What is real and what is illusion
“…”
“…”
From humans to animals, there was silence.
Not to mention Bai Roushuang and the others, even the ferocious beast was stunned. As far as it could remember, it had never been treated like this since its birth.
The lecher in front of it gave it an apologetic smile.
In the silence, the originally light sound of the mechanism reached everyone's ears.
As the ferocious beast revealed a passive smile at its lips, a passage behind it appeared in front of everyone.
Jiang Yan and others were stunned: "Is this possible?"
It seems that the magic device of Taixu Realm is not very smart. It just makes the ferocious beast smile, regardless of whether the smile is sincere or false, voluntary or forced.
Xu Shulou was as surprised as her fellow junior fellow students. She was just joking, but she didn't expect it to actually work.
Several people were able to get close to the painting and observe it. Bai Roushuang raised her hand curiously and touched it lightly, but the painting seemed to have life and wrapped around her fingers, scaring her so much that she stepped back repeatedly.
As she stepped back, the painting returned to its calm state.
"Sister, this seems too dangerous," Bai Roushuang said earnestly, "You should think about it again."
A sound of footsteps was heard behind him, and a man dressed as a steward came up the stairs and looked at everyone with surprise: "Excuse me, which cultivator passed the examination of the Black Lion Beast?"
“……”No one passed, we cheated.
But the beast's eyes betrayed Xu Shulou, so she had no choice but to stand up and ask, "Who are you?"
"I am one of the managers of Taixu Realm. Once someone enters this room, a magic weapon will notify us." The man bowed to Xu Shulou, "Miss, please accept my greeting."
Xu Shulou stopped him in time and refused to accept his greeting: "Why?"
"Young lady, you don't know that as more and more cultivators are lost in this nameless painting, my master has raised the standard," the steward said with a smile, "Now only those who are truly selfless and pure can make this black beast smile. I am paying tribute to your character."
The "pure and innocent" Xu Shulou looked back at the ferocious beast guiltily, wondering if it would expose him.
The beast didn't want to pay any attention to her. It was so eager to die, why bother to stop it?
The steward asked, "Miss, even if you pass the scrutiny of the divine beast, you can still turn back. Are you sure you want to enter the painting?"
"yes."
"According to my master's rules, I must ask you if you are aware of the dangers in the painting and have you considered it carefully?"
"yes."
Feng Yi sighed silently. There is a kind of people in this world who seem to be naturally attracted to dangerous things. Danger can make them grow, and adversity can polish their character. When they encounter danger, they will face it head-on. Retreating seems to affect their fearless heart...
The steward then took out a booklet from his storage bag and said, "Girl, this booklet contains portraits of the people lost in the painting. If you see them in there, you may be able to bring them out. Of course, everything must be based on your ability to escape first."
Xu Shulou took it and looked through it.
The steward looked at Feng Yi again and said, "Our painter is here too, so please ask him to draw a small portrait for you. If you can't come out in time, we will add your portrait to this album."
Feng Yi refused: "Aren't you cursing my senior sister? I won't draw it!"
"..." The steward sighed, "I am only telling the truth. This is also for her sake. This way, those who come after me can use the portrait to look for her."
"Then I won't draw it either!" Feng Yi glanced at him, and seemed to finally remember this boss who was still his boss. "How about this, if she hasn't come out in a month, I will draw it."
“But you…”
"Don't worry, I remember her face."
The steward had no choice but to compromise and said to Xu Shulou, "Miss, the last page of this booklet contains some things that need attention. However, the things encountered by the people who came out were different, so we didn't summarize much useful information. There is one more thing that the master asked me to remind everyone in person. There is no dead end in the painting. As long as your heart is not broken, you will definitely be able to get out."
Xu Shulou nodded: "I understand."
She immediately turned to the last page and memorized what was written there carefully. She then looked through the portraits of everyone carefully. Even though she couldn't remember their faces, she tried her best to remember their features. This one had a mole on his face, that one had a broken eyebrow...
She didn't know if she could bring the booklet into the painting, so it would be better to memorize it just in case.
The steward looked at her with approval.
What a pure and innocent heart! Regardless of whether it can be accomplished or not, at least he remembered those faces seriously and had the intention to save people...
While he was thinking, Xu Shulou had already collected the booklet and smiled at him, "There is one more thing I need to ask the steward for help. Could you please bring the people from the Flying Eagle Sect over here so that they can watch me enter the painting with their own eyes?"
The manager was slightly startled: "The girl is the warrior who was being hunted by the Flying Eagle Sect, touched the demon cultivator for a long time on the auction platform, and finally couldn't afford the price so he kidnapped the demon cultivator...?"
Warrior? As expected of someone who could be in charge of something in a place like Taixu Realm, he changed his words very promptly, leaving no one knowing what kind of insulting word he had originally intended to use.
