Chapter 178
Chapter 178
“Mogu…”
“Why does this Illusionary Realm inside the mirror look exactly like the world outside?”
“Except… one is in daylight, and the other is at night.”
After following Xia Ximo into the mirror, Wuyou quickly discovered that the world within was simply another Mount Yunhe.
The nearby buildings, distant forests, and silhouettes of the peaks were all unchanged.
The only difference was that it remained night outside the mirror, while dawn had already broken within it.
Xia Ximo narrowed her eyes and carefully surveyed their surroundings.
Not a single figure could be seen. It was quiet enough to hear the lingering sigh of the wind and the crisp calls of birds.
There was none of winter’s desolation. Beside them, a peach tree was even blooming in full splendor.
“Let us go. We will search around.”
After giving the instruction, Xia Ximo and Wuyou began looking for traces of the ghost inside the mirror.
But even after walking a long way and searching several courtyards, they found no sign of any ghost.
At last, Wuyou pointed toward the tallest building nearby.
“That seems to be the only place we haven’t searched. I heard that Daoist Yan say it was his master’s Daoist chamber.”
“We will go up.”
Without another word, Xia Ximo climbed the long flight of steps.
Upon reaching the peak, she indeed found a Daoist chamber.
Through the room, she could vaguely make out a figure bustling over some task.
It was a woman.
A Daoist chamber was meant to be a place of solitary cultivation. The presence of a woman there was undeniably strange.
As Xia Ximo and Wuyou drew closer, the woman inside seemed to notice them and froze.
Then she hastily shut the window and hurried over to close the door.
Clearly… she meant to keep them out.
Xia Ximo simply braced a hand against the door and looked the woman up and down with her dark eyes.
“Why the hurry? Am I that unwelcome?”
The woman inexplicably shuddered. She looked at Xia Ximo, then at Wuyou by her shoulder, and timidly asked, “Who… are you?”
“Like you, I am not human.”
“…”
Xia Ximo applied gentle pressure and forced the door open another inch, her manner unyielding.
Realizing she could not stop them, the woman threw the door open and said coldly, “This… is not a place you should have come.”
At that, Wuyou’s eyes shifted with thought. “So you know where you are?”
“I…”
The woman hesitated, then suddenly bit her lower lip, her expression turning colder still. “That has nothing to do with you!”
Wuyou grew displeased. “And here I was taking up your cause. It turns out you accepted all this willingly?”
Wuyou sounded puzzled again. “But you are clearly a wrongfully deceased soul. Why would you willingly remain trapped here?”
At the words “wrongfully deceased soul,” the woman’s face changed drastically.
Bewilderment flashed through her eyes. Trembling faintly, she involuntarily retreated several steps and murmured, “I… died wrongfully?”
Even she clearly doubted it.
Wuyou immediately understood and whispered to Xia Ximo, “She must have forgotten.”
There were only two reasons a ghost might forget the memory of its death.
The first was a willful refusal to remember, like Huang Yuqiong, the proprietress of Qiongying Inn.
The second was outside interference, like Ruyan at Hongxiu Pavilion, whose memories had been affected by the Baleful Qi within a Soul-Nurturing Pearl.
This woman still carried the unmistakable aura of a wrongfully deceased soul, so the first possibility could be ruled out.
Xia Ximo pushed the door fully open, looked around, and asked her, “What is the name of the Daoist who lives in this chamber?”
“And what is your relationship with him?”
“Since you know you have become a ghost, why are you willing to remain trapped inside this mirror?”
The three questions left the woman before her stunned once more.
Her lips moved faintly, as though she had no idea how to answer.
Just then, a voice came from outside the door. “Taoxi, I’m back. Come and see what I brought you.”
At the sound, the woman named Taoxi shuddered violently and immediately ran outside.
Xia Ximo looked out as well, only to see a young Daoist.
Dressed in Daoist robes, he was quite handsome. He held a peach blossom branch and wore a radiant smile.
Taoxi ran to him and timidly clutched his sleeve. “Qingyan, someone came in…”
As she spoke, she pointed into the room.
The Daoist named Qingyan frowned and glanced into the chamber, but said, “Do not frighten yourself. There is only you and me here. No one will ever come in and disturb us.”
He laughed brightly, took Taoxi’s hand, and led her inside.
He looked straight through Xia Ximo and Wuyou as though they were not there.
Wuyou could not help wondering aloud, “He cannot see us?”
Taoxi grew even more terrified. Gripping Qingyan’s hand more tightly, she asked in a trembling voice, “Qingyan, can’t you see them?”
Qingyan continued coaxing her with a smile. “There truly is no one there. I told you, there is only you and me here. There will only ever be you and me…”
He wrapped an arm around her waist, his face full of tender indulgence. “Do not worry. I promised you that no one would ever separate us.”
His gentle words seemed to leave Taoxi dazed.
When she remained silent, Qingyan first placed the peach blossom branch in a jade vase. Just as he was about to continue, Wuyou floated before him and blew hard in his face.
The Daoist named Qingyan transformed into a Black Talisman, which fluttered to the floor.
Taoxi’s eyes widened at the sight, disbelief covering her face.
“Qingyan…”
She threw herself toward the Black Talisman and lifted it in trembling hands, seemingly unwilling to accept the truth.
Wuyou gave a cold snort and exposed the heart of the matter with a single remark.
“You willingly remained trapped here for the sake of this talisman?”
“Do you realize you were deceived?”
At those words, Taoxi furiously tore the Black Talisman apart, and Baleful Qi began surging unceasingly around her.
Then every scene around them dissolved into nothingness.
“Why?!”
Taoxi clutched her head in anguish. The next instant, two trails of bloody tears spilled from her eyes.
Seeing that she had transformed into a vicious ghost, Wuyou hastily hid behind Xia Ximo in fright. “It looks like she has remembered everything!”
Xia Ximo stepped forward twice and asked, “Now that you remember, can you answer my three questions?”
Taoxi raised her eyes. Hatred raged in her blood-red pupils.
Through gritted teeth, she answered, “The man who deceived me was Bai Qingyan, the second disciple of Sect Leader Wangji of Mount Yunhe…”
Wuyou was puzzled. “Isn’t the current sect leader of Mount Yunhe called Master Tianji?”
Xia Ximo replied calmly, “She was sealed inside the mirror for too long and knows nothing of how the world has changed.”
“Wangji must have been the previous sect leader, while this so-called second disciple, Bai Qingyan, is the current one.”
“Ah!”
Wuyou immediately cried out, “Then this is terrible! That means the current sect leader must be rotten. The Young Marquis and the others…”
At those words, Xia Ximo frowned slightly as well.
She glanced at Taoxi and said coldly, “Your resentment will keep you from entering reincarnation. It is time you went outside and found the man you hate.”