At first, Bian Qingxuan thought that her anger was causing the instability of the illusion, but she didn't expect the golden light of the Unfounded Flute to gradually dim.
Why is the illusion about to be shattered?
She lowered her head to look at Wei Changyuan in the illusion. He unexpectedly regained consciousness and was trying to resist, loosening his grip on the girl's waist. His eyes were blank.
"Still trying to struggle?" Bian Qingxuan finally thought a little more highly of this young cultivator. In the past three years, all the disciples of Mingyou Mountain had become her playthings. Only Wei Changyuan, with his rigid and serious temperament, gave her headaches and impatience.
Wei Changyuan's lack of cooperation led to Shi Luoyi being able to remain lively and energetic until now.
The most successful thing Bian Qingxuan had done was probably finding an excuse to go on a mission and pleading with him to lend her his Spirit Jade for protection.
This time in the illusion, she had utilized everything: the Unfounded Flute, the Untransformed Toad Demon, the Harmony Pill, and her own talent. Wei Changyuan finally showed a moment of wavering, but her victory only lasted this moment.
If this place wasn't an illusion, who could say if he would have taken the bait for sure?
Bian Qingxuan looked at her palm, and her expression turned gloomy. She felt restless. "My power has also begun to weaken?"
But no matter what, she wouldn't let Wei Changyuan go, nor would she allow him to have second thoughts. She no longer had time to hesitate. She could not tolerate herself growing weaker and weaker. If Wei Changyuan wavered for a moment, then she would sink him into this quagmire forever, never to rise again.
Bian Qingxuan took the initiative to dismiss the illusion and flew down. She looked down at Wei Changyuan for a long time. Seeing that he had passed out, and the person in the illusion had disappeared, she used the Unfounded Flute to tap his forehead, making him more convinced of what had happened between them in the illusion.
She smiled and said, "Little junior sister even sacrificed herself to save senior brother. Senior Brother Changyuan, you have already wronged her, you can't wrong me too. Since I want you to take responsibility, you will go and break off the engagement with her, right?"
With that said, she helped up the pale-faced Wei Changyuan and walked towards Qingshui Village.
Not far away, the stench from the mud in the lotus pond was getting more and more stronger, and the purple demonic fog in the sky was also getting thicker. It seemed like something was surging out from the ground.
Bian Qingxuan's pupils contracted. This is bad. The angry Untransformed Toad Demon, having destroyed its one body, was probably going to deal with all of them.
She cursed under her breath. She needed to find Bian Lingyu quickly because she had used the Unfounded Flute in Qingshui Village, and the Untransformed Toad seemed to have its eyes on her. If she encountered it for real and couldn't beat it... She glanced at the unconscious Wei Changyuan, feeling a bit reluctant to sacrifice this pawn.
As the sky gradually brightened, Shi Luoyi finally regained her strength. She also saw the purple demonic fog surging towards one place, and her expression was solemn.
I'm afraid something is going to happen!
If they went there slowly, they might not make it in time.
Shi Luoyi remembered the scene of Han Shu being devoured in her past life. She felt extremely anxious, and couldn't wait any longer.
Shi Luoyi walked over and squatted down to discuss with Bian Lingyu: "The demonic energy is starting to gather. I don't know if our fellow disciples are in danger. I will set up a barrier here, can you stay here and wait for me to bring Elder Han Shu and others?"
She was going to fight the Untransformed Toad, and bringing Bian Lingyu along wouldn't be of much use. Perhaps it would be safer for him to stay here.
Bian Lingyu had been meditating with his eyes closed. Hearing this, he opened his eyes.
He knew that Shi Luoyi believed the substance on his back wasn't poison, otherwise, with the potent venom of the Untransformed Toad, a mortal like him would have died long ago. Since nothing had happened to him, she was now going to do her work.
The poison on his back seeped into his lungs and brought about a suffocating pain. The Soul Gathering pill would have to wait until complete dawn to take effect again before he could dissipate all of the venom. Bian Lingyu didn't mind this; such poison couldn't kill him anyway. Seeing the anxious look in the girl's eyes, Bian Lingyu knew she was going to save others. He calmly said, "Okay."
When Shi Luoyi heard him say "okay", she felt relieved. She summoned her Divine Meteor Sword and drew a barrier around him before preparing to leave.
After taking a few steps, for some reason, she turned her head and looked back at Bian Lingyu.
The early morning light was dim, making the Qingshui Village look pale and cold. The young man in silver-white clothes was sitting quietly within the barrier she had drawn, looking at her silently.
That was a gaze that Shi Luoyi was very familiar with, and she was in a trance for a moment.
In her past life, in all the memories related to Bian Lingyu, including many times in this life, he had always been like this. The young man's eyes were narrow and long and his pupils were pitch black. His silent appearance was like the lone, cold moon in the sky.
She used to think such Bian Lingyu was very hypocritical, aloof, and a villain with a different personality from his sister.
During the worst times when the inner demons took hold and she was controlled by them, she even wanted to see him tear off his hypocritical mask. So she looked down on him condescendingly and provoked him with cruel words.
Yet he just looked at her, neither responding to her insults nor showing any anger.
Only when she was evil and reckless, frivolously slapped his face, saying 'Bian Lingyu, are you dead? Move a little,' did a shallow hatred finally appear in his eyes, turning them scarlet. Finally, he seemed like a person with some warmth.
It was obviously the same this time. She pursed her lips and walked far away, far enough that she couldn't see his figure anymore, but her pace became slower and slower.
There wasn't a single toad in the lotus pond, but countless writhing dark shadows could be vaguely seen moving on the ground. These were the demonic energy scattered by the furious Untransformed Toad, which were capable of corroding the human body.
