Chapter 83: Strange

Night.

In the dark village, Qin Mu remained on guard at every moment, fearing a shameless sneak attack from the ghosts around him.

Following the path in his memory, Qin Mu arrived at the Village Chief’s House.

Strangely, while the surrounding houses had become dilapidated, the Village Chief’s House still looked the same as it did during the day.

Moreover, Qin Mu had clearly walked into the Mist within the Village Chief’s House, but now there was no Mist around.

How bizarre.

Qin Mu couldn’t make sense of it no matter how hard he thought.

He pushed open the door.

The scene was the same as during the day.

Boom!

Qin Mu raised his hand, a Fireball appearing to serve as light.

He walked into the house, scanning his surroundings.

It felt even darker at night.

Though moonlight spilled inside, the further in he went, the weaker the light became, until darkness consumed everything.

“Gulp.”

Cold sweat beaded on Qin Mu’s forehead, but he pressed on.

After only a few steps, Qin Mu saw that a door had appeared where there had been only a wall during the day.

Creak—

Suddenly, the door opened.

A surge of mist rolled out.

Crap!

Qin Mu immediately tried to run, but the mist moved too quickly—within moments, his vision was swallowed by it.

His heart sank.

He thought he’d fallen into the Mist again.

But, to his surprise, the Mist dissipated after a dozen seconds.

Yet the scenery before his eyes had changed once more.

The Moon hung high in the night sky.

By its light, Qin Mu saw a vast Forest stretching before him.

Dense trees cast shifting shadows across the ground.

Qin Mu quickly turned around.

Behind him was only a narrow path—he had arrived at a strange place.

Looking up, it seemed to be a Mountain.

A chill rode the night wind, making his skin crawl.

There was no choice now.

Qin Mu braced himself and continued forward.

His steps followed the small path, tall trees rising on either side.

Fortunately, the branches weren’t overly dense, so moonlight could still filter through to the path.

The silence was unsettling.

There was no sound of insects or birds, only the echo of Qin Mu’s footsteps—each one sounding especially loud in this atmosphere.

“This place is too quiet.

It feels like there isn’t a single living thing in the woods.”

Qin Mu whipped around suddenly.

In this environment, he kept feeling as if someone was following him.

Seeing no one behind him, Qin Mu frowned and, just in case, took out a Talisman and stuck it to his back.

Everything was deathly silent.

As Qin Mu walked on, cold sweat formed on his forehead, both from anxiety and a rising sense of unease.

He didn’t know how far he’d walked.

At the end of the path, a ruined Ancient Temple appeared.

The roof had several gaping holes, the window was nothing but a frame, and through the holes in the roof, moonlight illuminated the interior, where objects lay toppled and crooked.

From the looks of it, it had been abandoned for some time.

Qin Mu entered.

Looking up, he saw a half-broken Tablet with the character “Offering” on it.

A dilapidated Ancient Temple in the wilderness—this scene was steeped in a ghostly atmosphere.

Circling the ruined temple, he found no other roads.

On the contrary, the Forest behind the temple grew even denser, wild grass and tangled branches so thick even moonlight couldn’t penetrate.

The darkness within was as if it could swallow people whole, making his hair stand on end.

In the end, Qin Mu returned to the temple entrance.

After hesitating, he stepped inside.

The interior was in shambles, as if it had been ransacked.

The first thing he saw was a small front yard, with two large vats—one with a hole, the other intact.

Because no one had tended it for a long time, weeds filled the yard; only the stone path remained clear.

Across from Qin Mu stood a house.

It looked better than the temple’s entrance—at least the roof had no holes.

The door was intact, though one side was half-open, revealing darkness within.

Qin Mu approached the undamaged vat.

A lid covered it.

He opened it.

Inside was water.

Strangely, after all this time, the water was clear, not green.

Odd.

Everything here was odd.

Qin Mu’s eyes were filled with caution.

In such a bizarre place, one could never be too careful.

Tap tap—

Footsteps sounded.

Someone was coming!

Qin Mu’s nerves tensed.

He was about to hide.

“Junior Brother!”

A clear voice rang out, tinged with surprise.

Qin Mu turned toward the sound.

A girl in white appeared in his vision, delicate features beautiful and figure tall and graceful.

Upon seeing Qin Mu, Liu Zixi hurried to his side.

“I can’t believe I’d meet you here, Junior Brother.”

After stepping out of the Mist with the Ancient Mirror, Liu Zixi had seen the path ahead and followed it.

Qin Mu also couldn’t believe he’d meet Liu Zixi here.

“Zixi Senior Sister, how did you get here?”

Liu Zixi gestured, and a mirror flew out from her Storage Pouch.

“Here.

This is a Fabao my father gave me before I came.

I used it to escape the Mist.”

Liu Zixi was equally puzzled as to why Qin Mu was here.

“And you, Junior Brother?”

“Me, uh.”

Qin Mu scratched his head.

“It’s a little complicated.”

Organizing his thoughts, Qin Mu told Liu Zixi everything in detail.

Upon hearing it, Liu Zixi’s face grew thoughtful.

“Based on what you said, Junior Brother, it seems the Village Chief’s House is a path to this place. But there might be another possibility.”

“Another possibility?”

“Yes. If I’m not mistaken, we might be inside an Illusion Realm.”

Liu Zixi had formed this theory after her journey here and listening to Junior Brother’s account.

“How can you be sure, Zixi Senior Sister?”

If what Zixi Senior Sister said was true, then things would get troublesome.

Qin Mu had some understanding of Illusion Realms.

Depending on the caster’s power, the environment created could vary.

To create an Illusion Realm this vast, the caster would need at least Nascent Soul Realm strength, or even greater.

If that was true, running away would be wise.

With his Qi Refining Stage cultivation, he’d be crushed.

Liu Zixi was seventy percent confident in her guess.

“Junior Brother, do you remember the Mist we encountered when we came in?”

“Of course.”

“If my guess is correct, the Mist is a medium that dragged us into this Illusion Realm. The village you saw should be a scene within the Illusion Realm. As for the Village Chief’s House, I’d bet it’s a node of the Formation—a gateway leading here to this temple.”

Liu Zixi looked around.

“Whether I used the Ancient Mirror to exit the Mist or you came from the Village Chief’s House, it shows the caster wanted us to gather here.”

As he listened to Zixi Senior Sister’s analysis, cold sweat ran down Qin Mu’s back.

The feeling of being toyed with by unseen hands was terrifying.