Chapter 90 Lantern Festival

Although the formation looked incredibly strange, Su Yunyu decided to try her guess.

He could feel himself participating in this illusion, especially when the scene before him reversed and returned to the original scene of the woman waiting under the tree, Su Yunyu felt that his guess was being confirmed.

With a thought, he transformed himself into the younger version of Feng Mingye in the illusion and walked towards the woman.

Using the original form of address, Su Yunyu called out:

"mother."

A childish voice came through, as if it weren't her own, and the woman didn't react as the voice faded.

Su Yunyu blinked and continued talking to herself:

"Mother, I'm leaving..."

If obsession is a forced, unannounced departure, then can a complete farewell break the spell?

Unexpectedly, nothing changed. Instead, the woman turned and glared at him, her tone fierce:

"When you leave, you should be like that man, just leave."

“I understand,” the woman’s voice grew increasingly hoarse, and her face gradually changed.

"Actually, you all deserve to die, you all deserve to die—"

Her figure twisted like a ghost, gradually contorting into a monster that emitted a red light and whose original appearance was unrecognizable. Su Yunyu was somewhat taken aback, realizing that the red light was clearly demonic energy.

Strange, this formation isn't supposed to be a killing formation, so why is it so aggressive? Without time to ponder further, just as Su Yunyu was about to use her spiritual energy to counter it, the entire world trembled, and the light spots shifted—

"Aaaaaaaahhhhh!"

The monster screamed, and a hand pierced through her body, tearing the twisted mass apart. Everything that had been built before her gradually cracked and collapsed like shattered glass with a snap.

Su Yunyu was stunned, still somewhat bewildered, until she saw the owner of that hand reveal his figure after the formation collapsed, his red clothes as dazzling as blood, and she immediately felt relieved.

So it was the owner of the formation; no wonder it was broken so easily.

etc.

Su Yunyu, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly realized that her escape had failed and became nervous again.

Feng Mingye first glanced down at the blood that was no longer in his palm, then chuckled, his tone laced with mockery:

"I had painstakingly isolated this inner demon and placed it in the formation, but you didn't trigger the formation and instead fell into the inner demon's clutches."

So it was an inner demon. No wonder. After all, he didn't think Feng Mingye was the kind of person who would turn his past into a formation for others to see.

However, Su Yunyu had no time to care about what exactly happened. After assessing her own cultivation level, she knew she couldn't defeat Feng Mingye, so she could only secretly draw a teleportation array.

"Since you're alright too," Feng Mingye's smile deepened as he took a few steps closer, his tone dangerous.

"Then let's rekindle our past romance..."

The words were ambiguous, clearly referring to the previous incident that had been interrupted. Su Yunyu's brow twitched, and she changed the subject with a forced smile:

"You have nothing to say about the inner demons you just experienced?"

For example, he saw his entire past; for example, the seemingly powerful former Demon Lord was actually a pitiful child...

But Feng Mingye showed no emotion, only some confusion:

What do you want me to say?

"Oh~" Feng Mingye suddenly realized, stood a few inches in front of Su Yunyu, leaned down and stroked his cheek, his tone becoming pitiful:

"You've seen all my secrets, Immortal Venerable, you have to take responsibility for me..."

His expression resembled that of a vulnerable woman who had been wronged, and his breath, barely audible as he spoke, sounded like the forked tongue of a snake. His tall yet shadowy figure loomed over her, concealing a bewildering danger.

Su Yunyu quickly took a few steps back, but accidentally bumped into something. Turning her head, she saw a stone mortar for pounding rice, with a few grains of rice inside.

"...Why do you live here?"

He continued to change the subject, but sped up the process of casting the array with his spiritual energy.

“Why not?” Feng Mingye tilted his head, his eyes slightly darkening, and pulled Su Yunyu into his arms, chuckling as Su Yunyu tried to struggle.

"Was your formation slightly off just now?"

"..."

Su Yunyu's heart tightened, and disbelief flashed in her eyes for a moment. She had pleased Feng Mingye, who chuckled twice, his smile full of delight.