Xu Zhuangshi cupped his hands and said, "I don't deserve it."
The steward sighed: "Okay."
Xu Shulou returned the token to his third junior brother and asked him to hide with his fellow junior brothers and sisters and the little fox first.
A moment later, the steward was heard shouting in a slightly contrived voice of fear: "Oh no! That's bad! The girl that the Flying Eagle Sect is chasing is about to enter the painting on the top floor!"
He shouted as he ran down, and he shouted three times in a row, which showed his professionalism.
"What? Where is it?" The people from the Flying Eagle Gate took the bait.
Then, a noisy sound of footsteps came from outside the door. Xu Shulou made sure that they could see him clearly, then he smiled slightly and jumped into the painting.
A darkness swept over.
———
"Today is the wedding day of the disciples of Lingxiao Sect and Wuchen Island. I wish the two newlyweds to sign the contract together and be together forever. I hope the two sects will have a long-lasting friendship..."
There was a rumbling sound in his ears. Xu Shulou calmed down and saw the festive scene in front of him. Countless red lanterns were floating in the air, and the ground was decorated with lights and filled with tables and chairs.
Red envelopes were raining down from the sky. She raised her hand and grabbed one. When she opened it, she saw that it was a paper voucher for 100 high-quality spirit stones. After the wedding banquet, she could go to the disciple in charge of reception to exchange it for real spirit stones.
"Very generous," Xu Shulou looked around, "So whose wedding banquet is this?"
She tried to use her spiritual power, but her body was empty and there was no trace of any spiritual power. She was only slightly stronger than that of an ordinary person.
She looked down and saw that the booklet had disappeared, but the folding fan in her hand was still there. Unfortunately, it had no spiritual power to drive it, so it temporarily turned into a real folding fan. The same was true for the Qiankun bracelet, which became a beautiful decoration on her wrist.
"There is no inevitable death in the painting. As long as your heart is not broken, you will definitely be able to get out."
Thinking of the steward's words, Xu Shulou sighed. She had lost her spiritual power and didn't know if she could rely on her Tao heart to hold on when she had a fight with others.
She could only raise her hand and grab another red envelope to soothe her trembling heart.
The girl next to her didn't snatch the red envelope from her. She rolled her eyes at her and turned to complain to her companions, "Senior Sister Bai was very generous to allow her to attend the wedding banquet. I didn't expect that she would actually have the nerve to come? She's so shameless that she's trying to snatch the red envelopes here!"
She spoke in a loud voice, and it was obvious that she was speaking to Xu Shulou.
Xu Shulou opened the red envelope and shook it in front of her eyes: "Another hundred high-grade spirit stones, are you angry?"
"You..." The girl glared at her with gritted teeth. After all, it was not a good idea to cause trouble at a wedding banquet. She stomped her feet, pulled her companions and turned away.
Seeing that the red envelopes had stopped raining, Xu Shulou stepped forward and took a closer look at the layout of the wedding banquet: "Is this... Lingxiaomen?"
Seeing a familiar person passing by, Xu Shulou took two steps after him: "Fourth Junior Brother!"
When Shan Yu heard the voice, he turned to look at her with cold eyes, as if he saw an enemy. He ignored her and left.
But when the fifth junior brother saw her, he stopped and said with a complicated expression: "Master...Xu Shulou, they are generous and allow you to come to the ceremony, you must not be ungrateful. If you dare to cause trouble at the wedding banquet, I will be the first one to not forgive you!"
"..." Xu Shulou realized, "A storybook? This painting intends to use this dream memory. I thought it would be..."
She lowered her head and smiled self-deprecatingly. In that case, the protagonists of this wedding banquet would probably be Lu Beichen and Bai Roushuang.
The role that I played must be that of the senior sister Xu Shulou who had put up many obstacles and schemes in their relationship, and who was finally stripped of her skills and expelled from the sect.
No wonder the people here always stare at me, point fingers, and look at me with contempt.
She thought about it, carefully put the red envelope in her arms, found a flower bed according to her memory, and started picking flowers.
"Is she crazy?" someone whispered.
Lu Beichen chose a good season for his wedding, when all kinds of flowers in the flower garden were in full bloom.
Xu Shulou arranged the flowers in his hand into a bouquet of light pink and red, and looked from left to right, feeling very satisfied.
"Shu Lou." A familiar male voice sounded behind her.
Then came a very gentle and pleasant female voice: "Senior Sister Xu."
Xu Shulou stood up and looked at Lu Beichen and Bai Roushuang, who were dressed in red, and handed the bouquet to them: "Senior sister is penniless now, so I will use this bouquet of flowers as a gift. I wish you... to be together forever."
Bai Roushuang's beautiful eyes turned to the bouquet: "Are these flowers for us?"
