After all that, it was almost night.

The dome was like a blushing face of a young girl, silently covered with an ambiguous orange-red. There were still few clouds in the sky, and the sunset was rolling like a tide, covering the endless mirror.

Ningning was wrapped in Pei Ji's coat, and her hands and feet were all covered in a wide cotton cloth. She seemed to find it interesting, and excitedly swung her sleeves like she was performing a Peking Opera, bringing out a stream of cool breeze soaked in fragrance.

She only entered the pool from the waist down, and although some water splashed on her by the waterfall, she did not become a drowned chicken;

Pei Ji was soaked from the squatting action, and his long black hair was scattered behind him, dripping with water, like a water snake climbing on his neck, its tail sweeping across the boy's sunken neck.

I don't know if it was because of the cold water or some other reason, the evil spirit that was originally rushing through his body slowly receded unconsciously, leaving only a very faint afterglow.

The light pink hoodie on his body was shrouded in a layer of light gardenia fragrance, which reminded him of the same smell on Ning Ning, and he pulled the corner of his clothes a little uncomfortably.

"Pei Ji, do you feel that something is strange?"

Ning Ning walked briskly and turned her head to look at him while speaking. She chuckled for some reason and handed him a handkerchief: "Wipe the water off your face, it's all wet."

Pei Ji took it as he said and said in a very calm tone: "I'd like to hear the details."

"First of all, the whereabouts of the Burning Sun Bow, everyone knows this."

Ning Ning took a breath and played with the cuffs of her coat: "Whether it is the demon clan or the spirit fox, once they get it, it is equivalent to having the power to turn the tide of the battle. If one of them really gets it, How is it possible that there is no news until now?"

Pei Ji listened to her patiently and hummed softly: "According to the timeline, Qiao Yan saw with her own eyes that her father was ambushed by the demons on the way to get the Burning Sun Bow, and the jade pendant was robbed by the Fire Phoenix. For a long time afterwards, it should have been hidden in the West Mountain."

He paused, and said: "After that, we seized it, Neon Island was deceived, and the jade pendant returned to our hands. There was no opportunity for others to take advantage of it."

In other words, whether from the result or the time of the crime, the probability of someone secretly taking the jade pendant and stealing the magic bow is very small.

"Then there's Qiao Yan's childhood sweetheart."

Ning Ning nodded, and raised the corners of her mouth slightly: "Qiao Yan said that he lost the Thousand Silk Tassels she gave him in that battle, and became increasingly cold and distant to her after that, as if he were a stranger. Although it can also be explained that he knew that he didn't have much time left and didn't want to have anything to do with Qiao Yan anymore, but if we abandon this old-fashioned sadomasochistic love routine and think about it from another most intuitive perspective-"

She thought for a moment and emphasized her tone: "Without a token and being incredibly unfamiliar, isn't this just someone I've never met before?"

Thinking of this way, without the shell of self-sacrifice and the so-called love, this story is a bit too weird.

Ning Ning thought about it carefully and felt her scalp tingling. She was silent for a while before continuing, "The reason why he deliberately kept his distance and rarely talked to her was because he didn't want Qiao Yan to find out that he was just a fake counterfeit - but what was his purpose in doing this? Apart from Qiao Yan, didn't anyone in the Linghu Village notice that he was different? Where is Qiao Yan's real childhood sweetheart?"

Pei Ji followed her thoughts and frowned slightly, "Could it be for the Burning Sun Bow? As long as you enter the Fox Clan and are close to Qiao Yan, once she gets the jade pendant, there is a great chance that you can take it away."

"But according to Qin Niang, the water mirror formation will never be broken by the demons, so how could he get in without anyone noticing?"

Ning Ning was so confused that she frowned in distress: "And if I really want to transform into someone close to Qiao Yan, wouldn't it contradict his deliberate alienation later?"

While she was talking, her hands were busy, and she kept playing with her sleeves. Her long gown was draped over her body but not buttoned. As long as Pei Ji turned his head, he would see the thin fabric of the girl gently sticking to her chest and the white skin at her neck.

He pursed his lips and looked away, and raised his arm without saying anything to button up Ning Ning's coat, which made her laugh softly.

This laughter came without any warning, and because the two were very close, it fell almost clear into Pei Ji's ears.

He felt his heart skip a beat for some reason, and soon returned to walking side by side with her. His voice was a little hoarse for some reason: "... Not only him, but others have problems too."

Ning Ning replied very obediently: "You mean, Qin Niang?"

Pei Ji nodded.

"She has an unreasonable desire to control Qiao Yan and the Burning Sun Bow. If it were in the past, perhaps she could explain that she loves her daughter so much that she doesn't want her to take risks."

He frowned and deliberately avoided looking at her gaze. "But later we found the jade pendant and discovered that the magic bow was stolen. When Qiao Yan told her about it--"

Pei Ji paused for a moment, and Ning Ning took over the conversation seriously. "She didn't show too much surprise, and quickly changed the subject, as if she knew we wouldn't find the magic bow. And as the wife of the clan leader, it's unreasonable for her to react like this when the treasure that has been passed down for many years in the Spirit Fox lineage was stolen."

"Not bad."

Pei Ji nodded, and finally looked at her steadily for a moment: "And don't you think? Her obsession with 'not allowing Qiao Yan to go to the other side of the formation to kill the demons' is actually much higher than her obsession with the Burning Sun Bow and even everything else. Even when she advised her to leave the secret realm as soon as possible, it seemed that what she was thinking in her heart was that Qiao Yan must not be allowed to come into contact with the demons."

- What does she want to hide? Why can't Qiao Yan be allowed to go to the other side of the formation?

