Dongfang Minghui stared dumbfounded at the memories unfolding before her. She felt fortunate that the chosen lens captured the final scene of Qian Mama, the moment she was about to leave Sleepy Dragon Valley. The anxious people attempting to follow were halted.
A man held a cluster of small fireballs in his hand, attacking left and right. His head, which had taken on the basic shape of a human brain, was round. One slender leg, about the length of an arm, extended from the body, but there was only one leg, and it was irregularly shaped, with some areas concave and others convex.
“That’s the Sleepy Dragon Seal,” Little Color declared before Dongfang Minghui could wonder why the man’s legs were so peculiar. The revelation came from the sea of souls.
“Yi Ling, you can’t escape. Look, I have the key to Sleepy Dragon Valley in my hands. I can open and close it as I please. Besides, your elder brother is waiting for you below. Wouldn’t it be nice for the three of us to stay together?”
“Meng Ruoyu, you have disappointed me greatly.”
Meng Ruoyu?
Dongfang Minghui was shocked upon hearing the name. Looking again, it was hard to believe that this disheveled, scarred individual was the same gentle and refined Meng Ruoyu from her memories. The deep, uneven scar on the face appeared as if a piece of flesh had been sliced off by a weapon.
Astonished, Dongfang Minghui watched the scene in front of her. Just after Meng Ruoyu finished speaking, the space behind him distorted, and the image became unclear. It seemed as if the scene might fragment at any moment. Her heart raced, and she desperately wanted to warn Qian Mama to hurry away.
Seeing Qian Mama seemingly swayed by Meng Ruoyu and approaching her step by step, Dongfang Minghui nearly stood up in anxiety. However, her body was restrained, allowing only her eyes and mouth to move. She maintained the posture of sitting in meditation at the center of the deep pool.
“What are you getting worked up over? These are just fragments of memories from the past. You can only watch; you can’t change anything,” Little Color reminded her irritably. “You should focus on the surrounding environment so that we can leave smoothly when we reach the same location.”
“Yes.”
Dongfang Minghui tried to console herself, knowing she couldn’t intervene in Qian Mama’s past. She needed to carefully note the location of the memory fragments to avoid making the same mistakes. Gradually, her focus shifted. While she still kept a close eye on the two individuals, she began to pay attention to the surrounding environment, either consciously or subconsciously.
So, the Sleepy Dragon Seal was a key.
As Qian Mama shattered the jade flute attached to her waist, Meng Ruoyu noticed but didn’t expect Qian Mama to snatch the Sleepy Dragon Seal from his hand using her bare hands. It was the key to her status.
During their struggle, Meng Ruoyu’s claws accidentally left a deep gash on Qian Mama’s face. A bloodstain appeared, but soon a cloud of ash emerged from the wound, causing Qian Mama’s complexion to change.
“It’s the breath of death.”
“I didn’t expect Meng Ruoyu to be a Spiritual Master of Death. It’s truly difficult to judge someone by their appearance,” Dongfang Minghui said, still in shock. “It doesn’t seem right, Little Color. I remember Meng Ruoyu being very friendly towards plants. On the mountain behind the Qian Family, he used plants to mark the clues to the place of inheritance.”
How could someone close to plants become a spiritual master of death? Plants are very sensitive to human breath, just like Little Color is afraid of the breath of death. It had also been resistant to the Seventh Sister before. Wherever a spiritual master of death goes, all plants die.
Yet, at the Qian Family’s place, Meng Ruoyu clearly showed his affinity for plants, a contradiction in itself.
After Dongfang Minghui spoke, she fell silent for a moment. Her mind raced, connecting Meng Ruoyu, the Prophet of Dreams, the beautiful flower garden in the Meng Family Mansion, and the cottage where the Prophet of Dreams lived, made of emerald green vines. The thatched cottage and the green grass, an unforgettable scene, suddenly emerged from her deepest memories.
“It’s not common,” Little Color sighed within the sea of souls. “In the human world, most wood-type Spiritual Masters who have cultivated to the Spiritual Saint level have the ability to understand the attributes of plants. Meng Ruoyu is so young; he shouldn’t be able to achieve that. Furthermore, he always seemed to act like an ordinary person.”
If he wasn’t a wood-type spiritual master, how could she communicate with plants?
Only one improbable possibility remained.
This was a crucial issue she had overlooked. In the three-generation mirror, Dongfang Minghui still knew very little about the Longevity Clan and even believed that every wood-type Spiritual Master could communicate with plants…
Now that she thought about it, she realized everything was connected. It was only because she hadn’t paid close attention that she didn’t notice.
“Little Color—”
Dongfang Minghui wanted to say that she might have discovered the identity of the one who had betrayed the Longevity Clan back then… But drowsiness overcame her, her mouth twitched, and her eyelids grew heavy.
