As night deepened, a fire was built on the sand sea. The sound of waves intertwined with the crackling of flames licking dry wood. Besides this, no one spoke, and a deathly silence hung in the air.
Ye Ye looked around. Li Fei sat alone on the beach, munching on fruit. Lei Xiuyuan silently roasted fish over the fire with a gloomy expression, not noticing that the fish was burning. Lu Li sat far away on a tree trunk, lost in thought. Ji Tongzhou also sat at a distance on a rock, pondering.
The atmosphere was so dreadful that Ye Ye simply got up and walked towards Ji Tongzhou. Sitting beside him, he patted his shoulder and said gently, “Tongzhou, it was just a dream. Try to let it go.”
Indeed, it was just a dream. All that love and hatred was false. He refused to be manipulated by these illusory facades. How could he be fooled by Na Ye’e’s evil Mirror Flower Water Moon illusions? He was more unwilling than anyone.
But a fire burned in his heart, at the edge of night and sea. He was about to be burned to ashes.
They weren’t just illusions. They were his deepest desires and fears, hidden in the depths of his heart, mercilessly laid bare without his knowledge, building a magnificent dream only to shatter it before him.
What to do with those rampaging emotions? Tell himself they were all imaginary and discard them, forget them? What if he couldn’t forget? Should he just let the heart’s fire consume him?
Ji Tongzhou suddenly stood up, kicking away countless grains of sand. He felt he was going mad, even having the urge to return to that illusion and fulfill those loves and hatreds. Why did he have to experience extreme pleasure and hell? The dream ended in emptiness, but to whom could he express the lingering discontent and anger in his heart?
With nowhere to vent, he condensed countless fire puffs with his heart and hurled them fiercely at the sea. Countless tongues of flame licked the seawater, ten thousand streaks of fire, yet they couldn’t match the raging fire in his heart. Frenzied. With nowhere to go.
He’d rather have karmic obstacles torment him. His nature was as fierce as fire, a person of deep emotions. Xuan Shanzi Qi Yibei hadn’t been wrong at all. He was about to be shattered by the gap between illusion and reality, with a tearing pain in his throat.
He could no longer bear to stay here for even a moment. He mounted his sword and flew away in the blink of an eye.
Ye Ye shook his head helplessly. The illusion must have shocked him too much; he still couldn’t shake it off. He could only let him calm down alone. Perhaps he’d figure it out eventually.
Li Fei was still absentmindedly eating fruit when she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Bai Li Gelin with red eyes, but a smile on his face.
“What are you daydreaming about?” Bai Li Gelin linked arms with her.
Li Fei was somewhat surprised. “You finished talking with Chang Yue?”
Bai Li Gelin smiled calmly. “There’s no need for unnecessary words. She’ll always be my sister. That’s enough.”
She seemed to have shed an invisible burden, looking refreshed. Li Fei happily grasped her hand and squeezed it. “Gelin, you should live happily from now on.”
Bai Li Gelin laughed. “It’s my fate to worry. No one spoils me, so I don’t dare to be too happy.”
“There will be someone someday,” Li Fei patted her back. “Don’t rush.”
Bai Li Gelin poked her cheek. “I’m much more sensible than you. Why are you counseling me? Take care of your own business first! Where’s Lei Xiuyuan? How could he leave you alone here?”
Li Fei shook her head. She didn’t want to talk about this now. She smiled, “Gelin, let’s not talk about this. I’m tired. I’m going to sleep.”
Without waiting for Gelin to speak, she found a tree, soared up on a cloud, and set up a concealment spell, disappearing among the branches and leaves.
Everything was her problem. She wanted something more certain, something that could fill all her insecurities. She wanted to demand more and more from Lei Xiuyuan. He knew all her secrets, yet he never shared anything of his own. Ri Yan was right; he didn’t need to do anything to make her uneasy.
Because of this, she craved even more to obtain something definite and powerful from him.
She had to calmly face this relationship that made her lose her senses. She needed time to sort out this relationship properly, to calm her resentful heart.
Perhaps after a good sleep, she could forget some of her chaotic feelings.
Li Fei closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep to the gentle song of the sea breeze.
In a hazy state, she seemed to return to the small courtyard in Qing Qiu. Like a wandering spirit, she floated into her room. The room was empty except for a small wooden bed under the window. Moonlight spilled through the window lattice. Someone was talking outside, casting huge shadows on the ground. A pair of ghastly green, narrow eyes peered at her through the window, followed by a hoarse yet familiar voice sighing, “Fool! Fool!”
Then someone else laughed heartily, as if pouring a lifetime of passion into that laugh.
Li Fei suddenly woke up, feeling a cold sweat on her back. It was already bright daylight, and she could hear Ye Ye and the others talking on the beach. She stiffly held her forehead. What had she just dreamed about? It seemed to have slipped away in an instant, and she couldn’t remember no matter how hard she tried.
Then the wind stirred, and she quickly reached out to catch something smooth – a fruit. She looked down to see Lei Xiuyuan standing under the tree, also holding a fruit he was eating.
“Are you a pig? It’s almost noon.”
The sunlight filtering through the leaves was a bit dazzling. He squinted at her, the gloom from yesterday gone from his brow and eyes, restored to his usual calm. Li Fei said nothing, jumping down from the tree trunk. Yawning, she brushed past him, when suddenly her wrist was grasped by him again. Without turning back, she said, “Let go. I need to freshen up.”
Lei Xiuyuan frowned and smiled, somewhat helplessly. Was she really angry?
“Alright, I’ll tell you what I saw in the illusion,” he leaned against the tree, pulling her to his side. “Want to hear?”
