Warmth

"Seventh Sister, help!"

Dongfang Minghui's scream was so piercing that almost the instant she cried for help, Situ Hao instinctively grabbed her legs. Dongfang Wanyu seized his ankle, linking the three of them together as they were dragged a considerable distance.

Dongfang Minghui felt two icy things coil around her hands and drag her forward with all their might. The cave floor was rough and uneven, and she felt as though all her internal organs had been knocked out of place. The pain left her without even the strength to speak.

"I can't hold on!"

Situ Hao had grabbed her legs, only to discover that what he actually held were her boots. He was pulling them off little by little, and they were about to slip from his grasp.

"If you let go, I'll kill you."

With one hand gripping his ankle, Dongfang Wanyu lashed out with the long whip at her waist. Its other end passed over Situ Hao and hooked firmly onto Dongfang Minghui's belt.

Situ Hao broke into a cold sweat. If that hook had caught his head, he would have been done for. Her boots soon slipped out of his hands, but he lunged forward and grabbed her ankles tightly.

Whatever was pulling them moved incredibly fast. The three of them slammed into everything along the way, striking their heads one moment and their waists the next. Dongfang Minghui suddenly felt her belt being tugged down little by little.

"Seventh Sister, let go! Otherwise, we'll all get dragged inside." Dongfang Minghui wanted to die. Her clothes were about to fall open.

Dongfang Wanyu refused without hesitation. "No."

"Ah! Seventh Sister, my belt's been pulled loose!"

Dongfang Wanyu froze for a moment before realizing what she meant. She viciously pinched Situ Hao's ankle with the hand holding it and warned, "Close your eyes. If you dare peek, I'll gouge them out."

"A downward slope!"

The three of them took a sharp turn downward and suddenly hurtled forward.

Splash!

Splash!

Splash!

After one sharp turn, all three fell into the pool below. Its water was icy cold, with frosty vapor rising from it.

Dongfang Minghui swallowed a mouthful of icy water. When she surfaced, the other two had just emerged as well. She immediately covered her chest, mortified.

In those brief moments, she had lost her shoes, and apparently her belt as well. Now her clothes hung completely open, and even her inner garments had been scraped through in several places by the ground.

She could not have looked more bedraggled.

Dongfang Wanyu swam over, took off her own outer garment, and draped it over her.

"You're safe now."

With his back turned to them, Situ Hao did not know whether to laugh or cry. Spotting a raised stone platform in the middle of the pool, he called to them, "The water's rather cold. Let's rest up there for a while."

The three climbed onto the stone platform. Dongfang Minghui's hands and feet were covered in injuries. After being dragged across the ground for so long, her skin had been scraped raw everywhere. The wounds were not serious, but they looked pitiful.

Dongfang Wanyu took a set of clothes out of her storage space and handed it to her. "Just put these on."

Dongfang Minghui nodded, removed the outer garment, then slipped the clothes on and tied them shut.

"Your belt."

When the belt came loose, Dongfang Wanyu's Water-Thunder Whip hooked it away.

Seeing that both her hands were injured, Dongfang Wanyu simply crouched down on one knee and fastened the belt for her. "There."

The belt buckle was a little loose. Her whip had probably damaged it. Dongfang Wanyu thought she would pick out a better, sturdier one for her when they returned to Snow Capital.

"Thank you, Seventh Sister."

"Don't you find this strange? The entrance was so small, but there's a whole other world inside." Situ Hao noticed that ice flowers hung all over the cave ceiling. They were beautiful, and an opening high above allowed a shaft of sunlight to shine inside.

Dongfang Wanyu had naturally noticed as well. She fed Dongfang Minghui an antidote pill, then crushed another medicinal pill and used it to dress her wounds, her movements extremely gentle.

"Minghui, did you see what dragged you in here?"

Dongfang Minghui shook her head. "But I'm certain it wasn't a plant."