The image in the lens showed Qian Mama snatching the Sleepy Dragon seal. In desperation, Meng Ruoyu released a large amount of death aura, disregarding Qian Mama’s safety. As the Sleepy Dragon fled, he broke his legs and launched an attack on Qian Mama’s face.
“Ah—”
The memory fragments exploded into smaller pieces before Dongfang Minghui, slowly sinking into the deep pool like confetti.
Little Color waited for a long time, took a quick look, and noticed that Dongfang Minghui’s palms began to glow red again. An hour had passed without her realizing it. “Well, it’s time to suffer again.”
Dongfang Minghui took a brief rest, then opened her eyes quickly. The Sleepy Dragon Seal found that the owner of the body had inadvertently trapped herself in the memory fragments, causing them to fluctuate and even mobilize memories of hundreds of years ago.
If she submits them all now, the entire Sleepy Dragon Valley might fall back in time. Everyone would step onto the river of time, shuttling through Sleepy Dragon Valley, merging the past and present. The entire Sleepy Dragon Valley would be plunged into chaos once more, and the suffering it had endured would be repeated.
After weighing the pros and cons, the Sleepy Dragon immediately gave up on interfering with the memory fragments.
Little Color almost laughed out loud when it saw the Sleepy Dragon Seal in Dongfang Minghui’s hands. It seemed that her unconventional method had worked.
Qian Wanyu fought her way through the black bats, accidentally getting bitten on the back of her hand. The bitten area gradually turned black, and she felt her spiritual power draining rapidly. After clearing out all the bats in the corridor, she said, “Not this place.”
“It must be one of the other two locations. You should treat your wound first.”
“Um.”
Qian Wanyu sat down, leaning against the wall. Not far from her was the bat she had killed. The scent of blood was strong, but she seemed not to notice it. She searched her spatial storage, pulling out numerous bottles and jars, trying each one in turn.
As she crushed a pill and applied it to her wound, she heard faint footsteps approaching her from a short distance away.
The other person appeared relaxed as if strolling in a garden. She had been with Mo Ce before, and his footsteps were steady and firm, never so light. So, besides the three of them, were there other people in Sleepy Dragon Valley?
Realizing this, Qian Wanyu quickly bandaged her wound, gripped the lightning whip tightly, and slowly stood up.
Just as she stood, the other person’s footsteps paused for about three breaths, then approached her direction again, stopping at the cave entrance. Soon, she saw the person bend down and enter.
“My lord, I’ve finally found you.”
This teasing tone was definitely not something Jing Ke would use.
Qian Wanyu glanced at him thoughtfully, “I’m surprised you managed to enter Sleepy Dragon Valley without any injuries, Jing Ke.”
Jing Ke saw Qian Wanyu in a distressed state, covered in the strong scent of blood, and looked at the group of bats she had killed. His face expressed a mix of astonishment and admiration, “My lord, are you injured?”
As he spoke, he graciously took a few steps forward.
Qian Wanyu’s lightning whip struck the ground beneath his feet, and the purple lightning scorched the floor between them, preventing Jing Ke from getting any closer. “Be honest, the real Jing Ke isn’t as capable as you, and your disguise skills aren’t very good.”
“My lord!” Jing Ke’s eyes widened, his expression heartbroken as if he had been severely hurt. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about, my lord. I am Jing Ke, believe me, I can prove it.”
Qian Wanyu sneered, “If Jing Ke was half as smart as you, he probably wouldn’t have been captured by Cyril’s army. Besides, Jing Ke has been missing for so long, how can I believe that you are the real Jing Ke?”
From the first time she saw him, she found this “Jing Ke” very strange.
Not to mention that Karu searched the entire trading market for him before. Later, she asked the guards to send someone to search for him, but Jing Ke seemed to have vanished into thin air. Who would have thought he would reappear in this place?
It was too much of a coincidence.
Jing Ke was speechless, and explained excitedly, “My lord, I met former companions from the caravans on the way. They said there was a big change in my family, and my wife and son were both suffering from a strange illness. I was so anxious that I didn’t have time to inform you.”
She had heard this excuse twice. Qian Wanyu’s face was cold, her tone ruthless, “Jing Ke, don’t waste my time. Just tell me who you are and what your purpose is in Sleepy Dragon Valley.”
“My lord, I really am Jing Ke. Listen to me, I came to Sleepy Dragon Valley to find you—”
Qian Wanyu released a thin purple lightning bolt. Although small, it was powerful and exploded directly at his feet.
Jing Ke’s face showed terror; he stumbled and sat on the ground, his complexion turning pale with fright. He barely avoided the range of the lightning explosion, his footwork was quite subtle but easily noticed by Qian Wanyu.
