“Hey, wake up…” Someone was calling to her from the darkness.
“Wake up already…” The person spoke again, this time with a hint of threat. “This place is dangerous. If you don’t wake up soon, I’m leaving…”
That was what he said, yet for a long while afterward, Lian Yin could still feel herself being gently shaken.
“Wake up…”
For someone claiming he was going to leave, he certainly wasn’t acting like it. And he was so noisy.
Lian Yin slowly opened her eyes from the endless darkness.
Layer upon layer of crimson gauze hung before her, like the drapery of a bridal chamber. A handsome young man’s jade-like face gradually came into focus under the brilliant glow of candlelight.
It was a completely unfamiliar face. The only striking thing about it was the terrible expression he wore. At that moment, he was holding a sword to her throat.
Lian Yin: “…”
He really should have just left.
“So you’re finally awake.” The young man let out a breath of relief. Meeting her still bewildered gaze, he immediately fired off a string of cold questions. “What’s your name? Where are you from? And why are you here…”
“Wait!” Lian Yin pressed a hand to her aching head. It wasn’t that his voice was unpleasant, it was simply far too loud all at once.
“Do you need time to answer questions about yourself?” The young man impatiently pressed the sword closer, threatening, “Talk.”
The icy blade rested against the side of her neck, and Lian Yin answered at once.
“My name is Lian Yin. I’m from Zhongzhou…”
As she spoke, she looked around the strange room draped in crimson veils and filled with candle stands, her expression timid.
“As for why I’m here, I really don’t know. I only saw you after I woke up.”
“So you wandered in by accident?” the young man muttered.
He sized her up from head to toe. Seeing that she didn’t seem like a bad person, he sheathed his sword and said coldly, “This is a secret realm that formed after the death of a demonic cultivator. It’s extremely dangerous. If you still want to live, stay close to me.”
Seeing him turn to leave, Lian Yin swallowed the countless questions in her heart and hurried after him.
“You said this is a secret realm. Are there other people here?”
“I don’t know. They’re probably all dead.”
The young man walked quickly.
The thin crimson gauze fluttered in the breeze stirred by his movement. A patch of dark shadow stretched from his body, breaking into fragments as it lay across the floating red silk, shifting with the swaying fabric.
“It’s that dangerous? Are you confident you can get out?”
“I wouldn’t say I’m confident, but I’m definitely stronger than you. Otherwise, someone like you who slept through entering a secret realm would’ve been dead already if the master of this place weren’t so merciful.”
Dead…
Lian Yin’s steps suddenly slowed.
She remembered now.
She should already be dead.
She had died beneath that heavenly punishment.
And him…
Lian Yin looked around.
The vast room contained nothing but swaying crimson curtains, flickering red candles, and the bed where she had awakened. Whether there was anyone else inside was obvious at a glance.
He wasn’t here. The realization gradually eased the tension that had just gripped her heart.
She followed the young man out of the room.
A blinding white light filled her vision.
When she finally saw what lay beyond the doorway, she froze. An overwhelming sense of familiarity surged through her.
It was a courtyard.
Flowering trees surrounded a pavilion. Beside it stood a wooden swing set, and nearby was a stone table carved with a chessboard.
Although she had not seen this place in many years, it had once been her childhood home.
Lian Yin recognized it almost immediately.
This was her home.
The instant that realization surfaced, delicate snowflakes began drifting down from the sky.
The cold snow settled onto Lian Yin’s dark hair as she tilted her head back slightly, narrowing her eyes at the pale sun overhead, a sun so devoid of warmth that it looked almost lifeless.
She knew at once, this was an illusion.
“People who reach that level always want to leave something behind after death, so others can see their life story. I really don’t understand the point.” The young man’s tone carried faint mockery as his gaze swept over the surroundings.
The first figures to appear were a mother and daughter seated in the courtyard, playing a game of chess.
“Come on. Let’s take a look inside the pavilion.”
With that, he strode over without bothering to see whether Lian Yin followed.
The little girl holding the white pieces looked about seven or eight years old. She wore her hair in a simple style and was dressed in a light blue skirt. Though her feet couldn’t reach the ground, she still sat with perfect manners.
The woman’s features were blurred, but it was still possible to tell she was beautiful. Her elegant attire alone revealed that she occupied a position of great authority.
Lian Yin stood silently to one side.
She had never expected to see her own childhood again in the form of an illusion.
The scene unfolded like a silent play.
As the mother and daughter continued their game of chess, time passed around them.