…She did want to hear a little. What should she do?!
Lei Xiuyuan cleared his throat. “In the illusion, I first undid my belt, then took off my outer robe, then removed my inner garment…”
“What nonsense are you talking about?!” Li Fei finally turned her head, staring at him in disbelief.
“I’m not finished. After removing the inner garment, I took off my trousers…”
“…Forget it, you’d better not say anymore.” Li Fei held her forehead, feeling her headache worsening.
Lei Xiuyuan smiled slightly. “You don’t want to hear the rest? Every word I said is true.”
What’s there to listen to in such a vicious lie? Li Fei shook her head and broke free from his hand, walking straight ahead.
She hated this attitude of his the most, seemingly true yet false, half-joking, completely slippery. She couldn’t understand what he was thinking. The hidden fire in her heart was leaping and burning, scorching her eyes. She could only extinguish them over and over again.
Lei Xiuyuan frowned. He gripped her shoulders firmly, dragging her back in front of him. Li Fei, in pain, kicked his shin mercilessly. If it were when they were younger, this kick would have made him stumble, and she could have pinned him down for a good beating. Who knew that now he didn’t react at all to her kick, but instead smiled.
“We’re not eleven or twelve anymore,” Lei Xiuyuan pulled her, and Li Fei, offering no resistance, stumbled towards him involuntarily. “That little strength of yours now isn’t even enough to tickle.”
Li Fei’s head bumped into his chest, her temple throbbing with pain. Her right eye was blurred, unable to see clearly for a while, with stars dancing before her eyes. She instinctively covered her eyes, unable to speak for a long time.
He cupped her face, prying her hand away. Seeing a tear fall from her right eye, he slowly wiped it away with his thumb.
Suddenly, golden light burst from her body, slicing off a lock of his long hair. He quickly dodged. Li Fei, with golden light flickering in her palm, stepped back two paces, looking at him coldly. Just as she was about to speak, she heard Bai Li Gelin cry out from the beach, “Ji Tongzhou?! What happened to you?!”
Li Fei turned and soared on a cloud, landing on the beach in an instant. She saw Ji Tongzhou standing opposite, his face and body covered in black demon blood. He didn’t look at anyone, suddenly leaping into the sea. The black demon blood rippled out in circles, quickly washed away by the seawater.
Bai Li Gelin was somewhat horrified. He had been gone for most of the day, just to kill demons? How many did he kill? His head and body were covered in blood!
Soon, Ji Tongzhou walked back from the sea. A layer of Separation Fire enveloped him, instantly drying his hair and clothes. He lowered his head, wiping his face to remove the salt grains, still saying nothing.
As he passed by Li Fei, he paused. Li Fei looked up at him in surprise, only to see his eyes burning intensely as if hiding a sky full of flames. This gaze made her shiver all over, involuntarily stepping back a few paces.
Ji Tongzhou suddenly let out a cold laugh, his voice somewhat hoarse, “What are you afraid of?”
He turned away, no longer looking at her, and walked off.
Ye Ye shook his head secretly. It seemed a night had passed with no effect on him. Seeing everyone gathered, he decided to speak, “Let’s go. We’ve stayed here too long. Let’s move to another island.”
Bai Li Gelin lamented, “I’m not full yet! We’re leaving already?”
Bai Li Chang Yue patted her belly, “You ate two fish and you’re not full? Is your stomach a bottomless pit?”
Ye Ye couldn’t help but smile. Suddenly, he heard the wind stirring above. Everyone immediately became alert. Li Fei set up a Great Copper Wall spell. They saw a group of over a dozen people flying towards them. A glance revealed they were all disciples from the Mountain Sect, with only one Sea Sect disciple looking unwell, being held by the collar by a tall male disciple, looking quite pathetic.
“The aura of the Demon Vermilion Fruit is strongest here,” the Sea Sect disciple said weakly.
Here to snatch the Demon Vermilion Fruit? Li Fei added another layer to the Copper Wall spell. Unexpectedly, Ji Tongzhou, who had been sitting to the side, suddenly stood up and walked over slowly, saying coldly, “I was thinking of finding you, but you’ve delivered yourself. How nice!”
Among the dozen or so disciples, a girl standing at the back couldn’t help but step back. Only then did Li Fei and the others realize that among these people were the Dragon Name Seat disciples from before. No wonder they had gathered a group of like-minded people and forced a Sea Sect disciple to lead the way. A bunch of people came to snatch the Demon Vermilion Fruit.
The faces of those Dragon Name Seat disciples didn’t look too good. They hadn’t expected that after all their searching, they would end up finding them. But this time, they had more people on their side, so there was nothing to fear. Ji Tongzhou’s lackey also slightly suppressed his fearful expression. Avoiding Ji Tongzhou’s knife-like gaze, he said loudly, “Snatching is allowed! You haven’t forgotten, have you? Bring out the Demon Vermilion Fruit. Considering we’re all Mountain Sect disciples, we won’t use force!”
Before he finished speaking, Ji Tongzhou had already made his move. Ten thousand streaks of fire rose from the ground. He held the treasured sword used for sword riding in his hand, its blade now entwined with fire serpents — the raging fire in his heart was burning his soul, and the hatred from the illusion was slaughtering him. He clearly remembered that it was Wu Gou, backed by the Dragon Name Seat, who had destroyed the Yue Kingdom.
Ji Tongzhou couldn’t suppress the killing intent in his heart. He flicked his finger, and the fire serpents on the sword blade transformed into ten thousand fire dragons, roaring out, instantly scattering the formation on the opposite side. His entire person also shot out like lightning, thrusting his sword toward the Dragon Name Seat disciples.