“Xiaotian!”

　　Mo Tiange woke up from her dream, sweating profusely. Second Uncle was sitting by her side, staring at her with concern. He asked, “What’s wrong?”

　　She wiped the sweat on her forehead and shook her head. “I was dreaming.”

　　“Was it a nightmare?” Second Uncle asked while he passed her a handkerchief.

　　Mo Tiange was silent. She couldn’t remember what she was dreaming about. She just remembered it was something very scary.

　　“Alright, if you’re okay, head to the front and watch the shop. Or you can also take a stroll around to the other shops; don’t shut yourself inside.”

　　“En…”

　　She then watched Second Uncle walking out of the room.  He looks like he’s still very healthy.

　　She shook her head with bafflement, confused why she suddenly had this kind of thought. Still feeling giddy, she got up and freshened up.

　　This was a small market square in eastern Kunwu. Here, she and Second Uncle had opened a small shop, but they didn’t make much profit. It was barely enough to support their cultivation.

　　Because she had always worked hard at cultivating, she was already in the sixth layer of the Aura Refining realm. She believed she would soon be able to advance to the next realm. At that time, she would enter a cultivation group, continue to cultivate diligently and keep advancing.

　　Second Uncle was a Foundation Building cultivator, so they had a decent inventory of goods in their small shop. They had also hired two low level cultivators to act as the shop clerks. When she entered the shop, she saw the two clerks were dutifully taking care of customers. She only stayed for a while and left once she saw that business seemed good.

　　The streets were very lively, full of people of unknown origin. Her head ached slightly. She didn’t know why, but it felt like she had forgotten something very important. Nevertheless, no matter how hard she tried to remember it, she couldn’t.

　　She walked aimlessly around the market square for a long time until she unconsciously returned to her small shop.

　　Before she even entered the shop, she already heard the ruckus inside.

　　“Fe-fellow Daoists, our master hasn’t returned yet. This matter really doesn’t have anything to do with us…”

　　“Doesn’t have anything to do with you?” a devilish voice came through. “You guys work for this shop! Speak! Did this illegal product come from your shop?”

　　“N-no… Fellow Daoists, this item doesn’t have the mark of our shop. It shouldn’t be one of our products…”

　　“This is an illegal product! There’s no way it would bear a shop’s mark! No need to quibble anymore! Everyone, confiscate everything!”

　　Soon afterward, she heard the sound of things on the counter being toppled over.

　　When Mo Tiange rushed into the shop, she saw that the cultivators in charge of managing the market square were indiscriminately turning over items, messing up the whole shop, and forcefully grabbing objects from the shop. She couldn’t help but shout: “STOP!”

　　The cultivation level of the leader wasn’t low. He turned around and sneered, “Boy, don’t meddle with my business, move aside!”

　　She retorted furiously, “This is my shop—how could I possibly not meddle!? What’s the meaning of this? We pay management fees every month!”

　　“You guys are selling illegal products, thus disturbing the order of the market square. According to regulations, everything inside the shop has to be confiscated!”

　　Mo Tiange was stunned, but she soon replied with a sneer, “You guys randomly came up with an object and said it was something sold by us. Where’s the proof!?”

　　The leader sneered and answered, “If I say it was, then it was! Take everything away!”

　　“You dare!?” Burning with fury, she raised her hand and summoned her Green-Wood Sword. Nonetheless, this was a group of cultivators who had higher cultivation levels than her. It only took a moment before she was knocked to the floor. She could only watch on helplessly as the shop was emptied.

　　Once they left the shop, she once again heard someone’s voice, “Quick! Quick! Be careful!”

　　Soon after, two people came in, carrying Second Uncle. Second Uncle’s whole body was covered with blood and he looked like he was dying.

　　“Second Uncle! Second Uncle, what happened!?”

　　“Are you his nephew? He was injured by a Lightning Beast—I’m afraid he won’t last long. You have to prepare yourself.”

　　“Second Uncle!”

　　Mo Tiange once again woke up from her dream.

　　Again? Why “again”?  Mo Tiange sat in bed, lost in her own thoughts.

　　“Waking up already?”

　　She looked towards the direction of the voice and saw someone’s back. The person was seated and pressed against the table, seemingly drawing a talisman. He tossed her a glance but was still engrossed in his drawing.

