The closer they got to Tianbo Village, the fewer lights there were. When they reached the village entrance, it was completely dark. The lush trees not far away now seemed like terrifying ghosts, clawing and writhing menacingly.
Suddenly, a crow's caw echoed, making Yi Zhici and Wei Xing jump.
Wei Xing trembled and said, "My Lady, there aren't really ghosts here, are there..."
"Shut up," Yi Zhici interrupted him, also trembling. "I've been trying to change the subject precisely because I didn't want you to talk about this. It's so scary when you say it..."
Yi Zhici started chanting, "The Master did not talk about prodigies, force, disorders, and spiritual beings. The Master did not..."
Lin Yuan couldn't help but smile. "Don't be afraid."
Yi Zhici stammered, trying to appear calm. "I, I, I'm not afraid..."
A gust of wind blew, scattering the fallen leaves on the ground. The once - dark forest was suddenly illuminated. A fair - skinned young woman appeared out of thin air. "Who are you looking for?" Her voice was clear and extremely pleasant.
Yi Zhici took a step back, trying to find Lin Yuan. But when she took another step back, she hit a wall!
When they came here just now, there was clearly a path. Although it wasn't wide, at least... at least there hadn't been a thick wall!
There was no one beside her; she was alone. The young woman had only asked who she was, not who they were. This meant that when the young woman appeared, for some unknown reason, Yi Zhici had been separated from the others.
Where had they gone? Were they all separated?
At this point, Yi Zhici wasn't afraid anymore. If there really were supernatural things in this world, no matter how high her martial arts skills were or how fast she could run, it would be useless. It was better to calm down; maybe there was still a way to get out.
"Are you Senior Xiaoyuer?"
The young woman smiled. Her laughter was as clear as the tinkling of wind chimes. "Yes, I don't have a name. He always called me Xiaoyuer. When he said it, it was the most beautiful sound in the world."
Yi Zhici sighed inwardly. She didn't know how painful it was to lose the one you loved the most, but she seemed to feel it deeply. A sense of compassion welled up in her heart.
As Xiaoyuer laughed, tears welled up in her eyes. "See? Your lover, he's about to die."
In the distance, in the once - dark forest, a beam of fire suddenly lit up. In the center of the fire was Lin Yuan, covered in blood. The fire soared into the sky, and his face was deathly pale.
No one knew what kind of monsters were in the forest. When the fire lit up, they all crawled out of the darkness. Those monsters were pitch - black, in a complete mess. They had no eyes, only a big mouth drooling, which was disgusting.
Yi Zhici shouted, "What do you want to do?!"
Xiaoyuer hooked Yi Zhici's chin with her finger, looking extremely charming. "Let you watch with your own eyes how your lover goes to hell."
Yi Zhici frowned and took a step back. "I'm very sympathetic to your experience, but that's not an excuse for you to hurt innocent people!"
"Oh? You're getting impatient first. Aren't you afraid of death?"
Yi Zhici roared angrily, "What's more terrifying than death is watching someone like you do evil and harm innocent people!"
Xiaoyuer seemed even happier. Her clear, bell - like laughter made the monsters more excited. They waved their muddy arms and pounced on Lin Yuan.
"Today, only one of you two can leave here unharmed. Either he gets eaten by these monsters while you watch, or you go and 'comfort' my brothers while he watches. How about it?"
Yi Zhici looked at Xiaoyuer's so - called brothers. They were a group of pale - faced farmers with listless eyes and drooping eyelids. Obviously, they were already dead and then made into puppets.
Yi Zhici had read in the books of the Blue Sea Villa about the horrifying thing of making people into puppets. Once a puppet was made, it was no different from a living person, except that it had no consciousness of its own and only obeyed its master.
Yi Zhici's voice was trembling, but not out of fear. "Life is so worthless in your eyes. Why do you bother putting on this show? Wouldn't it be better to just kill us directly!"