Shi Luoyi gradually grew a little anxious in her heart.
Was it really safe to leave Bian Lingyu behind? She knew it wasn't. What if the black shadows broke through the barrier? What if the Untransformed Toad specifically targeted him, a mortal? Did he really want to stay?
Shi Luoyi had someone more important in her heart that she cared about - she wanted Han Shu to be safe. So she subconsciously chose not to bring Bian Qingxuan's brother along, and that he didn't insist on following.
But in that last look of his, Shi Luoyi's steps grew slower and slower, until finally stopping completely.
She didn't know why either, perhaps it was just intuition, but although Bian Lingyu hadn't said anything, she felt that she needed to go back.
Bian Lingyu watched the back of Shi Luoyi as she left, his eyes were cold and calm.
Perhaps he was more accustomed to being abandoned than anyone else. When he was a child, he used to live with his mother in Tianxing Ravine. She said, "Lingyu is stronger than his younger brother, so the detoxifying Senluo Fruit mother kept was given to your younger brother. Lingyu can endure the pain, right?"
He watched his mother feed the only Senluo Fruit to his brother, while he curled up in pain for ten days.
During his transformation, he barely clung to life to manifest a long tail, symbolizing his talent. His mother took her Karmic Fire Sword trying to sever it from the root.
The weak young boy clung to his mother's skirt, pleading with her not to do this.
But she still swung down the blade, coldly saying, "Your brother is physically disabled and unable to transform. He is naturally more sensitive. Lingyu, as long as you become the same as him, he won't feel uncomfortable."
The tail was connected to his life force. That day, he almost died from the pain. But because of that, he obtained rare warmth from his mother. She rarely stayed by his bedside and accompanied him for half a day, at the cost of severing his talents.
When the Thunderfire descended, his mother could only take one child away. She took her brother away without hesitation.
Under the Thunderfire, he watched their retreating figures and numbly lowered his eyes.
Later, that woman looked at him with disgust and hatred: "You were born without crying or laughing, just as aloof, cold-hearted and paranoid as that person and equally disgusting. I severed your tail, abandoned you, pushed you into the thunderfire, making you forever unable to obtain your inheritance, leaving you with only hideous bone spurs. Hahaha, if it were anyone else, they would probably hate me to death. Yet you… you don't hate me at all, you remain indifferent throughout. You are a monster, born to be a disgusting monster to the core. Do I, your mother, seem like an ant in your eyes too? A monster like you deserves to be unloved like your father, longing in vain, betrayed and forsaken by all."
"Since you're not afraid of pain, and don't fear death, life is meaningless for you anyway, then go die on behalf of your brother."
Those events of the past now seemed like very distant memories.
His battered body, abilities stripped away time and time again in his childhood - all reminded him of how unlikable and repulsive he was.
The sky had not brightened completely yet, without the Soul Gathering Pill taking effect, Bian Lingyu's body was as fragile as an ordinary mortal. But he still stood up and walked out of Shi Luoyi's barrier. Strictly speaking, eliminating the Untransformed Toad was his mission, not Shi Luoyi's.
Countless black shadows swarmed over, like bloodthirsty leeches smelling blood, clinging onto him and trying to bite and tear him apart.
Bian Lingyu remained indifferent, trying to figure out the Untransformed Toad's intentions in such a situation.
With two real bodies, one boldly cut off by Shi Luoyi, the other would only hide deeper. If they really met, Han Shu probably wouldn't be a match.
The venom of the Untransformed Toad had yet to be cleared, his back was throbbing with pain, but he didn't consider stopping.
Even in such agony, he still held onto his duty.
He wouldn't follow in his father's footsteps.
His father liked his mother but he was so used to being high and mighty that he took her by force with a single command. His mother hurt and betrayed him by bearing children with others, making his life worse than death, degenerating into a madman, leading to his tragic death. He even forgot his responsibilities, which led to the current situation in the mortal realm, leaving him to clean up the mess.
Bian Lingyu coldly frowned, pondering where the Untransformed Toad might be hiding, with no mood to brush off those dark shadows.
The morning light peeked over the horizon, irritating him to the point of frustration and finally a hint of killing intent appeared on his brows. Bone spurs emerged from his sleeves, and just as he was about to strangle these black shadows, a sword energy swept past, tearing apart all the black shadows that were intent on nibbling on him.
His vision became clear.
The girl ran over panting heavily. Her face showed a mixture of shock and anger, as if she couldn't believe what she had just witnessed, and she scolded him angrily.
"Bian Lingyu, have you gone mad? Why did you step out of my barrier? They were biting you, don't you know how to hide or resist? Are you planning to turn yourself into an Untransformed Toad and then come kill me?"
He raised his gaze, looking straight at her.
Shi Luoyi, still shaken by his bold act of stepping out of the barrier, couldn't express her anger clearly. "You... ai..." How was his courage even bigger than hers?
The morning breeze brushed through her hair. Seeing him remain silent, her angry voice eventually turned into a helpless whisper, soft and gentle, falling into his ears like a compromise. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have left you here. Since you're not afraid, let's go together. I'll take you to find the elders and others."
Bian Lingyu looked at her outstretched hand.
He knew well that this girl before him didn't really care for him, she didn't love him and even gave birth to a heart demon. If the heart demon were to flare up, she would harm him, just like several times before. She would vent her frustration on him, and perhaps feel a little pity for him when feeling guilty.
But facing her outstretched hand, he still held onto it.
This is the last time I'll indulge myself, Bian Lingyu thought. He wouldn't be able to go far anyway.