At once Yan Hui became curious: "What did you make him see?"
"It's not what I made him see. I like to eat happy emotions, so what you guys saw were the perfect moments in your life. You saw your senior disciple. He saw....."
"The illusion still isn't broken. Do you want me to break it personally?" Tian Yao suddenly cut in before the little illusion demon finished. His words succeeded in diverting Yan Hui's attention.
"So this place is also an illusion?" Yan Hui was surprised. She narrowed her eyes at the little demon. "Are you still trying to scheme against us?"
The little demon felt somewhat resentful and wronged by those words: "You already are wearing my ring. I can't do anything to you!" She paused and looked down a fraction. Her expression was dark. "I created this illusion for myself....."
Tian Yao gave no quarter: "Break it." He was always on alert around strangers, mistrustful as always.
The little illusion demon gritted her teeth. She glared at Tian Yao and angrily said: "Fine! I'll undo it! But it's you who wanted me to!"
With those words, she flourished her sleeves. The twinkling blue-pillard palace immediately started to waver. The lights started to him. The clean, glossy stone floor started to form cracks and split. Broken and crushed rocks appeared everywhere. The pillars were also badly damaged. Only the black mist above their heads remained. A look upwards caused a hard to suppress vertigo.
Although this place was at the bottom of Black River, there was no water here. When the illusion was completely gone, Yan Hui felt a sudden chill.
Yan Hui was still looking upwards at the black mist. She suddenly heard the little demon give a slight mocking sneer. It was immediately followed by a large robe draping over head.
Yan Hui yanked the robe off of her head and saw Tian Yao had turned his back. His voice was strained and rough: "Wear it."
Yan Hui looked down. That's when she discovered...crap....
She was stark naked!
Yan Hui blushed. She hurriedly put on Tian Yao's robe and rapidly tied it in place.
The little demon off to the side started to laugh: "Why did you look away? Feeling awkward? You were the one who wanted me to remove the illusion!"
Tian Yao clenched his hands into fists. His eyes narrowed, and a fireball immediately flew towards the laughing demon. The demon hurriedly dodged. The fireball smashed into the ground, leaving a gouge. The little demon repeatedly yelped: "I was following your orders! If you're mad out of embarrassment, hit yourself! Why are you blaming me?!"
Tian Yao darkly rebuked her: "Be quiet."
Yan Hui finished arranging the robe. She glanced at Tian Yao out of the corner of her eyes. His ears were flushed red. Looks like he really was angry out of shyness.
This kind of Tian Yao, Yan Hui...saw for the first time.
The illusion demon leapt to Yan Hui's side. She hid from Tian Yao and clutched Yan Hui's arm: "You're my master now, so you have to protect me. If I die, the ring will cut off your pinkie."
Yan Hui was stunned when she heard that. She no longer cared with Tian Yao was shy or not. She immediately looked at the little demon: "What kind of custom is that?!"
"I will do things for you, so of course you have the duty to protect me. Us illusion demons, aside from creating illusions to eat emotions, actually don't have a lot of power. Compared to other demons, we don't have much for self-defense. That's why we want to attach ourselves to strong demons. If you don't protect me well, then the price is the ring cutting off your finger."
Yan Hui: ".....what use do you have?"
The little illusion demon thought about it: "I can cast illusions to give you good dreams."
Yan Hui made a move to remove the ring: "Then you can go ahead and die. I'm going to protect my pinkie."
The little demon freaked out and hurriedly clutched at Yan Hui's hand: "I can let you see your senior brother every night!"
Yan Hui paused her movements.
"Who ever you want to meet, I"ll let you meet. What ever you want to dream tonight, I'll let you dream." The little demon honestly looked at Yan Hui. "My name is Huan Xiao Yan. Please call me Dream Maker."
Yan Hui was silent for a long time. Then she looked down: "Do you have other abilities?"
"Wait until I get stronger. Then I can enter the minds of people to create an illusion and tamper with their memories. Only these past decades, I didn't have much to eat, so I'm not very strong. It's impossible right now."
Yan Hui was baffled. She swept her gaze around the dilapidated palace. "50 years ago, the depths of Black River were already like this. You didn't have anything to eat, so how come you're not dead?"
Huan Xiao Yan scratched her head in embarrassment: "I would've died. I've been hungry these 50 years, so I created an illusion for myself when the palace was at its former glory. I relied on eating my own emotions to live."
Yan Hui fell silent at those words.
Huan Xiao Yan was also silent. But after a few short moments, she returned back to her angry state and shot Tian Yao a glare: "I stayed in my illusions, so I could be a little happy. You harsh and suspicious types want to strip my last bit of happiness away! Bad person!"
Tian Yao acted like he didn't hear a word and looked away in another direction. After a moment of silence, he spoke: "Since it's like this, why didn't you leave? Live somewhere else besides Black River?"
