Chapter 248 Mountains and Rivers Intertwined (Part Two)
Jiang Gu has experienced countless illusions, all of which are related to ascension. He already has a way to deal with them and his emotions don't fluctuate much. This time should be the same, so he didn't even change his form.
However, he underestimated the illusion array within the Vine Demon City.
He saw Wei Feng.
Wei Feng looked rather strange; he was a small, dirty, black lump, somewhat similar to the mud he had pulled out of the swamp earlier, but with a few more ghostly markings. Even so, he was only the size of a palm.
This lump of mud was dirty and small. If it swallowed a mouthful of spiritual energy, it would be struck half to death by lightning. If it ate turbid energy, it could not absorb it and almost exploded. It then pieced itself back together, burrowed into the mud, and pitifully began to gnaw on the surrounding mud while crying softly.
Seeing this, Jiang Gu remained unmoved. To him, this was just an illusion. Even if Wei Feng were to perish here, it would have no impact on reality. Compared to Wei Feng's miserable fate in the illusion, he was more surprised that the illusion array would choose Wei Feng as its illusion.
Soon a third person appeared in the illusion.
A boy in red was holding a white umbrella with vines wrapped around it; he looked somewhat familiar.
The boy in red stood arrogantly in front of Wei Feng, who pitifully begged him for help. The boy ridiculed Wei Feng, left the umbrella with him, and disappeared.
Up until this point, Jiang Gu didn't think much of it. After all, these were just illusions, and Wei Feng's reaction in the illusion was definitely based on his own impressions. But then he heard the words "Little Immortal Lord" from Wei Feng and the people who were trying to steal the umbrella.
Jiang Gu slowly frowned.
This was not a hallucination he had imagined, but Wei Feng's own hallucination. He watched Wei Feng crying uncontrollably, muttering titles like "Yao Yan" and "Little Immortal Lord," his face turning slightly cold, but he did not make any rash moves.
He first checked the surrounding magic array, confirming again that the illusion was not a hallucination array and ruling out the possibility that it was a mental demon's illusion. Then he formed hand seals, connecting with the Fire Rope within Wei Feng's body, confirming that Wei Feng was not under the influence of a mental demon.
This is a memory of Wei Feng.
It's unclear why the illusion array allowed him to see Wei Feng's memory.
He habitually concealed himself and was pondering the cause and effect of the matter when the little mud clump crawled to his feet, sniffed around, and then, somewhat bewildered, extended a ghostly pattern and touched the air.
Jiang Gu's robes, hidden within the formation, swayed slightly as the ghostly pattern poked them.
Wei Feng was not fully conscious, but he smelled an extremely familiar scent that made him feel at ease and happy. He had a feeling that the other person was nearby, but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find them.
He was a little anxious, circling around the scent, and accidentally inhaled some spiritual energy. A bolt of lightning struck straight down at him. Wei Feng subconsciously covered his head with his ghost pattern, but someone was a few seconds faster than him. A white sleeve rolled him up from the ground, and a pleasant scent wafted over. The familiar embrace made him subconsciously relax. Wei Feng looked up and saw Jiang Gu's cold and indifferent face.
"Master!" he called out instinctively, but then froze.
Who is the master?
Seeing that he was stunned, Jiang Gu knew that he was still immersed in the illusion. He lifted him up and made him look at him: "Do you have a grudge against Yao Yan?"
Wei Feng shook his head honestly and said earnestly, "Little Immortal Lord is a good person. He gave me an umbrella to ward off the lightning tribulation."
Although he couldn't immediately recall who the master in front of him was, he was certain that the other person was a good person and wouldn't harm him.
And they didn't mind that he was dirty.
Wei Feng looked at the sleeves he had dirtied and sheepishly retracted the tentacles into his body, but the air pressure around the other man was obviously low, making him shiver involuntarily.
Jiang Gu smirked: "You and him are friends?"
Wei Feng hesitated and shook his head, then whispered, "I don't remember, Master. I'm hungry again. Can you give me some spiritual energy to eat?"
Although he didn't remember who the person in front of him was, he spoke with confidence and knew he wouldn't be rejected. He tilted his head, affectionately rubbed Jiang Gu's wrist, and skillfully pleaded, "Master, please."
He had just begged Yao Yan in the same way, but with an even more pitiful expression.
Jiang Gu didn't want to pay attention to him, but seeing that he was shivering from hunger, he finally gave him a ball of spiritual energy. This ball of spiritual energy was even larger than Wei Feng's. He buried himself in it and swallowed it with gusto. Enveloped by the familiar taste, he felt an unprecedented sense of security. The fear in his heart had long since dissipated, and the illusion array around him gradually disappeared without him noticing.
Jiang Gu looked down at him, and seeing that the mud's movements of absorbing spiritual energy were gradually stiffening, he knew that Wei Feng had regained his senses. He said in a calm tone, "Awake?"
"..." Wei Feng recalled the conversation between the two of them just now, wondering how much Jiang Gu had seen, and his body stiffened even more.
The mud lying in Jiang Gu's palm transformed into a three- or four-year-old child. Wei Feng raised his head, his innocent and clear eyes staring straight at him, and obediently called out, "Thank you, Master, for saving me."
Although he felt his death was not far off.
Jiang Gu smiled slightly.
Sweating profusely, Wei Feng swallowed the last of his spiritual energy. Just as he was about to speak, the illusion array around him completely dissipated, followed by a wail.
"My money! My treasures! My spirit stones—" Chan Lin knelt on the ground, frantically clutching his hair, his eyes glazed over, tears streaming down his face. "How could you take my money? My money is my life!"