Xiaoyuer was a bit surprised. Her smile faded, and she looked a bit annoyed. "Choose quickly. I don't have that much patience to wait for you."
"How can I trust you?"
Actually, she was a bit scared of this choice and couldn't make it.
She was not even sixteen years old yet. She hadn't seen all the beautiful landscapes, tasted all the delicious food from north and south, visited all the famous scenic spots, or witnessed all the prosperity of the world.
There were so many delicious and fun things waiting for her. How could she be willing to die? There were her father, mother, and Senior Sister Haitang waiting for her to go home. How could she be willing to die? There were so many years of her life yet to be lived. How could she be willing to die?
She was not willing.
But... Lin Yuan's life was hanging by a thread.
She couldn't, didn't want to, and definitely wouldn't watch Lin Yuan die.
Lin Yuan, who had always protected her and saved her from danger, was now covered in blood. She didn't know if he could still survive.
She couldn't do it. She couldn't just watch Lin Yuan die.
No, this was no longer about whether she liked him or not, whether her heart fluttered for him or not. Even if it was just an ordinary person waiting to die there, Yi Zhici wouldn't stand by and do nothing. It was just in her nature.
This choice was like a slow and painful torture.
Yi Zhici finally lowered her head in resignation. Her voice was as faint as a gossamer, and she seemed to have been completely drained. "Let him go. I'll stay."
Xiaoyuer laughed even more cruelly. "No, your lover won't die, but he has to watch you have fun with my brothers."
Yi Zhici's face turned deathly pale.
Seeing Yi Zhici like this, Xiaoyuer walked closer to her. There was even a hint of tenderness in her eyes. "Among the people who came with you today, I only chose you. Do you know why?"
Yi Zhici didn't say a word. She looked behind Xiaoyuer. When she saw that the monsters were no longer struggling to get closer to Lin Yuan, she let out a sigh of relief in her heart.
Xiaoyuer didn't seem to need Yi Zhici's answer. She continued on her own, "Only you have a lover. You kept looking back at each other on the way. Do you think I didn't see? It was just like us back then."
"A Sang was just like that too."
Yi Zhici understood. Xiaoyuer had been repeating that it was just like back then, and this choice was actually just a repetition of what had happened to her back then, when Xiaoyuer went to the army to seek an explanation.
But no one knew what had happened to make Xiaoyuer so full of resentment.
Yi Zhici sneered. "You're in pain, so you want to inflict even more pain on others? You're afraid others won't be in enough pain, so you add more weight to make them suffer. But when you see the pain of the past happen again, won't your heart hurt even more? Or is this just a prank for you, and the pain of the past was just a joke? Can you just watch it happen again?"
Sure enough, Xiaoyuer's face gradually contorted. "Yes! That's exactly it! He let those people... those people do that to me in front of him just to survive himself - "
She paused for a moment, as if the memory was too painful, and then stopped speaking. "So, I want all of you to suffer. Guess what your lover will choose? Will he choose your death or his own survival?"
Almost instantly, Yi Zhici let out a sigh of relief. Since Xiaoyuer said so, it should be that each person had their own illusion. So the Lin Yuan in front of her was not the real one.
Suddenly, a blaze of fire shot up into the sky. This fire was very different from the previous one. It was arrogant, and there was even a faint black - red phoenix soaring in it. The flames swept through the forest, leaving not a single blade of grass.
Yi Zhici was a bit confused. The ancient divine beast, the phoenix... what was this all about?
Xiaoyuer's face changed drastically. She stepped back repeatedly. The phoenix flew straight towards where Yi Zhici was, bringing with it scorching flames and an imposing aura.
Yi Zhici couldn't dodge in time and instinctively closed her eyes.
The expected melting didn't happen. She was protected by the phoenix. In a moment, the phoenix flapped its wings and lifted Yi Zhici onto its back.
Xiaoyuer's howls of pain came.
Then there was a gentle whistling of the wind.