Finally, Master spoke about the matter concerning the secret realm.
A secret realm is a space that randomly appears in a certain location every few years.
The demonic beasts, environment, and illusions that appear inside can all enhance one’s cultivation once broken. There is also the chance to find divine artifacts, suitable weapons, magical pills, and so on.
Simply speaking, this secret realm is like a heaven-sent blind box airdrop, where everything inside is unknown.
This time, the secret realm has appeared in Guyan City. Since it is an excellent opportunity for cultivation, disciples in the middle stage of the Golden Core must go, while those above the middle stage can choose to go or not.
The secret realm is extremely dangerous. If you encounter danger, you can shatter your jade token to leave the realm.
The name list came out, totaling eight people. Among the inner sect disciples are myself, Duan Qianyue, Meng Chigui, Ye Shihao, and Cheng Anfu.
The outer sect disciples are Liu Fangping, Gu Renxi, and Xu Qinyi. After receiving the jade tokens, it was originally agreed that we would set out in ten days, but an incident occurred in the middle.
Meng Chigui went missing. Disciples who used to walk closely with him said they thought he had gone down the mountain, mentioning that he had previously spoken of wanting to go down to buy some things to bring along.
He said this, and speaking up to this point, he glanced at me and hesitated without finishing his sentence.
“What did he say?” I asked curiously.
“He said that being able to travel alongside Senior Brother Yu makes him very happy.”
At this moment, Chen Xiaowu came running over in a hurry.
“Senior Brother Yu, they found Senior Meng in the Misty Forest.”
Our group rushed over, only to see some tattered clothes left behind after being gnawed on by spiritual beasts. Meng Chigui’s spiritual aura could still be detected on the scraps of clothing.
The spiritual beasts that consumed cultivators have already begun to mutate, advancing to the third and fourth ranks. The Misty Forest has now become extremely dangerous, and Master has sealed off the forest using a barrier.
Inside Meng Chigui’s room, a booklet was found depicting the person drawn engaging in intimate acts.
“This is unexpected.” Most of the disciples in the sect are young and pure-minded, so seeing this imagery made them feel somewhat hot-faced.
“Why are there two men, and why do they look somewhat familiar?” Lin Mo said.
“Look at the one on top, does it not look like Senior Meng himself?”
One disciple said while pointing at the face of the person in the drawing. I have met Meng Chigui a few times, and it indeed resembles him somewhat.
“As for the one on the bottom, well.” He moved his finger to the person at the bottom as he spoke.
I followed his finger and looked closely at the face in the drawing. It felt like a bolt from the blue, because that person was actually me.
“You junior brothers are studying lewd and erotic ditties quite earnestly. Are you not afraid of Master finding out?” Duan Qianyue said as he took the booklet away.
“I will go hand this over to Master.”
However, it was clear they had already discovered that the person resembled me, as they exchanged low murmurs and cast glances in my direction from time to time.
“Senior Brother, let us go back.”
Chen Xiaowu reminded me. Chen Xiaowu is pure-minded and understands nothing.
I nodded. On the way back, I kept thinking about Meng Chigui. He was just a minor cannon-fodder character in the original text whom I had no impression of, having only seen him a few times within the sect and occasionally crossing paths on the road where he would call me Senior Brother, nothing more.
Was he lusting after me in his mind? There was no such plot in the original text at all. My emotions remained unsettled for a long time.
“Senior Brother, you must be careful when you go to the secret realm. If you encounter danger, come back quickly,” Chen Xiaowu said.
I was deep in thought about Meng Chigui’s matter and did not snap back to reality right away. Realizing belatedly that the child was worried about me, I patted his head.
“Rest assured.” I originally only planned to go take a look and did not expect to gain anything from inside.
“This is a protective talisman my mother gave me. Senior Brother, you take it with you first, and return it to me when you come back.”