"Why is your cultivation level declining more and more these days? Even I can see through your tricks..."

His tone softened as he spoke the last few words, and his arm slowly moved to her waist, sending chills down Su Yunyu's spine. In a fit of desperation, she pushed him away forcefully, saying:

"I'm telling you, you can't force me."

Feng Mingye's gaze darkened, his expression unconvinced:

"If you can't beat me, I can lock you up and spend every day with you."

“Of course,” Feng Mingye said with a smile, as if he had just remembered something.

"If you, Immortal Venerable, find it difficult to live in this village, then I will take you back to the Demon Realm. It's just a pity that I've already killed that lowly pawn..."

Su Yunyu's lips twitched. She thought to herself that she avoided even Long Aotian like the plague, how could she possibly fall into Feng Mingye's clutches again? She sneered, deliberately provoking him.

"If you force me, one day I will leave without your knowledge."

"..."

Feng Mingye's expression changed slightly.

So that's how it is. Su Yunyu understood somewhat. He already knew that Feng Mingye's biggest obsession was probably not being able to say goodbye to his mother. After returning from the Demon Realm, his mother had already become a tomb.

Parting and reunion are inevitable, but if the reunion is unclear and tragic, it is certainly not acceptable.

Su Yunyu then said:

"Back then, when you asked Xiao Shuying about the ways of Heaven, you must have harbored resentment towards them, right?"

Feng Mingye smiled again, but his tone was one of appreciation for his keen insight:

"That's certainly true to some extent."

He never imagined that anyone else would know about that inner demon, that past, but Su Yunyu happened to see it. If it were anyone else, he would have killed them long ago.

Now that Su Yunyu knew, those secrets that had been buried deep in his heart finally had a chance to see the light of day. Feng Mingye paused for a moment and continued:

"I used to think that Heaven was heartless, but after learning about the spirits of the Three Realms, I began to believe that Heaven was compassionate. In the end, Xiao Shuying was no better than me. What does Heaven mean then?"

He sneered, his eyes sharp, his tone contemptuous:

"It's just a constraint."

Su Yunyu was terrified that Heaven would be enraged and unleash a thunderbolt punishment. This was just a world in a book, and he couldn't really explain what Heaven meant.

Moreover, as someone outside the book, he knew that the fates of the characters in the book were all designed, so it sounded really eerie, and he put his immediate priority on running away.

“You make a good point,” Su Yunyu feigned agreement, and before Feng Mingye could notice, she finally completed the teleportation array to its final step!

In an instant, spiritual energy surged forth, the icy blue aura rippling under the moonlight. Before Su Yunyu fled, she gave a light laugh:

But I have to go now—

As soon as he finished speaking, the spiritual energy vanished instantly as he was teleported away.

"—Su Yunyu!"

After shouting out instinctively, Feng Mingye stared blankly at the empty courtyard for a moment.

Why wasn't his formation stopped?

Perhaps I still cared, which is why I let him go...

But next time, it won't be like this.

*

Seeing that she had finally been teleported away from Feng Mingye, Su Yunyu breathed a sigh of relief. She thought to herself, "Why is this guy always so careless? He gave me the chance to break the window, and he exposed the formation but didn't tie me up."

But who cares about all that? Anyway, he's truly free now!

But... where is this place now?

Su Yunyu turned her gaze to the surroundings. The flowing river was bathed in the moonlight and glow of the sunset. Boats and painted barges came and went in an endless stream. The streets were adorned with red and green silks, and lanterns flickered on and off, filling the view.

The streets were bustling and crowded, with people almost shoulder to shoulder. Soon, Su Yunyu noticed that all of these people were wearing masks.

Upon seeing the mask, Su Yunyu quickly put on the peacock pattern mask as well, thankfully no one had noticed her yet.

It wasn't that he was narcissistic, but rather that his unparalleled good looks, if not concealed, would truly cause a commotion. As for what kind of commotion, no one knew, and he dared not provoke it.

