Chapter 313: The Giant Eye

“Qin Xuange?! Ao Yao?!”

Jiang Huai shouted loudly, his voice especially abrupt in this bizarre world.

No response.

Only the sound of sobbing ghosts, coming from all directions, a sound like wind passing through dry bones, like the final sigh of the dead, echoing across this wilderness, lingering for a long time.

Jiang Huai looked around, completely lost.

He finally understood why those who went deeper never came back out.

It was probably related to this illusion realm.

Those who disappeared likely didn’t die from powerful enemies but from the hands of this illusion.

He carefully observed everything around him, not daring to relax at all.

His Xuan robe fluttered loudly in the wind, the hem flipping.

In his left hand he held a sword, the blade gleaming with cold light; in his right hand, he held the Essence Blood of the Yin-Yang Body, that drop of blood floating in his palm, ready to summon Senior Ji Yi at any moment, ready to deal with any sudden situation.

“Qin Xuange?”

He called softly, his voice very low.

“Ao Yao? Cang Ling?”

No echo, no sound.

It was as if the sound was absorbed by something, not even the most basic echo.

He activated his Small World.

Bright Yang Qi surged into his eyes, black and white slowly swirling in his pupils.

He wanted to see the surroundings clearly, to see through this strange mist, but found no difference.

It was as if he hadn’t fallen into an illusion at all; he couldn’t see any hint of hallucination. It was the same as reality.

‘This illusion is so real? Even for a Great Ascension stage illusion, these Yin-Yang Eyes of mine should be able to see some clues,’ Jiang Huai thought to himself.

‘Unexpectedly, here it’s like being in real space.’

Moreover, he always felt someone was watching him.

That gaze came from all directions, carrying scrutiny, amusement, and an indescribable malice.

But he couldn’t tell who it was. Could it be the Extraterrestrial Demons from the Celestial Vastness? But he didn’t think so.

He stood still, not daring to move.

He could only wait quietly, listen, and feel that omnipresent gaze.

Suddenly, a faint sound came from behind.

The sound was very light, like something struggling, tearing something.

Jiang Huai immediately drew his sword!

A flash of sword light, the tip already pointing toward the direction of the sound.

He shouted sternly:

“Who?!”

Then a ripple of cyan light appeared.

In the void, a crack emerged out of nowhere.

The edges of the crack shimmered with cyan light, pure and dazzling, starkly contrasting with the bizarre purple of this world.

The crack grew larger and wider, and a small figure squeezed out.

She struggled quite a bit, hands supporting the edge of the crack, little legs kicking wildly, finally managing to climb out.

In her hand, she wielded a short sword, entirely cyan, the blade flowing with dazzling light—it was that cyan light that was opening the crack for her.

Cyan light blossomed, illuminating the space for several zhang around.

Then, a little girl stood before Jiang Huai.

Ao Yao.

She panted heavily, her small chest heaving violently.

Her clothes were somewhat disheveled, the light cyan short skirt wrinkled, the hem stained with unknown dust, her belt half-loosened, revealing the white undergarment inside.

Her hair was messy, a few strands stuck to her forehead. Clearly, she had just gone through a struggle.

“You? Jiang Huai?”

She widened her eyes, looking at Jiang Huai, those green dragon eyes full of surprise and relief.

“It’s you, Ao Yao?”

Jiang Huai asked uncertainly.

He channeled Yin-Yang Qi into his eyes, black and white swirling in his pupils, carefully examining the girl before him—bloodline, aura, spiritual power fluctuation—everything normal, no anomaly.

“Oh my…”

Ao Yao panted heavily, little hand patting her chest: “Finally out! Nearly scared me to death!”

As she spoke, she was about to walk toward Jiang Huai.

Jiang Huai walked closer step by step.

His expression was calm, but his eyes were fixed on her, still holding his sword in a ready stance, as if at the first sign of anything unusual, he would swing the sword at her head.

Ao Yao’s face flushed.

She quickly put away the short sword in her hand, covering it tightly, the movement swift, as if afraid someone would snatch such a treasure.

She even took half a step back, watching Jiang Huai warily.

“What exactly is going on?” Jiang Huai asked curiously. “How come I couldn’t find them? How did you get out?”

“I…”

Ao Yao analyzed, a rare seriousness appearing on her small face:

“Everyone entered a very strange space. It should be because you have the Yin-Yang Body that you didn’t go in.”

Jiang Huai nodded.

He looked at the surroundings—still that bizarre wilderness, purple sky, cracked ground, flowing dark magma.

His environment hadn’t changed.

“Then how did you get out?” he asked.

“Heh heh.”

Ao Yao snickered at Jiang Huai, proudly saying, those big green eyes sparkling with smugness:

“I bet you can’t guess the reason.”

Jiang Huai immediately replied: “Because of your short sword.”

Ao Yao’s face instantly fell.

She muttered something under her breath, pouted, turned around, then turned back, saying:

“No fun.”

“Let me tell you about the situation in my space. Very scary for a dragon.”

“How scary?” Jiang Huai asked.

“I didn’t win a single bet!” Ao Yao’s eyes widened. “Isn’t that scary?”

The corner of Jiang Huai’s mouth twitched.

So it was because she hadn’t won a single bet in the secret realm that she got suspicious?

“At that time, I felt something was wrong,” Ao Yao said, hands on her hips, explaining to Jiang Huai, her small face full of seriousness. “Although I’m not a gambling saint, at least I win nine out of ten bets! How could I lose every match?”

“So?”

“So I pulled out the short sword and directly cut open the space to get out.”

Jiang Huai couldn’t hold it in at that moment.

He looked curiously at the short sword, now tightly guarded behind Ao Yao, only half of the cyan scabbard visible.

From the moment he saw this short sword, his gaze had been drawn to it.

The dragon marks on the scabbard were lifelike, faintly exuding pressure, clearly an extraordinary item.

“That short sword of yours…” he asked tentatively, “can I take a look?”

Ao Yao immediately reacted like a cat whose tail was stepped on!

She shrank back, her small figure quickly retreating a few steps, her cute face baring teeth, like a little green dragon hissing:

“This short sword is pretty much my life! If you dare touch it, I’ll chop you up!”

She waved her little fist, green dragon eyes full of vigilance.

Jiang Huai awkwardly withdrew his hand:

“I have quite a few immortal artifacts on me too. Just curious.”

Heaven knows, seeing her defensive posture like a hissing dragon, he really didn’t know what this short sword meant.

“But Jiang Huai.”

Ao Yao suddenly turned serious, her cute face full of gravity.

“We need to go find Qin Xuange and the others.”

“What do you mean?” Jiang Huai asked.

“I can cut through space, which means this isn’t an illusion.” Ao Yao’s gaze sharpened, those green dragon eyes staring straight at Jiang Huai. “Do you understand?”

Jiang Huai’s pupils suddenly contracted.

Not an illusion.

That meant Qin Xuange and the others had fallen into another spatial secret realm.

If that was the case, the strength of the Extraterrestrial Demons there was hard to say.

They might be facing enemies far more dangerous than here.

“Let’s go.” He didn’t hesitate. “Which way?”

Ao Yao looked into the distance.

In the sky, it seemed a giant eye was slowly opening.

That eye was enormous, almost occupying half the horizon.

It was entirely purple, the pupil a deeper dark purple, the whites covered with bloodshot veins.

No, those weren’t veins; they were countless cracks spreading across the sky, like a huge net.

It opened slowly, turned slowly, slowly… looking in their direction.