Chapter 74

Restoring Song Zhihuai's memory was quite simple.

He had only been successfully deceived because he had lowered his guard. After Vane explained everything in detail, Song Zhihuai fell into deep thought.

Song Zhihuai: "If it is truly as you say, the commoners in Tao County and those array masters should all be within this crystal secret realm."

Yiling Ke: "Then we don't need to find them; we just need to break the secret realm."

Zora tilted her head: "Have you recovered your memory?"

"...Apologies, I have not." Song Zhihuai's face was like frozen ice, but his eyes held a hint of awkwardness.

He still lacked the memories of those repeating days within the illusion; he was only this certain because he trusted his friends.

Yiling Ke couldn't hold it back anymore and asked: "What if we are also illusions?"

"..."

Song Zhihuai's gaze gradually sharpened.

Yiling Ke: "..."

...Senior Brother Song, you really are too easy to fool.

Zora released the insect. It flew toward the sachet at Song Zhihuai's waist, clinging to it and sniffing deeply as if intoxicated.

That should be real; an illusion's mimicry wouldn't carry a scent.

Zora set aside her suspicion: "Now, let's find clues."

"Alright," Song Zhihuai replied instinctively, then paused, his brow furrowing slightly. "...How do I know if you are real or fake?"

Yiling Ke: "...Sorry, everyone."

An illusion would not only fail to replicate scents but also the specific cultivation levels and sword techniques of a cultivator.

Zora unsheathed her sword: "Then let's just have a fight."

Song Zhihuai nodded: "Alright."

"!" Yiling Ke instantly retreated a dozen steps.

As this was a secret realm fraught with risk, Vane took out his long spear and cradled it in his arm. The youth only retreated a leisurely step when Song Zhihuai drew his sword, his movements so smooth that the ponytail behind him didn't even stir.

He watched them, his eyes capturing the fluttering robes and the flashes of blades. Zora didn't care for the flashy beauty of techniques, but when she struck with her sword, in the eyes of others, it carried an incomparably clear imagery—like gurgling water, or a cold, sharp blade.

The duel between the two sword cultivators was filled with sharp air blades, the crisp sound of clashing metal, and the collision of spiritual power. The same sword techniques, when performed by different people, took on entirely different styles and intents.

Both were completely focused. Song Zhihuai leaned toward the awe-inspiring sword intent a typical sword cultivator should possess, while Zora had a few more degrees of an indescribable cleanliness and directness, as if she would strike the same way regardless of who stood before her.

As it was a spar, Zora's cultivation could not match Song Zhihuai's. While her leadership within the team was stronger, in a prolonged solo fight, the longer-practicing Song Zhihuai was naturally superior. She soon fell into a disadvantage.

Song Zhihuai's brow tightened slightly, then relaxed.

Zora was like a completely different person compared to before; her sword techniques already had the prototype of sword intent. This was a rare genius in the cultivation world, comparable only to the likes of Wanghua-jun and Zhou Shijin.

Junior Sister Zora would likely surpass him soon. Her growth was truly rapid—as expected of her. With such talent and character, she ought to stand at the peak of the cultivation world. He didn't know how she compared to Wanghua-jun, but in his eyes, Junior Sister Zora was far better than Wanghua-jun. She was kind yet distinguished love from hate; she wasn't soft-hearted yet was exceptionally determined. Just like at the Great Competition, having her was like having a backbone; the team would never fall apart. What a precious quality.

Zora had no idea that this seemingly sharp sword cultivator was frantically praising her in his head without pause.

She didn't dislike fighting, but her face now showed a slight dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction with herself.

If it were before, she wouldn't have thought much of it, but now, she clearly felt the sensation of her meridians being blocked once again. Even though she was at the higher Fusion stage, she found it more annoying than the Foundation Establishment stage. The stagnant cultivation progress brought a daily restlessness.

She had to cross this hurdle, and she had to do it within these short few decades to reach an even higher realm.

Zora usually had no expression; even when expressing something, she was blunt and quickly regained her composure to focus on the present.

The two men present didn't notice her momentary annoyance. Vane’s lashes trembled slightly as he blinked.

Yiling Ke retreated further and further. Looking at Vane's focused back, she felt a phantom ache in her teeth.

...Is he not afraid that swords and blades have no eyes?

And are these two getting more serious as they fight?! We're still in a secret realm!

After a long time, Song Zhihuai sheathed his sword, a rare faint smile on his face: "Junior Sister Zora has made remarkable progress."