That thing had been icy cold. The moment it caught her hands, a shudder had run through her entire body. It was hundreds, if not thousands, of times colder than the pool.

"When we were being dragged in, the ground was damp. I felt plenty of water on it. Whatever dragged Ninth Sister here probably came from the pool," Dongfang Wanyu concluded.

All three immediately grew wary.

Dongfang Minghui's shoes were gone, leaving her small, fair feet exposed. They were now bright red from the cold. Dongfang Wanyu frowned at the sight and took a pair of shoes from her Spatial Ring. "Put these on."

To avoid any impropriety, Situ Hao had kept his back turned. Glancing around, he noticed numerous openings inside the cavern. "Look! There are so many caves here."

A careful count revealed fifteen caves hidden within the cavern. If each led somewhere different, that meant there were fifteen paths.

Dongfang Wanyu and Dongfang Minghui saw them too.

"Let's take a look."

The three decided to split into two groups to investigate the caves.

Unexpectedly, the moment they stood up, the stone platform began shaking violently.

Waves rose in the water. Two silver tails swept out of the pool, coiled around Dongfang Minghui's ankles once again, and immediately dragged her away.

Caught off guard, Dongfang Minghui was hoisted upside down. From up there, she could see everything clearly.

"Ah! This isn't a stone platform! It's that monster's back! Seventh Sister, save me!" Why the hell was she always the one getting hurt? Dongfang Minghui began to wonder whether she came with a built-in bad-luck skill.

Dongfang Wanyu had also noticed something amiss. This was clearly an aquatic monster, and an Ice Type one at that. "Situ Hao, hold it off for a moment."

Dongfang Wanyu lashed out with her Long Whip, channeling lightning into it. She swung its other end at the monster wrapped around Dongfang Wanyu's ankle.

Lightning struck the water with a crackling burst. The long tails in the pool instantly recoiled. Below, the water surged and churned like a boiling pot. Soon, a pointed head emerged, followed by a second...

"Get back! It's coming out!" Situ Hao shouted, retreating at top speed.

Goddammit, Dongfang Minghui thought. The Female Lead's Thunder-Type Spirit Power is so strong! That little shock had given her quite the tingling jolt, and her entire body was still weak.

Dongfang Wanyu caught her and carried her straight to a cave on the other side. "Stand here and don't move. Let me kill this monster first."

Dongfang Minghui wanted to leave through the cave they had entered, but on second thought, that did not seem right either. She had suffered so much. If she left just like that, would all her suffering not have been for nothing?

Whether by coincidence or not, Dongfang Wanyu had placed her at the entrance to a cave from which she seemed to sense a great deal of vibrant Spiritual Power.

Within her Soul Sea, Little Color flicked a vine tendril, signaling for her to go inside.

Dongfang Minghui had fallen for Little Color's tricks several times already. She said firmly, "No. If I run into danger again, are you going to protect me?"

Little Color flew into a rage in her Soul Sea, its Vines flailing furiously in the air.

Dongfang Minghui sniffed. The fragrance drifting from the medicinal herbs inside smelled rather pleasant. After inhaling it, her gaze grew unfocused, and she wandered inside in a daze.

"Ninth Sister!"

Although Dongfang Wanyu was fighting the water beast, part of her attention remained on Dongfang Minghui. Seeing her walk into the Cave, she grew anxious and shouted.

But the girl seemed not to hear her and continued straight ahead.

Situ Hao saw it too and could not help shouting, "Is she possessed? Look, she can't even hear you calling her!"

Dongfang Wanyu's attacks grew fiercer. "Let's finish this thing first."

The monster that had leaped out of the water had two large, snakelike heads and two long, slender tails, but only one thick, bulky body.

Despite being well-read, neither of them had ever seen such a strange creature.