"Anyway, this is my first time attending your wedding banquet, so I have to be more formal," Xu Shulou smiled, "How can I attend a wedding banquet without bringing some gifts?"
Bai Roushuang took it with a smile: "Sister, do you have a seat? I'll ask someone to arrange one for you. You can sit at the same table with our brothers from Mingyue Peak."
This is a scheming junior sister. Xu Shulou smiled bitterly. She didn't like to be looked down upon by others. "No need. Why make everyone unhappy? I'll just find a seat at the end of the table."
"Shu Lou, why are you doing this?" Lu Beichen sighed, "Rou'er is good to you, just accept it, why are you being so awkward?"
Xu Shulou corrected subconsciously: "She doesn't like others calling her Rou'er."
The two of them were stunned. Lu Beichen looked at Bai Roushuang blankly: "Rou'er, you don't like it?"
"That's not true." Bai Roushuang said tenderly, "Maybe Senior Sister has misunderstood something?"
Lu Beichen probably thought that Xu Shulou was plotting something to sow discord between them again, so he shook his head, ignored her, and walked towards the hall with Bai Roushuang.
Instead, Bai Roushuang turned around and gave Xu Shulou an unfathomable look.
The two walked hand in hand through the wedding banquet. The world of cultivation did not have as many rules as in the mortal world. The bride did not need to cover her veil. Her fair skin and red lips made her look extremely beautiful. Along the way, they heard countless people congratulating the couple on their good looks.
Xu Shulou sat down at the last table.
Someone on the stage was shouting, "Bow to heaven and earth."
She held her chin up and looked at it carefully. She had not dreamed of this part in the storybook, and everything in front of her was constructed by this painting. But she still didn't understand why. If this painting had really read her memory, it would know that she would not be sad about it.
"Bow to your parents."
Both sets of parents are no longer in this world. The ones being worshipped in the hall are Lu Beichen's master Wei Xuandao and Bai Roushuang's master Chang Yu Xianzun.
"Husband and wife bow to each other."
The two bowed to each other, and the guests in the hall started to cheer and send blessings. Xu Shulou saw several fellow apprentices gathered around the younger sister, saying witty words of blessing, and they were in a very happy mood.
She smiled slightly, picked up the chopsticks and picked up a roasted chicken leg for herself.
A male cultivator next to her, who was dressed rather shabbily, glared at her: "How dare you?"
Xu Shulou glanced at him and said, "Aren't the people at the last table here just to eat and drink for free? Who's looking down on whom?"
The male cultivator paused, lowered his voice and asked curiously, "Aren't you sad?"
"Why are you sad?"
"The man you deeply love has married someone else. Your closest fellow apprentices are all around that man, and you are being left out. You have been reduced to sharing a table with freeloaders like us."
Xu Shulou picked up another steamed meatball for himself: "It's okay. Aren't the dishes on their table the same as ours?"
"...That's true," the male cultivator curled his lips, "At least Lingxiao Sect doesn't dare to be too obvious about its snobbishness."
Xu Shulou poured himself a glass of wine. This trumpet creeper wine, specially brewed by Lingxiao Sect, was a mixture of richness and clarity, and it was amazing when it went down the throat.
She began to think about whether she could ask Wei Xuandao for some when she returned to reality.
The male cultivator poked her left arm and said, "Hey, you're quite interesting. So, those bad things that were rumored to have harmed your fellow disciples were done by you when you were momentarily insane?"
Xu Shulou sighed: "You are really good at chatting."
The male cultivator shrugged regretfully: "Before I came here, I made a bet with someone that you would go crazy at the wedding banquet."
Xu Shulou reminded: "The spiritual herbs for cooking are about to be snatched away."
The people who came to this table to eat were all here for the food that contained spiritual energy. Only Xu Shulou was picking dishes like roast chicken and meatballs. Upon hearing this, the man didn't bother to say anything more to her and hurried to grab the spiritual herbs.
When Xu Shulou was biting a piece of dragon beard crisp, he suddenly heard Bai Roushuang's voice shouting, "Senior Sister!"
She looked up and saw many eyes focused on her. She slowly swallowed the dragon beard pastry before asking, "What's the matter?"
"Although Master doesn't say it, I know he misses you," Bai Roushuang said softly, "Even if you don't like me, you should remember Master's kindness and stay to see him later."
"……good."
Xu Shulou was taken to a room to wait. She half-lying on the rocking chair, closed her eyes, and deepened her memory of the faces in the booklet in her mind.
Until the sound of the door opening interrupted her: "Senior Sister."
"Junior sister."
Bai Roushuang smiled at her charmingly and proudly: "Senior Sister, I won."
"Congratulations."
