Chapter 213: Everyone's Illusion
After Xiao Boyang's illusion popped up, Qiao Wan looked around.
How did a fifth-order monster appear in Tingyun Mountain?
To be safe, Qiao Wan switched back to Lu Cixian and quickly went to find Wang Ruyi.
Yes, Lu Cixian's account also went separate ways with the others.
While sending messages on the jade card, she listened for the ringing sound coming from the thick fog. After a few steps, she successfully spotted the girl's crimson figure.
It was really eye-catching, dressed in that wedding gown in the thick fog.
As she circled around, she noticed that the red-clothed female ghost was clearly also trapped in the illusion, looking dazed.
Qiao Wan hesitated for a moment before immersing herself in Wang Ruyi's consciousness. As soon as she entered, she was immediately stunned.
Is this... Wang Ruyi who is still alive?
The illusion was clearly a guest room in an inn.
There was a girl in a wedding dress sitting on the bed, nervously holding a golden rattle in her hand. She had a sweet smile and delicate features, with smooth and rosy skin. She looked like she could be easily broken, with a touch of blush on her cheeks, and her facial features were beautiful and captivating.
She was waiting for her beloved.
Even though she was a bit pretentious, a bit fake, Yue Yong couldn't resist her charm. The woman thought happily.
Qiao Wan, or rather Lu Cixian, took a step back and didn't disturb the illusion for the time being.
Before long, the door of the inn was pushed open and a handsome young man walked in, calling out, "Ruyi."
The woman immediately widened her eyes and Jiaojiao sweetly rushed into the arms of the young man, speaking tenderly, "Yong Lang."
Qiao Wan immediately widened her eyes, as if she had been hit on the head and knocked unconscious.
She knew that Wang Ruyi had encountered a scumbag named Yue Yong before, who looked like Yu Xingzhi.
But besides Yu Xingzhi, she felt that this scumbag also looked a bit like someone else.
Like...
Qiao Wan's brain quickly turned a couple of times, and her throat tightened.
Like Feng Zhao.
Back in Fufeng Valley, Feng Zhao deceived Boss Yan and thousands of his comrades-in-arms.
Lost in her thoughts for a moment, she suddenly noticed Wang Ruyi crying with her hands covering her face.
Qiao Wan refocused her attention, furrowing her brows as she continued to read further.
In the blink of an eye, the scene before her transitioned from a sweet reunion between the couple to a breakup scene.
Yue Yong said, "Ruyi, I don't love you anymore. Let's break up."
Of course, back then, people spoke more formally, but in translation, it roughly meant the same.
Wang Ruyi, being in love, refused to accept it.
"Why do you think I'm with you?" The young man looked at the woman as she cried, her eyes filled with tears, but not a hint of emotion crossed his face. What a heart of iron he had.
"It's because you're Wang Qin's daughter. Otherwise, do you think I would be interested in a fool like you?"
The woman opened her eyes wide, tears still streaming down her flushed cheeks.
She couldn't understand how Yong, who had always been gentle and caring towards her, could treat her like this. She...she had risked everything for him, even going against her powerful father, just to elope with him. And now he was saying that if she wasn't Wang Qin's daughter, he wouldn't have married her, and now that she's severed ties with her family, she's of no use to him.
"What about our elopement...?" Wang Ruyi asked anxiously, "Didn't you promise to elope with me?"
On the faces of the two young men, Yu Xingzhi and Feng Zhao, there was a cold expression as they looked down on her. Their eyes focused on... the small package by her side.
The young man spoke in a disrespectful tone: "I initially planned to climb up the social ladder using your father's power and wealth. But I never expected you to be foolish enough to quarrel with your family directly. Now, I can no longer benefit from your father. It was all in vain. You have wasted so much of my time, so I deserve some compensation."
Wang Ruyi cried even harder, saying, "So... you lied to me, saying you wanted to elope with me, and tricked me into bringing my dowry?"
Wang Qinduo's daughter's dowry was not a small amount.
Ignoring his lover's tears, the young man swiftly and cleanly knocked the woman unconscious with a single palm strike.
After the woman fell softly to the ground, the illusion came to an end. Wang Ruyi didn't know what happened afterwards. Since the owner of the illusion didn't know what happened next, the illusion couldn't continue.
So, the illusion in front of them repeated once again. The woman was now wearing a wedding gown, sitting happily on the bed. Qiao Wan felt a sinking feeling in her heart.
This doesn't seem right.
Wang Ruyi had said that Yue Yong was a useless man with no spiritual power, and he wouldn't be interested in her dowry if he had any power. However, in this illusion, she could feel a faint spiritual power fluctuation from the young man. In addition, the way he knocked out Wang Ruyi, so clean and precise, clearly showed that he was skilled. The spiritual power he possessed was unusually pure and righteous, unlike the actions of a wicked person who could do such despicable things.
Although I feel a little sorry for trapping Wang Ruyi in this recurring nightmare, logic tells Qiao Wan, Wang Ruyi, and her ex-boyfriend Yue Yong that something strange happened during their breakup scene.
With a silent apology in her heart, Qiao Wan patiently continued to read, furrowing her brows.
After going back and forth a few times like this, Qiao Wan almost gasped in surprise.
Finally, she noticed something was amiss.
The young man's cuff faintly revealed the shape of a jade pendant.