"The tremor 50 years ago buried my parents here. I stay here to watch over their graves." Huan Xiao Yan pointed at the ring on Yan Hui's finger. "But now you're my master. If you insist on leaving, then I can't continue living here."
Yan Hui looked at her own hand: "Sorry, but I really must leave this place."
Huan Xiao Yan pouted: "I know. I can see what is in your hearts."
All three people fell silent after those words. The only sound in the destroyed palace was the rushing water overhead in the inky blackness.
Finally, Tian Yao broke the silence. He asked Yan Hui: "Is all your cultivation washed away?"
"There's still some remnants left," replied Yan Hui. "But it's just a matter of walking around in Black River."
Tian Yao nodded: "So after leaving this place, taking a dip in Black River and coming back will be enough. There shouldn't be much left."
Yan Hui agreed and looked up at the seemingly endless blackness: "Outside awaits countless plots and schemes against us."
31 miles away from Chen Xing Mountain, Ling Fei stood in front of Su Ying. She still wore the veiled hat so no one could see her face, but her aura revealed her gloominess. Su Ying sat in the host's position in the hall, somewhat at odds with the majestic surroundings. She was currently embroidering flowers onto a blue cloak.
Compared to Ling Fei's gloomy aura, Su Ying was much more tranquil: "Killing Ling Xiao's head disciple was truly overboard." Su Ying continued without raising her head. "Now we are like fire and water with the demon clans. Out of all the people, Zi Chen was a sincere cultivator. He was a broad-minded and just person. It's hard to come by."
Ling Fei's heart tightened. She slightly gritted her teeth: "I also didn't think that the spell....would be so strong. I also.....didn't have time to react."
That's when Su Ying raised her head with disapproval: "Can you handle a spell cast by Zhenren Qi Guang?"
Ling Fei was silent for a split second then angrily said: "It's still a shame that it didn't kill Yan Hui." She gritted her teeth. "No one expected that powerful dragon demon to save her."
When those words dropped, Su Ying's hand silently shook. The needle pricked her finger, and blood dripped onto the blue cloak. Su Ying silently wiped at the blood to keep it from Ling Fei's notice. The strange thing was the blood dripped on the cloak didn't absorb into the cloak. Rather, it was completely wiped away by Su Ying. Not a mark was left behind.
"Oh?" Su Ying continued to embroider. "How strong was the dragon demon?"
"It forcefully broke the soaring killing spell and melted the Heavenly Jian." Ling Fei paused for a moment before continuing: "Luckily it didn't linger at Chen Xing Mountain."
Su Ying put down the cloak. Her eyes were slightly cold. She thought it over before saving: "Since you returned, cultivate for these days while you're here. Out of the three main sects, Guang Han Sect is the closest to Qing Qiu. Earlier, the demon clans crossed San Chong Mountain to do a probing attack. Although they didn't reach our sect, we must increase our vigilance. The main entrance at the bottom of the mountain needs guards. For now, you'll help me guard the gate. That way if there are any movements, I'll have less to worry about."
Ling Fei nodded.
"Go ahead and pack. Then go to the gate and keep an eye on the boundary spell. The boundary hasn't been crossed. It's also the safest place."
Ling Fei complied and left. Su Ying sat alone in the hall for a long time. Suddenly, she knocked twice on the chair's armrest. Smoke wreathed on the floor, and a person kneeling on one knee appeared in it. He respectfully murmured: "Sect Master."
"Go investigate," Su Ying's eyes were cold. They were like ice. "The background of Chen Xing Mountain's Yan Hui and how she's involved with the dragon demon, Tian Yao."
"Yes."
The man in the fog immediately disappeared. There was no one else in the hall. Su Ying's back, which had been ramrod straight, finally relaxed a little. She looked at the cloak in her hand in silence.
After Ling Fei gathered her things, she planned to head down the mountain and unintentionally passed the courtyard's lake. Guang Han Sect was frozen year-around. Thus the lake was also frozen year-around. The shore was also dusted with snow. A scholar stood at the shore. At that moment, Su Ying was draping the blue cloak she was embroidering over the scholar's shoulders.
The scholar didn't even turn his head
Su Ying didn't say much. She just lightly said: "Guang Han Sect is unlike other places. Your wound isn't healed yet. Mind your health."
The scholar acted like he didn't a word. He just stared fixedly at the lake in front of him. Su Ying stood with him for awhile and then left.
Ling Fei knew about her sister's infatuation with the scholar. She sighed and was about to leave when she saw the scholar carelessly grab the cloak and throw it onto the frozen lake. He turned and left the pavilion.
Ling Fei was stunned. She advanced and looked at the scholar's retreating back. Then she went and picked up the discarded cloak from the lake. In the burst of sunshine, she thought she saw a scale-pattern on the blue cloak. However when she took a closer look, she didn't see anything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That heartless woman is embroidering on Tian Yao's scales!!! She. Should. Suffer.
Also good job scholar for shunning Su Ying!