Her arm paused slightly. The Jiangxue Sword was mostly back in its sheath, sticking for an instant before the final part of the blade dropped in completely with a crisp

click

.

"Thanks," Zora turned her head. "How do we recover his memory?"

Vane: "We should try using spiritual power to cleanse the spiritual platform. Falling into illusions is often caused by the spiritual platform being clouded."

Song Zhihuai, who stayed in the sect all day and rarely went out, knew very little about such information. Hearing this, he followed the advice, quieting his mind and closing his eyes to circulate his spiritual power.

Yiling Ke finally walked to Zora's side, her expression strange as she touched Zora's arm and pinched her cheek. Zora's cheek was slightly lifted by her pinch, but even so, the girl's eyes remained unruffled: "What is it?"

"I just realized... you're at the Fusion stage?" Yiling Ke said in wonder.

Moreover, Zora wasn't the overly gaunt type; she had a bit of flesh on her face, a perfect amount of softness. As Yiling Ke continued pinching, she suddenly felt a premonition and looked back. The youth holding the long spear was glancing elsewhere, his face devoid of emotion—if Yiling Ke hadn't turned back quickly enough to see the deliberate action of him turning away.

...This kid and his pretenses.

"Yes," Zora turned her head toward Song Zhihuai, and the hand pinching her face let go. "He has cycled here several times; he should know what this illusion is centered around."

Even an illusion has some patterns to follow. Some secret realm eyes are hidden, while others become the center of the illusion, with everything revolving around them.

While Song Zhihuai was still clearing his spiritual platform, Zora went in front of him and stared, waiting. Vane's gaze followed her, pausing slightly at the sight.

Zora was observing Song Zhihuai.

Has he ever experienced a stagnant state of mind?

Doesn't look like it.

After a while, she turned back to stare at Vane.

Has he ever experienced a stagnant state of mind?

Vane had been silently approaching bit by bit, but when Zora suddenly looked at him, the youth froze in his tracks. Her gaze circled his face.

"..." Vane glanced elsewhere, pursing his lips. His gaze stopped on the nearby trees for an instant before he quietly turned back to meet Zora's eyes.

Probably not. He didn't in the original work. In the unmodified world line of the original work, Vane even died early; after it was modified, he died in the grand finale anyway. In short, he always dies, but his cultivation always goes smoothly.

Vane sensitively perceived the change in her emotions.

She was looking at him with the expression one uses for a dead person.

There wasn't even any malice, as if she had simply paused to indifferently examine a corpse she happened to see while passing by.

Vane: "..."

Tugging at his facial muscles, the youth slowly offered her a smile. He was beautiful, and the smile was perfectly measured and pleasing to the eye. He had reached the age where one in the mortal world could have a lover; his features had long since filled out, clear and bright. He hid his baleful aura deep within his brow, letting only a hint of sharp edge through, a sight that could move anyone's heart.

Zora's attention was diverted by his smile as she gazed at his exceptionally superior shell.

Villains are all this good-looking; should the male lead be even better-looking?

Zora thought.

Unfortunately, in her heart, she had no concept or impression of Wanghua-jun. Even Turi Qi and Song Zhihuai only received a bit of her attention because she had spent a long time with them and their relationship had grown closer. As for others, they rarely left a deep impression on her.

Looking at Vane's face made her mood better, so Zora allowed herself to keep looking.

Vane didn't maintain a single smile but began to speak, his voice neither high nor low, maintaining a youth's freshness. He spoke of their spar just now and how many osmanthus cakes they had used, saying he would restock them when they returned. His expression didn't change much while speaking; every moment was filled with youthful spirit. Unlike ordinary people whose faces might briefly look unappealing while speaking, he was different.

Zora just watched him, using him as a focal point for her daze. She didn't think carefully about Vane's words, treating them as background noise; the important thing was that face.

Yiling Ke didn't look at the subtle atmosphere between the master and servant. She was busy explaining things to Turi Qi, but as time was short, she could only say they would come out after resolving the crystal realm and told Turi Qi not to enter yet.

Song Zhihuai suddenly opened his eyes, his voice hesitant: "...In the countless cycles, everyone here seems to be doing one thing."

Zora withdrew her gaze and looked at him: "What thing?"

Vane sensitively stopped speaking the instant Song Zhihuai opened his eyes. Only after Zora looked away did he look toward Song Zhihuai.

Song Zhihuai: "I remember that some people were constantly helping a woman, saying she was going to climb the heavenly ladder to join a sect and cultivate."

