Here She Comes (Two Chapters Combined)

After sensing the dissipation of someone's Source Qi fluctuations,

Ran Qingmo removed her hand from Xu Yuan's mouth, looked at him, and asked softly:

Why is she contacting you like this? This is the seventh time.

Xu Yuan's expression also showed a strange look, and he gently shook his head:

"I'm not sure, maybe she's going to place anchor points on her body, since that's what she came to me for in the first place."

"Oh"

Ran Qingmo's eyes flickered, unsure whether he believed her or not, but he remained silent.

At this time,

The voice of the Saint's Remnant Soul, quite adept at navigating social situations, echoed in Xu Yuan's mind, tinged with mockery:

"Heh kid, are you sure that girl just set up an anchor point? It's been almost ten days."

Xu Yuan glanced at the other person on his index finger and thought to himself:

"Otherwise what?"

The Saint's Remnant Soul laughed:

"Didn't you bully them using a method that doesn't require cultivation? Judging from your description just now, you guys seemed to have stayed in the illusion for quite a while."

Xu Yuan lowered his eyes slightly, remained silent for a moment, and then gently shook his head:

"It 'Yellow Millet Dream."

The Saint's Remnant Soul carries a slightly deeper meaning:

"As long as you're human, you can't escape the influence of emotions. Your dream lasted so long, it must have been unforgettable."

Xu Yuan shook his head. "Even if it lasts a long time, it's still just a dream. Old Man Luo, you'll fall in love with the person in your dream?"

The Saint's Remnant Soul chuckled softly, "Since becoming a soul, I have never had a dream, and I have long forgotten what it feels like."

"Quicksand Between Fingers"

"Um?"

"I said, things in dreams are like sand slipping through your fingers." Xu Yuan looked in the direction where the fluctuations of Source Qi disappeared.

The Saint's Remnant Soul observed Xu Yuan for a few breaths, then fell silent.

Xu Yuan didn't say anything more, and walked forward on foot, thinking about the memories in his dream.

It's all a dream. When you first wake up, the scenes and emotions from the dream linger in your mind, making you think it's real. But as time goes by, those memories and emotions from the dream fade quickly.

These memories, however, slip through my fingers like sand.

The more you recall them, the faster they fade away.

In reality, few people can remember the specific events that happened on a certain day a few years ago, let alone in a dreamlike illusion. Xu Yuan had almost completely forgotten the beginning of the illusion, and even the latter half of the illusion only had some fragmented memories left.

Thinking it over, Xu Yuan slowly raised one hand.

A subtle surge of Source Qi.

A Blood-Colored Spiral Bone Drill, about the thickness of a toothpick, appeared in his palm, transforming into a stream of blood-red light that rapidly traversed between his palm and fingertips.

Like an arm directing its fingers.

After a few breaths, he took a deep breath, clenched his fist, and the Spiral Bone Drill instantly transformed into a streak of blood-red Source Qi that dissipated into the air.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan lowered his eyes.

Unrelated to memory, some physical habits did remain.

After walking silently for a distance, Xu Yuan suddenly looked up at the spot where the girl's Tianyan Source Qi had dissipated, his expression slightly complicated.

He could roughly guess why Tianyan was so angry.

Although most of the memories are hazy and only vague impressions remain, the events of the final moments of the illusion are still quite clear.

After reenacting the scene of the destruction of the Qionghua Sect, he and Tianyan suddenly appeared in front of the mansion on the hillside where they had met before.

That was the residence he and Tianyan had stayed at in the Qionghua Sect.

The wind rustled through the grass, creating ripples in the wheat fields. Yuchu stood under the peach tree outside the courtyard, waiting for them.

Xu Yuan couldn't remember Yuchu's appearance clearly, only that she was a woman with a smile as radiant as peach blossoms.

She was quite at ease with her impending death, even looking forward to it.

In front of that familiar courtyard, Yuchu answered many of their questions.

She explained everything about the illusion to them in detail, including that once they left the illusion, the memories within it would disappear.

Standing beneath the blooming peach tree, Yuchu gazed at the two with a gentle smile on her lips:

"You'll probably forget what happened in the illusion, like a beautiful dream."

Beautiful Dream

It was indeed a beautiful dream.

His thoughts wandered, Xu Yuan's lips curled into a slight smile, but he quickly sighed again.

In the very end, when he asked Yuchu to trap Tianyan in the illusion, she, as he had expected, flew into a rage.

It's the kind of outburst where someone is extremely angry.

Looking back now, Xu Yuan thinks that she probably would have considered it a betrayal back then.

Thinking of this, Xu Yuan sighed and shook his head.

Ha, you can completely remove the "probably" part; that kind of behavior was betrayal back then.

A blatant betrayal.

According to memory,

At the end of the illusion, even he himself emotionally felt that it was a betrayal, and he was extremely unwilling to do such a thing.