He heard many laughter sounds around him, and the air was filled with the scent of perfume and the hot smell of burning incense. Su Yunyu became interested. He loved liveliness, especially liveliness with a touch of smokiness.

The palace lanterns were dazzling and interspersed among the crowd. Su Yunyu saw a group of musicians performing acrobatics on a makeshift low platform. They were doing stilt walking, fire breathing, tightrope walking, and flying acrobatics, among other things.

Amidst the applause and cheers, Su Yunyu inquired of someone beside her:

What holiday is today?

The man was also wearing a mask, and while he was engrossed in the performance on stage, he offered nonsensical explanations:

"Lantern Festival".

Why do we all have to wear masks?

"You didn't even know that?"

The man was somewhat annoyed. He finally pulled his gaze away from the performance and glanced over. He was immediately stunned when he saw Su Yunyu dressed in a magnificent outfit. Her robes were embroidered with gold thread patterns, and a white jade crown with frosty silk ribbons hanging from it made her look like an immortal.

After Su Yunque's face was concealed by the mask, she looked regretful and explained as she did so:

"Because everyone wears a mask, no one knows who the other is. If someone is interested, they will offer a lamp, but even after offering the lamp, no one will know who the other is."

After saying this, the man handed over the lantern he was carrying, his tone leaving no room for doubt:

"I'm giving you my lamp; please accept it."

Upon hearing this explanation, Su Yunyu understood that this was a fleeting affair. If it were a woman, he would be embarrassed to object, but the person who delivered the lantern was a man, and a fleeting affair with a man was out of the question.

So Su Yunyu hastily declined, not even bothering to watch the music, and mingled back into the crowd before leaving.

Walking down the street, Su Yunyu noticed many painted boats moored on the river. One of them was the most eye-catching. It had wings hanging over the river, and was lit up with many lights. The lights were colorful and precious, with red ivory and gold thread, and it was indescribably beautiful and elegant.

With just one glance, Su Yunyu's heart was filled with excitement. She decided to fully indulge in hedonism, indulging in eating, drinking, and having fun. Carrying a large amount of currency from her spatial storage, she confidently headed over.

As soon as he stepped onto the deck of the pleasure boat, a guard stopped him and said in a formulaic tone:

"I'm sorry, you can't go in."

"Why?" Su Yunyu asked, puzzled, while also wanting to make use of the money.

“I can pay a lot of money.”

"Our pleasure boats don't cost money, but there's one condition: you can only enter if you pass a certain test."

What are the conditions?

The guard glanced at him and continued:

"Only those with beautiful appearances can enter our pleasure boats, and what you can spend is not money, but lanterns that are given according to your looks."

"oh"

Is this even possible?

Su Yunyu immediately became interested. Wasn't this just "card face"? Wasn't this just spending money based on looks? He knew this all too well.

He had already benefited greatly from his good looks in his original world, but he never expected that the benefits would be even more exaggerated in the cultivation world. Su Yunyu smiled slightly and asked:

"Then please begin."

The guard paused, then said "Please wait a moment," before taking out the communication jade pendant from his waist and respectfully addressing the person on the other end:

"Alliance Leader, someone wants to come in."

A weary voice came from the other end: "Immediately."

As soon as she finished speaking, footsteps approached from one end. Su Yunyu turned her head and saw a young man, handsome and refined, adorned with gold and jade, gently fanning himself with a gold-flecked folding fan. He came up to her with a rather disdainful expression.

“Our ‘Golden Goblet’ is not a place that just anyone can come in. I advise you to think carefully before you decide.”

"The golden goblet cannot be drunk"

Seeing that Su Yunyu didn't even know this, the young master looked down on her even more.

"I am the leader of the most prestigious force in Ye Xiaoxiang. We only recruit people with outstanding appearances as members. With your looks, it's no wonder you don't know us."

Hearing his blatant disdain, Su Yunyu smiled slightly, deciding not to argue but to let the facts speak for themselves. She raised her hand, removed her mask, tilted her head, and asked:

"how"

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Author's Note: [Starry eyes][Starry eyes]