Song Zhihuai had thought he had already left the illusion and arrived at Tao County. He had never seen the commoners of Tao County and couldn't distinguish if these people were real commoners. He only remembered that after "leaving" the illusion, he would always meet an old woman at the same alley corner, a vegetable basket in her hand, muttering, "These vegetables should be enough..."

Song Zhihuai took a look.

The old woman wasn't afraid of the sword cultivator and even called out to him: "Oh, young master, may I ask if you've been to the December Sect?"

"I have."

"Truly!" Joy erupted on the old woman's face. "That girl Mu Qiong is about to head to the December Sect's ladder herself. She seems to have run away from home, traveling thousands of miles to get here, and she's still going forward. That day my vegetable basket fell and everything spilled; she was the one who helped me pick them up, so I let her stay the night at our house."

"Since she's going to cultivate, an old woman like me has nothing to thank her with, so I plan to save up some vegetables so she doesn't go hungry on the road."

A truly kind person.

Song Zhihuai was moved internally, though he nodded coldly on the surface.

Later, he found that the osmanthus cake owner was also helping the woman prepare food, the blacksmith was helping her forge weapons for protection, and the physician at the clinic was preparing medicine for her.

"Mu Qiong said she's been frail and sickly since she was a child. I'm afraid something might happen to her on the road, so I'm preparing some medicine for her, just in case."

Song Zhihuai finished and said: "I suspect that Miss Mu Qiong is the person closest to the realm eye—or perhaps she is the eye itself."

Zora: "Let's go take a look."

The four rushed toward the city.

"This must be a scene from hundreds of years ago..." Yiling Ke marveled. "Has this secret realm existed for centuries?"

The faces, clothing, and tools of the commoners around them were all in the style of hundreds of years ago. The entire city was filled with a friendly and enthusiastic atmosphere. A few people even tried to pull Zora to give her head ornaments; Zora walked past without a glance, only looking when someone offered food.

Vane spoke with several people whose actions were most closely linked to Mu Qiong, returning after gathering information in a few sentences.

"That Mu Qiong escaped from her home and entered this city two days ago. She has been helped by people all along the way. She should be at the city gate now; she is heading to the December Sect."

The four went to the city gate, not approaching rashly, watching a delicate woman say goodbye to everyone with a bright smile.

Yiling Ke: "Could the key be to let her successfully cultivate?"

The woman traveled over mountains and rivers with her bundle, and in an hour, she reached the "December Sect."

Yiling Ke looked at the scene before her and her mouth twitched.

"...Th-This is the immortal realm in a mortal's imagination, isn't it?"

It wasn't a heavenly ladder, and it wasn't the December Sect.

There was a white stone arched bridge surrounded by white clouds. The pond had lotus flowers and leaves, and the buildings across the bridge looked more like a royal palace—red walls and yellow roofs, magnificent and grand.

Mu Qiong showed a look of joy, wiping the sweat from her forehead: "Finally here!"

She ran across the white bridge, her skirts fluttering like a beautiful butterfly. Carrying her delusions of the future, she flew toward the other side without looking back.

Zora watched indifferently until Mu Qiong suddenly stopped the moment she stepped onto the white bridge. Carrying the vegetables and fruits brought by those acts of kindness, her face was dazed, and her whole body seemed pinned to the spot, frozen.

A very abrupt halt.

Yiling Ke asked in confusion: "What's wrong with her?"

No one knew. The woman stood dazed, two lines of clear tears flowing from her eyes. She suddenly looked around in confusion, then touched the fruit in her hand. She froze, then suddenly collapsed to the ground, her shoulders pulled in pitiably. She lowered her head and sobbed uncontrollably, which soon turned into a wail of despair.

The woman's cries echoed outside the immortal palace, filled with agony.

"What's go—" Before Yiling Ke could finish, the surroundings shifted, and the four returned to the place they had started.

Fortunately, they were vigilant; the illusion had no way to cloud their spiritual platforms. Even when Song Zhihuai nearly forgot again due to a lack of vigilance, Zora gave him a "kind" reminder with her sword.

"Huh!?" Yiling Ke was bewildered. "What's going on!?"

Vane was in deep thought, while Zora was more direct.

They didn't alert the enemy, watching the woman walk out of the city just like last time. Only when she stopped dazed while crossing the bridge did Zora walk up to her.

Zora asked: "What are you doing? Why aren't you moving?"

The girl carried an immortal sword, her aura clear and cold, her face soft as a cloud.

