What illusion?

Li Xinyi warned Li Chu, then began setting up talismans in the courtyard.

The sky in the distance was darkening, just as the last ray of sunset was falling.

She took out a yellow talisman written in cinnabar from her waist pouch, held it between two fingers, and tossed it forward. The talisman flew out with a rustle and, as if alive, stuck firmly to a section of the wall.

That wasn't all. She took out a small sword carved from jade, about a finger long, exquisitely made and crystal clear. It looked like it would fetch a good price even if sold as jewelry.

But Li Xinyi felt no heartache. With a flick of her finger, a green light flashed, and the small sword embedded itself into the yellow talisman.

Then, she took out a new yellow talisman and repeated the process.

Li Chu watched from the side. Although he didn't understand what she was doing, he felt it was very impressive.

This was something he envied greatly.

The world of these orthodox cultivators was filled with talismans, magic treasures, elixirs, divine abilities... all sorts of incredibly wondrous and dazzling things.

He, however, had never encountered any of them.

After all, he didn't get equipment drops from fighting monsters himself, and his Master... never cared about these tangential aspects of the Great Dao!

Li Xinyi walked slowly around the courtyard, casting a talisman and pinning it with a jade sword every three steps. After eighteen repetitions, she finally completed a full circle around the small courtyard.

She let out a long sigh, a fine sheen of sweat appearing on her forehead.

Before Li Chu could ask, she walked over and said, "Do you know what I've set up?"

"It's the Sword Activation Talisman Array!" Before Li Chu could answer, she provided the answer herself.

Li Chu smiled. He understood. He didn't need to speak; this Miss Li would explain everything he was curious about.

As expected, Li Xinyi continued on her own, "These spirit talismans were taken from the Facing Heaven Pavilion's storeroom, specifically for dealing with ghosts. They're pinned with the Azure Talisman Sword, a magic treasure produced by the Dan Ding Pavilion. When the time comes, each talisman will unleash a strand of my sword energy. This technique is called the Sword Activation Talisman."

"And eighteen Sword Activation Talismans arranged in a nine-palace formation, both forward and reverse, form a relatively basic Sword Activation Talisman Array. Heh heh, dealing with a mere vengeful spirit will be a piece of cake."

Li Xinyi wore a smile that said, "I've finished showing off, praise me now."

Li Chu nodded opposite her, sighing inwardly. This was what professionalism looked like.

In contrast, his methods for exorcising evil felt very crude.

As Li Xinyi finished setting up her array, the sunset completed its final descent. Her timing was incredibly precise.

A faint white crescent moon appeared. In reality, it had been hanging in the sky for a long time, but its color was too pale to be easily noticed.

The two lit lamps and waited quietly.

Li Xinyi suddenly asked again, "Young Daoist, are you scared?"

Li Chu gently shook his head.

"Why? That's a Vengeful Spirit." Li Xinyi pressed.

"Yeah, isn't it a Vengeful Spirit?" Li Chu countered.

The two seemed to say similar things, yet they were vastly different.

A barely perceptible confusion flashed across Li Xinyi's face.

Li Chu's expression was always serious, making it hard for her to tell if he was faking it or being genuine.

But if someone asks you if you're scared, it usually means they're already scared themselves.

Li Xinyi knew herself best.

This was actually her first time performing an exorcism alone.

She had always followed her Master and elders. Her cultivation had recently broken through, so she tugged on her Master's sleeve and begged for this chance to act independently.

As for why she was so eager to perform an exorcism alone?

Because a certain Sage Lu once said, fame waits for no one!

Following behind her Master and elders, no matter how powerful the evil spirit they eliminated, the credit and fame would always go to the leader.

Only by acting independently would all achievements be credited to herself.

She was actually not yet twenty this year. If she became famous now, the martial world would call her a heroine, a fairy. With her charm, she would attract countless followers wherever she went.

If she became famous when she was forty or fifty, like her Master, what would people call her? A nun!

Li Xinyi quickly shook her head, casting away the absurd fantasy.

Suddenly, Li Chu's gaze sharpened as he looked towards a dark, unknown place outside the door.

Li Xinyi was about to ask when she also sensed something was wrong.

There was Yin Qi in the wind!

The thing they were waiting for had arrived.

Childlike voices suddenly drifted from all around, like children laughing, like Silver Bells, everywhere, crisp, ethereal, yet with a hint of eeriness.

"Be careful."

Li Xinyi had just said this when she heard the voice change, suddenly singing a Ballad.

"Brother killed me."

"Mother, kill him."

"Father, kill Mother."

"I'll kill Father."

