CH 14

A vast peach orchard appeared. In the center of the grove was an enormous peach tree, and the surrounding trees almost seemed to pay deference to it. At this moment, the peach blossoms were already in full bloom, and petals danced in the air, but this beautiful sight couldn’t override the uncanny feeling that arose within each of them.

Under that most gorgeous and gigantic tree, a woman sat weeping and a man was bound up in peach branches. It appeared that the man, who was held down by a second, extremely beautiful woman, had been caught misbehaving. 

“Shixiongdi, you came at just the right moment! Quickly, rescue me!” Catching sight of Gu Feng and the others, Chu Feng joyfully shouted.

Gu Feng’s group decidedly refrained from assisting, crossing their arms and standing around as if watching a good show.

“Chu Xiong, you’re usually the one rescuing the beauty. Why is it that now you’re crying for help and want to be rescued from a beauty?” Xiao Chen gloated. It appeared his friendship with Chu Feng was only so-so.

“That’s right. It’s such a beautiful day and you have a nice atmosphere going on there. We shouldn’t disturb you.” Hua Yan also had no qualms about piling on the taunts. 

Chu Feng was so angry he almost spat blood. His face darkened and he said, “This is Tao Yao, and she wants to absorb my cultivation. If you won’t help me, then forget it. Hitting a man while he’s down, what kind of fellow disciples are you?”

“Hey, what nonsense are you spouting? Your qi is impure and filthy, I definitely don’t want to absorb your cultivation!” That beautiful Tao Yao glared cooly at Chu Feng.

“Then why did you tie me up?” Chu Feng raged.

“That woman said you and she were already man and wife. She wanted to forge a lifelong peach blossom contract with you, so I observed your qi and saw she hadn’t lied. I wanted to help you two get closer, but you treated my good intentions like they were donkey guts.” The little Tao Yao was offended.

“Lin Yue, didn’t you say you were tricked by her and she only wanted to suck away my cultivation?” Chu Feng turned toward the weeping woman and loudly inquired.

Lin Yue looked at Chu Feng with poise and charm, weakly protesting, “Shixiong, don’t blame me. I want us to be together for a lifetime, and she can help me.”

“Did you forget we have a deal? You provide affection, and I provide resources. Why change your mind at this point?” Chu Feng bitterly laughed.

“You don’t want to admit it?” The little Tao Yao suddenly developed a frightful aura, only slightly less overpowering than that of the mighty python. 

“Ft bt, atja ajb sjb lr jybea ab jaajmx, kf tjnf ab jma delmx.” Xe Mfcu’r  fzqgfrrlbc rtloafv jcv tf tegglfvis rqbxf.

Snfgsbcf jlwfv atflg jaajmxr ja Kjb Tjb, ktfc revvfcis jc ffglf rwlif ragfamtfv jmgbrr tfg ojmf.

“I don’t enjoy fighting, but you humans are so violent. Have a taste of my ‘Seven Emotions and Six Desires Array‘. You can leave if you can eliminate your emotions and desires, but if no one can break this array, then you’ll become fertilizer for my flowers. Ha ha ha . . .” Tao Yao cast her spell and vanished with Lin Yue as soon as she finished speaking.

Ljgvis tjv tfg nblmf ojvfv jkjs, ktfc atflg reggbecvlcur yfujc ab mtjcuf jcv atf fcalgf qfjmt ugbnf kjr fcnfibqfv ys j ijsfg bo qlcx wlra. Ktf qfjmt agffr tjv jii mtjcufv ab ibbx lvfcalmji jcv bgvlcjgs. 

Gu Feng observed for a bit, and discovered the mist was so thick it only allowed him to see one zhang in any direction. Inside the illusion array, the group had already been separated, and nobody else was nearby.

He first waved his palm to disperse the mist, but it didn’t have any effect, and there was no difference in the density of the mist. He then used his ‘Spirit Devouring Palm’, but it was also completely ineffective against the mist.

“Ha ha, what a waste of energy. The ‘Seven Emotions and Six Desires Array’ is like being in dreamland. Spiritual qi attacks are useless.” Hidden within the mist, Tao Yao gave a loud laugh, but was inwardly astonished. This person could still retain his sanity even within this array? What innocence. Still, who was without emotions or desires?

Gu Feng was unable to discover how to break the array or damage the peach trees. Nor was he able to locate Tao Yao and attack her. He could only wander around in search of the others. 

The first person he came across was Chu Feng who was no longer tied up by peach branches. He had an expression of delight on his face, giggling and boorishly speaking, “Ladies, don’t fight. Gege will accept each of you . . .”

Gu Feng listened with black lines running down his face. This guy deserves to be made into fertilizer for flowers. After hitting Chu Feng several times and finding him unable to awaken, Gu Feng could only break off some branches to tie up Chu Feng and drag him along.

“Mom, Dad, don’t worry . . . Devil’s Fortress won’t get away with this . . . I’ll practice the sword . . . and avenge you.” Ahead of them, intermittently could be heard a man’s sobbing voice.

Gu Feng rushed forward and discovered Xiao Chen, with tears streaming down his cheeks, repeating ‘avenge’ and ‘Devil’s Fortress’ over and over. 

Gu Feng, “. . .”

