Chapter 64: The Illusion And The Temptation
The sun's approach had colored the faraway horizon golden.
Pine town was just ahead, and old man Di Qian's targets were supposedly inside the woods on the opposite side of the small town, exploring a world fragment, from what he had gathered so far.
The world fragment hidden within that place was an aberration.
A few decades ago, it had suddenly popped into existence. Before anyone could investigate it, a foul aura of abyssal nightmares had started to emanate from it, scaring away most of the curious, low-level cultivators.
But then a few bigshots had come to poke at its secrets. Witnesses say that those high and mighty figures of this realm had run away faster than anything they had ever seen. Later, all the great experts of every sect across the seven regions had gathered to seal the entrance to this world fragment. A formation so complex had been laid over it that even he, a cultivator who was but a few steps away from becoming a celestial, knew he couldn't delve past it willfully.
But right now, his concerns lay elsewhere. The suspicious soul he had been tracking for a day and a night wasn't even in his thoughts.
He was sweating, very nervously at that.
The town in front of him was fading in and out of existence, like an unstable illusion.
In the feeble light of dawn, the humans, buildings, and the bustling streets appeared and disappeared repeatedly, their bodies sometimes solid, sometimes transparent, sometimes in between.
It wasn't a sight he was familiar with, but he could easily guess its source, and the conclusion he had reached frightened him.
Despite his impressive cultivation base, he had been gravely injured a while ago. He couldn't hope to contend with what slumbered ahead, in the heart of this town.
"A cultivator from the Beasthaven sect? This isn't your territory. Get lost!"
Just as he was about to retreat, a low voice rang beside his ears. The speaker sounded extremely frustrated.
The old man who had stood at the gates of Pine town for nearly half an hour in a daze turned around and vanished on the spot.
The sun peeked from the horizon. Its light fell on where Pine town was supposed to be.
... ... .... ....
After Han Xuhan had proposed his suggestion, a grave silence fell over their surroundings.
Yuen Zhou had gone stock still from shock, Mu Ran looked dazed, and Qian Yun had suddenly squatted down for some reason, his body shaking in fits of laughter.
Their 'newly acquired helpers' stared at him with their mouths agape. Among the five of them, two were girls, and both of them were giving Han Xuhan a repulsed look full of horror.
"Let's do what, martial brother?" Yuen Zhou asked, a cold undertone surfacing in her voice.
"I said, we should take our clothes off and exchange them. After all, it's best to keep our original identity secret. If we change our attire and impersonate the disciples from random sects every time we meet new opponents, no one will be able to figure out our real origin. This way, even if somebody escapes after a 'friendly exchange', they won't be able to track us down.
Think about it, we can have so much fun playing mind games this way!"
The silence that fell this time was even more severe, only to be broken by a squeaky sound of laughter coming from the squatting figure of Qian Yun.
"Well, that's a good suggestion!" One of the female cultivators who had been venomously glaring at Han Xuhan exclaimed, relief coloring her tone.
Qian Yun's snickering laughter turned into a fully blown howl. Mu Ran shook his head and showed another thumbs up to Xuhan.
"Great idea, underling! Let's strip!"
He didn't wait for the rest of them to consent as he practically ripped his tattered, recently robbed robe from his body.
"Ah, my body looks so pitiful. I haven't eaten anything in the last ten hours. Can't even feel my abs..."
Everyone turned away from his semi-naked form.
Yuen Zhou slapped a hand over her forehead and sighed. Fortunately, her martial brother had only wrongly phrased his suggestion...or had he? She couldn't be sure. If she had a spirit stone for each time he had done this, she'd have two spirit stones, which wasn't a lot. But it was odd that it had happened twice.
The other team was ready to exchange clothes and sect badges, so there was no issue with proceeding forward with his plan. Yuen Zhou exchanged her robe with one of the female cultivators while the six young men shuffled the robes among their two teams.
The female cultivator who had exchanged her clothes with Yuen Zhou noticed Han Xuhan staring at her again intensely. It made her skin crawl in fear.
What was this creepy guy up to again?
"...Erm, fellow cultivator, is there something else you want to say?" She asked in trepidation.
"Indeed..." Han Xuhan muttered as loudly as possible, attracting the attention of all nearby.
"I was thinking, perhaps after taking off our clothes, we could have had even more fun!"
The female cultivator felt her heartbeat quicken in despair.
"But it's a pity...that I, Shen Kai, do not have the necessary equipment for that sort of fun. It was a necessary sacrifice for the pursuit of my dao. To be a supreme demon, the weakness of flesh must be discarded!" Han Xuhan added as an afterthought while gazing down at his crotch with regret colouring his tone.
The surroundings fell silent again.