After watching for a while, Lian Yin turned toward the courtyard entrance.
Just then, a tall man walked in.
His face was just as indistinct, but his cheerful mood was obvious.
He was holding the hand of a little boy.
The boy was filthy from head to toe, and his clothing was completely out of place compared to the other three people in the scene.
He was an outsider.
The mother and daughter stopped their game.
The little girl turned to curiously examine the boy.
Lian Yin silently looked at him as well.
It felt as though their eyes met.
Scattered memories came flooding back.
She remembered that day. It had been a rare day of beautiful weather.
Sunlight shone upon the snow while petals drifted through the courtyard.
Even the long eyelashes lowered over his eyes had been touched by the warmth of the sunlight.
Yet the glance he gave her held not the slightest warmth.
It was like a sheet of ice that could never melt.
Just as she grew frightened and prepared to look away, the boy suddenly smiled.
His earlier indifference vanished completely.
“Yinyin.”
With the young man still beside her, and remembering how readily he resorted to threatening people with his sword, Lian Yin felt she needed to stop the illusion before it continued any further.
She turned her head, intending to search for a way to break the illusion.
But the scenery before her abruptly changed.
She remained standing exactly where she was.
Only now, she found herself inside a lively classroom.
Lian Yin paused in surprise.
“Illusions change in the blink of an eye. Other than the master of the secret realm, no one knows what the next moment will bring. He only shows others what he wants them to see.”
The young man surveyed the new scene before calmly explaining, as though specifically for her benefit, “The way to break the illusion is hidden somewhere within these constantly changing stories. Usually, it’s an object.”
Following his words, Lian Yin looked around.
She quickly found herself.
This time, however, even her own face had become blurred into that of an unremarkable extra.
The girl said, “You can’t tell anyone this story.”
The boy lowered his head as he folded a sheet of paper.
“I won’t tell anyone. In fact… I hope I’m the only one who ever knows.”
Lian Yin was certain this scene had not appeared by coincidence.
As though the master of the secret realm understood her concerns, he had deliberately erased her identity within the story itself, silently telling her—
He would hide it for her. He would keep her secret.
Lian Yin only wanted to sneer.
He had been the one to arrange this illusion in the first place, deliberately exposing everything to make her anxious.
Only afterward did he show her this scene.
She felt no gratitude for such thoughtfulness or understanding.
All she felt was the nausea of being controlled.
And the fury of being toyed with.
He had brought her back to life.
Was he now hiding somewhere in the shadows, watching her every move once again?
Lu Ying!
The name she had deliberately avoided ever since waking finally surfaced in her mind.
The instant it did, Lian Yin completely lost control.
Her breathing quickened. A wave of nausea rose in her chest.
She stared fixedly at the little boy quietly folding paper cranes.
She couldn’t help thinking that if the story had ended right there, none of what followed would ever have happened…
Lian Yin took a step forward. Suddenly, someone grabbed her wrist through her sleeve.
The young man’s clear voice sounded beside her.
“Look at the calligraphy and paintings on the wall…”
The next instant, his face suddenly loomed right before hers.
Startled, Lian Yin instinctively stepped back.
“What are you doing?!”
The young man frowned.
“You suddenly looked awful. What’s wrong? Were you hit by some kind of mental attack? Tell me what feels wrong. It could be a clue to getting out.”
Lian Yin: “…”
She had indeed suffered a mental attack.
Just not the kind he meant.
The young man frowned again.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Lian Yin had no desire to tell a stranger her story.
But seeing his expression, as though he wouldn’t stop until he got to the bottom of it, she finally replied, “It’s my own problem. It has nothing to do with the secret realm. Just tell me what you’ve discovered.”
“Are you feeling that bad?”
Lian Yin shook her head.
“I’m much better now.”
His interruption had pulled her out of that nightmare-like state.
Only then did the young man continue.
“Look at the wall. When I was little, classrooms displayed poems encouraging study, but there wouldn’t be this many. I thought it looked strange, so I took a closer look. Mixed in among them are several unusual paintings. I think they’re the clue to getting out.”
As he spoke, he pointed out the paintings he found suspicious.
Lian Yin forced down the dark emotions churning inside her and focused on what he was showing her.
One painting showed the courtyard.
The two of them were swinging together.
Another showed them practicing swordsmanship together.
Others depicted a room where she received paper cranes, and even one where they lay on the same bed.
The little girl shared her toys, her food, and her books with the boy.
One scene after another.
One painting after another.
