s face, but then forgot, leading to Tang Qiurou and Nalan Yunyan coming to my door?’
‘Is this hallucination really this realistic?’
Qian Yu didn’t know what was happening, but the Tang Qiurou before her was just as arrogant and overbearing as in her memories.
Seeing that she was being ignored, Tang Qiurou swung a slap toward her.
“Stupid fox! I’m talking to you, do you hear me?!”
Qian Yu instinctively took half a step back.
The imprint of more than ten years of being bullied and intimidated caused her body to react before her consciousness could.
‘But this is my dream! Am I really going to let myself be bullied?’
Using the momentum of her retreat to tilt slightly, she dodged the wind of the palm.
Qian Yu gave a cold laugh and threw a punch straight at Tang Qiurou.
Just now, she had discovered that her cultivation level remained the same as it was in reality.
If that was the case, she didn’t care if this was a dream or reality; she had been annoyed by this Little Green Tea for a long time.
The girl had bullied and tormented her since childhood.
Even though she had managed to bring her down before, it wasn’t as satisfying as a direct Fox Fist to the face.
The punch, carrying years of pent-up frustration and anger, landed squarely on Tang Qiurou’s stunned face.
“Ugh!”
Tang Qiurou cried out in pain.
Half of her cheek instantly swelled up, and she staggered back several steps, barely steadying herself after bumping into the doorframe.
Sour, bitter, and spicy sensations all rushed up at once.
She clutched her face, her eyes filled first with disbelief, and then with a towering rage.
“You… you lowly half-yao! You dare hit me?!”
She was always the one slapping Qian Yu; why and how did this girl dare to hit her?
Tang Qiurou’s voice was sharp and distorted from pain and shock.
Her Spiritual Power of the Second Realm erupted, looking as if she wanted to kill Qian Yu on the spot.
However, in the next moment, as wave after wave of intense pain radiated from her face, that anger was forcibly shattered into stunned silence and even terror.
“I really don’t know why villains like you always talk so much before doing anything!”
Qian Yu knocked Tang Qiurou down with a single punch, pinned her, and rained down one Fox Fist after another onto her face.
“Fourteen years ago, right after my Shizun passed away, you came and said you wanted to be my friend. I believed you, but then you tricked me into going down the mountain and came back alone, nearly letting me get kidnapped by bad people.”
“Thirteen years ago, I didn’t trust you anymore and avoided you, but you thought I was looking down on you. After that, every time we met, it was either a slap or a whip! The scars on my body have never fully healed!”
“Twelve years ago, you spread word throughout the sect that I was an easy target, making it so that everywhere I went, I was met with cold glares and ridicule.”
“Even if I did the same tasks as others, I would only get half the Spirit Stones. It was because you taught those people to say that I wouldn’t dare refuse, and that if I didn’t do it, plenty of others would.”
…
Her small, raindrop-like fists continued to pummel Tang Qiurou’s beautiful, rounded face until it was swollen and purple, yet she didn’t stop, as if venting all the grievances she had suffered over the years.
When she couldn’t beat Tang Qiurou, she could only endure.
When she finally grew strong enough to fight back, Gu Qinghan and Nalan Yunyan, those two great mountains, had her wedged in the middle.
One of them, due to her Rebirth, naturally looked at her through colored lenses; if Qian Yu did even one thing wrong, it would be magnified infinitely.
The other was completely self-centered and only believed her own perceptions.
Once she labeled Qian Yu as a cute, harmless fox, she wouldn’t allow that label to deviate.
What could Qian Yu do?
Her reason told her she had to act cute and harmless, as no one likes a vengeful person.
Even if she wanted to take revenge, she had to choose a mild way.
She even had to ask Tang Qiurou if she would confess before plotting against her.
“But this is a dream! I can do whatever I want, and I’m going to beat you to death!”
Qian Yu laughed sinisterly, her fists never stopping.
“Pfft—”
Another mouthful of blood spilled from the corner of her mouth.
Tang Qiurou’s face was as pale as paper, and the fire in her eyes was completely replaced by an unbelievable fear.
Listening to those venting, frenzied words, she looked at the half-yao as if seeing a monster.
The girl was still small, but her gaze was so cold it made Tang Qiurou’s bone marrow freeze.
She had long since forgotten those things, yet this girl had remembered them all, one by one, until now.
‘How can someone be so vengeful? Is there really a need for this?’
Tang Qiurou wanted to resist, but she couldn’t muster any Spiritual Energy.
Every punch Qian Yu landed carried an irresistible and incredibly refined power that instantly dispersed the flow of her Spiritual Power.
She could only passively endure the other’s continuous venting, waiting for her consciousness to gradually fade.
“Stop!”
Just as Tang Qiurou was beginning to lose hope, a voice like a soothing rain interrupted the scene.
A golden-haired figure appeared at the courtyard entrance, accompanied by brilliant sunlight.
“Senior Sister Nalan?!”
As if seeing a glimmer of dawn in the dead of night, Tang Qiurou’s dull pupils suddenly sparkled with excitement as she repeatedly called out the name.
The newcomer was indeed Nalan Yunyan.
She still wore a luxurious long dress, and her long golden hair shimmered with the luster of molten gold under the setting sun.
On her stunning but habitually cold face, her brow was furrowed.
Her golden eyes first swept over the disheveled, blood-spitting Tang Qiurou in disbelief, then fixed on Qian Yu with a gaze as sharp as an icicle.
“Qian Yu, bullying the weak is no sign of ability. Moreover, she is your fellow disciple, and perhaps your future companion.”
The words were similar to those from the past, only the target had changed from Tang Qiurou to Qian Yu.
A powerful spiritual pressure instantly enveloped the small courtyard.
This was the unique pressure of the Sacred Body, mixed with the innate noble aura of the Nalan Family’s eldest miss.
It was enough to make most low-level cultivators tremble and fall to their knees.
The moment Qian Yu heard that voice and felt that pressure, her body stiffened almost as a reflex.
Her fists involuntarily loosened slightly, and the urge to retreat and continue acting innocent and cute nearly dominated her nerves.
However, that impulse lasted only a moment.
After a surge of inexplicable emotion, the cute words at the tip of her tongue suddenly changed:
“Tsk, Senior Sister Nalan certainly has an air of authority. But when she was bullying me back then, why didn’t you come out and say we were fellow disciples?”
“Now that I finally have my revenge, you’ve decided to show up.”