This ballad drifted eerily in the wind, yet was incredibly clear, as if it had its own echo, ringing out again and again.

"Brother, kill me."

"Mother, kill him."

"Father, kill Mother."

"I'll kill Father."

As the ballad entered her ears, the scene before Li Xinyi's eyes suddenly changed. Her body rapidly shrank, becoming a three or four-year-old little girl.

Still in this room, the surrounding scenery transformed, becoming instantly vivid.

She saw her Mother—a woman whose back had stooped prematurely despite her young age.

Mother was pressing her head, urging her to call out "Father."

But she remembered she had a father.

It was just that Father had been put into a black box and buried in the earth.

Mother couldn't go on living with her, so she had to find her a New Father.

New Father also brought along a Brother, who always had a wicked grin on his face.

She thought New Father would be like her previous Father.

Protecting her, protecting Mother.

But reality made her afraid.

When he got drunk, he would hit Mother, hitting her hard.

Brother would also imitate him.

Just like he hit Mother, he would hit herself hard.

Mother taught her to endure, so she obediently endured.

For a long time, they always bore scars.

Until one day, Brother suddenly stopped hitting her.

He wanted to take off her clothes.

Mother could no longer stand it and pounced on Brother, hitting him.

Of course, Father, who returned that evening, also severely beat Mother.

Later, one day, Brother apologized to her.

He also took her to the market and bought a length of red silk.

Other little girls had red hair ties, and she had always envied them.

Now she had one too, and she was very happy.

She decided to forgive Brother.

Brother took her to the hillside and tied her hair for her.

So she obediently sat on the hillside.

Then, Brother pushed her down.

She rolled down the hillside; it hurt a lot.

After that, her vision went black.

For some reason, she suddenly became this ethereal existence.

She saw Mother searching for her all over the village, like a madwoman.

She heard Mother calling her name.

She answered, but Mother couldn't hear.

Mother finally found out.

She had gone out with Brother and hadn't returned.

Mother said nothing.

She silently poured a packet of Rat Poison into the soup.

Brother was poisoned to death.

Father was very angry; that was his own son.

He then beat Mother hard.

Mother was beaten to death by him like this.

She was very angry.

She was still very young, she didn't understand.

Why is this world like this?

She had always been well-behaved. Why was she pushed down the mountain by someone?

Why was such a good Mother beaten to death alive by someone?

Then she appeared and easily killed Father.

Only then did she realize that she was now very powerful.

She realized she didn't have to endure anymore.

"Ah!"

Li Xinyi suddenly woke up from the illusion, realizing it was Li Chu who had pushed her shoulder.

Li Chu said, "Sorry, I saw something was wrong with you, so I pushed you."

"It's fine." Li Xinyi shook her head, as if waking from a deep dream, still breathing heavily, and murmured, "I... I just now..."

Li Chu said, "You had your eyes closed tightly, your face was flushed, you were trembling all over, and you kept calling me Father."

"..." Li Xinyi's face instantly turned redder by three degrees.

But she quickly looked up again, staring directly at Li Chu: "Why weren't you affected by her illusion?"

Vengeful Spirits could naturally use Resentful Qi to influence others and create illusions. Li Xinyi knew this and had been careful.

She just didn't expect that although this Vengeful Spirit had died not long ago, its cultivation was quite high. It hid the illusion technique within the ballad, making it impossible to guard against.

But... why did she fall for it, while Li Chu was like nothing happened?

He even calmly woke her up.

How could he?

Li Xinyi's gaze was full of confusion.

Under her gaze, Li Chu paused for a second, then slowly retorted, "Illusion... what illusion?"

After speaking, he finally started to become alert. He raised his eyes, turned his head, and observed his surroundings cautiously.

Very steady.

Watching him react so belatedly, Li Xinyi's head began to fill with question marks.

One, two, three, four...

Actually, based on her understanding of Illusion Techniques, she had already guessed two possibilities.

The first possibility...

Attacks using Illusion Techniques were like a flood overwhelming a mountain.

The Spiritual Sense of both parties was like water and mountain, respectively.

If your flood was enough to submerge my mountain, then I would naturally be immersed and at your mercy.

Sometimes, even if your water wasn't enough, it might still reach the mountainside. At that point, it would depend on whether I showed any flaws.

Perhaps if I wasn't careful, I'd be hit by your surging waves on the mountaintop, and would fall for the trick.

But...

If your splash was simply too small for me, like a child peeing at the foot of the mountain.

Then it was normal for me not to feel it.

But could Li Chu really be that mountain?

After some thought, Li Xinyi still felt the second possibility was more plausible.

That was... Li Chu was deaf.