"In fact, between us, I have already won over you," Bai Roushuang looked down at her, "I have also won over many other women and became Beichen's legal wife."
Xu Shulou looked at her and sighed softly: "You are cuter in real life and live an easier life."
"What nonsense are you talking about? This is reality," Bai Roushuang leaned in to look at her, "Senior Sister, have you finally gone mad? Do you hate me so much that you've gone crazy?"
"I don't hate you."
"I don't believe you."
"What are you going to do?"
Bai Roushuang took out a dagger, stabbed it into her abdomen, avoiding her meridians, and shouted loudly: "Help, help!"
Xu Shulou's expression finally showed a trace of ripples: "...Are you serious? I have lost all my spiritual power. Will anyone believe that I can hurt you?"
"Of course they will believe me. They will always believe me." A trace of blood slid down the corner of Bai Roushuang's mouth, but she was still smiling. "I will tell them that you were stimulated by this wedding banquet and finally went completely crazy."
Xu Shulou supported her and said, "Why are you doing this?"
"With the magic medicine, my wound will heal soon." Bai Roushuang heard the footsteps and fell into her arms. "I will feel pain once in exchange for your life. It's a good deal. Why are you not angry yet? Why are you looking at me like this? Are you... feeling sorry for me?"
Xu Shulou looked at her, his expression was not angry, but a little compassionate: "I don't know what kind of choice led you to this point. In reality, I will definitely do my best to avoid this ending..."
Her voice was cut short as a sword pierced through her chest.
Xu Shulou followed the sword and looked at the hand holding it: "Junior brother..."
"I've said before, you're no longer my senior sister," Shan Yu looked at her coldly, drew out his sword, no longer looked at her, and only supported Bai Roushuang, "Junior sister, are you okay? Someone come quickly, my junior sister is injured!"
Xu Shulou slid down and tried to find a comfortable position for herself and fell to the ground. Listening to the chaotic footsteps, she still didn't understand what this painting was trying to do.
Let her be tortured by these people to break her faith?
But she had already experienced these indifference and partiality in her dreams...
Bai Roushuang was held in Lu Beichen's arms and given the elixir. She immediately recovered some of her vitality. She struggled to get up and took out something from the Qiankun Ring: "Senior sister is also a pitiful person. Please give this Buddha to her."
Lu Beichen frowned and said, "Rou'er, you are so kind. She just hurt you!"
Buddha's Thoughts... Xu Shulou looked at the magic weapon. She recognized it. In reality, she took her junior sister to Yuankong Secret Realm. Her junior sister was sucked into the quicksand and got this Buddha's Thoughts. It would weave a beautiful dream for a person when he is dying.
Bai Roushuang had already cast a spell to activate the Buddha's thoughts, and that thing covered Xu Shulou's face, bringing her into a fantasy world.
Xu Shulou saw himself standing on the top floor of Taixu Realm. The beast was lying on the ground. The manager looked over in surprise. His fellow apprentices and sisters also gathered around him: "Senior sister, are you okay? We are very worried about you!"
"I'm fine." Xu Shulou heard himself say.
"Great, Senior Sister, you are right. The people from the Flying Eagle Sect have indeed retreated after seeing you enter the painting! We can leave now!"
"Very good."
She got 100,000 spirit stones, and her third apprentice brother no longer had to be a painter. They returned to their master's sect and have loved each other ever since...
Xu Shulou is making rapid progress. After a hundred years, she will enter the tribulation period. Her fellow disciples are reluctant to let her go, but they are also happy for her.
Before finally facing the heavenly calamity, they held a banquet for Xu Shulou. At a certain moment when they were drinking and laughing together, a voice suddenly rang in her ear, "This happy life is just because your junior sister used the Buddha's mind on you before you died. Your real body is still lying in the wedding hall of Lingxiaomen..."
The scene flashed, and Xu Shulou felt herself lying on the ground with a hole in her chest. What happened? After so many years, she couldn't remember it. Oh, yes, it was her fourth apprentice brother who stabbed her...
It hurts and it’s cold.
But……
Another voice sounded beside my ear: "As long as you are willing, I can restart the Buddha's mind now and let you return to that false beauty and save you from pain."
"You mean," Xu Shulou said weakly, "I was willing to die for Lu Beichen, and was killed by my junior sister in the end. That's my real life. And all those happy pasts, those harmonious lives, from Yuankong Secret Realm to Hehuan Sect, from Xuanwu Tower to meeting Xuanyang, coming to Fandu City with my junior brothers and sisters, attending auctions together, entering Taixu Realm together... That life as a leader of the sect, was just the mercy that Futu gave me?"
"That's right."
Xu Shulou's folding fan was unusable, so she picked up a brick that she had broken off from the flower bed while picking flowers, and threw it at the direction of the voice: "I don't trust you!"
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