"Your money is still here." Feng Wuyou sighed, grabbed his collar and dragged him over. Seeing Jiang Gu and Wei Feng, she asked in confusion, "Hasn't Yu Sanlang come out yet?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yu Sanlang, covered in blood, fell out of the void. Feng Wuyou quickly stepped forward to help him up. Yu Sanlang looked at them with lingering fear and suddenly felt that the people who had kidnapped him were not so scary after all.
"You didn't see your vine demon master in the formation, did you?" Feng Wuyou guessed.
Yu Sanlang nodded weakly and said, "I still can't see his face clearly. He killed me again in the illusion... No, I have to leave here. He will definitely find me!"
He turned to run, but his primordial spirit was tightly bound by the Fire Rope.
"Calm down," Jiang Gu said, glancing at him.
Tamasaburo stared intently at him for a long while before collapsing to the ground in despair.
After being interrupted by the others, Jiang Gu didn't press further about Yao Yan. Wei Feng, however, felt extremely uneasy. He had already convinced himself that he had a grudge against Yao Yan, since being thrown down to undergo tribulation was definitely related to Yao Yan. But in this memory, Yao Yan had helped him, and he even felt very close to Yao Yan...
The worst part is that his master saw it. He didn't know anything about what had happened in the upper realm, so he was now completely unable to defend himself.
He instinctively wanted to apologize and beg for forgiveness from Jiang Gu, but he forced himself to calm down. His first encounter with his memories of the Upper Realm was through the memory bead given to him by Xiao Qingyan. He only looked at a little bit before stopping. Later, the bead mysteriously disappeared. In the initial memory, Yao Yan was only a hundred years old. Then, he saw a memory in the Mirror Flower Scroll, where Yao Yan was already ten thousand years old. Now, he saw his memories again in the illusion array of Vine Demon City, and in this memory, Yao Yan was clearly much younger than in the Mirror Flower Scroll…
If Xiao Qingyan's initial memory was from before he was suppressed, then why were his memories also present in the Mirror Flower Scroll and the illusion array of Vine Demon City? And who placed these memories there?
Wei Feng's expression was somewhat solemn. He vaguely sensed something, but it was as if he couldn't make it out clearly in the clouds. Moreover, he had a premonition that he would find more and more "memories" from before the Upper Realm, and these memories should all be related to Yao Yan.
Yao Yan...
Wei Feng's face grew increasingly grim. He couldn't accept the idea of a third person appearing between him and Jiang Gu, but the closeness he felt towards Yao Yan when he looked through his memories terrified him. He didn't need anyone other than Jiang Gu.
Jiang Gu was talking to Feng Wuyou and Yu Sanlang when he noticed that Wei Feng was not moving. He turned around and glanced at him, only to see that Wei Feng had changed into a white dress, pulled down his ponytail and tied it messily behind his head, and removed all his gold and jade ornaments. He had red eyes and didn't know what he was thinking. When he saw Jiang Gu looking over, he lowered his eyes in a panic.
“…Come here.” Jiang Gu frowned.
Wei Feng walked up to him uneasily. Jiang Gu reached out and pinched his bleeding earlobe, casting a small healing spell, and asked, "Why did you suddenly change your clothes?"
"Red clothes don't look good." Wei Feng pursed his lips. "Too many accessories are cumbersome. I don't like them."
He was dressed in plain clothes with wide sleeves, his hair was messy, and his drooping eyes were red. He looked dejected, as if he were a widow. His thoughts were written all over his face. Jiang Gu sighed almost imperceptibly: "The authenticity of these memories is still up for debate."
Wei Feng looked at him with teary eyes.
"...I am not a jealous person." Jiang Gu paused slightly, but his voice couldn't help but turn cold. "Even if you really do have a Daoist partner in the Upper Realm—"
Wei Feng was stunned upon hearing this. At most, he could only think that he might have feelings for Yao Yan unilaterally, or that he might be entangled with Yao Yan. That would have been enough to make him collapse. Who knew that Jiang Gu would directly say that he and Yao Yan might be Daoist partners.
However, before he could recover, Jiang Gu's next sentence stunned him completely: "It doesn't matter."
It's alright?!
What do you mean by "it doesn't matter"?
Wei Feng sensed an unprecedented killing intent emanating from Jiang Gu. He swallowed hard. "Master means..."
"I'll handle it," Jiang Gu said calmly. "You don't need to worry about this."
Wei Feng hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.
"Reluctant to part with it?" Jiang Gu narrowed his eyes.
Wei Feng quickly shook his head and dryly explained, "Master, I don't like Yao Yan. You are the only one in my heart. Besides, Yao Yan and I will definitely not be Daoist partners."
Jiang Gu asked, "Why?"
“He is a noble immortal lord, how could he possibly become a Daoist partner with a lump of mud?” Wei Feng looked at him pitifully. “Even if he’s out of his mind, his parents and those immortals would definitely not agree. It’s simply impossible.”
"..." Jiang Gu fell silent.
Wei Feng had never been so proud of being a lump of mud, and he breathed a huge sigh of relief: "Master, no god would like a lump of dirty mud."
Jiang Gu looked at him expressionlessly.
“Only Master has the discerning eye to recognize talent.” Wei Feng looked at him expectantly and whispered, “Only Master would care about me. I would never like that Yao Yan, even if it meant my death. This must be a conspiracy by someone to sow discord between us. There are no coincidences. Master, maybe someone is deliberately leading us astray.”
Jiang Gu looked at him with some surprise: "You actually had your brain ripped out by lightning?"
Wei Feng stared at him resentfully.
"Change back into your clothes." Jiang Gu looked coldly at the towering vine umbrella in the center of the city.
He wanted to see who was behind this.
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