Ji Tongzhou lay at her feet, his breathing alternating between rapid and faint. Li Fei sat beside him, carefully examining his injuries. Some shallow wounds had already healed, while the remaining ones were deep and long, healing very slowly.
She immediately used the Jade Snow Technique, slowly sending spiritual energy into his wounds. This prince’s body was much better than Lei Xiuyuan’s, showing no signs of old injuries. His bloodline was strong, and his bones were like jade – truly befitting a noble prince.
The Jade Snow Technique quickly healed those deep, long wounds. Li Fei listened as Ji Tongzhou’s breathing became steady, then withdrew her technique and sat aside, waiting for her body to slowly absorb spiritual energy.
After an unknown amount of time, she suddenly heard thunderous sounds from afar. Li Fei became alert, using a concealment technique to hide both their forms and spiritual energy. She cautiously peeked out to see four enormous stone gates that had appeared in the distance, spanning from earth to sky. As the thunderous sounds continued, the four stone gates slowly opened. Instantly, countless human figures poured in through the not-yet-fully-opened gaps like a tidal wave. A glance revealed that they were all flying – were they all cultivators?!
Li Fei was shocked and suspicious, not daring to move. She held her breath and watched as these cultivators rushed in densely, numbering in the thousands or tens of thousands. Some were cheering, some screaming, some roaring in anger. The air was filled with a cacophony of human voices. Everyone rushed towards the mountains of gold and precious stones, each carrying many bags, stuffing treasures into them by the handful.
More and more people arrived, and the mountains of gold and jewels were visibly emptied one by one at an astonishing speed. As the treasures became scarcer, disputes grew louder. Everyone felt others were taking more than their share or stealing what was rightfully theirs. Those with fiery tempers immediately resorted to magical combat at the slightest disagreement.
Li Fei grew increasingly alarmed as she watched. Among those fighting, there were cultivators of all levels. She could see their attire – they were disciples from various major immortal sects, and even some elders. Had they all been swallowed by Taotie?
As the countless mountains of jewels and gold before her were emptied, Li Fei was horrified to see many people approaching the silver mountain where she was. She shrank back, grabbing Ji Tongzhou’s collar to flee silently, when he suddenly raised his hand and gripped her arm, pulling her down forcefully. He then quickly covered her mouth.
“Don’t move,” he held her tightly from behind, his voice barely a whisper. “No one here will be interested in silver.”
He was awake?! Li Fei didn’t dare move a muscle, not even breathing heavily. Many cultivators paused briefly before this silver mountain, indeed showing no interest in these silver ingots. With countless mountains of treasures and jewels nearby, everyone flew towards those, once again arguing and fighting noisily over the ownership of those treasures.
Suddenly, a young disciple landed on the silver mountain. His spiritual energy fluctuations weren’t strong, seemingly having just broken through the first bottleneck. He didn’t wish to compete with the more powerful cultivators. He untied the bag at his waist and began stuffing it with silver.
Li Fei was horrified to see how terrifying he looked. It wasn’t just his deathly pale face and emaciated body that was frightening, but his blood-red eyes, filled with insane desire, devoid of any human light.
Dense black mist surrounded him, burning like black fire. Within the mist seemed to be countless murmurs, groans, and screams. The man appeared crazed, stuffing silver while waving his hands as if fighting invisible enemies, all the while growling, “It’s mine! It’s all mine!”
Occasionally, he would stop all movement, as if suddenly coming to his senses, staring blankly into the distance, muttering something incomprehensible. A hint of struggle would appear in his blood-red eyes, but it was quickly consumed by insane desire as he resumed grabbing silver.
Ji Tongzhou, still holding Li Fei, silently slid down the silver mountain and took to his sword. Their concealment technique was instantly broken, but no one in the treasure vault looked up. Everyone was intently focused on grabbing and looting treasures. As they sped through, Li Fei saw that everyone was surrounded by black mist, skeletally thin, their eyes devoid of human reason, only flashing with insane greed.
Ji Tongzhou’s sword darted out of the treasure vault’s gate. Suddenly, a vast, boundless wasteland appeared before them. Tree silhouettes were faintly visible in the distance, and the entire sky was a blood-red color, oppressively uncomfortable.
Li Fei felt as if her bones were about to be crushed by Ji Tongzhou’s grip. She struggled fiercely several times. Ji Tongzhou released his hand from her mouth, and she immediately said, “Let go!”
Ji Tongzhou looked down at the top of her head. The sudden turn of events had disheveled her hair, which now hung messily around her ears. Her snow-white ears, her snow-white neck, and her body were soft and graceful just like in the illusion – but different. This body no longer yielded to him obediently. He could feel from every inch of her skin, every pore, her strong rejection of him.
His pride wouldn’t allow him to beg her, but his vulnerability prevented him from letting go. Why had he suddenly rushed forward to embrace her? Was it because they happened to be sucked up by Taotie together? Or was it simply because he wanted to hold her tightly?
For a long time, he had thought about many things, with regret and frustration occupying most of his thoughts. He had never failed to obtain anything he wanted before, but now that there was finally something he desired but couldn’t have, he didn’t know how to fight for it or how to pursue it. He was used to others depending on him and trying to please him; he didn’t understand how to accommodate her. Acting like a child, throwing tantrums and tormenting her – even he found it disgusting.
