Li Fei frowned as she watched the woman’s retreating figure. A faint black mist enveloped her body, marking her as another person about to become fodder for Taotie. The disciples sprawled on the street, either sleeping or talking, surrounded by thick black mist, were no better off than the cultivators in the treasure vault. Each one was gaunt and sickly, yet their expressions were oddly satisfied.
Who could have imagined that the inside of Taotie’s belly would present such a scene?
Li Fei slowly walked forward a few steps when an incredibly enticing aroma of food and wine wafted through the air. She hadn’t eaten all morning, and suddenly found her appetite awakened by the tantalizing scent. Unable to resist, she hurried towards the source of the fragrance. The aroma led her through winding streets and alleys until she came upon a house with its doors wide open. Inside, shadowy figures of people could be seen, and the alluring smell of food emanated from within.
In the spacious open courtyard, countless tables were set up, laden with exotic wines and delicacies she had never encountered before. All around, people were feasting and drinking with abandon. Among them, she recognized several familiar faces, including female disciples from the Huolian Sect and disciples from the Lantian Sect. Li Fei even spotted an elder from Wuyue Yan among the crowd, pouring a jug of wine down his throat, his clothes and hair already soaked with alcohol, yet he seemed completely oblivious.
She gazed in astonishment at everyone there. Each person was lost in a haze of pleasure and emptiness, seemingly insatiable, with black mist enveloping them, growing thicker by the moment.
Suddenly, a disciple collapsed at her feet, convulsing. His mouth and hands were stuffed with meat, yet he was emaciated to the point of being skeletal. His face, like a skull, was filled with dissatisfaction and craving. He clutched Li Fei’s ankle tightly, trembling, his voice quavering, “I… I’ve eaten seventy chickens… Why, why am I still so hungry?”
Seventy chickens?! Li Fei watched in horror as he convulsed violently a few times before going still, his life extinguished just like that! The thick black mist surrounding his body gradually dispersed, and his body began to float upwards, as if lifted by invisible hands, rising higher and higher until it disappeared.
Shockingly, not a single person around them spared even a glance. Someone had died right before their eyes, yet no one seemed to notice or care.
Li Fei quickly approached the Wuyue Yan elder, grabbing his sleeve urgently, “Elder! Stop drinking, it’s all fake!”
The elder seemed not to hear her. Annoyed by her tugging, he shoved Li Fei away and snatched another jug of wine, tearing it open and gulping it down greedily. His eyes were bloodshot, filled with desire and dissatisfaction, as he muttered, “Good wine! Good wine! Why can’t I get drunk anymore? I need more!”
Li Fei covered her nose and mouth, backing away several steps. She no longer dared to eat or drink anything here. She summoned a cloud and flew away urgently, but found herself unable to escape the massive city. Just as she thought she had reached the edge, her vision blurred, and she suddenly found herself back in the city center. Panicked and drenched in sweat, she found the scene around her as terrifying as the worst nightmare.
She flew about aimlessly like a headless fly until she spotted a giant tree ahead, its canopy spreading wide. Beneath it was a clear, small pond surrounded by scattered rocks. Around the pond were numerous figures, and to her relief, they weren’t shrouded in black mist.
Li Fei quickly descended from her cloud, only to collide with a layer of magical defense. The dozens of disciples by the pond immediately stood up alertly, forming hand seals. Dozens of eyes filled with hostility stared at her. Seeing that she too was free of black mist, their expressions softened slightly, but they didn’t remove the barrier. Someone inside asked, “Who are you?”
Li Fei quickly surveyed the group. These disciples wore different uniforms, apparently from various sects. Their cultivation levels and ages varied greatly, ranging from fifteen or sixteen to around forty years old. The lowest level of cultivation had barely broken through the first bottleneck, while the highest seemed to have surpassed the fourth.
Secretly surprised, she immediately cupped her hands in greeting and said politely, “I am Jiang Li Fei, disciple of Chongyi Zhenren of Wuyue Yan. Greetings, senior brothers and sisters. I recently accompanied my master and several elders on a demon-hunting expedition to forge magical treasures. Unexpectedly, we encountered the ferocious beast Taotie. After being swallowed, I became separated from my master and the elders. In my panic, I fled here. I humbly request that senior brothers and sisters allow me to rest nearby for a while.”
Before she could finish speaking, the dozens of disciples inside erupted into chaos. Someone exclaimed repeatedly, “The ferocious beast Taotie?! No wonder this place is so bizarre! We have no hope of escaping at all!”
Others began to wail, “We were counting on the elders to come and rescue us! Now there’s no hope!”
These people all looked extremely haggard, clearly having been trapped here for quite some time. They had been clinging to the hope that the elders would come to their aid, but now that their last hope was shattered, the atmosphere instantly plummeted. The disciples maintaining the defensive spell lost heart and simply withdrew it entirely.
“I’m so hungry…” someone lay weakly on the ground, muttering, “It’s been seven days without food. I’d rather go out to the street and eat those things. Even if I die, at least I’ll die with a full stomach…”
This statement was met with many agreeing voices. Li Fei couldn’t help but exclaim, “We must be able to get out! With so many people here, how can we know it’s impossible to leave this city without trying?”