Qian Wanyu’s eyes held a hint of sarcasm, “So, you still want to say that you’re Jing Ke?”
Although Jing Ke was a Spiritual Master of the water system, she knew exactly how much strong he was. The person in front of her had grown too fast in just over half a year unless there was a heaven-sent opportunity, it would be impossible to advance this fast. Yet, the other party kept saying that he had only returned from the Empire.
It’s not that she hasn’t seen people whose cultivation has increased dramatically. Wei Junlan was one person whom she had seen whose cultivation has increased the fastest in half a year. Even so, if it is still the same person, his temperament should not change.
Jing Ke was taken aback, with a trace of annoyance flashing in his eyes. He clapped his hands, and soon, he slowly straightened his back and stood up, and his walking posture became more leisurely, which was in line with the nature of the footsteps Qian Wanyu heard at the beginning, leisurely and carefree.
Changes in a person’s personality could also be seen from the change in body posture. Jing Ke was just a businessman before. Low, with front shoulders leaning forward. The person in front of her behaved very casually, with his back straight, which showed that he was arrogant and frivolous, treating everyone like air.
These were two people with completely different personalities, but they had the same face.
Qian Wanyu looked at Jing Ke, who was walking one meter away, and stopped suddenly, with a half-smile. A trace of doubt flashed in her eyes. Facing this person, she had a strong sense of familiarity, but that person had long since disappeared. “Who are you?”
There was an unscrupulous smile on the corner of Jing Ke’s mouth. He shrugged his body and felt disgusted. “Jing Ke’s body is really hard to use if it wasn’t for—” He glanced at Qian Wanyu with a smile and kept his mouth shut. Then he asked curiously, “Qian Wanyu deserves to be Qian Wanyu; you saw through me so quickly, to be honest, when did you realize that I was not Jing Ke?”
He had pretended so well, and he even learned the other party’s servile dog behavior, replicating it perfectly.
Without waiting for Qian Wanyu to answer, he guessed on his own, “I guess it was just now, or maybe it was when I followed you all in the past few nights that I showed my flaws, but this is all just a coincidence, tell me, how did your Ninth Sister know about it where Sleepy Dragon Valley is?”
He intended to abduct them back to the beast tribe, but he didn’t expect the Sleepy Dragon Valley to appear halfway and drag them all into this adventure. But no matter what, Sleepy Dragon Valley is Sleepy Dragon Valley, and the unfinished business of twenty years must be resolved.
Qian Wanyu didn’t pay attention to this person at first, but for some reason, a meaningful smile suddenly appeared on her face, and she coldly interrupted his imagination, “The first time I saw you, I realized that you were not Jing Ke.”
The fake Jing Ke looked shocked, showing unbelievable eyes, and it seemed that the blow was worse than when Qian Wanyu saw through him just now. He kneaded his face and slapped him hard, “How is it possible, no, I do not believe you.”
Qian Wanyu sneered, as she expected, the person in front of her was arrogant, probably unable to accept the possibility of being spotted by her at a glance. He even fell into a kind of bewilderment, “Qing Mo, do you think this person in front of you looks like someone?”
Qing Mo pondered for a moment, “Meng Yixiao, but he is already dead, and he can’t live anymore.” He saw Meng Yixiao’s last mass of consciousness being burned to ashes by the golden flame of Toothless. Those flames were not so easy to deal with.
“The same arrogance, the same temperament, and the same madness.” The person in front of him was almost a replica of Meng Yixiao.
Qian Wanyu also felt that her thoughts were strange, Meng Yixiao was dead, but they were still immersed in the nightmare brought to them by Meng Yixiao before, “I want to test him to see if he is Meng Yixiao.”
“If he is Meng Yixiao, what will you do?” Qing Mo was very worried that Meng Yixiao had become her heart demon, “Don’t forget, it was you who defeated Meng Yixiao, and he is your defeated opponent. Even if it is really Meng Yixiao, you can just kill him again.”
“No, Qing Mo, I just want to clarify one thing.”
“Huh?”
Qian Wanyu still remembered what Jing Ke said just now, “He said that Jing Ke’s body was not very useful…”
This must be the key as to why he knew so much about the past that she even she couldn’t easily discern.”
Many times, she wanted to tell herself that the person in front of her was indeed Jing Ke, but her intuition said he was not. The source of this contradiction was because of Jing Ke’s sense of disobedience, and this was the only time she could see through him before he had time to imitate the real Jing Ke.
After talking to himself for a while, Fake Jing Ke found that Qian Wanyu was staring at him, and suddenly burst out laughing, the laughter was wanton and insolent, and after laughing for a while, he said, “Qian Wanyu, you did it on purpose.”
“Yes, I did do it on purpose.”