It was as though they existed solely to record the ordinary days of two childhood sweethearts growing up together.
The girl in every painting wore the same gentle smile.
Peaceful, kind and beautiful.
Lian Yin looked at the paintings.
Though every memory remained crystal clear in her mind, she could no longer place herself within them.
She felt like nothing more than a bystander.
“What should we do?” she asked. “How are we supposed to deal with these paintings?”
“Take them down first.”
The two split up.
Before long, they had removed every strange painting from the classroom walls.
The young man stacked them together.
“I don’t know what will happen if we destroy them. We might be attacked, or we might leave this place.”
Lian Yin didn’t particularly care.
She had already died once.
The only thing she wondered was whether the young man beside her could truly leave here alive.
“Will the backlash fall on whoever destroys them? If so, let me do it.”
Picking up one of the paintings, she asked, “How do we destroy them? Slash them apart with a sword?”
The young man was silent for a moment before answering, “Fire. I’ll do it.”
At present, Lian Yin had absolutely nothing with her.
Her storage pouch had been taken away by Lu Ying the first time she tried to kill herself.
He had never returned it afterward.
Since the young man insisted, there was no reason for her to argue.
Lowering her eyes, Lian Yin tossed the painting onto the pile.
“Then hurry up and burn them.”
The fire talisman fell. The stacked paintings burst into flames.
At the same time, the classroom around them caught fire as well.
Thick smoke filled the air.
The scorching heat seemed capable of melting human flesh.
The children inside the classroom leaped to their feet in panic, screaming as they fled in every direction.
But the flames had already surrounded them completely.
Children nearest the fire were swallowed by it, crying out in unbearable agony.
“It hurts! Help! Somebody save me! Waaaaah… Please save me!”
As the flames spread, the children’s desperate cries became increasingly shrill.
Their tiny bodies collapsed beneath the fire.
The stench of burning flesh filled the air.
Their blurred faces were engulfed by orange flames as they stretched out their only tender little hands toward them.
The sound of bones cracking echoed through the inferno.
The young man muttered a curse under his breath before saying with exasperation, “What kind of sick hobby does this secret realm’s master have?”
It really was a sick hobby.
Or rather…Pure malice.
He disliked killing people outright.
He preferred watching them suffer.
Watching them struggle. He was the embodiment of malice itself.
He delighted in manipulating people’s hearts, making fools of them.
“You already said the master of this secret realm was a demonic cultivator. That’s perfectly normal, isn’t it?” Lian Yin looked calmly upon the horrifying scene before her, her heart utterly unmoved.
Her gaze once again settled on the pair of children who had spoken earlier.
The boy shielded the girl beside him.
She was earnestly calling out to the others, telling everyone to cover their mouths and noses and not to run around.
But very few children listened.
Lian Yin had never liked becoming the one who stepped forward to speak.
She had never wanted to be a savior.
Perhaps it was because she had transmigrated.
As a child, she had always felt ten years older than everyone around her.
Without thinking, she would naturally take care of the others.
She really had stepped forward back then.
She had believed protecting children younger than herself was her responsibility.
But now…
She felt nothing of the sort.
She had no thoughts at all.
She was like an empty puppet, endlessly repeating the same cycle of hatred and pain whenever Lu Ying came to mind.
Compared to who she used to be…
She had become numb.
Dull!
Lian Yin suddenly asked, “Why did you come to this secret realm?”
The young man answered bluntly, “Family orders. They heard there was a divine artifact here, so they insisted on sending someone to check. They wouldn’t feel at ease otherwise.”
Profit! Power!
Lian Yin had no interest whatsoever in the divine artifact everyone was fighting over.
His answer could never become hers.
Seeing that she had fallen silent again after asking only one question, the young man asked in return, “Now it’s your turn. You asked me, so shouldn’t you tell me about yourself?”
Lian Yin answered just as directly.
“I can’t.”
He frowned in confusion.
“How can you not have an answer?”
She truly didn’t, so she changed the subject.
“The fire’s still burning all around us. What if the illusion expects us to save everyone?”
“It doesn’t.”
The young man answered with absolute certainty.
“Saving people doesn’t fit the master of this secret realm’s style.”
He guessed correctly again.
Twice in a row.
Lian Yin turned and carefully studied the young man.
She found it rather surprising that someone whose thought process aligned so closely with Lu Ying’s could actually be a good person.
Sensing her gaze, he turned to look at her.
“What?”
Lian Yin smiled faintly.
“Nothing, I was suddenly curious what your name is.”