They attacked its two heads from above and below, left and right, but still struggled somewhat. The pool was its domain. Whenever it wanted ice, the water immediately froze into sharp formations. Icicles rained down from the cave walls at tremendous speed. Unable to dodge them all, they suffered numerous puncture wounds on their arms.

Dongfang Wanyu was growing impatient. "Situ, let's attack its body."

The monster had two heads and two tails, but they shared a single body. It was enormous, yet when it lay on the water's surface, they could not recognize it for what it was. Otherwise, they would never have mistaken its back for a stone platform.

Meanwhile, Dongfang Minghui had caught a strangely familiar scent and followed it deeper into the Cave, step by step. Medicinal herbs grew everywhere inside, and none were of low quality.

Yet she did not even glance at them, simply walking around them and continuing onward.

After following a long stretch of passage, she saw a shaft of sunlight and raised a hand to shield her eyes. The next instant, she saw Dongfang Wanyu.

"Seventh Sister."

Dongfang Wanyu seemed not to hear her. She brought over a stool, sat down opposite her, and stared at her coldly, as though looking at something dead.

Dongfang Minghui surveyed her surroundings. The place was extremely crude, with three walls and bars on the remaining side. It looked very much like a prison cell.

Rows of torture implements stood behind the heroine, further confirming her guess.

But why was she in a prison cell? Dongfang Minghui tried to move, only to discover that she was bound and could not budge.

"Qian Wanyu, that man of yours tasted quite delicious." Dongfang Minghui laughed loudly. The blood at the corner of her mouth did nothing to diminish her revolting smile.

Inside, Dongfang Minghui was falling apart. Those definitely weren't the words she wanted to say! Why couldn't she control her own mouth?

Dongfang Wanyu's face was icy. Planting one foot on the stool, she slapped Dongfang Minghui's face viciously. After only a few blows, Dongfang Minghui was certain her face had swollen. "Since you love men so much, I'll have them take good care of you in a moment. You'll be thoroughly satisfied."

"Bring her a hundred of the filthiest, most disgusting beggars you can find." Disgust showed on Dongfang Wanyu's face as she wiped the fingers that had just touched her with a handkerchief.

Dongfang Minghui's eyes widened as she watched them force a pill into her mouth. Moments later, sweat beaded on her nose, and her body began to heat up.

"Mmph—" Dongfang Minghui clenched her mouth shut, unable to voice her anguish. She wasn't Dongfang Minghui. She wasn't! She shouldn't have to suffer this.

She watched Dongfang Wanyu sneer and signal to the people beside her to throw in a hundred beggars. At the sight of her, every one of them broke into an obscenely lecherous grin.

"Aah! Aah—"

Dongfang Minghui could truly feel those nauseating touches. Goosebumps rose all over her body. She bit her tongue hard, forcing herself to wake up and repeatedly telling herself that this was a dream, a dream.

She had not offended the heroine. She had not offended Seventh Sister. Things would not end like this.

When Dongfang Minghui opened her eyes again, she found herself bound to a pillar. Dongfang Wanyu stood before her with the Long Whip, striking her again and again.

A sharp hook tipped the whip. Every time it struck her, it tore away a piece of flesh.

Dongfang Minghui felt terribly weak. She smiled at Dongfang Wanyu. "What? I only ruined one man of yours, and you're this heartbroken?"

Dongfang Minghui wanted to cover that mouth. This definitely wasn't her. It wasn't! Nothing good came from provoking the heroine. Look, her expression had grown even colder.

The long-haired Wanyu lashed her even more viciously. Almost every strike carried a spark of lightning, shocking her until she had even less strength.

"Hahahaha!"

Dongfang Wanyu eventually grew tired of whipping her. "Send someone in to bleed her. Slice the flesh off her body, one cut at a time. Call me after three thousand cuts."

Dongfang Minghui looked utterly devoid of the will to live. Being flayed alive—what an absolutely wonderful experience.