Someone nearby scoffed coldly, “This junior sister speaks so naively. How do you know we haven’t tried? Do you know how long we’ve been trapped here? Ah, if we had known there was no way out, we might as well have enjoyed ourselves more before dying!”
Li Fei noticed the speaker’s voice was alluringly coquettish and couldn’t help but look closer. By the pond, she saw three or four young female disciples in pink robes leaning against the rocks. They weren’t from the Huolian Sect; their clothes were split from the chest to the neckline, revealing half of their snow-white, voluptuous chests. The skirts below were also slit, showing glimpses of long, slender legs, appearing quite seductive.
She felt she had seen these revealing outfits before, perhaps from a sect that had come to recruit new disciples at the academy. What was it called again? Oh right, Yun Xiuyuan had mentioned it was a sect that practiced dual cultivation.
Now she finally understood what “dual cultivation” entailed. Seeing those female disciples with their stunning looks and seductive gazes sweeping over the male disciples, many of whom seemed to be getting restless, Li Fei instinctively took a few steps back.
Suddenly, a rich aroma of wine wafted over, and everyone by the pond caught the scent. Mixed with it was the smell of roasted meat. The combination of these two food aromas was like a godsend to the starving disciples. Everyone jumped up to search for the source. Soon, someone cried out in delight, “The water in this pond has turned into fine wine! How did we not notice before?!”
Not notice? How is that possible? Li Fei watched in horror as many people scooped up the pond water and gulped it down, their faces showing intoxication and pleasure. They had been trapped here for so many days and must have drunk from the pond to quench their thirst. How could the water suddenly turn into wine? Why did no one question such a major discrepancy, and instead act as if they were liberated?
“The roasted meat is here!” someone else shouted joyfully. They saw that the giant tree by the pond was suddenly laden with freshly roasted meat, each piece golden and glistening, steaming hot. The disciples tore down the meat and devoured it ravenously, washing it down with large gulps of wine from the pond. The area around the pond was soon filled with people eating and drinking heartily. Someone remarked, “Legend has it that ancient emperors once indulged in such extravagance as meat forests and wine ponds. Who would have thought we’d get to experience it ourselves!”
Others warmly invited Li Fei, “Junior sister, come and eat! It’s delicious!”
Li Fei was filled with shock and kept shaking her head, backing away. Suddenly, her heel struck something, and she stumbled backward. Her hand landed on something warm and smooth. Startled, she jumped up like a rabbit and looked back, only to see that the rocky ground around the pond had inexplicably transformed into numerous naked men and women. They lay languidly on the grass, some curled up, others sprawled out, brazenly displaying every part of their bodies to the heavens.
Heavy breathing and soft moans filled the air as men and women intertwined, caressing each other like two soft yet resilient water plants, inseparable as they rolled and writhed on the lush green grass. Men and women, muscular and delicate, indulged in passionate lovemaking beneath the sky and trees, by the wine pond.
Strange sounds and moans permeated the surroundings. The disciples suddenly fell silent at this unprecedented display of sensuality and debauchery. Countless naked beauties lay on the ground, striking various unimaginably bold and provocative poses. The closest one had already hooked her leg around a male disciple’s calf, looking up at him with a seductive, yearning smile.
That male disciple involuntarily knelt beside her, trembling as he grasped her slender ankle.
In an instant, black mist enveloped everyone. The female disciples in pink robes had already been embraced by the nearest male disciples, their clothes strewn on the ground.
Li Fei found the scene utterly absurd. She summoned her small white cloud and immediately took flight. This group of people had transformed from clear-minded to frenzied right before her eyes, a horror beyond words. She flew swiftly, only to discover with even greater terror that she couldn’t leave the area around the pond! No matter how she flew, as soon as she reached the edge, she was instantly bounced back, just as she couldn’t leave the city before.
Terrified and panicked, cold sweat poured down her back. Where was Yun Xiuyuan at this moment? Why couldn’t she find him? Why hadn’t he found her yet? Or was he also trapped somewhere he couldn’t escape? Would he be ensnared by these irresistible temptations? The thought of him possibly being seduced and ending up like everyone else here—emaciated, covered in black smoke, and crazed—filled her with despair.
For so many years, every time she found herself in a desperate situation, Yun Xiuyuan had always been there to support her. Without realizing it, she had become so dependent on him that without him by her side, she couldn’t face anything or anyone with peace of mind.
Li Fei rode her small white cloud in another chaotic flight when suddenly, a sea of fire engulfed everything around her. In an instant, the entire area around the pond was consumed by flames. Screams and wails echoed incessantly. The illusion before her eyes seemed to be split open by the raging fire, revealing thick black smoke everywhere. At the edge of the smoke, a young man in white robes hovered on a sword, bright flames dancing around him.
Ji Tongzhou? Li Fei felt an intense disappointment for a moment.
The next instant, the white-robed youth’s attire seemed to change, as if he had become a different person. The color shifted to a light tea shade, with three black embroidered lines on the cuffs and collar. Dazzling golden light illuminated his handsome face, his black hair flying in the wind as he smiled at her.
Yun Xiuyuan!
Li Fei’s eyes burned with tears that streamed down her face. She choked back a sob and threw herself into his arms, calling out anxiously and joyfully, “Xiuyuan! Xiuyuan!”