The wind whistled past his ears, and Qinghe opened his eyes in a white blur.

Shouts and car horns filled her mind, and tall buildings and bustling traffic filled her vision.

Qinghe stood in the middle of the road, stunned for a few seconds. She looked down at her feet, then around at herself, feeling a sense of unreality.

She reached out her hand, trying to gather spiritual power, but found that her spiritual power had disappeared.

"Could it be that I'm back?" she murmured.

Many people came and went around me, and everyone had a smile on their face. And it wasn't a fake smile, but a genuine smile from the heart. It seemed that everyone was really happy.

Qinghe stared at them for a long time. This scene seemed to defy common sense, and she couldn't help but wonder: What's so happy about this?

Suddenly bumped into, Qinghe steadied himself and looked up to see a teenage boy holding a skateboard. Realizing he had bumped into someone, the boy turned around and said to Qinghe, "Sorry, I bumped into you."

Qinghe didn't respond, but just stared into his eyes.

The little boy seemed to be waiting for her to say it was okay, so he stood there without moving, but the smile on his face never disappeared.

Qinghe remained silent.

After waiting a few seconds without any response, the other person urged her, "You should tell me it's okay, hurry up and say it!"

Qinghe replied, "Why did you say it's okay?"

"You said it's okay so I can leave!" The little boy was a little anxious, and even his tone changed, but his smile only grew stronger.

Seeing the other person start stamping their feet in frustration, Qinghe finally spoke up, "It's alright."

Upon hearing those three words, the little boy seemed relieved and, without pausing for a second, skateboarded away without looking back.

Qinghe looked up at the sky; the sunlight was bright and warm against her skin. After a moment, she raised a hand to shield her eyes, a slight smile playing on her lips.

When she saw the little boy's eyes, she understood that she had not returned; this was just an illusion.

No one's face would show such a strange expression. They always greet people with a smile, but their eyes are devoid of any joy, dull and lifeless, like a puppet being manipulated, oblivious and unaware.

The problem has been identified, but a solution remains elusive.

Qinghe sat on a bench by the street and began to contemplate life.

There was no illusion in the book, and I don't know if it's because she's a minor character, so none of the dungeons related to her were mentioned. But now that things have happened, without any cheat codes, we can only save ourselves.

Based on her previous experience reading online novels, she discovered that when the protagonist accidentally enters an illusion, the illusion collapses whenever he harms himself or others, and then breaks down on its own.

Qinghe stared at her wrist, hesitating whether to try stabbing herself, when suddenly the sound of a car horn in the distance brought her back to her senses.

She immediately dismissed the idea, pouting and saying, "I'd rather not, I'm afraid of the pain."

He sat there for a long time, watching the lively scene before him change constantly, until the sun was about to set, when Qinghe finally stood up.

She didn't know what city this was, nor had she ever seen such tall buildings. Even in the real world, she hadn't been to many places. Her only impressions were of a square courtyard and dilapidated streets.

In her eyes, prosperity was nothing special; it was just a small world, only varying in content.

The sun had completely disappeared, and Qinghe felt a cool night breeze blowing; it was getting dark.

*

After leaving Lingxiao Palace, Mo Junqian went straight to Luhua Terrace. He wanted to see Qinghe immediately and tell her as soon as possible that Qi Changfeng had accepted him as a disciple. From now on, he could live in Qingyun Sect and see her every day.

Before his transformation into a villain, the male protagonist was still very innocent. Although he tried to restrain himself, the bright light in his eyes was impossible to hide.

But he was destined to be disappointed tonight.

Luhua Terrace was very quiet. There was no familiar warm light in the cabin, and the swing under the maple tree creaked in the wind.

She's not here.

Mo Junqian searched around Luhua Terrace but couldn't find it. He then searched the sect for half an hour but still couldn't find it. The expression on his face gradually changed from hope to disappointment.

After wandering around, they returned to Luhua Terrace. Mo Junqian sat on the large stone slab, the bright moonlight shining on his face. He raised his hand to shield his eyes.

"Senior sister, where did you go?"

The night wind carried away his murmurs, but unfortunately she didn't hear them.

*

"Grand opening! Grand opening! 50% off! Welcome to our store!"

"**Milk tea discount, buy one get one half price! Lots of deals!"

"Xinjiang-style big meat skewers! Five yuan a skewer, or three skewers for ten yuan..."

Qinghe strolled along the food street, munching on an ice cream. She sincerely thanked the person who created the illusion. Although the person wasn't very good at it, there was a lot of food, and it was delicious, making this foodie unable to stop eating.

She counted on her fingers; she had already spent three days here. She didn't know how much time had passed in reality, but she wasn't in a hurry. After all, her role wasn't over yet, and God wouldn't let her be trapped here forever. Finding an exit was only a matter of time.

Passing through the food street, you'll find yourself in an amusement park where you can hear children cheering if you get close.

The roller coaster, carousel, and pirate ship were all full of children, but Qinghe noticed the spinning swing chairs not far away.

Compared to other attractions packed with children, this spinning swing ride was a complete flop. Of the twenty-odd seats, only a handful of people were sitting on it, their faces blank and their expressions vacant, making it seem out of place in this otherwise cheerful amusement park.

