Chapter 72: The Illusion

Yiling Ke arrived late. She said, "I don't see any problems with the arrays, and the people of Drunken Lu Bay are standing guard."

By all logic, a gathering of commoners shouldn't have formed in such a dangerous place. When this seal was first established, the area was a desolate wasteland.

But to some ordinary people, cultivators were like heaps of gold—worth a fortune. Some traveled ten thousand miles to find immortals, seeking a path into the immortal way. Others, simply by selling food to immortals, obtained pills that strengthened their bodies. Those pills were of little use to cultivators but were miraculous elixirs for ordinary people, capable of extending their lives.

Over time, more and more people flocked to this place. In the beginning, the path of cultivation had not yet been explored very far, and the abilities of cultivators were not as strong as they are now. When they tried to forcibly drive people away, they held back their strength, so there was no great deterrent. Even though the array masters emphasized the danger over and over again, people still gathered here.

Eventually, they lived and worked in peace, developing like a real county. As dynasties changed, cultivators would not interfere in the shifts of mortal political systems. Thus, when commoners were displaced or the situation grew turbulent, the cultivators remained helpless; they merely fulfilled their duty to guard the seal.

While cultivators could take the protection of all people under heaven as their responsibility, it was not a mandatory requirement. Amidst the chaos of the world, the tranquility of the settlements formed around the array masters became increasingly obvious—after all, since the array masters guarded the area, they would naturally protect the people nearby to maintain a stable environment and avoid unnecessary complications.

Little did they know that this move would draw even more people. Wave after wave of people migrated here over time. The cultivators described the situation in detail, warning of the dangers, but the mortals still wished to stay.

Since that was the case, they did not interfere with their decisions. In any case, there would be omens when the seal loosened, and at that time, the commoners could be moved away in advance. According to what Song Zhihuai said, that group of cultivators had indeed done exactly that.

Yiling Ke asked, "But the commoners are doing perfectly fine right now. Did Senior Brother Song enter an illusion?"

Zora looked at Vane.

Vane did not have an absolutely certain answer. He said, "Perhaps it is a Crystal Secret Realm. This is only a speculation. I do not know if the master of such a realm would have modified it."

Yiling Ke let out a sigh. "We can't find Senior Brother Song, and we don't know where the secret realm is. What should we do?"

Just as the words fell, the transmission talisman on Yiling Ke's person stirred. She took out the paper, and Song Zhihuai's voice came through.

"I accidentally entered a secret realm just now, which is why I didn't reply to your transmissions. My apologies. I am currently in Tao County."

Yiling Ke froze. These were the exact words Song Zhihuai had said before they departed from the sect—identical.

Seeing Yiling Ke remain silent, Song Zhihuai on the other end seemed to grow even more guilty: "Apologies... I forgot to notify Master and ask him to tell you."

Because Yiling Ke's reaction was different, he also produced different responses and words, making one believe that the person on the other end was a living human being.

Yiling Ke was silent for a long time, stammering and unable to speak. She had never encountered this kind of thing and was truly spooked. "Senior Brother Song, what are you talking about... you already told us this an hour ago."

Song Zhihuai: "What?"

Zora leaned over. She didn't have many sensitive nerves and asked bluntly: "Do you have amnesia?"

Song Zhihuai answered seriously. He even thought back carefully and said cautiously: "As far as my memory goes, no."

Zora: "Where are you?"

Song Zhihuai: "Tao County, outside an osmanthus cake shop. The owner is packing up, preparing for his family to follow the crowd and migrate away."

Zora and the others walked to the location he described. Outside the shop, there were only stranger after stranger; there was no sign of Song Zhihuai. The plump, kind-looking shop owner was not nervously preparing luggage as he had said, but was making osmanthus cakes as usual.

Zora went to buy a bag.

Yiling Ke was currently in a state of shock and a bit of a cold shiver, only to see her teammate shopping for osmanthus cakes from the owner as if they were just strolling down the street. The shocked expression on Yiling Ke's face remained frozen: "........."

Mhm? Wait...

"Why did you go and buy some? What are you eating at a time like this... well, if you're hungry, then hurry up and eat. I don't know what happened; Senior Brother Song might be trapped in a secret realm."

When Zora returned, Yiling Ke spoke in a low voice. Zora opened the box. The pastries inside were oddly shaped, looking utterly perfunctory.

"These aren't osmanthus cakes," Zora said. "There's a problem here too."

Yiling Ke: "What?"

Song Zhihuai, through the transmission talisman, also realized something: "We are all in danger."

Yiling Ke: "What?!"

Vane naturally knew what Zora was thinking and saying. He spoke to explain her words, saying: "The osmanthus cakes are not osmanthus cakes. Observe carefully; the nearby shops are the same. Aside from the items already laid out, the things they are making in their hands are all nonsensical objects. They don't actually know what they are doing; rather, it's more like they are following a set of rules. They must conform to their identities, pretending on the surface."

He paused, then added: "After I entered the city, the commoners seemed vivid. But when you walk a few hundred meters and suddenly look back, you will find that in the furthest places, the commoners you just met are repeating the same actions."

When they first entered the city, Vane followed behind Zora, his pupils pitch black, only moving slightly occasionally as if he were casually viewing the long street. Any small anomaly was magnified infinitely in his eyes, and any conflict in detail was captured by him one by one.

However, he still followed behind the girl, a thread of his thoughts always on her back. The youth remained silent, but upon capturing the same anomaly for the third time, he would form a hypothesis and go to verify it. But above all else, he had to accompany the girl until the task of finding her friend was complete.

Yiling Ke understood. Vane's voice wasn't loud, and his expression was as usual, as if he weren't speaking of danger but discussing today's meal.

Yiling Ke couldn't help but compose herself, lest she be discovered by whoever was in the shadows—someone was definitely playing tricks behind the scenes. Perhaps that person hadn't noticed them yet, just in case.

Song Zhihuai only had time to say one sentence about the scene before he entered the secret realm before the connection was forced to disconnect.

Yiling Ke recalled: "Actually, the array masters are the same... their lines are too repetitive."

Zora, standing between the two, thought for a moment, then lowered her head and took a bite of the oddly shaped pastry.

So sweet... overly sweet... it didn't seem like something made by a human. Perhaps it wasn't a human.

Vane's eyes grew solemn as he asked Yiling Ke for more specific details. Meanwhile, he reached into his storage bag and placed a delicate pastry gently into Zora's palm.

Zora took another bite. The slightly savory taste diluted the overly cloying sweetness on her tongue.

After listening, Vane looked at Zora. Yiling Ke also looked toward her.

Vane lowered his eyes to wipe the pastry crumbs from Zora's fingers. She made a decision: "First, go to the place Senior Brother Song mentioned, and inform Senior Sister Turi of these circumstances."

Vane remained silent, defaulting to her every decision. Yiling Ke nodded, though she still looked worried: "I hope Senior Brother Song holds out a bit longer."

Zora: "He won't die."

Song Zhihuai was trapped in a recurring illusion. The opponent intended to trap him; if they wanted to kill him, they would have done it long ago. Perhaps the master of the illusion couldn't kill him and thus chose to trap him as a secondary option.

Yiling Ke didn't ask why; she trusted Zora's judgment implicitly, and her brows relaxed slightly: "That's good then..."

Vane put away the handkerchief and returned to the business at hand without a change in expression: "In any case, we must distinguish our surroundings at all times from now on."

Zora: "Let's go."