People are always tempted whenever someone throws out a suggestion. After all, they wouldn’t have gone anywhere if they had simply stayed put in the cave.If they could join Xu Que in the Mystery Land…, under his protection, they needn’t be afraid of anything.

　　“No, we absolutely cannot go!” exclaimed someone. “Have you guys forgotten? The illusion will gradually swallow our memories, before finally magnifying our emotions and desires. Wouldn’t it be worse if we lost our memory and somehow became his enemy?”

　　His words brought the crowd back to their senses. Then, all of them broke into a cold sweat. He was right! In the situation where they became Xu Que’s enemies, they would be better off dead in some illusory realm.

　　That guy is so scary, he could easily toy them to death without batting an eye.

　　“Forget it, it’s better not to go!” said someone.

　　Others were dallying and hesitating.

　　Suddenly, someone shouted, “Look, the picture’s flashing again!”

　　The cultivators looked up at the ceiling all at once, only to see the scene flash till it was white. When the white light disappeared moments later, the scene within the picture had already changed. It showed the illusory realms after a few months had passed. With his gun and hoodwinking techniques, Xu Que had somehow managed to live peacefully in the palace for several months, with Zixia Fairy and the young Princess by his side. The Empress Dowager had almost accepted this. Being around Xu Que these few months had, slowly but surprisingly, changed her views on this shameless young man, to the point that she even developed some friendliness toward him.

　　As he is one incredible young man. In these few short months, he has introduced a lot of new gizmos, such as that magical black mirror that she later learned was the television. Within the black mirror were a lot of little people, and you could watch and listen to what they were doing and saying.

　　There was also a black box called a recorder that could emit many strange and beautiful songs. If you wanted it to, it could also record your singing. As soon as this thing appeared, Zixia Fairy, the young Princess, and the Empress Dowager were fascinated. Whenever they had time, they would record their singing voices and then play it for themselves.

　　Xu Que specially built a soundproof room in the chamber, setting up a karaoke room for the trio to sing to their hearts’ content. Life was so very crazy here, that at one point Xu Que thought that he had returned to earth. If he weren’t restricted in what he could do, he would almost have set up the Internet and built a computer to play games!

　　However, it turns out that you can’t stop bad things from happening. The Empress Dowager was still the Empress Dowager. In these short months, although her views on Xu Que had changed and she had even developed some positive feelings about him, her mind was still with her son and country. She took Xu Que’s gun to the palace blacksmiths and ordered them to study and recreate it. These blacksmiths lived up to their names. With the finished product in front of them, they finally succeeded in developing it after a few months. The only thing missing were the bullets.

　　One day, the Empress Dowager met Xu Que and asked him for the bullets. After all, a few months ago, Xu Que said that he would give her the bullets if he could stay for a few days. Now that several months had passed, she felt that it was about time.

　　“Are you sure that you want the bullets?” Xu Que asked with a smile.

　　The Empress Dowager nodded: “Yes, don’t worry. I will not burn the bridge after crossing it. You can stay in the palace as long as you like!”

　　“Aren’t you afraid that the emergence of this thing will arouse the suspicion of the Lord, and, eventually, the Emperor?” Xu Que asked.

　　The Empress Dowager shook her head and said, “I will assure your safety, even if the plan gets exposed!”

　　“Well, you said it!” Xu Que laughed and threw the bullet to her without much hesitation.

　　Once she got the bullet, she immediately left for the smelters and handed it to the blacksmiths. The main component of bullets is gunpowder. There were fireworks in this country, so gunpowder wasn’t anything new. The blacksmiths entered into a state of frantic research once they had taken apart the bullet.

　　Meanwhile, Xu Que continued to live a comfortable life. However, Xu Que was at his limit. Even though he knew that the decades he spent here were but an instant in the outside world, this sort of life was still too boring for him.

　　…

　　Night fell, and the stars glistened.

　　Xu Que and Zixia Fairy sat in the courtyard, counting the stars.

　　“Miss Azi, how much longer do you reckon that we need to continue to stay here? When can we finally break out of this spell?” Xu Que sighed. So far, he had not found the key to break this illusion.

　　“Huh?” Zixia Fairy suddenly turned around and looked at Xu Que with some confusion, “Spell? What spell?”

