TDFM Chapter 123

Awakening

In the practice of Dao techniques, each person’s progress differed.

Yun Qing had been the first to master the Tianyan Shape-Shifting Technique, Ci Li followed shortly after, while Fu Xue and Cheng Suiyan’s speed was somewhat slower.

But Yun Qing had feared alerting the enemy and giving Qiguang Zi time to prepare for defense, so the group had discussed acting together, with those who learned faster waiting for those who learned slower.

This had put great pressure on Fu Xue and Cheng Suiyan. The two had feared that their delays would prevent the others from surviving as well, so they had studied with unprecedented focus.

The prison cell had already become as hot as a furnace. If ordinary people had been there, they would have died long ago. All of their lips had developed a layer of white, wrinkled skin like shed snake scales.

Finally, finally, Fu Xue had cultivated a pair of protruding ears, and Cheng Suiyan had cultivated two sausage-like lips. Seeing this, the other three had been moved by the sight. As appearance followed the heart, they too had each changed their faces.

Ci Li had changed to a pair of slightly seductive cat eyes. Yun Qing had drawn inspiration from Master Suibin’s body – she had cultivated a large blue birthmark on the left half of her face. Turning to look at Jiang Baiyu, she saw he had cultivated a red lotus-shaped birthmark on the right half of his face, which had actually looked quite attractive.

The world had begun to shatter.

It had been like a massive crystal suddenly exploding into countless thousands of pieces, then vanishing into nothingness in an instant. Countless points of light had converged, and darkness had fallen before their eyes.

Yun Qing had suddenly opened her eyes.

The winter night wind had blown against her cheeks. Half a moon hung in the sky with ten thousand bright stars, and below were the lights of a thousand homes, an icy river, and wine still remaining in cups.

They had still been sitting on the roof of the drum tower, with the scattered voices of pedestrians’ conversations drifting up from the streets below.

“Senior Sister!” Fu Xue had suddenly grabbed Yun Qing’s hand, saying anxiously, “I had a strange dream!”

The sky had suddenly changed.

Under the clear starlight, a thin cloud had appeared from nowhere, with the moon hiding behind it, casting a hazy red glow.

This thin cloud had quickly swum toward the direction of the drum tower, arriving before their eyes in an instant. Overwhelming pressure had struck them, and Yun Qing had immediately felt chest tightness. The tragic experiences in Shenle Valley had reappeared in her mind, and her expression had grown somber.

Drawing closer, Yun Qing had been able to clearly see a person standing gracefully on the cloud.

This person had worn white robes with a tall cap and broad sash, standing upright like a pine tree, extremely elegant.

He had looked down at Yun Qing and smiled, saying, “Little one, the game ends here.”

This had been the first time in Yun Qing’s life that she had directly encountered an immortal. Although she had felt very uncomfortable being pressed by his overwhelming presence at that moment, she had known that perhaps Qiguang Zi had not intentionally used immortal power to oppress them. What they had been experiencing was merely his unconscious action.

Everything had been simply because the difference in their strength had been too great. It had been like a person walking on a road whose sleeve had unintentionally stirred up a breeze, knocking ants from tree leaves to the ground.

How could a person deliberately target ants?

Seeing that the visitor had not come with good intentions, Yun Qing had worn a serious expression as she had removed the “Neat Family” bracelet from her wrist.

Although she had been painstakingly searching for Qiguang Zi all along, given the current situation, it had been better for everyone to maintain distance before negotiating.

She had thrown the “Neat Family” bracelet into the air and had just been about to speak when she had suddenly discovered she could not make a sound.

No, not only could she not speak, she also could not move.

Shock had swept through her heart like raging waves. She had stared wide-eyed, feeling as if her entire being was floating up.

Jiang Baiyu had seen that after Yun Qing had thrown out the magical treasure, she had actually stood still in a daze with wide eyes, and then the “Neat Family” bracelet had fallen from the air. He had caught it in one motion.

He had felt something was very wrong. Throwing the bracelet to Ci Li, he had formed the Yin-Yang Incantation and activated his Yin-Yang Eyes.

After Ci Li had caught the “Neat Family” bracelet, he had thrown it into the air and had begun reciting the incantation in a low voice.

This magical treasure had a special function. Yun Qing had long ago shared the incantation with everyone, preparing for certain situations like this moment – when she had lost the ability to control the magical treasure, at least others would still have had a chance to escape.

Not mentioning Ci Li who had been controlling the magical treasure, only speaking of Jiang Baiyu at that moment. After opening his Yin-Yang Eyes, he had actually seen that Yun Qing’s soul was being forcibly extracted from her body!

And her soul had been completely different from ordinary living souls – its surface had blazed with a faint golden light!

Jiang Baiyu had been full of shock, watching her soul leave her body and float into the air.

In mid-air, not far from Qiguang Zi, a crystal lens had appeared at some unknown time, emanating a faint glow under the moonlight. Yun Qing’s soul had floated directly below the crystal lens and had stopped, with about two zhang distance between her head and the lens.

At the same time, the layer of golden light on her living soul’s surface had been rapidly converging toward the top of her head, and her expression had been extremely painful.

At that moment, Yun Qing had felt as if her skin was being forcibly flayed off. That kind of pain deep in her soul had made her unable to control her twisted expression.