But reason led him to do it.

This is thanks to the girlfriends I had in my previous life, from junior high school to the years before I transmigrated.

Xu Yuan has always been very rational when it comes to love.

He doesn't really believe in the idea of one person, one lifetime, or one couple.

Therefore, Xu Yuan did not regret his decision to run away; in fact, he was somewhat glad that he had not been swayed by those "illusory" feelings.

Because now, four days later, the joy, sorrow, pity, and other emotions in the illusion have almost completely vanished like sand slipping through one's fingers.

Yuchu did not lie to him.

This was indeed a beautiful dream.

But now the dream is over, and it's all time to end it all.

As the sun set, the blood-red sunset painted the snow-covered forest with vibrant colors.

A Iron-Hide Porcupine strolled leisurely through the snowy forest, leaving a trail of tiny footprints in the snow behind it.

"Bang!"

Suddenly, a faint sound of footsteps echoed from a grove of trees in the distance.

Before the sound arrived, the dark figure had already swept past.

With a flick of her sword, the woman, dressed in black, sent a half-zhang-long Iron-Hide Porcupine crashing to the ground.

Upon seeing this, Xu Yuan slowly walked out from a distance.

The Iron-skinned Wild Boar wasn't particularly strong; it was a sixth-rank Demon Beast, yet Xu Yuan was now able to kill it despite being of a higher rank.

However, just to be on the safe side, he refrained from doing so, even though he was itching to test his current strength.

He needed to use his Source Qi to make a move, but Ran Qingmo didn't.

Although Source Qi shockwaves caused by a seventh-rank cultivator using their full power weren't significant, who knows if Tianyan, that woman, would follow the Source Qi here?

Upon arriving at the "crime scene," Xu Yuan glanced down at it.

The Iron-Hide Porcupine is dead. Although Ran Qingmo used the butt of his sword, he still managed to smash the porcupine's skull.

Before any blood could seep out, Xu Yuan immediately put it back into his storage ring.

This is a lesson learned in blood.

For some reason, the number of Demon Beast in this area of the Wanxing Mountain Range has been frighteningly high these days.

If blood is spilled, other demonic Demon Beast will quickly track them down.

Xu Yuan was initially unaware of this. After slaughtering a Thunder-Wing Wolf at the cave entrance, he started a fire and roasted the meat on the spot, only to be quickly chased down by other Demon Beast.

However, there was no panic at the time, since Ran Qingmo and Old Man Luo were nearby, and they could just kill as many Demon Beast as they came.

But as time went by, the situation at the cave entrance became increasingly strange.

The more Demon Beast they fought, the more there seemed to be.

Finally, hundreds of various Demon Beast gathered and surrounded them. In the end, it was only through Ran Qingmo's risky use of his Source Qi that the two of them managed to escape from the horde of Demon Beast.

After the hunt, the two returned one after the other to the cave they had carved out with their swords.

After placing a special Xun Herb at the cave entrance to prevent the smell of blood from dissipating, Xu Yuan began processing the ingredients, while Ran Qingmo sat quietly to the side watching him, since cultivation also generates fluctuations in Source Qi.

While preparing the ingredients, Xu Yuan said in a low voice:

"We should be able to leave in about two or three days."

As the days passed by as he and Ran Qingmo wandered through the Wanxing Mountain Range, the number of times he could sense the fluctuations of the Tianyan Source Qi became less and less frequent.

From the initial seven times every three days, to once every two days now.

The Wanxing Mountain Range are too vast.

In the first few days, the area Tianyan was searching for was relatively small. However, as time passed and Xu Yuan and Ran Qingmo gradually moved away from the teleportation array exit, the area Tianyan was searching for naturally expanded.

He and the Big Ice Block should be getting close to the tracking range of that washboard saintess.

"Oh," she replied, as brief as ever.

Xu Yuan was used to the other person's taciturn nature, and while applying the sauce, he muttered to himself:

"This Wanxing Mountain Range is strange. Why are there so many Demon Beast around here? I didn't see so many Demon Beast last time I came."

Ran Qingmo thought for a moment, then shook her head:

"Hmm, I don't know either."

Xu Yuan glanced at her with amusement and said:

"I didn't ask you."

"Then who are you asking?"

"." Xu Yuan.

"Just saying."

Xu Yuan coughed lightly, and while Clear Speech was skinning the wild boar, he said in a low voice, "I remember you had a map of the Wanxing Mountain Range before?"

"It used to be," Ran Qingmo said.

"And now?" Xu Yuan vaguely sensed something.

"Throw it away."

Why throw it away?

"Because my bag can't hold it all." Ran Qingmo glanced at him with a slightly puzzled look.

Xu Yuan sighed, silently peeled off the entire skin and placed it aside, then made his decision:

"After we travel another half-mile northwest to completely shake off Tianyan, we'll turn east and head back to Great Yan. There are so many Demon Beast around here; I wonder if Ancient Abyss is up to something again."

