Sandstorms raged, visibility was very low, and sounds were difficult to make out clearly.
A few hours later, the sandstorm gradually subsided. We rested for a while, drank some water, and continued on our way.
We could already see the secret realm over a hundred meters away. A door, shimmering with water ripples, appeared abruptly in the middle of the barren wasteland.
The moment we stepped inside, it felt as though we had entered another world. First came a corridor, with three-dimensional human faces carved neatly into both walls every two meters, and the lighting was rather dim.
I always felt these human faces looked very familiar and wanted to step closer to take a clearer look, when suddenly the scene shifted. The wedding scene of the newcomer I had seen earlier at the Prince’s Mansion appeared before my eyes.
Only the groom had changed into Duan Qianyue, and when the bride lifted her red veil, it turned out to be Yaoshuang, smiling at me.
I suddenly forgot why I had appeared here so abruptly. Not knowing how to react, I smiled awkwardly.
“Congratulations.”
Their faces gradually grew ferocious and blurred.
“Do not look at these human faces, keep walking,” Duan Qianyue’s voice reached me.
My consciousness was pulled back, and I gave a start.
“I just saw something.”
“You were just dragged into an illusion by your inner demon,” he interrupted me.
An inner demon? Duan Qianyue and Yaoshuang, this must be the original host’s inner demon; this thing was not very intelligent either.
This corridor was a few hundred meters long. The further inward we went, the more we heard the roars of spiritual beasts and the sounds of fighting. The two of us exchanged glances and quickened our pace.
At the end of the corridor was a pool of water as large as two basketball courts, and the rock walls above the pool were dense with cave openings.
The spiritual beast in the water looked like an ox but had no horns. I recalled that in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, there is an ancient water-type divine beast called the Kui, whose shape is like an ox, hornless, huge in body, and darkish black, but it stands on only one leg. It seemed this must be it.
Looking closer, there were surprisingly twenty or thirty immortal sect disciples nearby, and I spotted Ye Shihao and Cheng Anfu at a glance.
More than a dozen people were locked in a fierce battle with the Kui. I recognized Xu Qinyi, and there were also two wearing our sect’s attire, who must have been Liu Fangping and Gu Renxi.
Most of the rest were from the Tianji Pavilion. A fair number of people had come from the Tianji Pavilion this time, easily numbering over a dozen. The remaining few were in twos and threes whom I did not recognize, possibly from small sects or perhaps rogue cultivators.
Logically speaking, Xu Qinyi and the others should have arrived a day earlier than us. With so many cultivators fighting this Kui for so long, the Kui was still looking quite spirited.
The Kui had no horns, and only a single leg. Its only weapon was its tail, long and powerful, which swept across the water surface and sent spray flying everywhere.
I hurriedly used my sleeve to block it, my whole body becoming half-soaked as well. If one were to take a direct hit from that tail, it certainly would not feel pleasant.
Duan Qianyue drew his sword, flew forward, and lunged straight toward the Kui’s eyes. Duan Qianyue had been here before, so he knew the Kui’s weakness. This Kui’s body was like copper walls and ironwork, and only these eyes were its fatal vulnerability.
I quickly followed, channeling my spiritual energy into the blade and thrusting toward the Kui’s other eye.
Unexpectedly, despite its bulky size, the Kui reacted with extreme speed, sinking straight down into the water. The water was pitch black and nothing could be seen clearly.
As I balanced on the water’s surface with the tips of my toes, wondering what my next step should be, a wall of water suddenly appeared, followed by a dark shadow. I was knocked backward, crashed heavily against the rock wall, and then plunged into the pool, choking on water through my nose and mouth.
Someone gave me a pull. Opening my eyes, I saw it was Duan Qianyue. He signaled for me to look ahead, and when I gazed over, I saw two points of light glowing like a pair of flashlights.
I nodded at him, and together we lunged straight toward those glowing lights, our swords burying deep into them. The Kui struggled violently and shrieked, while I firmly gripped my sword.
The Kui burst forth with immense force, sending me flying backward. I looked toward the water surface, where all movement had ceased; it seemed the deed was done.
At that moment, Xu Qinyi flew over, sheathing her sword with one hand while steadying me with the other.
“Junior Brother Yu, are you alright?”
“No harm done. Where is Duan Qianyue?”
Duan Qianyue stood off to the side, looking completely fine as well. He glanced at me once, and then the crowd headed toward the depths of the pool, as the next entrance to the secret realm was right at the bottom of this pool.
Descending to the bottom of the pool, one could see glowing doors encircling the walls, shimmering with water ripples just like when we first entered, numbering over a dozen.
The cultivators ahead of us had already chosen their doors and entered. Thinking that Duan Qianyue had not known which door to choose last time, I glanced at him. Our eyes met, and he smiled.
“Senior Brother, you choose first.”
Figuring he probably did not want to enter the same door as me, I stepped into the door closest to me.
Those three people, including Xu Qinyi, were right beside me and entered along with me. I turned back to look, but only Duan Qianyue remained alone.
The Duan Qianyue before me was dressed in coarse blue robes, with his brown trousers rolled up to his calves, wearing straw sandals on his feet, and his hair tied up with a hairpin. Even dressed in this rustic outfit, Duan Qianyue looked exceedingly handsome. I checked my own attire and saw it was no different from his.
That door had also vanished. The surroundings were wide open, with the sea in front of me, sandy ground beneath my feet, and two characters carved into a stele in the distance reading Fishing Village.
“What is the meaning of this?” I asked.
At that moment, the sound of many footsteps rang out. My attention was drawn away as a crowd of people came running over in a hurry from a hundred meters away, shouting something or other.
Duan Qianyue placed a hand on my shoulder and turned me toward him. “This is a high-level illusion. Later on, no matter what they say, just go along with them. Do you understand?” He frowned.
It was rare for Duan Qianyue to be so serious, and I could sense that matters were not simple. A high-level illusion, an unknown sense of dread washed over me.
That group of people wore the same attire as us, so they must have been villagers of this fishing village. They were holding clubs and ropes, looking fiercely aggressive.
Someone bumped into me, causing me to stagger back a few steps. Subconsciously, I tried to circulate my spiritual energy, only to find I had no spiritual energy left; within this illusion, I had truly become an ordinary mortal.
Several people bypassed me and tied Duan Qianyue up with ropes.
“Why are you tying him up?” I asked.
At that moment, a middle-aged man walked up in front of me.
“We will settle accounts with you when we get back.”
With that, he yanked me along as he marched back. His strength was immense, and the hand grasping mine had been tanned to a bronze hue by the sun, forming a stark contrast with my own skin.
Unable to break free, I could only turn my head to look back as a middle-aged woman cried out:
“It is this son of the Duan family, looking like a little vixen, seducing my son. Fellow villagers, please judge this injustice for me!”
Her words were even laced with a trace of sobbing.
Duan Qianyue had broken free from his ropes, and a woman was pulling at him.
“Xiaoyue, promise your mother that you will never go looking for Yu Li again, say it!”
Duan Qianyue remained completely silent.
Rounding a bend, that scene was no longer visible, and my wrist was gripped so tightly it ached intensely.
“Let go.”
I raised my voice a notch to express my protest.
The middle-aged man glared at me with blazing fury.
“You disgraceful wretch.” Yet his grip on my hand did not loosen at all.