The Demon with Holy Radiance

Hearing Yang An’s words and his familiar voice, Pan Yu suddenly let out a chuckle.

"Alright, ask away. I’m sure I can answer anything."

Yang An looked straight at her through his mask as well.

"Where did we first meet?"

"Jiunan Town! That’s where my senior brother and I met you."

Yang An nodded and followed up with a second question.

"After we left Jiunan Town, where did we go?"

"The Xiyue River! Mother Divination True Master was holding her Grand Feast at the time, which is why you traveled with my senior brother and me."

Pan Yu answered without the slightest hesitation, her voice firm and resolute.

Yang An nodded again.

"Then do you remember what happened that day when I went to Sansong Mountain with a senior brother from my Sect?"

"I do! I’ve always remembered!"

Pan Yu said at once, her voice thick with emotion.

"That day on Sansong Mountain, I faced a tribulation in my cultivation, and you were the one who rescued me from the Illusion Realm.

However, I distinctly remember that the one who came to Sansong Mountain with you that day was a female cultivator, not a senior brother."

A look of confusion mixed with uncertainty appeared on Pan Yu’s face. She suddenly grew nervous, afraid she had answered incorrectly.

But upon hearing Pan Yu’s answer, a smile of immense relief spread across Yang An’s face.

He had asked this question deliberately to test her. Though it was a minor detail, her failure to answer would have made him highly suspicious.

Fortunately, Pan Yu’s answer was flawless. She even remembered Wen Yin, the one who had accompanied Yang An to Sansong Mountain.

Answering all his questions without a single error was proof enough. It was her, no doubt about it.

"I’m surprised you remember all that. It seems I’ve found the right person."

Yang An’s words instantly put Pan Yu at ease. A look of joy flashed across her face, but it lasted only a moment before she started to cry again.

Pan Yu resumed what she had started to do before being interrupted. With White Feather now put away, she threw herself into Yang An’s arms and began to wail loudly.

Yang An didn’t stop her this time, but having a woman in his embrace still made him feel awkward, as if ants were crawling all over him.

But she was holding on too tightly to be pushed away. He couldn’t bring himself to use brute force, so he had no choice but to stand there and take it.

After what felt like a long time, Pan Yu finally, and reluctantly, pulled away from Yang An’s embrace. Wiping the tears from her face, she spoke with a faint blush:

"Let’s go inside to talk, Fellow Daoist Yang."

"Alright."

Yang An breathed a long sigh of relief inwardly.

The journey here had been fraught with countless hardships and dangers. It wasn’t until he stepped into the room that the heavy weight on his heart finally lifted.

Yang An first scanned the room’s furnishings. He vaguely recalled his first time entering Pan Yu’s Illusion Realm—it looked almost identical to this, with hardly any changes.

The room carried a faint, pleasant fragrance. A wooden bed, a sofa, a coffee table, and a large display screen on the wall—it was full of personal, lived-in details.

The two of them sat down on the soft sofa, but an immediate silence fell between them.

For a moment, Pan Yu didn’t know what to say.

Yang An, however, waited for her to speak. She seemed to have something on her mind; a lot must have happened in the long time they’d been apart.

After a long moment, Pan Yu finally broke the silence.

"Fellow Daoist Yang, why did you come looking for this place? How did you get in?"

As the master of the Illusion Realm, the realm was both the price of her cultivation and her place of practice. By all rights, no one should have been able to enter.

This was also why Pan Yu hadn’t believed Yang An when he first stated his identity.

"I came here because my Master has something for me to give you. He was also the one who told me how to find you."

Yang An didn’t hide anything; there was no need to. He, too, was eager for answers. ’Why does that Old Life Crane seem to know everything about this? And what exactly is the message he wanted me to bring Pan Yu?’

"Your Master? What is it he wants you to give me?"

’What is it?’ Yang An thought. ’He’s a real piece of work, that’s what he is.’

The thought came to him subconsciously in response to Pan Yu’s question, but he knew she wasn’t asking about Life Crane, but rather the item he’d been sent to deliver.

"Do you know my Master? His name is Life Crane, or... you could also call him He."

Yang An didn’t rush to take out the Command Token Old Life Crane had given him, deciding instead to first ask Pan Yu a few questions he wanted answers to.

But after thinking for a moment, Pan Yu shook her head.

She didn’t recognize the name Life Crane, nor had she ever heard it mentioned within her sect. She didn’t even know anything about the Sect to which Yang An belonged.

Seeing Pan Yu’s reaction, Yang An only grew more confused.

She didn’t look like she was lying, which could only mean one thing: Pan Yu was completely in the dark about all this.

’Could Pan Yu be someone the old man knew in the past? Someone who perished? And was then reincarnated?’

The wild thought suddenly struck Yang An. It was a leap of logic, but not an entirely baseless one. After all, in a world like this, anything strange was possible.

"Oh, right."