She had wanted to struggle, to cry out, but she had been unable to move or make a sound. Her soul had been imprisoned by something, and she had been able to do nothing but tremble.

The golden light had finally converged at the center of her living soul’s brow, at the location where the red mole was situated. It had emitted extremely bright light in the night sky, like a dazzling guest star.

The pedestrians on the street had remained completely unaware, still talking and laughing.

Qiguang Zi had looked at the golden light and had smiled slightly.

At the same time, the incantation for the “Neat Family” bracelet had been completed, white mist had been gathering and converging, about to take away everyone on the rooftop.

Qiguang Zi had seemed unconcerned about their destination. Yes, humans ultimately did not care about ants.

His gaze had been completely focused on the golden light at Yun Qing’s brow. He had slightly bent his finger and had hooked it toward the golden light.

But just then, an unexpected change had occurred!

At some unknown time, a small flag had appeared in Jiang Baiyu’s hand – one side green, one side red. Even more unknown was when he had finished reciting the incantation, as a green ghost shadow had rapidly formed on the flag’s surface.

Jiang Baiyu had used all his lifetime cultivation. This ghost shadow had been much faster than the one Mingxuan Zi had summoned that day. As soon as it had appeared, it had instantly expanded into a giant, and the ghost shadow’s black right hand had quickly pressed down on top of Yun Qing’s soul!

When the black hand had touched the golden light, it had been burned, and the palm had directly melted into a puff of smoke!

The green ghost’s expression had seemed to be struggling and roaring. Jiang Baiyu had shown a frosty expression with fresh blood at the corner of his mouth, but his eyes had been unusually bright. He had endured the backlash, gritting his teeth and stubbornly controlling the green ghost to persist in pressing down on Yun Qing’s soul.

The green ghost had been burned and had exploded into a large mass of green smoke! It had seemed like an additional thin green cloud had appeared in mid-air. Jiang Baiyu had felt his vision darken, his qi sea had shaken, and he had spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood with a “poof.”

And Yun Qing’s soul had finally plummeted rapidly, returning to her body together with that mass of golden light!

Like a leaf that had been forced to drift in the wind finally landing on the ground, Yun Qing’s feeling of having her soul imprisoned had disappeared, the severe pain of her skin being flayed had also disappeared, and her heart had felt incomparably solid and relaxed.

At the same time, from the depths of her mind had seemed to come the distant sigh of a woman. She had been in the moment of her soul returning to her body, and her current sensation had been very much like the instant of transitioning between dream and reality. This lifetime’s sigh had been like an illusion.

Everything had happened in an instant. Qiguang Zi had somewhat unexpectedly raised an eyebrow, and had just been about to kill this annoying ant when the white mist of the “Neat Family” bracelet had finally converged, taking the five people away from the rooftop.

“Tsk, not bad luck.”

****

Just at the moment of teleportation, all five had tacitly used the Tianyan Shape-Shifting Technique to change their appearances.

Now they had changed their true selves. If Qiguang Zi had wanted to pull them into dreams again, he would have had to see them anew.

Yun Qing and the others had finally been transported to the outskirts of the capital, and when they had landed, the five had looked at each other and had unanimously wanted to laugh.

This time Fu Xue had also learned from her senior sister’s example and had changed a birthmark on her face. Obviously, Cheng Suiyan and Ci Li had had the same idea.

So now there had been five faces with different birthmarks wandering in the wilderness late at night. If any passersby had seen them, they probably would have suspected it was some kind of ghostly gathering.

Fu Xue had taken out cosmetic powder to distribute to everyone, saying, “Let’s cover them up, so we don’t scare children.”

Yun Qing had taken the cosmetic powder thoughtfully, musing to herself, “If we cover our birthmarks, when Qiguang Zi sees us again, will he still be able to see our ‘truth’? Will he still be able to pull me into dreams?”

“Generally, immortals cultivate a pair of Dharma Eyes. These Dharma Eyes, when looking at mortals, can penetrate falsehood. Using cosmetic powder to cover birthmarks would be useless against him.”

Yun Qing nodded, saying, “That makes sense.”

Fu Xue asked in confusion, “What ‘makes sense’? Senior Sister, who are you talking to?”

“Weren’t you just speaking?” Yun Qing had been startled, then continued, “No, that’s not right. Her voice was different from yours.”

“What? Who?” Fu Xue looked around. It had been late at night in the wilderness, with cold wind passing through the black forest, making sounds like wailing ghosts. She had shivered and said, “Senior Sister, don’t scare me!”

Yun Qing put her hands on her hips and had looked around, not detecting anyone nearby. So she asked, “Hey, who was just speaking?”

“I was.” That voice had sounded again.

Yun Qing looked at the others and asked, “You heard that this time, right?”

All four others had shaken their heads. Jiang Baiyu looked at her thoughtfully, stroking his chin.

Cheng Suiyan, with a large black birthmark, looked at her with concern and had said, “Yun Qing, have you been stimulated and are having hallucinations?”

People who had been stimulated could indeed possibly hear some inexplicable voices, commonly called hysteria.

Yun Qing had been somewhat uncertain. She had tried asking again, “Where are you? Can you come out to meet?”

“I can’t come out. I’m inside your body.”

Yun Qing had been directly stunned. “Inside my body?”

“Yes.”

“Then who exactly are you? How can you be inside my body?”

That person had been silent for a long time, then sighed and said, “My name is Xi.”