Chapter 179: Why Don’t You Join In Too
Now no one needed to remind anyone else to be careful; all three had it figured out in their hearts.
Besides, there was no time for them to remind each other to be careful.
Because right after Ren Yaozhe declared the game over, light suddenly shone in the thick fog.
It was beams of light that could penetrate the thick fog, and not just one—there were so many from all directions that it was impossible to count how many there were.
These beams of light all pierced through the thick fog, shining on Xuan Xia and the other two like stars surrounding the moon.
The bright light was dazzling, making it impossible for anyone to open their eyes; all three narrowed their eyes and averted their gazes to different degrees at the same time.
It was this action of dodging the light that, in the next second, they suddenly found the beams had withdrawn, and at the same time, the thick fog thinned, making it possible to see the surrounding scenery clearly.
But the problem was, the scenery in view was no longer the courtyard of Changsheng Temple.
Instead, it was rows of stilted houses.
“This is…” Yan Wentao looked at the stilted houses ahead, covered in traces of age, and couldn’t help speaking up.
“Chu Miao Village.” Xuan Xia followed up, giving him the answer.
Yan Wentao quickly turned his head and saw Xuan Xia and Daoist Master Qin both beside him, immediately relaxing.
Everyone was there, all good.
Daoist Master Qin and Yan Wentao had never been to Chu Miao Village in person, but Xuan Xia had, so she recognized it at a glance.
The scene they were now in was Chu Miao Village in Miaoxiang, but the Chu Miao Village before their eyes was like an abandoned empty village, with even the stilted houses in dilapidated condition.
The atmosphere it exuded was one of utter death energy.
“The game Ren Yaozhe mentioned, could it be pulling us into Illusionary Scenery? Or Illusionary Scenery reappearing?” Xuan Xia asked Daoist Master Qin. “And that Nuoxi Master wearing the ghost mask—I clearly remember having taken it out back then, so why did it appear again just now?”
“It should be related to the curse Ren Yaozhe chanted.”
Daoist Master Qin repeated the last two lines: “What is Withered Revives, What is Extinguished is Reborn.”
Xuan Xia: “…”
After reciting it once, Xuan Xia deeply felt that Ren Yaozhe indeed had some skill.
But it was sinister skill.
“Right, what about Uncle Zhong and the others?” Xuan Xia suddenly remembered there were more people. “Could they have been pulled here too?”
Daoist Master Qin looked around at the dilapidated stilted houses and cautiously said, “Let’s check around, and at the same time, look for any Formation Eye.”
Ren Yaozhe had sounded so smug in his words, so the Formation Eye he had set up must surely be something unexpected.
Daoist Master Qin shared his guess with Xuan Xia and the others, telling them to pay extra attention while checking.
Yan Wentao looked troubled, frowning as he said, “I don’t know much about formations. Can anything at all be a Formation Eye?”
Xuan Xia chimed in, “Same here. I want to know too.”
Last time Qu Xingxuan set up a formation using stones and tree branches, but they were all carefully selected by him. If it were up to her to find stones and tree branches…
The latter would be easier to spot, but stones—there were just too many around, like finding a needle in a haystack.
“It’s not quite to the point where anything can be used, but indeed many things can be set as a Formation Eye.” Daoist Master Qin explained to them. “Besides, he said it’s something unexpected, so you don’t need to search with conventional thinking.”
No need for conventional thinking?
Xuan Xia looked around. “These stilted houses wouldn’t be the Formation Eye, would they?”
“Probably not.”
Xuan Xia’s first guess was denied by Daoist Master Qin.
“Let’s go take a look.” Daoist Master Qin said, taking the lead.
Yan Wentao glanced at Xuan Xia and said, “Boss, you walk in front, I’ll bring up the rear.”
This was the quality of an employee.
Xuan Xia didn’t refuse and directly followed Daoist Master Qin, with Yan Wentao close behind.
Many of the stilted houses were severely dilapidated, with some having collapsed wooden floors, so the three didn’t need to go up, just checking the situation from below.
While inspecting the small houses, they also had to watch for anything like a Formation Eye and be on guard against that Nuoxi Master Ghost Mask suddenly appearing, so they didn’t move fast.
By the time they had circled around, the three had found nothing.
Oh, not entirely without gains.
At least Xuan Xia and the others could now confirm that Uncle Zhong and his group of four weren’t in this Illusionary Scenery.
Their absence from the Illusionary Scenery was good news for the three.
“I’ve never seen Illusionary Scenery like this before.” Yan Wentao said with emotion.
While they were checking the small houses, Xuan Xia had already told them about her previous experience with this Illusionary Scenery.
But now they had circled around, and that ghost mask still hadn’t appeared.
It was really quite strange.
Yan Wentao was even more worried. “Are we going to be trapped like this forever?”
“Not necessarily. There’s always a way out, more methods than difficulties.” Xuan Xia was much more optimistic than him.
“Mm.” Daoist Master Qin agreed, endorsing Xuan Xia’s words.
Yan Wentao fell silent.
He was just pondering in his mind what method could break the current predicament.
The next second, he heard Daoist Master Qin say, “If we can’t find the Formation Eye, then let’s just Force Break it.”
Xuan Xia’s eyes lit up instantly.
Daoist Master Qin’s words matched her own thinking perfectly.
She mainly recalled the time in the mountain, where they also relied on Force Break to finally force out the old man controlling the Mirage Fiend and escape.
Now that they had no clues, they might as well continue with that approach.
“Then Force Break it!” As Xuan Xia said this, she was already raring to go.
Yan Wentao got interested too. “How do we Force Break?”
“That’s easy.”
Xuan Xia pointed at the small houses and said, “Just raze this place to the ground.”
Yan Wentao broke into a sweat hearing this and looked uncertainly at Daoist Master Qin to hear what he would say.
Unexpectedly, Daoist Master Qin agreed with Xuan Xia’s idea again.
“Then let’s start work.” Xuan Xia said, taking the lead in looking for a suitable tool.
Soon, she picked up a tree branch nearby with the perfect length and thickness.
Yan Wentao was rolling up the sleeves of his Daoist robe when he saw her return with a tree branch, still puzzled. Wasn’t it time to start work? What was a tree branch for?
But soon he saw its use.
He saw Xuan Xia quickly drawing talismans on the ground.
Under their feet was muddy ground, and drawing talismans on muddy ground was much easier than the wooden floor Xuan Xia had used before.
Yan Wentao saw her drawing not only Lightning Talismans but also Fire Talismans, continuing all the way to the front of a stilted house.
In an instant, he understood Xuan Xia’s plan.
“Boss, I’ll help you!” Yan Wentao quickly grabbed a stick from nearby and followed suit, overlapping Lightning Talismans and Fire Talismans as he drew toward the adjacent stilted house.
With the two busy drawing talismans, Daoist Master Qin became the one keeping watch.
Soon, the two finished their work.
Looking at the crisscrossing talismans on the ground, it was Yan Wentao’s first time doing something like this, and now he just wanted to know if this would really work.
Xuan Xia beside him shook the tree branch in her hand and said to Daoist Master Qin, “Daoist Master Qin, why don’t you join in too.”