"Ninth Sister, what's wrong? Wake up!" Dongfang Wanyu and Situ Hao had joined forces to beat the aquatic monster half to death. When they entered, they found Dongfang Minghui sitting against the cave wall with her head hanging low, blood dripping from her hand.

Dongfang Wanyu called to her for a long time, but she still did not wake.

"She's injured." Dongfang Wanyu lifted her hand, then realized that it was not just her hand. Blood had soaked through her clothes as well.

Situ Hao was startled. Seeing that her breathing was steady, yet she would not wake, he said, "Could it be an illusion?"

"An illusion?"

Dongfang Wanyu cradled her head. Her eyes were closed and her brows furrowed. The rosy complexion she had so painstakingly regained had lost its luster, turning ashen, and her face bore an expression of terrible pain.

"If she's injured in an illusion, those injuries will manifest in reality too. If she can't wake from it, she'll be in considerable danger."

"She must have encountered something extremely dangerous. How can I wake her? Or bring her out of the illusion?" Dongfang Wanyu asked anxiously.

Situ Hao examined the Cave with a puzzled expression and sniffed lightly. "Qian Wanyu, do you smell something?"

Dongfang Wanyu sniffed as well. "There seems to be a faint fragrance."

"Aaaaaah—" Dongfang Minghui watched the blade scrape across her body. The pain was beyond description. Her blood dripped onto the ground, where a little grass had begun to grow. What the hell was this?

No, this wasn't right. She was Dongfang Minghui, but she wasn't Dongfang Minghui. Who exactly was she?

Dongfang Minghui kept feeling that she had forgotten something very important.

She endured the agony while desperately racking her brains.

"Qian Wanyu!" Dongfang Minghui shouted. Then she felt that the name sounded far too unfamiliar. What she should call her was... "Seventh Sister?"

Seventh Sister, Seventh Sister. Her Seventh Sister.

Dongfang Minghui tilted her head. Why couldn't she remember? She had to remember.

A round ball rolled out of Dongfang Minghui's clothes and tumbled back and forth on the ground, as though trying to act cute.

Dongfang Minghui stared at it blankly. When had she started carrying such a large egg? And why did it look rather familiar?

She tilted her head and stared at the Giant Egg as it continued rolling wildly through the grass. Soon, the white egg became a blood-red egg, its shell covered in her blood.

"Mother!"

Dongfang Minghui was so startled that her jaw nearly hit the floor. "Who are you calling Mother?"

She was only sixteen, and she had not even found a boyfriend yet.

"Mother, Mother, wake up! If you don't wake up soon, the Love Blossom seed will get away!"

Little question marks filled Dongfang Minghui's mind. What was this egg talking about? "Love Blossom seed?"

"Mother, Mother!"

Fragmented images flashed through Dongfang Minghui's mind. She tried to catch them but could not. She focused on remembering, thinking about this egg and the Love Blossom seed.

"Shit, what a damn scam! I remember!" Dongfang Minghui suddenly opened her eyes.

The scene changed, returning to the cave. She tried to stand, only to find that the excessive blood loss she had suffered in the illusion still left her head spinning.

An egg rolled out of her storage space. It was stained with her blood and had truly become a fiery-red egg.

A little shaken, Dongfang Minghui picked up the Giant Egg and kissed it. "Thank goodness for you." Otherwise, her life would have ended right here.

"Mother, Mother!"

The Giant Egg rolled once in her arms, and Dongfang Minghui nearly failed to hold on to it. "So you really can talk now."

Having suddenly gained an egg daughter, Dongfang Minghui felt that life was full of shocks.

She put her egg daughter back into her Spatial Ring and used the wall to pull herself upright. To her surprise, she found the heroine and Situ Hao leaning against the walls a short distance away.

"Situ Hao."

"Seventh Sister, Seventh Sister."

No matter how she called, the two seemed to be asleep and would not wake.

Dongfang Minghui could not help wondering whether they too had fallen into illusions. But since she had already escaped, surely they would wake from theirs soon as well.