Just as he was about to go forward to investigate, the large clock on the tall building behind him suddenly rang out with a loud "clang." The sound was piercing. Qinghe subconsciously turned his head to look, and just as he turned his head, a piercing scream suddenly came from the direction of the spinning flying chair!

The child's small body streaked across the sky, propelled by inertia with tremendous force and speed. Even from a distance, Qinghe could still see the fear and helplessness on the child's face.

His body crashed heavily onto the asphalt road, his bones shattered and twisted, bending into a position that most people could not achieve.

Qinghe clenched her fist and withdrew the hand that had been trying to catch the child.

What should have been an extremely dangerous scene was completely unnoticed by the passersby, who continued to walk happily down the street as if it were commonplace.

Qinghe approached the child's corpse, squatted down to examine it closely, and the moment his fingertips touched the body, they instantly turned into golden specks of light and floated into the sky.

The light continued upwards until it floated above the spinning flying chairs, where it slowly disappeared completely.

Qinghe's eyes narrowed slightly, and the corners of his lips curled up as he said, "We've found the exit."

After a great deal of effort, they climbed to the very top of the rotating flying chair, which was twenty or thirty meters high. Standing on it, Qinghe felt as if he could reach out and touch the sky.

Only when you get closer do you realize that the golden dots of light have not disappeared, but have all adhered to a thin white line that runs through the clouds and leads to the rotating flying chair below.

Qinghe turned his head and looked around at the other amusement rides, and found that there was a white line above them, but they were too far away to see clearly.

This bizarre operation reminded Qinghe of the marionettes performed by acrobats, where a few white strings can easily control a puppet. Perhaps the owner of this illusion was doing just that.

If everything here is controlled by a white thread, then that white thread is the key. Once the white thread is cut, the puppet loses its grip, and the illusion is broken.

Thinking of this, Qing sat cross-legged on the top cover and began to ponder how to cut the white line.

She can't unleash her spiritual power now and can only rely on external forces, but how could such a treasure, which is like a magical artifact, be destroyed by external forces?

Just as he was frowning in distress, the Great Light Mantra on his little finger suddenly emitted a dark golden light. Qing was surprised and took off the ring, placing it in his palm.

"So you can use spiritual power. Tell me, why were you pretending to be dead before?"

The Great Light Mantra leaped a few times in the air, and a line of words appeared before his eyes—

"Someone has bestowed power upon me."

Qing asked in confusion, "Could it be that someone else knows I entered Fu Mountain?"

In any case, it's better to have someone help than no one. Once you have spiritual power, cutting the white lines will be much easier.

She gently closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and the Great Light Mantra surrounded Qinghe, transmitting power to her.

The feeling of spiritual energy filling my whole body is simply wonderful, light and comfortable, as if I were in a gentle breeze.

After circulating his energy for one small cycle, Qinghe suddenly opened his eyes, a dark light flashing in them, his body surrounded by golden light and surging undercurrents.

She suddenly raised her hand and struck out with a palm. A dazzling white light suddenly attacked the white line. Then, the Great Light Mantra transformed into a long sword and followed closely behind, stabbing towards the white light. With a "boom", the light exploded and the white line broke!

Qinghe sheathed his sword and used the same method to cut the other white lines. After the last one broke, the sky instantly turned gloomy, and thunder rumbled through the clouds.

The dark clouds that had been surrounding her seemed to come alive, all gathering above her and gradually forming a huge vortex. Thunder rumbled and filled the sky, and lightning and storms raged around the vortex, as if it were going to suck her in and turn her into a charcoal-grilled pork tenderloin.

Although she loved to eat, she had no desire to be made into food, so she fought back fiercely, and disappeared at the last moment before the lightning struck.

To be precise, he was rescued.

When she was grabbed by the waist by a force and pulled out of the illusion, standing on the third floor of the Heavenly Book Pavilion, it was like a roller coaster ride.

The transition from dream to reality happens that quickly.

After calming down a bit, Qinghe said to the people in the room, "Did you save me?"

In the dimly lit room, an eight- or nine-year-old boy sat at a table, the moonlight shining through the window and making his face clearer.

Qinghe noticed a red string on his right wrist, with an ancient bronze coin threaded through it. The little boy would gently stroke it from time to time.

"I just sensed the presence of an old friend."

Qinghe followed his gaze to the Great Light Spell in her hand.

He gently stroked it and said, "This is a magical artifact given to me by Senior Zhu Yuan. Do you recognize him?"

The little boy lowered his eyes: "I didn't expect the Great Light Spell to choose you. If... never mind."

These words sounded strange, and Qinghe immediately understood the implication. He asked, "You just said that the Great Light Mantra chose me. Could it be that Senior Zhu Yuan wasn't its master before?"

The little boy looked out the window: "It's all in the past, let's not talk about it."

Qinghe didn't press the matter. The little boy in front of her was definitely not as simple as he seemed. Judging from the powerful force that pulled her out of the illusion, she could guess that his strength was far above hers.

There are many strange things in this fantasy world, so Qinghe is not surprised that someone with such high cultivation level still maintains the appearance of a child. Perhaps powerful people all have a few quirks.

She couldn't bring herself to call the child "senior," so she simply asked, "May I ask your honorable name, my little benefactor?"

The boy looked up and stared directly at her, his dark eyes shining in the moonlight.

"Shen Xun".