Chapter 34

After Ji Yuran was slapped by Xie Yu in the illusion realm, he had at first been furious and so ashamed he had nowhere to hide. It was the first time he had ever lost face like that in front of everyone—especially when the person who had done it was Xie Yu, whom he had once looked down on so much.

With the determination to find the Xuanji Grass, he walked through the depths of the illusion realm, but in the end, he gained nothing.

When he heard that Xie Yu and Gong Dongling had already obtained the Xuanji Grass, he returned to Buzhou Mountain in a fit of anger and went straight into seclusion to cultivate.

Ever since he had transformed from the golden lotus beneath the Buddhist Son’s seat, he had retained some divinity. His breakthroughs in realm were also especially fast, making him one of the outstanding figures among Buzhou Mountain’s younger generation. Yet now, he had been outdone by two female cultivators who both had ties to him. With his pride, how could he swallow this anger?

But while cultivating in seclusion, his heart, already scorched by demonic fire, could not calm down. Scenes from his past with Xie Yu kept flashing before his eyes. Only then did he realize that, without him noticing, the mark she had left in his heart had somehow become deeper than that of his childhood sweetheart, Gong Dongling.

He had once thought that he merely treated Xie Yu as Gong Dongling’s substitute. But looking at it now, that had only been self-deception.

Yet whether it was the beautiful illusion before the lie was exposed or Xie Yu treating him like a stranger every time they met afterward, everything would finally stop on the slap Xie Yu had thrown at him before the illusion realm.

Between the repeated cycle of dreams and reality, Ji Yuran not only failed to properly improve his cultivation, he nearly suffered qi deviation and was stabbed through the heart by Xie Yu in a dream.

Fortunately, the demonic fire in his heart saved [bailiantales.com]his life at that critical moment and protected his natal heart meridian. But in that instant, his longing for Xie Yu, something he could not obtain, swelled to its peak.

When he came out of the mountain cave where he had been in seclusion, he had even lost a hundred years of cultivation compared to before. Although a hundred years of cultivation was not worth mentioning for a thousand-year Buddhist lotus that had taken human form, it still made him much weaker overnight.

Even while this weak, the first thing he did was look for Xie Yu. He wanted to confess his true feelings to her, only to receive news that her whereabouts were unknown.

So he applied to Xu Ruozhen to search for Xie Yu. When he was assigned to guard the north gate, he had thought Xu Ruozhen was targeting him. He never expected that, by mistake, he would truly run into Xie Yu there.

Seeing Xie Yu again at this moment, Ji Yuran’s emotions indeed burst forth. By coincidence, they also matched the original plot, causing the plot to correct itself. This was exactly what Gong Dongling had seen.

Xie Yu narrowed her eyes and looked at Ji Yuran, who looked completely different from usual, not knowing what madness he was having today.

“Xie… Xie Yu? Is it you?” Sure enough, Ji Yuran followed the original plot, calling out the name that often appeared in his dreams with excitement and restraint. But when he met Xie Yu’s rakshasa mask with deep affection, his expression froze for a moment, as if even the atmosphere had been ruined.

He vaguely felt something was wrong. According to how things should develop, Xie Yu should also be surging with emotion right now, ready to begin their long-awaited reunion.

But even Ji Yuran himself found this thought absurd. After all, Xie Yu had never expressed any affection toward him before. Rather than pouring out their hearts to each other, this sudden meeting now looked more like enemies facing each other with swords drawn.

“Xie Yu, listen to me. I suddenly realized that I don’t hate you that much. If you return to Buzhou Mountain, we can write off our [unauthorized copy]past grudges.” Xie Yu’s reaction made his whole body feel wrong, and he stumbled as he tried to patch things up for himself.

But the more he spoke, the more wrong it felt, especially because he felt as if he did not fit into this scene at all.

Xie Yu waited for a long time only to hear this one sentence. She took a deep breath before suppressing the impulse to press Ji Yuran’s head into the dirt.

Clearly, she no longer had the patience to keep watching his performance. Xie Yu lazily lifted her eyes. Her body did not move in the slightest. Only the lips hidden beneath the rakshasa mask moved slightly. “Go.”

The instant the command was given, the sharp bamboo leaves standing upright around Xie Yu truly seemed to transform into ten thousand arrows, shooting together toward the place where Ji Yuran stood. A dense, dark mass filled the sky. Those fragile withered leaves looked as if some aura escorted and protected them. Their bodies were hard and sharp, and their tips were as keen as arrows as they broke through the air and rushed straight for their target.

Ji Yuran had not expected Xie Yu to launch a major attack without even a greeting. Cursing inwardly, he flung open the folding fan in his sleeve and swept it freely toward that “rain of arrows.”

But he instantly discovered that this grand-looking formation was merely a smokescreen. Xie Yu had never thought this thing could injure Ji Yuran at all. Instead, the instant the rain of leaf arrows pressed forward, she moved with her sword, brushing through the gaps between the leaves, the sword tip pointed straight toward Ji Yuran’s vital point.

The moment Ji Yuran swept aside the curtain of fallen leaves, he saw a cold flash. In the next second, the sword tip arrived before his eyes.

His breath caught. Forced into battle, he had no choice but to use the face of his fan to block it. But with just one opening, the high-grade immortal artifact, the Red Cloud Fan, was damaged under Xie Yu’s nameless iron sword. The powerful spiritual energy pierced cleanly through the fan, leaving behind a tear as wide as a sword.

“Xie Yu! Aren’t you supposed to recognize me right now?!” In this situation, Ji Yuran actually shouted the [unauthorized copy]doubt in his heart directly. It should not have been like this!

