"How did you come to know the information about the Outer Domain Demon?"
As Xu Yuan spoke with a deep voice, Liu Ruoxue immediately understood his intentions.
He wanted to exchange intelligence with her.
"Do you think... you have the right to bargain with me?"
Liu Ruoxue's starry eyes narrowed slightly, her demeanor naturally imposing.
"This isn't bargaining, this is an exchange,"
Xu Yuan said with a smile, "Besides, Fairy Liu, you can take me down after the exchange. What about it? Are you afraid that my battered body can still pull any tricks?"
"I can take you down right now, too."
Liu Ruoxue gazed into his eyes, the sharpness in hers piercing like a sword.
"Then you might never learn the truth."
Xu Yuan's smile remained the same as he spoke softly.
Although the burning pain from his back was still severe, his smile was as perfect and handsome as ever.
Moonlight shone on the faces of the two, turning the pair into a nobleman and a fairy so pale as if they stood as opponents on a stage.
"I learned about the Outer Domain Demon from what my Master told me,"
finally, Liu Ruoxue relented.
"Oh?"
Xu Yuan was mildly surprised.
"Your Master? And whence comes this misunderstanding?"
"Misunderstanding?"
Liu Ruoxue just sneered coldly, "Your turn."
"Not enough."
Xu Yuan gently shook his head, "Even if you hadn't mentioned it, I would have known."
"You!?"
Liu Ruoxue's eyebrows shot up, "Are you playing me?"
"Dare not, it's just that what I've said is indeed true. After all, Fairy Liu, at first glance, appears to be someone devoted to her cultivation, so how could she know anything about me? And since Fairy Liu believes this piece of information so unwaveringly, the only possibility I could think of was Fairy Liu's Master."
Xu Yuan said with a light smile, "Fairy Liu, do my words make sense?"
"..."
Liu Ruoxue's eyebrows furrowed again, her eyes as unforgiving as a spring moonlit night.
"What you say makes sense, unfortunately, I am a woman, and women, as is known, are often unreasonable,"
she said, pointing her sword at Xu Yuan, her voice ringing like the sound of a flowing spring and tinkling jade pendants.
"So it seems."
The smile on Xu Yuan's face slowly faded.
"It appears... that's all you know, Fairy Liu,"
he said slowly.
Liu Ruoxue's eyebrows twitched slightly, her heart turning cold.
How did he know?
Looking at her like this,
if Xu Yuan was merely suspicious before, now he was convinced.
"Really, would it not have been easier to say so from the start? Such a waste of my emotions,"
he rubbed his slightly stiff face, looking up at the moon with dissatisfaction showing on his handsome features.
A strong sense of unease suddenly surged in Liu Ruoxue's heart.
Because she had been almost wholly focussed on Xu Yuan just now, she failed to notice that, at this moment, the surface of the ancient mirror in her arms was once again covered with a layer of mist.
"Just because I addressed you as a fairy, did you really start to think too highly of yourself?"
A faint trace of sarcasm appeared on Xu Yuan's face.
Liu Ruoxue's expression turned icy.
She was certainly not angry about the change in how he addressed her.
What concerned her was the shift in his attitude.
This sudden change suggested that some kind of incident was about to occur.
The young girl aimed her sword at his dantian.
Liu Ruoxue intended to cripple him first, and then slowly try to pry the truth about that incident from his lips.
She didn't really believe that there were other hidden facets to the massacre of the village all those years ago... Or could there be?
However, to her surprise, the boy seemed to have no intention of dodging, instead smiling and gesturing for her to look at the ground.
"Miss Liu, it seems you haven't noticed yet."
"What?"
Although Liu Ruoxue suspected he was bluffing, she couldn't help but glance at the ground out of the corner of her eye.
And with that look, she was stunned in place.
For beneath the sword light that dissolved everything, what was revealed was not the dark earth, but a surface smooth as a mirror.
No, it wasn't so much like a mirror as it was a mirror itself.
A mirror magnified countless times.
Its name, the Illusory Mirror.
An opportunity that should have been Lin Qingque's to obtain.
The flagstones previously spread on the ground were nothing but moss traces solidified after exposure to wind and rain.
And now, the surface of this mirror was reflecting the moon in the sky, which had slowly moved to the center of the mirror.
Above the mirror's surface, a layer of seemingly thin mist was churning at her feet incessantly, rising rapidly like an incoming tide.
"Miss Liu, shall we meet later?"
Xu Yuan smiled as he retreated into the fog.
"Wait..."
Liu Ruoxue's delicate body wanted to move, but she forcefully stopped herself.
She was aware of the fog's properties.
Each time, the pattern of movement within the fog would change with the hour, requiring knowledge of the movement pattern for that particular time to proceed. Otherwise, one would only get further and further away from the intended destination.
For example, at 04:00, one would need to advance nine steps and withdraw one, while at noon, it would be two steps left, three steps right.
'Only... a thick fog at the time of the full moon? Even Master doesn't know about this, so how does he? It seems he really does know many secrets. That incident all those years ago...'
While she was frowning in thought, a sudden whooshing sound attacked from behind her.
"Who?"
Liu Ruoxue let out a low shout, her wrist flicked slightly, and her sword light danced to swiftly deflect the incoming flying sword.
Clang!
As sparks scattered, she saw strands of hair drifting by her cheek, as if stirred by the wind.
'Not good!'
Liu Ruoxue inwardly cursed that she had been tricked and tried to leap away to create distance.
But in the very next moment, a fist glowing with spiritual light, carrying a forceful wind, smashed through her Protective Spiritual Aura with brute force.
Liu Ruoxue gave up on the idea of drawing her sword. The attacker behind her had clearly closed in on her, and at this moment, reversing the sword's direction would undoubtedly be too late.
She applied force to her right arm, her elbow bent slightly, and she struck backward with a sharp thrust.
Thump!
The person behind her, as if having anticipated her move, did not block, but instead grunted, allowing her strike filled with Spiritual Power to land on his chest, bearing the impact with Spiritual Energy concentrated just below his chest. Then, his arm wound under her armpit in a smooth motion, securing a lock.
Meanwhile, her left arm, which had yet to move, was seized by the other hand of her multitasking assailant, twisted and pinned behind her back.
At the same time, a knee as strong and powerful as a pillar thrust forward behind her.
In the space of a breath, the tables had been turned.
"?!"
Just as Liu Ruoxue was about to move, she heard Xu Yuan's teasing laugh from beside her ear, "Miss Liu, don't move. If you dare to spit at me, don't blame me for ruthlessly crushing a flower."