With that thought, Dongfang Minghui walked over to the patch of medicinal herbs she had previously skirted, crouched down, and said, "I'm your friend. I don't want to seize you or destroy you. Can you tell me which of you is Love Blossom?"

The medicinal herbs seemed to sense the aura of wood affinity she gave off. One after another, they shook their stems, pointing toward the plant in the very center.

Dongfang Minghui was surprised. The medicinal herb in the middle looked just as ordinary as the others, nothing like the Love Blossom plant described in the books.

"Don't tell me you disguised yourself?"

Plants did not lie. She thought that this most unlikely possibility was probably the truth: a medicinal herb that had gained intelligence had disguised itself as an ordinary herb to evade humans tracking it.

Dongfang Minghui held out her hand. "Actually, I'm trying to save someone too. My friend's older brother had his legs poisoned, and your seed is the only ingredient missing from his medicine. Could you give me one? Whatever you ask in return, I'll do my best to help you achieve it."

"Liar! You humans are all liars." Love Blossom trembled, immediately returning to its original appearance. Its blood-red bloom was dazzlingly beautiful, but the plant itself was small while its flower was enormous, making it look rather comical.

Dongfang Minghui pouted. "Everyone's different. How do you know I'm lying? You created that illusion just now, didn't you? I nearly died in there. By that reckoning, aren't you worse than humans?"

"I did create the illusion, but it reflects the deepest fears in your heart. If you can overcome them, it may well benefit your future cultivation," Love Blossom explained haughtily.

Dongfang Minghui was furious. She had truly never encountered such an unreasonable medicinal herb. "By your logic, I nearly died in there, and I should still thank you?"

"You're welcome."

Dongfang Minghui: "..."

"Hey, I actually think you're a good kid. Why don't you come back to the academy with me? There's a Golden Thorn Tree and a Beauty Bamboo plant in my courtyard. Their goal is to take human form someday. If you became friends with them, I'm sure they'd be very happy too."

Love Blossom was exceptionally sensitive. It touched Dongfang Minghui's hand with a leaf, then immediately withdrew it after sensing that she had never done anything to harm plants.

Dongfang Minghui had no idea it had just been testing her. She thought it had taken her words to heart.

"It's fine if you don't want to leave. Tell me your conditions. I really need one of your Passion Flower Seeds. How about we make a trade?"

Love Blossom could see that she was sincere. More importantly, her earlier mention of taking human form had caught its attention. It had stayed here for many years and encountered all kinds of people.

Only the person before it had offered to negotiate an exchange.

"I can leave with you, but you must form a Contract with me and help me take human form." Love Blossom had been deceived too many times, but once they formed a Contract, it would be able to sense her emotions.

Dongfang Minghui was dumbfounded. She pressed a hand to her forehead. "I probably can't agree to that condition. I've already formed a Blood Contract with a Demon Plant."

"What!" Love Blossom grew agitated, shaking its leaves. "Call it out. I want to have a proper talk with it."

Dongfang Minghui had only one thought. For fuck's sake. This looks nothing like a talk. It's clearly gearing up for a fight. D-do plants start fighting at the slightest disagreement too?

"Ahem, it can't come out right now. Death Aura damaged its foundations, so it needs to focus on cultivating." She couldn't imagine Little Color being beaten into submission by Love Blossom. That picture was just too much to contemplate.

"Form a contract with me. I can resist Death Aura." Love Blossom looked so smug that its imaginary tail was practically pointing at the sky. Its implication was clear: it was stronger than Little Color.

Little Color angrily thrashed its Vines in her Soul Sea again. If it could take human form right now, Dongfang Minghui was certain it would rush out and give Love Blossom a whipping.

Dongfang Minghui looked stunned, then slapped her forehead. "Oh, right!"

If Love Blossom couldn't withstand Death Aura, how could it be thriving in Death Valley? Her brain really was too slow.