"Feng...
Taihua...
Twenty..."
So, Wang Ruyi's ex-boyfriend, the one who betrayed his comrades in Fufeng Valley, is actually Feng Zhao?!
Why would he be with Wang Ruyi, and why would he hide his identity as a cultivator? According to reason, as a cultivator, he wouldn't covet her dowry.
But even after puzzlingly examining it over ten times, Qiao Wan couldn't find any other clues except for this piece of jade.
As Qiao Wan approached the sweetly sitting Wang Ruyi on the bed, who had a silly expression on her face, she gently patted her shoulder.
"Ruyi."
In that instant, the illusion quickly faded away, revealing a woman with shriveled skin, no longer the youthful beauty she once was. Her hollow eyes stared blankly at Qiao Wan, with traces of tears still on her face.
"Ci... Brother Cixian?"
Although Qiao Wan wanted to ask her what had happened between her and Feng Zhao, now was not the right time to speak.
Qiao Wan pursed her lips and took a glance at the ghostly woman in red before making a decision. She took a step forward and hugged her tightly.
It was a firm and warm embrace.
Leaning against the boy's strong chest, Wang Ruyi's tears immediately welled up.
"Waaah... I... I saw him again."
The girl in her twenties loved someone so deeply, without reservation, even willing to defy her family to be with him.
Because she truly believed that Yue Yong was a good person.
He had said that he hated those people in the demon realm, and if he had spiritual power, he would definitely contribute to bringing peace to the world.
Qiao Wan, who wasn't good at comforting people, felt her chest becoming wet. She stiffened and hesitantly conjured a few green zombies that were still hopping around. She put the pea seeds, sunflower seeds, and cucumber seeds into the woman's hand.
"Um, you can play for a while first," Qiao Wan said, biting her lip and hesitating. "Wait for me, I'll come back to see you very soon."
There was something suspicious about a fifth-level monster suddenly appearing in Tingyun Mountain. She couldn't quite figure out what the monster intended by creating such a large illusion, but for now, saving people was the most important thing.
After coming out of this sea of knowledge, Qiao Wan continued on her journey, searching for the traces of the others.
Amidst this strange and dangerous atmosphere, it was quite out of place to see Xiao Boyang, a young master from the Xiao family, diligently and seriously planting sunflowers in the illusionary world where Qiao Wan had left him.
Two suns were plucked and exchanged for a pea.
Xiao Boyang, who was left behind in the courtyard, stared angrily at the crumpled paper in his hand.
Yes, before leaving, Qiao Wan kindly gave him a set of game rules.
While diligently planting peas in the illusionary world, Xiao Boyang felt a sharp pain and nearly vomited blood.
Plants vs. Zombies, what in the world is this?
Knowing Qiao Wan for decades, Xiao Boyang expressionlessly wondered what his dear younger martial sister was thinking.
But with just a momentary lapse in concentration, Xiao Boyang horrifiedly realized that his planted nuts were being devoured by the zombies!
There was no other choice.
Breathing deeply and gritting his teeth, the young master from the Xiao family continued to face the challenges, working hard in the fields and playing the popular pirated game from another world.
But looking at these mindless, stumbling zombies, Xiao Boyang, with a fresh and innocent expression, couldn't help but silently grit his teeth, tightly gripping the stem of the sunflower, the juice flowing through his fingers.
These repulsive zombies looked somewhat familiar, reminding him of a long time ago, when he was maybe only six years old, and it brought forth the fear he least wanted to face, buried deep in his heart.
As everyone knows, young Master Xiao from the Xiao family is afraid of ghosts, with a small amount of courage. He may appear strong and confident on the outside, but in reality, his troublemaking older brother, Xiao Boyu, calls him a paper tiger, strong on the surface but weak underneath, like a coward.
But is his courage really that small?
At least before he was six years old, he wasn't afraid.
In a daze, the scene of plants fighting zombies seemed to change again, turning into an iron cage with an old man who appeared to be over sixty sitting inside.
He actually saw him again...
Xiao Boyang closed his eyes, taking a deep breath in shock.
The young man turned his head in a disheveled manner.
He wanted to speak.
Go away.
Xiao Boyu, the extravagant young master of the Xiao family, who was always fearless and arrogant, suddenly seemed deflated.
But the old man seemed to be oblivious, still smiling at him with squinted eyes, "Young master, have you come to visit this old servant again?"
He sat in the cage, dragging his empty lower legs underneath, smiling kindly, and the blood beneath him had almost soaked the iron cage.
Before he discovered that his father and Xiao Boyu were involved in the illegal business of selling human beings, he wasn't afraid. But then he accidentally discovered that his father and Xiao Boyu had locked up the enslaved people waiting to be sold in their house.
The so-called snake beauty, the ghostly figure hanging in the corridor, these were not things he had imagined, they were things he had actually seen when he was six years old, he really saw them.
He saw a woman with a snake's body and a human head lying on top of his wall, but she wasn't smiling, she was writhing in pain and screaming.
It was obvious from her face that she had once been a beautiful woman.
The snake opened and closed its mouth, making a hissing sound, as if it was saying...
Save me... save... save... me...
Since then, Xiao Boyang, who used to be fearless, rich, and well-dressed, became afraid. He couldn't sleep at night and his pillow was soaked with sweat.
