The veil had already been removed, revealing a delicate nose and full red lips like flower petals. This woman wore a golden gauze dress, the thin gauze clinging to her body, outlining her graceful and alluring figure. Her jade feet were bare, with a green snake tattooed on her snow-white ankle, naturally carrying an enchanting and bewitching charm.

She also carried a gorgeous fragrance, like some precious flower – the more beautiful, the more dangerous.

They had met once before, at the “Auspicious Snake Festival” in Wufan City – that Serpent Witch Clan saintess who held a snake staff and arrived in a magnificent carriage.

Gu Baiying stared at her and spoke coldly: “You’re not a Serpent Witch.”

She reached out to tuck the long hair hanging in front of her eyes behind her ear and smiled charmingly: “Of course I’m not.”

“Then what are you?” The young man raised an eyebrow, his tone mocking: “A snake demon?”

At these words, the smile on the woman’s face froze for an instant. As if angered by his words, she immediately replied: “Nonsense! How could a lowly thing like a snake demon be worthy of my status?” She looked at Gu Baiying and lifted her chin: “My name is Mirage Woman.”

Gu Baiying’s eyes flickered slightly.

Mirage Woman – a great demon mentioned in ancient texts, often appearing in vast oceans and deserts, skilled in illusions. Gu Baiying had once told Zanxing that powerful great demons could use illusions to create entire cities, with people and animals indistinguishable from living beings – he was speaking precisely of Mirage Women. Mirage Women often appeared in deserts, creating mirages for dying people – either an oasis or a bustling marketplace. Travelers would see hope and exhaust everything, striving with all their might to reach it, but mirages were just mirages. Until they exhausted their last bit of strength, the oasis remained visible but untouchable, and those travelers would die in illusory hope, leaving no trace.

“Is Wufan City an illusion you wove?” Gu Baiying asked.

The Mirage Woman smiled: “Now you’re underestimating me., from the first step you took into the Wudan Forest Desert, you were already caught in my illusion. However,” she looked Gu Baiying up and down, her gaze somewhat strange: “I didn’t expect you to be immortal cultivators who didn’t make wishes to the Divine Snake Lamp at the Auspicious Snake Festival. That forced me to make a personal trip.” She complained with a hint of coquettish annoyance.

Gu Baiying’s expression remained unchanged as he only asked: “Since you’re not the master of Wufan City, why do you remain here?” He thought of something and suddenly looked up: “Did you kill the Serpent Witch?”

“Oh my, you can’t say such things carelessly.” The Mirage Woman waved her hand and blinked innocently: “I imagine you’ve also seen the murals in the hall. The Serpent Witch died at the hands of the humans she protected – what does that have to do with me?”

Gu Baiying stared at her coldly.

The woman laughed and said sweetly, “Alright, I did interfere a little, but only a little. Who told her to provoke me first?”

“Back then, before the Serpent Witch came to Wufan City, I lived here myself. I’m of the demon race, and to increase my cultivation, I naturally had to use illusions to bewitch passing people and take their lives. Just as you humans slaughter chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep for cooking and sustenance, I too was trying to survive – what’s wrong with that?” She spoke with growing contempt: “But that stinking woman had to be so petty about it.”

It turned out that ever since the Serpent Witch settled in this place, accepting offerings from the people of Wufan City and helping them drive away nearby demons and wild beasts, this naturally included the Mirage Woman.

Though the Mirage Woman was a great demon, she could only bewitch people’s hearts through illusions. The Serpent Witch belonged to a clan that existed outside the three realms and could see through the Mirage Woman’s illusions at a glance. Her spiritual power was also above the Mirage Woman’s, so she easily expelled the Mirage Woman to the edge of the Wudan Forest Desert.

“I was just trying to survive – it didn’t interfere with her in any way. Tell me, why did she go to such lengths? Acting all high and mighty, as if she could control everything in her palm.” She played with a strand of her long hair, winding the slightly curled hair around her fingertip: “She ruined my livelihood – how could I just let it go?”

The Mirage Woman thought of something and laughed happily: “But heaven also favors me. Later, I heard that in Wufan City, she gained the title of saintess and often made trades with people. How ridiculous!”

Gu Baiying stared at her: “What’s ridiculous about it?”

“Isn’t it ridiculous?” The Mirage Woman looked at him in surprise: “She could trade with anyone – demons, devils, anyone would do – but she chose to trade with humans. Humans are the most cunning and shameless, and human hearts are greedy. I think the Serpent Witch probably rarely lived in places with humans before and didn’t understand human nature. I knew then that these trades would lead to trouble eventually.”

Gu Baiying’s face was like frost: “You incited them?”

“I didn’t even need to incite them,” the Mirage Woman spoke disdainfully: “I merely wove an illusion where their desired wishes could all be fulfilled. And to fulfill their wishes, they needed to obtain that snake staff.”

