“Ah…”

Ziqing let out a sudden, sharp scream, and Jun Beiyue, right beside her, immediately pulled her protectively to one side. But there was no one around, and nothing seemed to have happened at all!

Xuanyuan Lige and Baili Weisheng both rushed over. As martial practitioners, the three men moved with perfect coordination, instantly forming a protective circle around Ziqing, keeping her safely in the center. Once they confirmed there was no immediate danger, they were about to ask what had happened, but Ziqing spoke first. “Scholar, what you saw on the road just now—wasn’t it a woman’s pale, ashen face, pressed extremely close?”

Ziqing wasn’t a timid person. Like Baili Weisheng, what had frightened her wasn’t the thing itself, but the suddenness of its appearance!

But she was certain of one thing: it wasn’t a “thing” at all—it was a person, or rather, a spirit!

No matter what kind of spirit it was, within a world conjured by a musician’s illusion, it shouldn’t have been able to act however it pleased, appearing and disappearing at will.

Xuanyuan Lige was a spirit too, and yet everything about him remained unchanged, exactly like a living person.

Not to mention herself—the martial skill of the three men behind her was practically unmatched. How could anything around them possibly escape their sight and hearing?

So why had this woman managed to appear out of nowhere twice, undetected both times?

The question running through Ziqing’s mind had clearly occurred to Jun Beiyue and the others as well. Without a doubt, this woman possessed some strange technique. Could she possibly be a spirit of the isolated island?

This was already the second such incident. Neither Jun Beiyue, Xuanyuan Lige, nor Baili Weisheng were willing to simply let it go. The three of them stood guard around Ziqing while remaining alert to everything around them, their dark eyes deep and watchful.

At that moment, the woman was hiding within a barrier nearby. In truth, she had been tailing this group ever since they’d first appeared, and the reason she could appear anywhere at will was precisely because of that barrier’s protection!

A barrier, however, wasn’t a technique of the isolated island people—it belonged to the Dream Clan!

Why would someone of the Dream Clan appear within an illusion conjured from Lament of Parting?

Hidden within her barrier, others couldn’t see her, but she could see everything. At this very moment, she was staring fixedly at Baili Weisheng, her gaze holding no hostility at all—rather, it was the besotted gaze of someone staring at a lover.

That look alone would have told anyone watching that this woman would willingly give everything for him.

It was love. Her eyes were full of nothing but love.

“Come out. Enough playing tricks!” Jun Beiyue suddenly said coldly.

Only then did the woman snap back to herself. Her gaze flicked past Jun Beiyue and landed on Ziqing, standing protected in the center—and her once besotted expression suddenly twisted, turning vicious.

When one woman grows jealous of another, her expression is bound to turn ugly.

“What’s so great about this little girl, that they’d all protect her like this?” Her voice was icy, laced with spite.

“So you won’t come out, is that it!” Baili Weisheng spoke up too, his voice low and cold, radiating danger.

But before he could even act, Jun Beiyue unleashed a ring of wind blades, radiating outward from where they stood in every direction, like ripples spreading instantly outward—in that instant, nothing in the entire room had anywhere left to hide!

The woman’s heart lurched in alarm. The wind blades struck her barrier and immediately rebounded—there was no doubt, this had exposed her position! She scrambled to flee, but there was simply no time. Baili Weisheng’s figure flashed forward, blocking the doorway, while Xuanyuan Lige snapped his fingers, sending wind blades shooting from his fingertips with force nearly matching Jun Beiyue’s, all aimed straight at her!

Jun Beiyue wasn’t about to stop there either, immediately slashing out several more wind blades in quick succession, his speed no less than Xuanyuan Lige’s who had struck just after him!

Were these three men competing to protect the woman, or competing against each other?

Whatever the attack, it was all deflected by the barrier. A flash of malice crossed the woman’s eyes—she knew that as long as she stayed inside, they couldn’t touch her. But at the same time, she knew she couldn’t escape either!

Soon, though, a cold smile crept across her lips. Fine, then. She’d waited here for over twenty years—wasn’t this exactly what she’d been waiting for?

Watching the relentless barrage of attacks around her, she casually traced a few shapes in the air with her idle hand. In an instant, the barrier revealed itself, and everyone outside could see her clearly!

Only then did Jun Beiyue and the others stop their assault. Ziqing walked forward and said coldly, “So it really was a barrier!”

The woman sneered inwardly, thinking, “I was so terrified a moment ago, why didn’t I think it was a barrier?”

But she had no idea that Ziqing’s remark wasn’t hindsight bragging at all—it was a warning to Jun Beiyue and the others that something wasn’t right here.

Why would a Dream Clan spirit exist within the illusion conjured from Lament of Parting? Who exactly was this Dream Clan spirit, and could she have any connection to the isolated island’s disappearance all those years ago?

Regardless, Ziqing’s words were meant as a warning to everyone—be careful of this woman!

The woman sneered inwardly, but her face remained cheerful and sweet, with two small but deep dimples that made her smile especially charming.

“Who are you? Why were you following us?” Jun Beiyue asked coldly.

“I know exactly who you all are. Heh heh, following you was fun!” The woman laughed happily, seemingly unafraid of them at all. With a light wave of her hand, she tore through the barrier and truly appeared before them all.

By now, the sky had grown faintly light, and everyone could see her clearly for the first time—a young woman of seventeen or eighteen, her complexion far paler than an ordinary person’s, long black hair draped over her shoulders, dressed in a black dress.

Dressed like that, in pitch darkness where one couldn’t see a hand in front of one’s face, it would have been strange if she hadn’t seemed terrifying.

Even now, in the dim light, such an appearance and expression might well have sent chills down anyone’s spine. And yet, this woman didn’t have that effect at all—her smile seemed to carry a natural infectious charm, the kind that made people unable to help feeling cheerful just looking at her.

“Scaring people is fun, is it?” Baili Weisheng asked, his tone low. This was the first time in his life he’d been frightened that badly, and though he wasn’t embarrassed to admit it, he knew perfectly well it had been humiliating.

“Sorry about that—did I really scare you just now? I figured a big strong man like you wouldn’t be so easily frightened.” The woman looked utterly innocent, blinking her large, pitiable eyes—the kind of expression that could stir a man’s protective instincts.

Of course, Xuanyuan Lige and Jun Beiyue remained unmoved, but Baili Weisheng’s eyes narrowed. He could tell she was mocking him.

He stared at her, and then, without warning, he shot out a hand, fingers curled like a claw, and clamped it around the woman’s throat.

Yet the woman simply let him do it, not moving at all, still smiling at him.

“Spirits don’t die,” Xuanyuan Lige finally said flatly. Only then did Baili Weisheng remember this fact, and he released his hand with displeasure.

A flicker of surprise crossed the woman’s eyes as she looked Xuanyuan Lige over. “You’re a spirit too?”

Xuanyuan Lige didn’t answer directly, instead asking, “This should be a world of spirits alone—so why are you the only one here?”