Chapter 345: Meng Fanxin Wakes Up
In the space, the Cloud Beast Little Thirteen happened to pass by.
Seeing the familiar Beast Skin in Yu An’s hand outside the water screen, it scratched its head and went to rummage through the storage.
A moment later, it brought out a Beast Skin it had previously stored and called for Yu An to let it out.
"An’an, look! Don’t these two Beast Skins look a lot alike?"
Yu An took it and compared them. Well, what do you know? They really did.
The two Beast Skins were made of the same material; only the lines drawn on them were different.
Yu An studied them for a long time but couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Then, on a whim, she placed the two Beast Skins one on top of the other.
And then, something magical happened.
The two pieces merged into one, as if they had been stitched together. A topographical map appeared on the new Beast Skin, marked with a red route.
Shen Zi glanced at it and froze. "This place... An’an, we passed by here on our way to Earth Geography City with Fu Fu to find you."
Thanks to the human face flowers, the memory was still fresh in her mind.
"This Beast Skin seems to be very important to Tian Fu. After he captured Mo Feng and me, he demanded to know where we’d hidden it."
When they refused to tell him, Tian Fu became furious and tortured them.
Since Tian Fu valued it so highly, Yu An couldn’t help but grow curious. She had Ao Wu take a look as well, but unfortunately, he didn’t know where the route on the map led either.
"Oh well, let’s just hold onto it for now."
The two Beast Skins were clearly part of a set. Since Tian Fu had been willing to use one as bait to lure them into an Illusion Realm, Yu An was suddenly unsure of how important it really was.
She decided to keep it for now and bring it out later if it proved useful.
They continued on their journey, arriving at Tianhuan City five days later.
Yu An and Ao Wu discovered that the number of guards in Tianhuan City seemed to have doubled, and everyone entering or leaving was being carefully scrutinized.
It made sense. Shen Zi and Mo Feng had escaped, and the other Beastmen from the dungeons had also vanished. Of course the Tian Family would heighten their security.
The guards were holding portraits, comparing them one by one against the faces of those entering and leaving the city. They were too far away for Yu An to see who was depicted.
To be on the safe side, she disguised both herself and Ao Wu.
Ao Wu refused to hide in her space, so a mischievous idea popped into Yu An’s head. She gave him an exquisite makeover and put him in a beautiful dress.
"An’an," he said, not the least bit shy. Instead, he twirled in front of her and even gave her a seductive wink. "Am I beautiful?"
"So, so beautiful," Yu An praised wholeheartedly. "A total knockout!"
The corners of Ao Wu’s mouth curved upward, but in the next second, he heard Yu An say, "But did you forget that everyone in the space can see what’s happening out here...?"
Ao Wu’s smile vanished instantly. He hopped behind Yu An like a rabbit. "An’an, turn it off! Turn it off! Hurry!"
He didn’t mind letting Yu An see and having a laugh, but if Han Li and Lan Yin saw him, they would laugh him to death!
He could already imagine how the two of them would mock him.
"Too late," Yu An said, stifling a laugh. "Han Li just told me he’s already taken pictures. He’s planning to wait for Mo Yan and the others to get back so he can share."
Ao Wu: "..."
The dragon’s world came crashing down!
He was utterly devastated, but after Yu An kissed the lipstick from his lips, he came right back to life.
"Let them take pictures," he said, feigning generosity. "If it gives everyone a good laugh, then my sacrifice was worth it."
Yu An glanced at him. "Since when are you so generous?"
’It’s not that I’m generous,’ he thought. ’It’s that I’m out of options!’
In contrast, Yu An dressed as a man, and the two of them posed as brother and sister to enter the city.
Standing in the line to enter the city, Yu An wasn’t the least bit flustered. She followed the queue as it slowly moved forward, and after about a quarter of an hour, it was finally their turn.
Yu An glanced at the portraits; the people depicted were not her and Ao Wu, but Shen Zi and Mo Feng.
That made sense. She had never shown her face, so Tian Fu probably assumed she was still in the Beastman World, or perhaps on her way to the Upper Realm.
The guard inspected them carefully. Seeing no issues, he waved them on. "Go."
After entering the city, they found a small courtyard house to stay in. Inns were too crowded and full of prying eyes; a private courtyard was much more convenient.
Unsure of how long they would need to stay, they rented it for a month.
"An’an, what’s our next move?"
Yu An thought for a moment. "We need to make contact with Tian Pingyue. Let me think... how should we..."
Her words cut off abruptly. As Ao Wu looked over in confusion, Yu An vanished from where she stood.
’Oh, she went into the space.’
’Wait, she didn’t take me with her!’
But Yu An had no time to think about Ao Wu, because inside the space, Meng Fanxin was awake!
When she had brought her and He’er out of the Illusion Realm, Yu An had placed the unconscious pair in a small cabin and arranged for a Cloud Beast to check on them every day.
Meng Fanxin walked out of the cabin in a daze, staring blankly at the scene before her.
’Where... is this?’
"Mrs. Meng, you’re awake!"
Hearing a voice that was both familiar and strange, Meng Fanxin looked over. Yu An’s face seemed recognizable, but having just woken up, her mind was still too foggy to place it.
Seeing her press a hand to her forehead, her brow furrowed in confusion, Yu An had a vague idea of what was happening.
"You just woke up. You should rest for a bit. My name is Yu An. We’ve met before..."
Yu An briefly tried to jog her memory, but Meng Fanxin shook her head in a daze. "No, that’s not right, Miss Yu. We met much earlier."
She paused, seemingly lost in recollection. "You were just a little girl then. After you heard what happened to me, you said you were going to save me."
"Back then, I had lost the will to live and only wanted to die. I begged you to just take He’er with you, but you refused. You knocked me unconscious and used two body doubles to throw everyone off our trail."
Meng Fanxin pressed her temples. "When I woke up, I was here. I also have this extra set of memories of meeting you after you grew up. That Illusion Realm is truly incredible."
Yu An was stunned. ’So, does this mean Meng Fanxin and He’er have been in my space this whole time?’
She couldn’t actually pull people out of the Illusion Realm. It was just that Meng Fanxin and He’er were already alive and safe, which created the false impression that she had rescued them from it.
Once Yu An straightened everything out in her mind, she said to Meng Fanxin, "What are your plans, then? I’m in Tianhuan City right now. If you want to find the Second Master of the Tian Family, I can help you."
Meng Fanxin gave a bitter smile. "I’m already dead in their eyes, Miss Yu. If it’s possible, I’d like to wait for He’er to wake up and then take her far, far away from Tianhuan City."
"Alright," Yu An said, respecting her decision. "You only just woke up and you’re still very weak. You should rest here in the space for a while."
"I have some business to attend to in Tianhuan City. Afterward, I’ll be heading toward the Heaven and Earth Illusion Realm. Where do you want to go? If it’s on my way, I can drop you off when I leave."
Meng Fanxin hadn’t decided yet, but she knew she wanted to get far away from Tianhuan City—the farther, the better.
"Miss Yu, may I ask what business you have in Tianhuan City?"
Meng Fanxin asked, slightly embarrassed, "I have a younger sister named Meng Fanxuan. So many years have passed... I don’t know how she is."
"If possible, I’d like to go see her, just once."
Their mother had died young, so she and her sister had relied on each other to survive. After she married into the Tian Family, her sister’s status in the Meng Family rose accordingly. But after her "death," she had no idea what had become of her sister.