　　“Senior… Martial Brother Qin?”

　　She held her head, sensing that she had forgotten something. As she called his name, a thought flitted across her mind— is that really Senior Martial Brother Qin?

　　But who else could it be except him?

　　As she got down from the bed, she asked, “Senior Martial Brother Qin, we…”

　　“We should go now.”

　　Qin Xi stood up. In a flash, he had already carried her high into the sky. He said, “Junior Martial Brother Ye, your Second Uncle has entrusted you to me.”

　　“I…” Mo Tiange didn’t know what to say. She only sensed there was something wrong with their present situation.

　　After taking her down once they reached Mount Taikang, Qin Xi looked at her and said with a tender smile, “Don’t be scared, I’m here. I’m going to protect you and make sure you’re safe and sound. Cultivate diligently. If you reach the Core Formation realm one day, I can report it to grandmaster and ask him to bless us.”

　　“Bless us?”

　　“Yes, your Second Uncle already agreed to let you perform Dual Cultivation with me. The day you form your Gold Core is the day we honor that promise.”

　　“Impossible…” She was dumbstruck.  Wrong, this is really wrong.

　　Qin Xi spoke in the same loving manner as before, “Don’t tell me that you don’t want to?”

　　Mo Tiange looked away and said with a low voice, “That’s absolutely impossible, Martial… Uncle Qin.”

　　She didn’t have the courage to look at him. All of a sudden, she felt a spiritual aura fluctuation. She moved in a flash, dodging an attack directed towards her. The moment she turned around, she saw Wei Jiasi’s distorted face and wrath-filled gaze.

　　“Senior Martial Sister Wei!” she shouted, “What’re you doing!?”

　　Wei Jiasi seemed to have not heard her at all. She smiled grimly and clasped her hand. A water arrow appeared from her palm and it rushed towards Mo Tiange.

　　While Mo Tiange miserably continued to dodge Wei Jiasi’s attacks, she looked back towards Qin Xi with the hope that he would help her block some of the attacks. However, she saw that Qin Xi was watching the two of them fighting with a smile as if it had nothing to do with him. His smile was completely cold and terrifying.

　　“Senior Martial Sister Wei!” Mo Tiange shouted then hastily tried to take out her magic tool. Unfortunately, she realized her Qiankun Bag was missing! When she turned around a second later, she saw that Wei Jiasi, who also wasn’t holding any magic tools, was viciously rushing over to attack her.

　　“Senior Martial Sister Wei! Are you crazy!?”

　　Wei Jiasi stopped moving, but her gaze became even more frightening. She said, “I knew long ago that I can’t spare you. You can’t snatch martial uncle away—I’ll never allow that!”

　　There was a sudden ice-cold sensation on her chest. She was startled. A distinct idea emerged in her mind.

　　Wrong! This is really wrong! Qin Xi would never say these kinds of things to me. He wouldn’t tease the school’s disciples with evil intentions. Senior Martial Sister Wei also wouldn’t try to kill me just for her own benefit.

　　Fake! All of this is fake! 

　　Her brain was hurting. She couldn’t block Wei Jiasi’s attack in time and she instantly felt pain from her arm. However, the scene in front of her suddenly looked like water ripples; wave after wave became increasingly fierce. Eventually, bit by bit, the scene in front of her shattered.

　　They were still in the vicinity of Yu Clan from Danding School, not Mount Taikang.

　　Right after she woke up from her illusion, Mo Tiange immediately moved away to dodge an attack from Wei Jiasi. Her White Silk Handkerchief was launched, successfully blocking another attack coming her way. The next moment, she took out a Beast-Binding Rope used to catch spiritual beasts from her Qiankun Bag. Without much effort, she bound Wei Jiasi, who had completely lost all reason and was blindly casting spells.

　　Mo Tiange withdrew her White Silk Handkerchief with a relieved sigh. She then looked around, attempting to find that thin piece of jade. It was already lying on the ground, shattered to pieces. What was this thing? It was actually able to make her and Wei Jiasi, who were both in the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm, experience illusions! Furthermore, in every illusion she experienced, she was crushed right at her happiest moment. Was Wei Jiasi perhaps also going through the same thing as her? When they experienced the same illusion, was Wei Jiasi’s mind weak, thus making Wei Jiasi attack her in reality?