At this point in the conversation, the fog seemed to have gradually dissipated.

Ning Ning heard her heart pounding and took a deep breath. "And the most important thing."

She said, "According to Qin Niang, the other side of the water mirror is full of Jindan Yuanying period demons, whose strength should not be underestimated, so Qiao Yan is so wary of Shuibo - but what we saw before was clearly just a small monster that posed no threat. Judging from the familiar posture of Qiao Yan when she shot it with a bow and arrow, she must have killed the 'mirror ghost' many times. If there really is such a so-called Yuanying power, why has she never seen it?"

For a while, both of them were speechless.

Ning Ning was silent for a while, and suddenly looked up at him again.

This time there was no smile in her eyes, and her voice was crisp: "I have an idea... How about we go to the nearby lake and take a look?"

=====

There were not many bodies of water around the waterfall. Ningning followed Pei Ji through the lush forest. It took about an incense stick of time before they finally found the nearest lake.

This lake is not very big, reflecting the dim sky. The surrounding mushrooms have already emitted a faint light, casting a layer of faint green fluorescence on the evening breeze.

Ningning stood by the lake and was about to take a step forward to get closer to the lake, but Pei Ji gently pulled her sleeve.

The two of them hurriedly changed their clothes before coming here. Pei Ji probably bought countless sets of black clothes with similar styles, and his figure was swallowed up in the night.

When Ningning turned her head, she saw him shaking his head indifferently: "I'll do it."

Even without many words, he could always quickly understand her thoughts.

Pei Ji said, pulling her back a step and walked straight to the lake.

The moon peeked out from the twilight, casting an ambiguous halo of yellow light. In the moonlight and the light of the water, the lake reflected the handsome and upright shadow of the young man.

——Then the water surface shook violently, and a bony bloody hand suddenly stretched out from the lake, attacking Pei Ji's throat.

He had expected this, so he did not show the slightest surprise, but took a step back with his dark face unchanged, leading the monster under the water to the shore.

This time the mirror ghost was not much different from the previous one. It still had a bald head, a short and thin body, and was grinning and howling from its throat, which reminded Ning Ning of the sound of fingernails scratching on a blackboard.

She resisted the urge to cover her ears and said to Pei Ji, "Don't kill it."

Pei Ji had already drawn his sword, but he put it back into the sheath after hearing this, and quickly dodged the sharp claws of the mirror ghost, reciting sword techniques in his heart.

He did not kill it, but saw the sword energy surging around his body, and then a white light flashed, and he attacked the back of the monster's neck with lightning speed.

Before the mirror ghost could even make a mournful cry, he lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

Ning Ning's eyes dimmed slightly, and she subconsciously clenched her fists: "Go on."

So Pei Ji walked to the lake again.

They tried six times in total. Every time Pei Ji used himself as bait, he attracted strange-looking and weak mirror ghosts. But none of the "numerous Jindan Yuanying demon cultivators" mentioned by Qin Niang were seen.

The cat was obviously the one.

Qin Niang was lying.

"It was just a small monster that was not worth mentioning, but she made up a lie and told Qiao Yan not to approach the lake no matter what."

Ning Ning squatted on the ground and carefully looked at the appearance of the mirror ghost: "In this case, Qin Niang must not be worried about her safety, so she didn't want Qiao Yan to contact the mirror ghost-"

A thought suddenly flashed through her mind, and the biting cold spread from her spine to her mind, making her shiver all over.

If you think about it carefully, everything they know about the water mirror comes from Qiao Yan.

And the information Qiao Yan has comes from her mother.

A war broke out between the spirit fox clan and the demon clan overnight. In order to resist the monsters, they had to use the power of the entire clan to set up the water mirror array and imprison them on the other side of the mirror.

Qiao Yan was seriously ill and unconscious at the time, and she knew nothing about this. This was told to them by Qin Niang.

The spirit power of the spirit fox clan members has declined, and they are only willing to sacrifice the dying lives of the entire clan to protect Qiao Yan from the invasion of monsters.

Qiao Yan has been kept in the dark for many years, and she is looking forward to leaving this place with everyone, so this is also what Qin Niang told them.

But what if none of this is true, from the beginning to the end... what if their understanding of that past and this secret place is based on complete lies?

Why doesn't Qiao Yan's childhood sweetheart have the Thousand Silk Tassels on his wrist?

Because he is not the original person at all, even if he wants to imitate, he will never notice this irrelevant little decoration.

Why is the whereabouts of the Burning Sun Bow unknown?

Because this is not a real secret place at all, but a mirror space created by the formation. The water mirror can copy all mountains, rivers, birds and beasts, but the powerful ancient divine bow cannot be faked no matter what.

Why did Qin Niang try every means to prevent Qiao Yan from obtaining the Burning Sun Bow, so that she could leave the secret place as soon as possible regardless of everything?

Because once Qiao Yan gets the Burning Sun Bow and goes to the other side of the lake to kill the "Mirror Ghost", she will most likely find clues and understand the truth that has been buried -

those strange creatures under the lake, which Qiao Yan shoots mercilessly as monsters, are the real foxes.

And the "compatriots" who live with her day and night are the masked demons who slaughtered the foxes.

Ning Ning should have thought of it earlier.

When she first met Qiao Yan, the fox girl told her that "Mirror Ghosts are all mutated demons."

But if you think about it carefully, the monsters have been infected by the devil's spirit, and even if they are possessed by the devil, they will definitely not become so weak and weird.

The only ones who can be affected by the evil spirit and undergo changes are extremely weak people and monsters with little spiritual energy left.

Above the water mirror and below the secret realm, it is not only the spiritual energy that maintains the formation.

There is also a lie that runs through the beginning and the end.