Even so, Dongfang Minghui ruthlessly refused. "Love Blossom, I'm really sorry. Never mind the fact that a Blood Contract can't be dissolved. Even if it could, I wouldn't abandon Little Color."

Love Blossom froze. It had never met anyone who could resist its charms and reject its Contract.

Little Color smugly raised its Vines.

"My little companion can be a bit haughty, and it eats so much that I suspect keeping it will bankrupt me. But overall, its good points outweigh its faults. Whenever there's danger, it always does everything it can. It's saved me so many times. Its tongue may be sharp, but everything it does is for my sake, whether it's urging me to cultivate or scolding me. How could I abandon a companion like that? Don't you agree, Love Blossom?"

Love Blossom nodded silently. How could she make a Demon Plant's faults sound so appealing? Suddenly, it felt a little envious of the Demon Plant contracted to her.

Seeing it droop, Dongfang Minghui felt dazed. This mission was probably going to fall through.

Yet Love Blossom suddenly perked up again. "I can go back with you, but you mustn't hand me over to anyone else. I'll only stay with you. If you deceive me, I'll kill you."

"I promise."

Before Dongfang Minghui could do anything, Love Blossom suddenly uprooted itself. It struggled free of the soil, then hopped into her palm.

Dongfang Minghui immediately cupped both hands around it. "Love Blossom, why don't you go into my storage space? You're too conspicuous like this."

She suspected that if she swaggered back to the Royal Academy like this, she would have to survive another brush with death.

"Your two friends are still trapped in illusions. We can only leave once they wake up."

Dongfang Minghui nodded.

"Follow me. I'll find you some good things."

Dongfang Minghui scratched her head, looking bewildered. "Good things?"

Love Blossom offered no explanation. It simply hopped from this cavern into another, and she followed it the whole way.

"Careful. There are traps here."

Dongfang Minghui blinked in surprise and patted her chest. Thank goodness she hadn't wandered around recklessly. She was also grateful to have Love Blossom guiding her; otherwise, she would have been in trouble again.

"We're here."

After roughly half an hour, Love Blossom led her deep into a Cave. A huge pile of medicinal pills lay scattered across the ground, enough to form a small hill.

There were many skeletons nearby. Dongfang Minghui jumped in fright, guessing that people had killed one another while fighting over the treasures.

Dongfang Minghui picked up a porcelain bottle, opened it, and sniffed. The pills inside still gave off a rich medicinal fragrance. They had been preserved exceptionally well.

"Why aren't you taking them?" Love Blossom asked in confusion. It had seen many people scramble madly for these things before, fighting and killing one another over them.

"Oh, all right."

She selected some high-grade pills and tossed them all into her Spatial Ring. Soon, she felt that more than half her storage space had been taken up.

When Love Blossom saw that she had stopped taking things, it led her to another cavern.

This one was even better. The cavern was filled with all kinds of scrolls, some containing Earth Tier and Yellow Tier skills. Dongfang Minghui naturally knew they were valuable, so she simply took more than half the high-tier Skill Scrolls.

When Love Blossom brought her to the third cavern entrance, she sensed dense death energy. It seemed to be sealed away, with only a few wisps leaking out.

Dongfang Minghui stopped. The energy here should be Death Aura, and it was most likely connected to Dark Type spiritual energy.

"Love Blossom, I can't go in here. Look, the death energy is already leaking out. You can withstand it, but I can't," Dongfang Minghui told it bluntly. "The treasures here will have to wait for someone suited to them."

She didn't know whether Love Blossom understood, but when she headed out, it followed her.

"Love Blossom, thank you for today." Dongfang Minghui returned to the first cavern. The Female Lead and Situ Hao were still trapped in their illusions, so she found a spot and sat down.

Love Blossom settled beside her. "Why didn't you take everything just now? Lots of people tried to clear those places out before, but they triggered the traps, and everyone died."