　　Mo Tiange suddenly felt scared. If it wasn’t because now she could no longer be possessed by the devil, if it wasn’t because Zhong Muling re-refined her Spirit-Concealing Pendant, then perhaps she would also…

　　“Let me go!” Wei Jiasi said. Mo Tiange didn’t know what Wei Jiasi was currently seeing in her illusion, but Wei Jiasi’s expression looked terrifying and her glare was filled with hate. It was almost as if she wished she could kill Mo Tiange.

　　Mo Tiange walked towards Wei Jiasi, took out a pill from her Qiankun Bag, and threw it into Wei Jiasi’s mouth.

　　“Let me… go…” Wei Jiasi’s eyelids dropped and she lost her consciousness.

　　After some thought, Mo Tiange carefully collected the shattered thin jade and stored it. She then took Wei Jiasi and flew towards Yu Clan.

　　On the road, she met Luo Fengxue and a Foundation Building cultivator from Yu Clan, so the four of them ended up heading back to Yu Clan together.

　　—

　　Han Qingyu walked out of the room after putting Wei Jiasi on the bed. Once the two people waiting in the courtyard saw her, their gazes were fixed on her body.

　　With a smile, Han Qingyu said, “It’s okay, second martial sister is just tired. Let her rest. She’ll be alright when she wakes up.”okay, second martial sister is just tired. Let her rest. She’ll be alright when she wakes up.”

　　Mo Tiange, who finally felt relieved, asked, “Senior Martial Sister Han, what actually happened? Why did I and Senior Martial Sister Wei experience illusions after we looked into that thing?”

　　Shaking her head, Han Qingyu answered, “I also don’t know what this thing is. However, there are too many spiritual objects in this world beyond our imagination. Since this was kept by demonic beasts, perhaps it’s from the southern forest. We’ll never know.”

　　Han Qingyu’s thoughts weren’t unreasonable. In the southern forest, there lived countless demonic beasts. Some of the objects there were known to mankind, but others were known only to the demonic beasts that lived there.

　　“But judging by this thing’s magical power, it’s definitely not an ordinary thing. It’s a pity that it’s broken already. Imagine if it was still intact—maybe it could become some kind of magic weapon. Ay~!” said Luo Fengxue.

　　Han Qingyu knocked Luo Fengxue’s head then said with a smile, “This thing was broken when it functioned; obviously, this could only be used once. As if it could become a magic weapon. Stop dreaming!”

　　After a moment of dazing, Luo Fengxue nodded and said, “Makes sense…”

　　“Alright,” Han Qingyu continued grimly, “Tiange, you said that when you and second martial sister went scouting, you two only saw one wolf and one short-legged wolf, right? There were no other monsters?”

　　Nodding, Mo Tiange answered, “Yes. That short-legged monster was unexpectedly able to use Spirit-Concealing Formation, so we couldn’t sense any spiritual aura fluctuations. After they died, I couldn’t feel the aura of any other monsters. Furthermore, there were wounds on their carcasses. According to my guess, they must’ve been wounded and were abandoned there by their comrades. Short-legged wolves are smart, so maybe it was afraid we would detect only their aura in the area, making it deliberately behave like this…”

　　“That’s reasonable,” said Han Qingyu. She had seen the carcasses of the two demonic beasts Mo Tiange brought back. Her deduction was the same as Mo Tiange’s. However, now she felt that there was something wrong. She said, “But, why did the other demonic beasts retreat? We were about to evacuate, so this couldn’t have been the result of strategic planning on their part. Even if it was the innately intelligent short-legged wolf, it also couldn’t have come up with such a plan.”

　　“Senior Martial Sister Han means…”

　　Han Qingyu smiled, and her gaze deepened. She said, “I’m afraid there’s a high rank demonic beast making commands behind the scenes.”

　　After she spoke, Mo Tiange and Luo Fengxue glanced at each other. Their faces gradually became pale because all of them had considered the same possibility!

　　Low rank demonic beasts were sent to harass the cultivation clans in the vicinity, causing Danding School to dispatch their cultivators, then counterattacks would be carried out…