White mist shrouded everything. The little village before her vanished as the scene collapsed, just as Little Qing Yi had lost her way in the thick fog several days earlier.
The thick fog dispersed, revealing the path through the mountains that still stretched for ten thousand miles.
Wisps of mist still curled among the green mountains on either side. There was no little village, no Grandmother, and no plague.
There was only a man in flowing white robes standing on the stone steps beside the mountain path.
An ancient, mysterious bronze mirror fluttered beside White-Clad One...
Ten thousand streams of radiance returned to the bronze mirror, and then it slowly flew up into White-Clad One's hair, becoming an utterly ordinary-looking hair ornament.
White-Clad One smiled at the stunned Little Qing Yi, a trace of gratification showing on his face.
Little Qing Yi gazed dazedly at that white-robed figure, then turned and looked around blankly...
"Where's the village?"
Su White-Clad One smiled and shook his head. "There never was any village. What you saw before was merely an illusion I created..."
Little Qing Yi stared blankly at White-Clad One, sensing the Spirit Sea that had suddenly appeared inside her.
Her quick, clever little mind immediately understood... everything in the little village had been an illusion the senior had created for her.
The senior had only wanted to use it to help her enter the Dao, setting her upon the immortal path through this method and strengthening her Dao Heart.
"Senior..." Little Qing Yi parted her lips, countless thoughts swirling through her heart.
Su White-Clad One smiled and said gently to Little Qing Yi, "You still have a long way to go. Would you like to walk there yourself, or shall I take you?"
A satisfied smile gradually appeared on Little Qing