This was the first time Love Blossom had met someone so free of greed. It was curious, and even more determined to follow her. It could sense human emotions and desires, including greed, which was the first thing most people felt upon seeing it.

Dongfang Minghui secretly patted her chest. In truth, she had merely run out of storage space. Otherwise, she definitely would have taken everything.

So clearing the place out would trigger the traps too. This place is terrifying.

"You have to leave something for others." In truth, Dongfang Minghui worried that once Situ Hao woke up, they would surely explore the caverns. Leaving nothing for them would be a little hard to justify.

"Put me in your storage space. Rest a little longer, and they'll wake up."

Uh, does it not want to meet Situ Hao and Seventh Sister?

Dongfang Minghui placed it in her palm and silently willed it inside. Love Blossom appeared in her storage space. Unlike before, the space was now packed with pills and skills, making it feel crowded.

There was also a huge red egg.

As soon as Love Blossom appeared, she saw the red egg roll over and crowd it. She couldn't help finding it funny. A plant and an animal were completely different species. Were they really going to fight over territory?

The red egg kept crowding Love Blossom. At first, Love Blossom tolerated it, retreating into a corner in the end. Seeing it there, the red egg apparently thought this was fun and rolled over again, finally infuriating Love Blossom.

A leaf swung straight at it. Dongfang Minghui thought the leaf was far too small; it probably lacked the strength to knock the red egg away.

Who would have thought that a moment later, she would be staring in astonishment?

With a light flick of its tiny leaf, Love Blossom sent the red egg tumbling dozens of times before it finally stopped. Naturally, it also knocked the bottles and jars in her storage space into a chaotic mess. The red egg wobbled back and forth, finally steadied itself, then simply went motionless and played dead.

"Hahahaha!" Dongfang Minghui laughed without a shred of sympathy.

This was the first time she had laughed so freely and wholeheartedly. It was too funny. Suddenly, she felt that her future days would probably be just like today: utter chaos.

Dongfang Wanyu had intended to enter Dongfang Minghui's illusion and bring her out. Unexpectedly, the moment she caught that scent, she fell into an illusion herself.

In the illusion, she became a monstrous villain whom everyone wanted dead. Everyone knew she had awakened Dark-Type Spirit Power and cultivated the Undead Law. Wherever she went, people hunted her down, regardless of whether she was saving lives or doing anything else.

They unanimously believed that anyone of the Dark Type was a future member of the Death Legion and had to be killed. Her life became that of a rat everyone wanted to stamp out—worse than a rat's, even.

Among those pursuing her, she saw Ninth Sister, the girl who had once called her Seventh Sister over and over.

When Dongfang Wanyu first entered the illusion, she had clearly been watching as an outsider. Yet at some point, she began to feel that this life was worse than death. She wanted revenge. She wanted to kill everyone who had wronged her.

Kill! Kill! Kill!

A voice deep inside told her, Wake up. If you don't wake up now, you'll suffer cultivation deviation in the illusion. If you don't wake up, the others will be in danger. But another voice urged her, Kill. Slaughter everyone under heaven. Kill anyone who defies you. She wanted to stand at the pinnacle of this continent. She wanted to control her own fate, and everyone else's.

Dongfang Wanyu's illusion was filled with blood, though all of it belonged to others. After slaughtering endlessly, she suddenly felt that life held no meaning. Her life shouldn't be like this.

Dongfang Wanyu looked at the blood on her hands, then at the expanse of darkness behind her. She had devoured everyone who tried to hunt her down, leaving nothing but skeletons.

Wherever she went, plants withered and people vanished. There was nothing but death.

Dongfang Wanyu didn't want this. She wanted a new life.

The illusion abruptly shattered. She opened her eyes and found herself amid flowers and grass again. Closing her eyes, she savored the fragrance. It was wonderful. Perhaps because the first illusion had filled her with endless despair and emptiness, she loved the sunlight, and every living thing here.