Ran Qingmo frowned slightly. "You suspect that someone in Ancient Abyss is trying to harm you again?"

Xu Yuan shook his head:

"Because of Ji Qingyue's matter, Xu Changge went to Ancient Abyss and killed the eldest princess of the Snake Demon Clan. He was able to return unscathed, so most of the old monsters in Ancient Abyss have probably compromised. Ancient Abyss shouldn't make a move against me in the short term. I'm afraid of being caught in the crossfire. This Wanxing Mountain Range can be considered half of Ancient Abyss's private territory."

"Oh." Ran Qingmo nodded, seemingly understanding, "Then what do you think it could be?"

Xu Yuan smiled slightly and shook his head:

"I don't know. We haven't seen any high-level Demon Beast yet; it's just a bunch of low-level Demon Beast wandering around here."

As he spoke,

Xu Yuan glanced out of the cave and sighed, "I wonder if some ruthless demon can come and force Tianyan to Tianyan. It's just a dream, is it really worth getting so angry?"

Upon hearing this, Ran Qingmo hesitated slightly and asked in a low voice:

"Um... Xu Yuan, could Tianyan have calculated our location?"

Xu Yuan shook his head. "No, she can't predict it. I am the Unpredictable One, so she can't predict me at all."

Ran Qingmo shook her head. "No, I meant she deduced my location."

Xu Yuan was taken aback, but quickly denied the question, saying:

"It's still unlikely. The Yantian Art can't deduce other people at will. Even just deducing someone's location requires a lot of preparation."

"Oh"

Ran Qingmo nodded, but then asked in a low voice, "Um... what happened in your dream?"

Xu Yuan looked up in surprise, only to meet her clear, deep eyes.

After a moment of silence, Xu Yuan smiled:

"It's nothing, I just lived with Tianyan in the illusion for over ten years."

"More than ten years?"

"Um."

"Oh."

After saying that, Ran Qingmo stopped talking and silently took out his Black Sword.

Just as Xu Yuan...

"Buzz--"

The sword suddenly unsheathed and danced in the air in a dazzling display of swordplay. Ran Qingmo placed the sword on her lap, lowered her eyes, and quietly and meticulously wiped and maintained it.

"."

Xu Yuan stared at her with her eyes lowered for a few moments, but after not discerning any emotion from her, he gently shook his head.

Swords need maintenance, so it's normal for Ran Qingmo to do this.

In silence, time slipped away, little by little.

The aroma of meat gradually filled the cave, accompanied by sizzling sounds as chunks of marbled porcupine meat roasted over the campfire, their fat and lean meat oozing with oil.

Although one's cultivation level is high enough in the illusion that one doesn't need to eat, what's the difference between life without ritual and that of the dead?

Having spent over a decade fleeing from illusions, mostly in desolate wilderness, Xu Yuan's skills in preparing Demon Beast and wild game have improved dramatically.

Ran Qingmo subconsciously stopped wiping the sword blade, her beautiful eyes fixed on the roasted meat, and she gently pursed her red lips.

In the month or so since he left Jingjiang City, he has also transformed this Big Ice Block.

You don't have to eat it, but it's unnecessary.

Xu Yuan took out a little seasoning from his Sumeru Ring and sprinkled it on the splattering pieces of meat. After briefly turning them over, he took out a skewer and handed it to the eagerly waiting Big Ice Block.

"Come."

"."

Ran Qingmo blinked, silently took the bamboo skewer, held it in one hand and held it below with the other, blew on it a couple of times, and then, under Xu Yuan's gaze, opened her small mouth and began to eat it in small bites.

His mouth was covered in oil.

Xu Yuan casually handed her a handkerchief and said softly with a smile, "Eat slowly."

"Good"

Ran Qingmo wiped the oil stains off her red lips, adding a touch of softness to her otherwise aloof and untouched face. She reached out to take it, but found that both her hands were covered in oil, and hesitated as she looked at the handkerchief.

Xu Yuan smiled slightly:

"I'll help you."

Under her serene gaze, he naturally reached out and wiped the grease from the corner of her mouth.

During the eye contact,

A pleasant, smiling female voice came from beside them:

"You seem to be enjoying your meal. I'd like to eat some too."

"Buzz--"

Before the words were finished,

A blade of cold light flashed past Xu Yuan without warning, and he swung his sword in the direction from which the sound came.

"Certainly."

After saying that,

The blade froze in place.

The cave was completely silent except for the crackling of the campfire.

Xu Yuan only then realized what had happened and turned his head to look.

All I saw was...

In the flickering firelight,

A stunningly beautiful barefoot girl stood quietly beside him, looking down at him.

It's a bit late, two-in-one

My head is spinning today, so I'm a little late.