This secret realm had a simple name—Shenxiao Secret Realm.
This was Jiang Che’s second visit, so he naturally knew how to avoid the illusions.
He was fully conscious, and he also knew that Hu Qiao’er should be lying somewhere beside him, but he couldn’t find her.
He leaned back against Little White and sat down.
This scene made Xu Qianlan, who was outside, anxious to the extreme.
She wished she could tear open this wretched secret realm, pull Jiang Che out, and hold him close to cherish him.
But she didn’t understand. Jiang Che had just reunited with that girl named Hu Qiao’er, he should be happy, right? At the very least, they should have been embracing each other.
So why had it turned out like this?
Inside the cave, Jiang Che’s mood gradually sank, and suddenly, the golden light in the cave grew stronger. Jiang Che felt his expression freeze, and his body became unresponsive.
Xu Qianlan immediately sensed that something was wrong. Clearly, Jiang Che had already avoided the illusion—so why had he been forcibly dragged back into it?
Her gaze bore straight into Yun Yan.
All of this was captured in the corner of Zhao Zi’ang’s eyes.
From Zhao Zi’ang’s expression, it seemed that some things had already exceeded his expectations.
The more carefully he watched that little blind kid, the more familiar he felt.
Moreover, he noticed that at least Xu Qianlan and Yun Yan were both paying a great deal of attention to this boy.
At the same time, Jiang Che felt as though the ground had disappeared beneath his feet and the surroundings changed completely.
It seemed as if he could open his eyes now, but everything was still pitch black. He immediately realized he had been forcibly pulled into an illusion by the secret realm.
Although he didn’t understand why, it didn’t matter anymore.
At this moment, a voice rang out—magnetic, with the tone of an adult, calm and even.
“Do you hate them?”
Jiang Che replied self-mockingly, “No more beating around the bush, huh? But who am I supposed to hate?”
With Jiang Che’s rhetorical question, that voice in the space disappeared.
The surrounding space twisted. He saw himself sitting in meditation, quietly watching the sun rise and set.
That was when he had just started learning to channel qi into his body.
Lin Yin brought him back, but didn’t pay him any mind.
As someone from the modern world, it was truly hard to understand spiritual energy.
Yet, he soon felt it, and then his cultivation began to rise uncontrollably.
Disciples came and went, and as Lin Yin’s first disciple, he naturally became Senior Brother.
Later, Lin Yin took in two more junior sisters, both younger than Jiang Che, so Jiang Che’s daily life changed from simply cultivating to cultivating and taking care of the two junior sisters.
Er Shimei, Bai Rushuang, was strict and serious, not one for smiling, but she deeply admired Jiang Che’s talent.
However, perhaps because Jiang Che gained more and more junior sisters, she gradually became cold toward him.
San Shimei was like a child who would never grow up, soft and lively by nature.
Later, there were many rumors about Lin Yin—how she had doomed her own Master and now spent her days hiding away in seclusion in her Cave Residence.
Jiang Che couldn’t accept this, so he started managing all the affairs of Lingjian Peak and also took charge of recruiting new disciples until the number of disciples grew ever larger.
Then, Lin Yin brought back another person, a boy about fourteen or fifteen.
When Jiang Che had been brought back, he was only eight. By this time, he was around sixteen.
This boy was similar to Jiang Che—his entire village gone, only he survived, and he called himself Zhao Zi’ang.
Jiang Che felt sorry for him and looked after him often, but for some reason, Zhao Zi’ang always smiled awkwardly, and when alone in his room, he’d often smash things in frustration.
Things got stranger and stranger. Zhao Zi’ang would secretly follow Jiang Che and constantly commit little misdeeds.
Sometimes he even peeked at female disciples bathing. So dumb—why not learn from Jiang Che and use a Shadowstone?
Of course, in the end, Jiang Che always took the blame for him.
In the end…
Jiang Che was crippled by Lin Yin…
No one believed him…
“Who am I supposed to hate…”
Unconsciously, Jiang Che’s throat tightened.
“Everyone.”
That voice rang out again.
“I don’t have the strength left to hate. I’m already a cripple, and I can’t beat any of them. I just want to live my own life…”
Jiang Che’s voice was utterly weak.
“Besides, didn’t Heaven turn me into a child just to let me choose a new life?”
Jiang Che was lying to himself.
“You want to be an ordinary person?”
“Mm.”
Jiang Che answered without hesitation, but the scene changed again. A girl in plain, pale pink coarse robes appeared.
But he couldn’t see her face clearly.
Who was she?
But the girl collapsed into the arms of a little blind child, her hand gently caressing Jiang Che’s face.
“Don’t you want revenge?”
Jiang Che’s breathing grew heavier, his emotions surging and restless.
“Or are you still trying to run away?”
Do you really think that abandoning the past means you can abandon the memories before your eyes?
The voice was as calm as ever, yet every word fiercely tugged at every thread of Jiang Che’s emotions.
Jiang Che covered his ears with all his might, but he could still hear it.
The voice continued.
“Or do you think you still have a place to return to?”
The scene shifted again.
Jiang Che could even smell the fragrance of medicinal herbs.
An old grandpa sat at the dining table, teaching the little blind child in front of him about the use of herbs.
A girl brought a steaming dish to the table. The scene was warm and comforting, but their faces were blurred.
Jiang Che could only piece these scenes together from his memories of voices, sensations, and smells.
That was the home he believed in. It didn’t matter if no one believed him. It didn’t matter if he was a failure.
What was wrong with forgetting the past? Living like an ordinary person, having a home—that was enough.
In an instant, Jiang Che understood the selfish longing he had for Hu Qiao’er. It was because she was his only sense of belonging.
Until Hu Qiao’er went to test her spiritual roots, that sense of belonging vanished.
Vanished without a trace.
As if he’d never possessed it at all.
Thinking back, he had never told Hu Qiao’er about his past—first, because he was afraid she wouldn’t treat him like a little brother anymore; second, he was afraid Hu Qiao’er would get in trouble because of his past.
So let the past stay in the past.
But Hu Qiao’er betrayed Jiang Che. She wanted to become an immortal, to go to the place where Jiang Che once lived, but could never return.
His thoughts took a dark turn.
In the darkness of the illusion, the owner of that voice gradually took shape. Jiang Che looked up—it was his former self, full of youthful spirit.
But those eyes were now cold and world-weary, indifferent and emotionless.
But Jiang Che no longer had the strength to stand. He collapsed to his knees.
The space around him shattered.
“Is this your choice?”
That indifferent voice sounded again, tinged with disappointment.
At the same time, the onlookers who had been observing the situation were just beginning to be surprised by the reaction of the lion spirit beast.
Some had even suspected this boy might be extraordinarily gifted. After all, high-level spirit beasts could easily sense a person’s aura, and if it matched, they would draw close.
Or perhaps this child had incredible beast-taming talent.
But very quickly, they realized something was wrong. This child seemed to have been pulled into the illusion again.
And the situation was clearly not right.
Luo Yan raised an eyebrow and said, “What did this kid see? Even his heart’s about to shatter?”