　　Xu Que’s heart dropped as soon as he heard this. What will come, will come. The system had protected his memory, but that was it. No one apart from him can use this functionality. Several months in, and Zixia Fairy had gradually lost her memories under the spell’s influence. She had forgotten that she was a cultivator, and all about her past. She only knew herself as the servant girl Qui Xiang and her experiences with Xu Que here.

　　After a moment’s silence, Xu Que exhaled deeply and laughed, “It’s all right. I was just wondering if you would like to leave the palace sometime. Let’s go play!”

　　“Really?” Zixia Fairy got excited at once. Well, you’d get tired of staying in one place for a long time, as long as you’re human. Furthermore, in a place like a palace, no matter how much fun it is, it could never retain people’s hearts.

　　“Of course! I will take you out tomorrow!” Xu Que promised. Zixia Fairy’s memory loss was both good and bad for Xu Que. The good thing was that it was more convenient for him to do things, while the bad thing was that he would now get lonely. In this vast world, he’s afraid that he’d be the only one who knows that all these are just illusions and that they were all fake. Xu Que could not help but sigh as he thought of that.

　　How melancholic!

　　How boring!

　　This illusory realm is so freaking dull!

　　Can’t I have something happen to act tough?

　　My Gatling gun, my tank, my aircraft carrier, are all thirsting for action!

　　I don’t want to live like a salted fish.

　　……

　　Just like the flame that cannot be wrapped in paper, the news of the smelting room ultimately spread. News that the blacksmiths were studying bullets and guns had leaked. Monarch Jin has had a rough time ever since his daughter was kidnapped. Several months had passed, and she was nowhere to be found. As if she had disappeared without a trace.

　　However, he also heard some rumors about the Empress Dowager’s recent bizarre behavior. She often stayed in her chamber and ordered that no one should be allowed to come near. And when she went to her chamber, she would always bring food from the Imperial Kitchen.

　　After nightfall, she would then go to a different chamber to sleep. All kinds of signs showed that there were other people living in the Empress Dowager’s Pure Heart Palace. To confirm his suspicions, he finally sent people to investigate. That was when the smelter was discovered to be developing new weapons and using a large amount of gunpowder.

　　This was reported to the Emperor immediately. Two men personally went to the smelter’s house. Upon witnessing the pile of pistols and bullets, they finally lost their cool. The Lord, in particular, was aggravated. Because, according to Butler’s description, the young page who took away the Princess had used similar weaponry, just bigger in size!

　　Once they returned to the Emperor’s study, both of them fell gravely silent. By then, even the most foolish would have guessed what was up.The Lord finally spoke, “Your Majesty, it’s now very clear that the young page is living in the Empress Dowager’s Palace….”

　　“Silence.” The Emperor glared at him angrily and intensely, which effectively stopped the Lord from continuing. Although the Lord’s heart was full of rage, he dared not flare at the Emperor and bowed deeply.

　　After taking a few breaths, the Emperor said calmly, “Walls have ears. Do not announce this yet, but you can rest assured, I will give you an explanation regarding the matter of the young Princess!”

　　“Thank you, Your Majesty!” The Lord was relieved. The Empress Dowager’s reputation was at stake after all. He was afraid that the Emperor would sacrifice his daughter to preserve the Empress Dowager’s integrity!

　　“Lord, what do you think of that weapon?” asked the Emperor suddenly, shooting a thoughtful look at the Lord.

　　The Lord pondered for a moment before realization dawned on him. Taken aback, he said, “Your Majesty, are you thinking of…”

　　“Yes. Now that the border states are growing stronger, it is getting difficult to suppress them. However, if I could own this thing, my soldiers would be as powerful as tigers with wings fixed on them. They would fight as if the heavens were on their side. I already see my great purpose to unify the whole world coming true in the near future!” The Emperor declared, his eyes filled with ambition and excitement.

　　“Congratulations, Your Majesty!” The Lord could hardly contain his eagerness. He had long realized the extraordinary potential of weaponry.

　　“Before that, I have a mission for you. It would also allow you to kill your enemy with your own two hands!” The Emperor continued, with a slight chill in his eyes. “Since the criminal has got such a powerful weapon, we cannot allow him to use it. Assemble a thousand dare-to-die soldiers and distribute these guns and ammunition to them. By tomorrow evening, you will eliminate the criminal at the Pure Heart Palace. Remember, do not alarm the Empress Dowager about this for the time being!”

　　“At your command. Thank you, Your Majesty!”

　　….