Even though his natural talent was good, he did not work hard afterward. He was merely a Golden Core cultivator piled up with luck and heavenly treasures. Now that he had also lost his weapon, before the current Xie Yu, he was practically unable to withstand a single blow.

Xie Yu only turned her wrist, and the sharp sword blade pressed against Ji Yuran’s left chest. She paused slightly, as if she could not bear to hurt him. This subtle movement gave him hope. His prediction had not been wrong. Xie Yu still had feelings for him!

The only pair of ink-dark eyes exposed outside the mask finally bloomed with a bit of dazzling light. In the next second, the sword was cruelly pushed into Ji Yuran’s chest by Xie Yu.

The dream from when he suffered qi deviation appeared again. This time, however, it truly existed in the world.

The sharp pain in his chest finally woke Ji Yuran from that long dream. The obsession and stirring affection in his eyes vanished completely without a trace. He did not even know why he had acted that way just now. He could only look helplessly and fearfully at Xie Yu before him.

Xie Yu did not even glance at Ji Yuran. She only pulled the sword out cleanly. From beginning to end, the only moment she had properly looked at Ji Yuran was the brilliant instant when she stabbed him.

She straightened and gazed far into the sky. Ji Yuran would not die, because Buzhou Mountain’s reinforcements had already arrived. The reason she still stabbed this sword was merely to repay one thing with another. Back then, Ji Yuran had betrayed her. Now, he too had to personally experience this heart-carving pain.

From this moment on, their grudges were truly written off.

Xu Ruozhen was also among the reinforcements and was rushing over quickly. Xie Yu knew it was also time for her to leave. But when she passed by Ji Yuran, who was curled into a trembling ball from pain and blood loss, her tone carried a trace of pleasure. “A talented man and beautiful woman with Senior Sister, a match made in heaven? You think you’re worthy?”

Hearing this, Ji Yuran seemed to think of something. His pupils suddenly constricted. He propped up half his body and looked in the direction Xie Yu had left, unable to let it go for a long time.

Xie Yu had only just left when Xu Ruozhen and the others caught up, immediately seeing Ji Yuran collapsed in a pool of blood on the ground.

“Who injured you?!” When Xu Ruozhen asked this, his expression was visibly dark. Nearly everyone at the north gate had been completely wiped out, yet the person who had provoked Buzhou Mountain was still able to retreat unscathed. This was truly a slap to his face.

Xie Yu was only at Foundation Establishment. Although she had shown her brilliance in the inner court competition, everyone believed this came from her rich practical training experience and the powerful physical constitution of a body cultivator. Assigning so many Foundation Establishment disciples and Ji Yuran, a Golden Core cultivator, to guard the place had already been giving Xie Yu plenty of face.

No one had expected this outcome. Whether the intruder was Xie Yu or not, if they failed to catch the invader, Buzhou Mountain would forever be nailed to the pillar of shame.

But just as Ji Yuran opened his mouth, his breath failed to come up smoothly, and he fainted directly without leaving Xu Ruozhen even half a clue.

“Useless!” Xu Ruozhen was furious at Ji Yuran for the first time. Alone, he shot explosively in one direction.

Xie Yu had not yet left the bamboo forest when a figure slowly appeared in the woods before her, blocking her path. The person wore Buzhou Mountain’s grayish-blue outer courtyard uniform. His face carried a sickly pallor, and his gaze locked tightly on her, revealing a trace of excitement.

The newcomer was Mu Chenlin. In the dungeon, when he heard that the north gate had been [unauthorized copy]attacked, he had had a strong premonition that he would gain something. So, in an outrageous waste of resources, he used a teleportation artifact and transported himself straight to the bamboo forest outside the north gate. Unexpectedly, he had really run into her.

“You’re Xie Yu, aren’t you?” Although it was a test, Mu Chenlin was confident.

As a member of the Demon Clan, he, like Qiu Yan, could sense that the person before him wearing the rakshasa mask had a fatal pull. It was like a summons from his bloodline. His own bloodline was naturally drawn to her and conquered by her.

Xie Yu felt speechless. Had her disguise really reached the point where everyone could recognize her? Why could even this person she had never met accurately call out her name?

But with this delay, Xu Ruozhen would catch up at once. Xie Yu also did not know the strength of the person before her. In this situation, she could only gamble. She turned and ran straight toward Xu Ruozhen’s side.

Mu Chenlin naturally chased after her immediately. Although he was a demonic cultivator, his qinggong was not the least bit weaker than Xie Yu’s, and he followed closely behind her.

After a day of observation, Xie Yu had already thoroughly memorized this bamboo forest. What she needed to do now was accelerate, making her steps when using Shadowless Steps even faster. If she could reach a certain point, she would truly lose all traces of herself between heaven and earth. But she had never succeeded during training.

The footsteps on both sides were drawing closer and closer, like death talismans aimed at Xie Yu.

Faster! Faster!

At the critical point, Xie Yu suddenly realized something. She abruptly closed her eyes, no longer caring about anything around her. Naturally, she also no longer sensed the flow of time around her. The obstacles in the bamboo forest had long since been engraved into [stolen content]her heart. The muscle memory in her legs and feet became like a conditioned reflex. Once she stepped out once, the next step naturally followed.

Without Xie Yu even knowing it, her figure had already vanished among the bamboo leaves filling the sky. Only a rakshasa mask remained, landing beside Mu Chenlin’s feet as if by accident.

Mu Chenlin picked up the mask, only for Xu Ruozhen to land before him in the next second.

Their gazes met, colliding into sparks of disbelief.

Mu Chenlin suddenly understood something. In this case, he, holding the mask, had naturally been mistaken for the masked person who had provoked Buzhou Mountain!

Author’s Note:
A-Yu: After personally tearing apart Senior Sister’s other CP, everyone can only ship Yu-Ling now. As expected of me.