Mu Qiong looked at her in a daze, murmuring: "Immortal... are you an immortal? This is a dream, right? A dream made for me because you saw how pitiable I am."

Zora expressionlessly: "Keep talking."

Yiling Ke, hiding to the side: "........."

Mu Qiong didn't care about her attitude, tears covering her cheeks: "I'm actually already dead, aren't I? I remember I died... I wanted to go to the December Sect, but I died on the road..."

She lowered her head, staring blankly at the fruit in her hand. She tugged her lips into a smile, but it looked worse than crying.

"...I entered the city and helped an old woman pick up scattered vegetables. She wanted to invite me for tea as thanks. I was already hungry and weak, unable to walk further, so I went along. Who knew she conspired with the physician at the pharmacy to drug me, wanting to sell me... wanting to sell me!! I escaped home just to avoid being sold like a common commodity, why can't I escape even here!"

Mu Qiong was emotional and grieved, her eyes blurred by tears, her voice sobbing: "I wanted to escape, but I was caught by two men... while leaving the city, I jumped from the carriage and slid down a hillside. It hurt, it really hurt... I waited for death while alive, and I did indeed find it."

Her face was full of confusion: "Immortal, is it my fault? Was I not vigilant enough? Was I too weak? Did I deserve to be sold? My father too—a concubine's daughter is meant to be sold to trade for his status."

"I just... just wanted to go to the cultivation world," she said softly. "Even if they said the December Sect is a place of savage and crude people, I still wanted to go. I wanted to go."

Mu Qiong quieted down. She threw away her basket, and vegetables scattered all over the ground.

"But I am already dead. Thank you, immortal, for giving me this beautiful dream."

She bit her lower lip to suppress her sobs, but couldn't help asking with a tearful voice, her eyes filled with tears.

"But why—why make me remember at the final moment?"

Those villains turned into kind people; having recovered her memory, she felt only disgust and loathing.

Zora had no expression. She answered honestly: "I don't know."

Mu Qiong froze.

As soon as the words fell, the illusion shifted.

The four returned to the starting point once more.

Vane summarized without a change in expression: "It seems she was meant to go to her longed-for December Sect, but at the most critical step, she recalls the events of her past life and cannot accept that the kind people in the illusion are the villains who killed her in reality. Thus, the illusion continues, repeating again."

Yiling Ke suggested: "Then we don't let her remember? Or have her remember before she is helped?"

Zora didn't join the discussion. She only pondered for a bit after Vane finished.

Cannot accept that the kind people in the illusion are the villains who killed her in reality.

Equivalent to not letting those villains help her.

Zora's thinking was exceptionally clear. Without further hesitation, she set off toward a location.

Yiling Ke: "Just like that?!"

Vane smiled: "Zora should have her own way."

Mu Qiong had been frail and sickly since birth. Having walked for a long time this time, her body was already exhausted and unable to endure.

She helped an old woman, and the woman enthusiastically invited her for tea. Mu Qiong was already unable to walk, and her heart was throbbing with pain. The old woman indeed seemed like a chance encounter, warm and simple. If she refused and left, she would likely collapse alone and die of exhaustion or hunger because no one helped her.

Mu Qiong agreed. They came to a small cottage.

"You sit first. Seeing how weak you are, I'll go find the people at the pharmacy; their medical skills are excellent!" The old woman walked out of the cottage.

"No need, Granny!" Mu Qiong hurriedly forced herself to follow.

Warm blood was so piercingly bright under the sunlight.

Blood was all over the ground. It turned out a person cannot close their eyes after death.

Mu Qiong stared blankly at the woman who was vivid just a moment ago, now lying on the ground. Bright red blood was spreading; she died with her eyes open, her neck severed.

The newcomer held a sword. Even stained with red, the sword still overflowed with immortal aura. The owner of the sword was a young girl. She had killed someone, yet her face showed no murderous ferocity; instead, it was as if she had done something insignificant, remaining pure and innocent.

Amidst Mu Qiong's stunned and horrified gaze, the girl said seriously: "The only one who can help you is me."

She glanced indifferently at the corpse gradually vanishing on the ground. This old woman was also one of the phantoms; being killed, she wouldn't even leave a body behind.

Zora looked at her: "Whoever tries to help you, I will deal with them."

The threatening words were spoken by her as if they were a promise.

"..."

Mu Qiong collapsed to the ground, her face already covered in tears at some point.

She thought in a daze.

How strange. She wasn't crying because of terror or fear.

This girl had clearly killed someone without the slightest heart of guilt or struggle.

...And yet, she wasn't afraid.