"Seventh Sister, do I look pretty?"

Dongfang Wanyu sat upright. She saw the other girl dancing among the flowers in the dress she had given her, flitting through the blossoms like a sprite.

"You do."

A smile unconsciously touched Dongfang Wanyu's face as she watched the playful girl, fairy-like and giving off the scent she loved. "Ninth Sister, come here."

Dongfang Minghui skipped over and knelt before her, smiling. "Seventh Sister."

Dongfang Wanyu closed her eyes and leaned toward her neck to sniff. "Ninth Sister, why do you smell so lovely? What did you use?"

"Seventh Sister, I didn't use anything."

Dongfang Wanyu gently drew her into her arms. A voice within her said, This is how it should be.

"Seventh Sister, what's wrong?"

Seeing the anxiety on her face warmed Dongfang Wanyu's heart. It had been so long since anyone had cared about her. She loved the way the girl looked at her with such wholehearted attention. She loved being treated this way.

"Seventh Sister, what exactly is wrong?"

Watching those rosy, cherry-like lips open and close, Dongfang Wanyu couldn't resist leaning in and lightly licking them. They tasted even better than they smelled.

Dongfang Minghui froze.

Seeing that she didn't resist, Dongfang Wanyu leaned in and licked her again. The taste was sweet and delicious, better than anything she had ever tasted. She couldn't help gently sucking the tip of her tongue. That slight contact sent a tingling pleasure all the way to the top of her head. It felt as though a burst of five-colored light had exploded in her mind, revealing a realm she had never touched before.

"Ninth Sister, I like you like this. Don't reject me."

Situ Hao woke first. When he saw that he was in a Cave, he quietly sighed in relief. In his illusion, he had seen himself swallowed by a vast expanse of darkness. It hadn't been just him, but many Light Spirit Masters as well. Together, they had resisted the Undead Legion's Death Aura, yet it seemed they had suffered a crushing defeat in the end. It had been a terrible nightmare.

Situ Hao panted for a long time before calming himself. He told himself it had only been an illusion. None of it had happened yet.

Seeing him wake, Dongfang Minghui couldn't help asking, "Situ Hao, are you all right?"

It really seemed to be as Love Blossom had said: the illusions reflected what each person feared most. But what she had seen in hers was even more terrifying, all right?

It had been the account of her death from the original novel, and she had experienced it firsthand. Even now, her hair stood on end. If that egg she had gotten on the cheap hadn't entered the illusion, she probably would have died in it.

So, seeing Situ Hao's dazed expression, she couldn't help showing some concern.

Seeing her safe and sound finally put Situ Hao's heart at ease. But when he saw Qian Wanyu across from them, he gestured toward her with his lips. "Your Seventh Sister still doesn't seem to have woken from her illusion."

Dongfang Minghui was worried too, but worrying was useless. People had to overcome their own fears to escape an illusion. She continued, "Once Seventh Sister wakes up, we can leave Death Valley."

Situ Hao mulled over her words for a while before finally understanding. His face filled with disbelief. "You mean you found the Love Blossom seed?"

"Yes."

"Quick, take it out and let me see! I've only ever seen pictures of it in books." Situ Hao got excited too. The old man had been right. Anyone else would probably have returned empty-handed.

Dongfang Minghui laughed awkwardly. "Situ Hao, I'm really sorry, but Love Blossom doesn't really want to see you two."

Situ Hao was baffled. "Do you mean what I think you mean?"

"Ahem, probably."

Situ Hao was dumbfounded. He knew some medicinal plants that had awakened their intelligence could be a little haughty, but what was wrong with this Love Blossom? It didn't want to see them?

"Do we look too fierce? That can't be right. Plenty of girls chase me everywhere. Or do plants have different standards of beauty from humans?"

Dongfang Minghui silently edged away and sighed as she kept watch beside the heroine.