Chapter 167: The Illusion Realm Is Broken?
Zelda was stunned. "The Illusion Insect and the Enchanting Heart Worm are on the Main Star?"
He immediately grasped the gravity of the situation and said quickly, "I’ll go take a look right now!"
Hu Yan’s expression was grave. "Right. I’ll be there shortly."
After the video call ended, the unease coiling in Hu Yan’s heart hadn’t dissipated. Zelda’s memories had been invaded; it was most likely the work of the Illusion Insect and the Enchanting Heart Worm.
At this thought, Hu Yan picked up his pace.
After hanging up, Zelda headed for Hu Yan’s private residence.
When he arrived, he found that the residence, which had been bustling with its new inhabitants, was now eerily silent. There wasn’t a soul in sight.
He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted:
"Lang Qiu!"
"Sang Mo."
"Bai Zhi!"
"Yue Junxiao."
"Yan Yichen!"
But he ran through nearly the entire residence and saw no one. His face fell.
’If Bai Zhi really has fallen into the hands of the Insect Clan...’
Considering how much Hu Yan valued Bai Zhi right now, Zelda didn’t even dare to imagine what he would do if that’s what happened.
He had just checked; there were no signs of a struggle anywhere in the residence. ’Considering their level of alertness, this shouldn’t have been possible.’
’A stranger wouldn’t have been able to get into the residence at all, let alone get close to them.’
’Besides, Lang Qiu and Sang Mo are very strong now, and even Bai Zhi has reached the SSS-level. For someone to take all of them away could only mean one thing: the perpetrator was someone they knew. That’s why they must have let their guard down, giving the enemy an opening.’
He didn’t know much about the Enchanting Heart Worm or the Illusion Insect, only what he’d heard. But his memories had been invaded this afternoon, and now Bai Zhi and the others were gone. He suddenly wondered... ’Did they use the memories they took from me to do something?’
’I hope that’s not what happened. If something happens to Bai Zhi because of me, I don’t know how I’ll ever face Hu Yan.’
He then deployed all available personnel to search the entire Main Star for any trace of Bai Zhi and the others.
After leaving the private residence, Zelda dispatched a team to stand guard, then relayed the news to Hu Yan: Bai Zhi and the others had likely been taken.
They had all been taken together. That was the one piece of good news in this whole mess. They would definitely protect Bai Zhi and look for a chance to escape.
All he could do now was search every suspicious location and see if he could find them before Hu Yan got back.
Yue Junxiao had been walking in a large circle through the vast forest when he spotted a tree that looked remarkably familiar. He felt like he’d passed a similar one before.
Yue Junxiao scratched his head. ’How weird. Why does this crooked tree look so familiar?’
He instinctively turned to complain to Yan Yichen, only to remember he was all alone.
A heavy expression fell over Yue Junxiao’s face.
Whether it was the same tree or not, he picked up a rock and carved a mark into it.
He didn’t have time to dwell on it. He had to find a way out of here, and fast. ’My wife is waiting for me to rescue her!’
With a determined gaze, Yue Junxiao pushed forward, memorizing his path as he went. He walked for what felt like an eternity, until his legs grew weak and he had to lean against a tree to rest. But when he looked up, he saw a tree in the distance with the very mark he had just carved.
He hurried over to that tree, only to see another marked tree further away.
’This means... I’ve been walking in circles this whole time!!’
’And the crooked tree I just saw was the same one from before!’
Unable to find a way out, Yue Junxiao didn’t know what else to do. He shifted back into his beast form and, with a powerful swipe of his claws, instantly toppled a tree.
One... two... three... four...
He lost count of how many trees he’d knocked down. He was panting with exhaustion, but aside from the pile of fallen timber, the place remained completely unchanged.
At that moment, Sang Mo, who was trapped by the Enchanting Heart Worm, began to unleash his spiritual power without restraint. He wanted to find the edge of this place and see if he could break through the Illusion Realm.
Sang Mo extended the edges of his spiritual power like tentacles, searching for any tiny crack or fissure.
Several minutes passed. Sweat beaded on Sang Mo’s forehead from pushing his spiritual power to its absolute limit. Just as he felt his reserves about to be completely drained, he snapped his head up toward a specific spot. ’Found it!’
Precisely because the Enchanting Heart Worm had split its power to create several Illusion Realms, a small flaw had been exposed.
Sang Mo retracted all of his spiritual power, then focused it into a single, powerful strike aimed at that minuscule loophole.
BOOM—
The entire Illusion Realm began to shake violently.
The tremors caused Sang Mo to sway, his footing unsteady.
The Illusion Realm he was in had been shattered.
The Enchanting Heart Worm instantly realized one of its Illusion Realms had been broken. Upon checking, it saw that, sure enough, it was that black-clad Beastman who had ruined its fun.
The Illusion Insect hadn’t expected the Enchanting Heart Worm’s illusion to be broken so quickly. It glanced at Bai Zhi, who was already in its grasp, and said calmly, "Fall back for now! Move him into one of the others’ Illusion Realms. We’ll add some Mistaken Heart Grass and make him think his companions are enemies. Let them kill each other."
The Enchanting Heart Worm instantly understood the Illusion Insect’s plan. No wonder the Insect Mother always told it to listen to the Illusion Insect and do whatever it said. ’If it were up to me, I’d never have thought of this.’
The Enchanting Heart Worm immediately altered the Illusion Realm according to the Illusion Insect’s instructions.
Just then, as his Illusion Realm shattered, Sang Mo found himself plummeting downwards.
Lang Qiu suddenly felt the ground shake violently. In the forest, a mountain began to crumble in a landslide from the sudden tremor, but then a patch of new trees instantly sprouted in its place.
And there, looking completely bewildered, was Yue Junxiao—along with Yan Yichen, who had just loosed an arrow from his bow.
WHOOSH—
THUD—
When Yue Junxiao saw an arrow flying toward him, he instinctively tilted his head and dodged.
A second later, the arrow pierced straight through the tree he had been leaning against. Yue Junxiao’s blank expression first turned to shock, then blazed with fury.
’What is going on?!’
He roared, "Yan Yichen! What the hell are you doing?!"
Yan Yichen was just as bewildered. He was sure he’d been aiming somewhere else. ’How did I almost hit Yue Junxiao?’
Lang Qiu had just spent some time confirming that he was alone. But now, standing at the edge of the clearing and having witnessed the scene unfold, he called out uncertainly, "Yue Junxiao? Yan Yichen?"
Hearing his voice, both Yue Junxiao and Yan Yichen turned to look at him. "Lang Qiu?!"
Yan Yichen immediately looked back at Yue Junxiao. "Then you’re real, too?"
"Of course I’m real, you idiot! Am I fake?" Yue Junxiao shot back, his voice thick with anger. "You still haven’t explained why you shot at me! Are you trying to get revenge on me or something?!"