She noticed Gu Baiying’s slightly cold gaze and giggled twice: “You don’t need to look at me like that. If they hadn’t harbored evil thoughts to begin with, the Serpent Witch would never have lost her life, no matter what. If you want to blame someone, blame them for being too easily bewitched. If you want to blame someone, blame that woman for establishing some ‘fair trade’ rule.”

“When people’s desires are satisfied, they can naturally achieve ‘fairness.’ But when people’s desires aren’t satisfied, the word ‘fairness’ becomes a joke.”

“Even so, the people of Wufan City couldn’t possibly have killed the Serpent Witch.” Gu Baiying reminded her.

Since the Serpent Witch could drive away demons and fierce beasts, her cultivation couldn’t possibly be shallow. For such a person to die at the hands of powerless civilians didn’t seem like something that could happen.

“Under normal circumstances, it would naturally be impossible, but after each ‘trade’ with people, the Serpent Witch would become very weak. The few people I selected took turns ‘trading’ with her, and after just a few times, she became extremely weak. Then when someone struck…” She spread her hands: “Killing a Serpent Witch wasn’t that difficult either.”

She spoke so casually, though the story sounded utterly absurd.

“I’m also quite curious. I heard that the Serpent Witch Clan could communicate between the heavenly and lower realms, and that obtaining her snake staff would allow one to glimpse all the world’s secrets. She made trades with so many people – could she never have glimpsed her ending? Could she not have known that the final trade she completed would stake her own life?”

When the Mirage Woman spoke of this, her expression also showed some curiosity, as if this was a puzzle that had troubled her for a long time.

No one spoke in the secret chamber for a while. After a moment, Gu Baiying’s gaze fell on the snake staff in her hand: “You stole her spirit artifact?”

“How can you call it ‘stealing’?” The Mirage Woman looked at him reproachfully: “Mortals can’t wield spirit artifacts. Those people stealing the artifact were useless, so they might as well give it to me. But I didn’t shortchange them either – I wove an illusion for each of them where they could have everything they wanted.”

“Are all the people of Wufan City dead?” Gu Baiying asked.

“Rather than saying they died, it’s better to say they live forever in my illusions.” The Mirage Woman smiled lightly: “As long as they wish, they can possess everything they could never touch in reality.”

“I understand.” Gu Baiying looked up: “This is all your illusion. That ruined city gate is what Wufan City looks like.”

“Truth is never beautiful,” the Mirage Woman smiled slightly: “That’s why so many people would rather hide in illusory dreams. Just like that little girl.”

“Xu Douniang?”

“That little girl is quite pitiful,” the Mirage Woman sighed, showing a regretful expression: “Her gambling father couldn’t repay his debts, so he sold his daughter to human traffickers, and she’s been wandering in foreign lands ever since.” She paused: “Xu Douniang probably didn’t want others to know all this, so she simply imagined a loving father in her mind, fabricated a tragic story, and after telling it to people for so long, even she believed it herself.”

“But fortunately, she came to Wufan City. I discovered her secret and knew this poor child’s only wish was to reunite with her father, so I decided to help her.” The Mirage Woman smiled: “Look, now she has a father who loves her, and father and daughter live in harmony – isn’t that perfect?”

Gu Baiying spoke coldly: “That’s nothing but your lie.”

Familial love and fulfillment that could only be obtained in illusions sounded even more tragic.

“The purpose of lies is comfort. Just like you just now – although you saw through my illusion, in that moment, didn’t you have a moment of indulgence?”

Hearing this, the young man’s face suddenly turned stern, and his silver spear moved like a swimming dragon, instantly lunging forward.

But the spear tip struck empty air.

The woman’s soft voice rang in his ear: “I told you, this is my illusion. In my illusion, I’m the one who gets whatever I want, not you.”

She flirtatiously lifted a strand of Gu Baiying’s long hair, her beautiful face seeming to want to steal one’s soul: “Why must you struggle in vain?”

“Where did the others go?” Gu Baiying pointed his spear at her.

She was forced to retreat several steps, looking at her palm with some unwillingness, and snorted: “Where else could they go? They’re all in my illusions, of course.”

Gu Baiying’s fingers gripping the spear immediately tightened.

“Human hearts all have weaknesses. Fear and desire, greed and ambition. As long as you grasp this point and weave illusions for them, they’ll be forever lost in them.”

The green snake totem on the Mirage Woman’s ankle emitted shimmering light, like seductive temptation, and her voice was also soft: “That boy with the broken saber only wants to become stronger to protect his sister. That woman with the sword only thinks about how to shoulder the responsibility of a sect. The big man is greedy for money, the little one is timid. And that ugly woman who just formed her Golden Core,” she smiled contemptuously, “her spiritual power is so weak she couldn’t even see through my most basic illusions – utterly worthless.”

“Tell me,” she looked at Gu Baiying provocatively, “what can just these few people possibly change?”

As soon as she finished speaking, the flames in the dark passage seemed to flicker, and from the entrance to the secret chamber came a woman’s calm voice.

“Who did you say was utterly worthless?”