Ji Tongzhou finally slowly released his hold, as if trying to escape something. He turned and flew up high, stopping at a height, his back to her, saying nothing.
Li Fei looked at his back, wanting to say something, but ultimately chose silence.
She needed to find Lei Xiuyuan quickly. This must be inside Taotie’s stomach. Those cultivators from earlier must have been victims swallowed by Taotie long ago, each surrounded by black mist, skeletal thin, tormented by various desires until they were neither human nor ghost, their minds unclear, becoming tools for Taotie’s appetite.
Li Fei summoned her small white cloud and flew off rapidly. After a while, she sensed Ji Tongzhou following at a distance behind her. She looked back, slowly stopping. He also slowly stopped, maintaining a distance from her, neither approaching nor falling behind.
She had no choice but to turn and continue flying, unsure of her feelings. This willful prince – the woman who drove him mad was just an illusion. Why was he obsessed with that illusion? Unable to distinguish reality from dreams – how sad.
“Ji Tongzhou,” Li Fei suddenly stopped again and called out to him. He also stopped in mid-air, silently gazing at her.
She had many things she wanted to clarify with him. They had been friends for seven years, from childhood to adulthood. Did he want them to become less than strangers? When would this awkward relationship end? Or was he ready to abandon seven years of friendship at any time?
Although he was willful and arrogant, never understanding how to be considerate of others, he wasn’t a bad person. She truly considered him a friend. With this cheerful and straightforward young prince, their days at the academy were filled with many interesting memories. Even after they separated to join different sects, his cheerfulness always made everyone feel close to him.
Why did he suddenly change into a different person? Heaven knows how much she missed the old Ji Tongzhou. This gloomy and taciturn young man wasn’t him. The person who would publicly humiliate her and do all sorts of outrageous things wasn’t him either.
“I…” Li Fei only said one word before Ji Tongzhou suddenly interrupted her: “Don’t say it.”
“…What?”
“I told you not to say it.”
“What do you think I want to say?”
Ji Tongzhou suddenly smiled, his face full of mockery: “I know, you think you’ve defined me. Jiang Li Fei, how much do you understand about me? The me you hope for is just a person you’ve imagined. That Ji Tongzhou never truly existed.”
Li Fei was at a loss for words. He said she didn’t understand him, and perhaps he was right. From their first meeting to becoming friends, she had never thought about what Ji Tongzhou was thinking. He was a very straightforward person; there was no need to guess, everything was displayed on his face. But it was precisely this seemingly carefree person who found it most difficult to escape the influence of illusions. She indeed had never understood the Ji Tongzhou hidden in the deepest part of his heart.
“Let’s go,” Ji Tongzhou averted his gaze, his voice indifferent. “Weren’t you looking for Lei Xiuyuan?”
Li Fei remained silent for a moment before suddenly saying softly, “Don’t follow me.”
Ji Tongzhou abruptly raised his eyes to stare at her, once again revealing that look she couldn’t understand – a heartbreaking look.
She steadied herself and said gently, “Don’t follow me. The person I like isn’t you. I’m sorry, but you’re in the way.”
After saying this, she quickly turned and flew away, not looking at his expression. She didn’t want to see it, not at all.
After flying for an unknown length of time, there was indeed no one following her anymore. Li Fei flew aimlessly over the wasteland when suddenly, a huge city appeared ahead, occupying half of the wasteland. She abruptly stopped her cloud, her heart filled with suspicion. Black smoke curled up from the city as if the entire city was being consumed by black fire. The scene was terrifyingly extreme.
Something told her it was best not to approach the city. She carefully maneuvered her cloud to avoid the smoke-shrouded city, but as soon as she got slightly closer, countless murmurs and groans seemed to sound in her ears. Some were ecstatic, some seductive, some full of temptation, some full of laughter. Li Fei felt her mind buzzing chaotically, her body seemingly out of control, drawn straight into the city by a soft suction force.
Landing on a spacious street as white as jade, the black smoke instantly disappeared. Li Fei looked around in bewilderment. The city was a picture of prosperity, with flowers in full bloom and lush green trees. Countless exquisitely designed houses were arranged in an elegant and spacious manner. The streets were filled with people, some drunk and lying against walls, others singing and laughing merrily. Each person was surrounded by dense black mist, and judging by their attire, they were all cultivator disciples or elders.
Several people came staggering towards her, as if drunk, laughing and talking about something. Li Fei saw that among them were several female disciples wearing Fire Lotus Temple attire – the same group of trial disciples she had seen at the inn a few days ago. She hurriedly grabbed one of the female disciples and exclaimed in surprise, “How are you all here too?”
The female disciple’s face bore a drunken, joyful smile. As she opened her mouth, the thick smell of alcohol hit Li Fei’s face. She giggled and said, “This place has everything. It’s truly wonderful – it must be the legendary Realm of Supreme Joy!”
Li Fei wanted to ask more, but the female disciple shook off her hand, giggling and staggering away.