He raised his hand and hung a yellow jade pendant around my neck. The pendant was small and exquisite; looking closely, a coiled dragon was actually carved onto it, lifelike and vibrant.
“Chen Xiaowu, have you grown taller?” Fourteen years old.
Master discovered traces left behind by the Soul-Breaking Technique in the Misty Forest, which is a secret technique of the Tianji Pavilion.
Master needs to make a trip to the Tianji Pavilion to find Chen Haishu and asked the rest of us to set off for the secret realm early.
The four of us set off the next day. Originally there were five people, but now it has become four, and everyone feels heavy at heart.
Openly and secretly, people within the sect are saying that Meng Chigui’s matter is related to me, and through the grapevine, it has now turned into a crime of passion.
This morning, I even heard a version stating that Meng Chigui and I were deeply in love, and a senior disciple from the Tianji Pavilion took a fancy to me, and upon failing to get me, grew jealous and murdered Meng Chigui.
It is simply absurd to the extreme. When Chen Xiaowu heard this, he wanted to step forward and argue with them; he is young and speaks his mind bluntly, and I was afraid he would be wronged.
Before departing, I told Chen Xiaowu not to pay attention to whatever others say about me, to focus well on his cultivation, and not to make Master angry.
Looking upset and puffing out his cheeks, he finally nodded.
Guyan City is located in the southwest. Passing through Luocheng and heading southwest all the way, the journey is quite distant.
Because we were delayed by a day, the three outer sect disciples departed first. Duan Qianyue and I are not on good terms, and he has always kept to himself.
I do not frequently interact with the other disciples either. Although our relationship during ordinary days is fine, once this incident happened, the two of them paired up and intentionally avoided me.
I also could not be bothered to make things awkward for myself. Although Master instructed us fellow disciples to travel together, team capability is not what counts in this secret realm anyway, so it did not matter.
I asked A-Yun to buy me a fine horse, as flying on a sword consumes a considerable amount of spiritual energy, and no cultivator would fly to Guyan City on a sword.
The few of us flew on our swords to Luocheng, where Ye Shihao and Cheng Anfu found an excuse to part ways with me. From afar, I saw A-Yun leading a horse and waiting for me at the city gate.
“Senior Brother bought a horse, are you planning to ride the same horse with me?” Duan Qianyue’s lingering voice sounded.
“Junior Brother Qianyue, this is my horse. Why would I ride with you?” Ridiculous.
“Oh? Then this junior brother has no silver to buy a horse and can only go sell this booklet in the city in exchange for silver. I heard that such erotic collections fetch a pretty good price. After looking at it, I feel Senior Meng drew it exceptionally well, especially the expression on Senior Brother’s face, which truly makes one’s imagination run wild.” He raised the booklet right in front of me.
“Despicable,” I gritted out, and as I moved to grab the booklet, because I never wanted to see this thing in this lifetime, let alone let it circulate within Luocheng.
In the original text, Duan Qianyue did not have much money in the early stages, the original host liked him, and the original host loved to flash his wealth. All expenses for everyone going to Luocheng this time in the original text were paid for by the original host.
He held the booklet high. I am not as tall as him and could not reach it, and Duan Qianyue raised an eyebrow at me.
I pointed my finger at the horse.
“A top-grade steed, I will give it to you. You give me the booklet.”
“I really do not know how much more expenses there will be along the way,” he said feignedly.
“I will give you an extra twenty liang.”
“Ten thousand liang.”
“You are insane.” This guy wants to bankrupt me. I prepared to walk away, whatever happens happens.
He followed right behind me.
“I truly do not know how much things will cost along the way. What if my horse runs itself to death? What if my silver is robbed? Well then, how about this: Senior Brother travels with me, you cover the expenses along the way, and once we come out of the secret realm, I will burn the booklet right in front of your face. How about that?”
I pondered for a moment, turning my head to lock eyes with him. “Do you think I would believe you?”
“Does Senior Brother have a choice?”