The whip in Qian Wanyu’s hand was crackling, and the purple loops disappeared as soon as they touched her hand. She looked at Fake Jing Ke contemptuously, “Should I call you Jing Ke? Well, I can also call you Meng Yixiao.”
Qian Wanyu prepared herself for the confrontation that was about to happen. If this person was indeed Meng Yixiao, she needed to be ready for whatever would come next. But if he was just an imposter, she needed to know what his true intentions were and why he had chosen to impersonate Jing Ke.
Either way, Qian Wanyu was determined to uncover the truth behind the person standing in front of her.
Jing Ke was taken aback for a moment, frowning, as if he was seriously thinking about her words, and asked curiously, “Who is Meng Yixiao?”
Qian Wanyu said bluntly, “Why did you stay by our side as Jing Ke, tell me and let me hear, maybe we can make a deal.”
“You’re crazy.” Qing Mo felt that Qian Wanyu must have been stimulated by something. Dealing with the devil has always been very dangerous.
“Haha, Qian Wanyu, there’s a day when even you would ask for help. That’s really surprising.” Jing Ke’s eyes were full of satisfaction, “It’s very simple, I want the key in your hands.”
The seal of the Sleepy Dragon.
Qian Wanyu frowned, “It seems that you know much more than I imagined.”
The false Jing Ke raised his chin, “How about it, do you want to make this deal?”
“I need to know the most central location of Sleepy Dragon Valley, take me there, and I will give you the key you want.”
The fake Jing Ke looked suspicious, “Qian Wanyu, don’t lie to me, is the key in your hands?”
“Not here.” Qian Wanyu was quite calm, “However, only I know where the key is. If you think it’s inappropriate, you don’t have to make this deal. Just get lost from this cave, and we will walk on opposite sides of the road, without disturbing each other.”
Seeing Qian Wanyu being so frank, the fake Jing Ke realized one thing he might have misunderstood, that is, Qian Wanyu didn’t seem to care whether he knew the most central position, “Qian Wanyu, why do you want to go to the central position?”
Qian Wanyu glanced at him lightly, rolled up the lightning whip, and strode toward the entrance of the cave, with a big look, as if she didn’t care if he agreed or not.
The fake Jing Ke couldn’t wait until she stepped out, and then stopped to yell, “Deal.”
Qian Wanyu stepped out with the other foot, bent over and, walked out.
Seeing her like this made his complexion a bit ugly, and he hurriedly followed out, shouting loudly from behind, “Hey, I’ve agreed, what else do you want?”
“It’s okay, since you agreed, then please lead the way.” Qian Wanyu raised her eyebrows, and handed over the road ahead to Jing Ke to lead.
Qing Mo suddenly broke into a cold sweat, “At most, you can trust this person’s 30% of this person’s words, you must be on guard against his deceit at any time.”
“I have a map, the road should always be the same. I just want to see what he wants to do.” Qian Wanyu already had an overview of the two roads. Even if she had taken the wrong road, she was confident that she could walk back to the right road.
Walking behind him, she didn’t encounter any strange monsters along the way, Qian Wanyu felt a little strange, “You look like you have been to Sleepy Dragon Valley before.”
The false Jing Ke paused as he walked forward, shrugging his shoulders indifferently, “It’s okay even if I tell you, I’m afraid before you were even born, I’d come to this place.”
Qian Wanyu snorted, “If you don’t want to say it, then don’t say it, it’s boring to make up such a ridiculous story.”
Fake Jing Ke could only shake his head helplessly, “I’m not lying to you, twenty years ago, the Sleepy Dragon Seal was taken away by a woman, she took advantage of that opportunity to close the Sleepy Dragon Seal, it’s been twenty years, we waited for twenty years…”
The speaker made it sound unintentional, but the listener thought it was intentional.
Especially when she heard that a woman had closed the Sleepy Dragon Valley for twenty years, Qian Wanyu’s heart skipped a beat, but she quickly restrained her expression, “You said that this valley closed automatically, that’s impossible.”
“How is it impossible, as long as you find the sleepy—” Fake Jing Ke shut up immediately, he was silent for a moment, and quickly changed the subject, “I saw the three of you before, why is there only you left now?”
“I accidentally lost my way in this sleepy dragon valley.” Qian Wanyu said this on purpose, “I have never seen such a big detour.”
“The Sleepy Dragon Valley is a well-known labyrinth, with sixty-four different layouts which change every two hours. Sometimes even I am deceived by this road, let alone you.” The fake Jing Ke calmly walked on in front, he was calm and generous, but in fact, he deliberately said those things to her before since he was confident that he could bring Qian Wanyu to that place, so it didn’t matter what he said to the other party.
Hoho this fake Jing Ke is bad news!!
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