Have I seen too much?

Gu Feng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, feeling that if he continued along, he’d come to know everyone’s deepest darkest secrets. Knowing too much wasn’t a good thing. He wanted to weep tears of regret, but his eyes remained dry, and he used the same method as before to tie up Xiao Chen before he moved along.

One after the other, he came across Hua Yan and Ling Yunxuan, but those two merely stood and stared blankly into space, obviously lost in some kind of depression. At this point, Gu Feng was already a bit anxious. Why had he yet to find Xiao Jin? Had he run into trouble? 

The next person he chanced upon still wasn’t Su Mujin, but instead was Ye Mochen.

“Su Mujin, didn’t you say that one day the two of us would escape? I hate it! Why is it that she treats me and my father like this? Is the bond of flesh and blood utterly meaningless in her eyes?” Ye Mochen spoke with utter desperation, as though he was suffering agonizing torment.

Wait, it’s him? Gu Feng stood transfixed by Ye Mochen’s words. No wonder Ye Mochen was always so hostile toward me. I took his body, why wouldn’t he be angry? Gu Feng finally understood where the niggling familiarity he felt toward Ye Mochen came from. After being locked up together for three hundred years, who wouldn’t know their companion well?

That’s right. Ye Mochen was the previous life’s ‘Gu Feng,’ and had also been reborn. Today is really too eventful, Gu Feng thought. Fortunately, the only person left was Su Mujin. He and Su Mujin were originally the same person, so there ought not to be any secrets, right?! 

Thinking of Su Mujin, Gu Feng burned with impatience, and sped up his pace. He had no idea that this life’s most ‘pleasant surprise’ was waiting ahead of him.

Two flowers blossomed, each upon its own branch.

When Tao Yao had finished speaking earlier, Su Mujin’s surroundings had begun to shift, and a multitude of beauties appeared. Each had their own distinct charm, and every type of beautiful woman was represented. Any preference you could imagine was present in that illusion, but Su Mujin remained unmoved. He silently recited the wind blade incantation, and the beauties were immediately dissipated by the turbulence.

But that was not the end of it. Next, a wave of beautiful men and women appeared in every provocative posture imaginable. Su Mujin scanned over them. This time, each of them held a shade of resemblance to Gu Feng. But . . . compared to Gege, they’re all inferior. Su Mujin sneered and used the wind blade to destroy this illusion, too. 

After those people disappeared, another group arose. When this batch appeared, Su Mujin caught his breath. Each of them looked identical to Gu Feng. They had even nearly captured his temperament and bearing. Su Mujin was tempted, but . . . if it’s not Gege, what good is this appearance? Su Mujin straightaway prepared to eliminate them with his wind blade, when he suddenly heard the sound of Gu Feng’s voice.

“Xiao Jin, I’ve finally found you. Come quickly.” Gu Feng was alone and he smiled and waved at Su Mujin.

Su Mujin didn’t budge. Although this person looked and acted exactly like Gu Feng, he felt there was something off about him. As he was hesitating, Gu Feng’s voice rang once again, but from a new location.

“Xiao Jin, I’ve finally found you. Come quickly.” Once more, Gu Feng waved at him, but drug behind him a crowd of people tied up with branches. 

Almost immediately, Su Mujin confirmed the identity of the person standing before him. There was no specific reason for it, but he just knew it was definitely Gege.

Su Mujin smiled at Gu Feng and destroyed the fake Gu Fengs with his wind blade. The mist suddenly cleared up and once again the beautiful peach grove appeared. The illusion array was . . . broken.

“What a touching reunion! But it’s boring to go it alone! It would be better to let me lend you a helping hand.” Tao Yao used sound transmission so that only Su Mujin could hear her.

Gu Feng had been staring at Su Mujin and only now realized the array had been broken. When did that happen? Before he had the chance to wake from his reverie, he saw a rosy stream of light fly toward Su Mujin and enter the space between his brows. Gu Feng’s expression changed, and he flew over to Su Mujin. It’s a pity he was too slow to stop that ray of rosy light from entering Su Mujin’s mind. 

“Are you alright? Do you feel pain any-” Gu Feng’s sentence was cut off halfway through because his lips were sealed. The other person impatiently pressed close and insatiably sucked on his lips.

Seeing his companion’s face, Gu Feng was stunned. As a result of his shock, he forgot to push the other away, because that person was Xiao Jin. How can this be happening? Am I still stuck in the illusion? That must be it. This has to be a hallucination . . .

He suddenly felt a stab of pain. Su Mujin seemed to be annoyed by his absentmindedness, and had bitten his lip in retaliation. If there’s pain, does that mean this isn’t an illusion? Gu Feng only now realized this, just as he made an enormous mistake. His reaction upon being bitten had been to cry out in pain.

A single step off the path of righteousness leads to a life of regret and ruin! 

Su Mujin took advantage of the opportunity, his warm tongue entering Gu Feng’s mouth. Gu Feng was caught up in this sensual dance. His partner’s movements were clumsy, but it wasn’t difficult to sense the true affection within them.

“Congratulations! That’s exactly how it’s done!” Tao Yao took on human form and stood on the sidelines, shouting with excitement and obviously satisfied with her achievement.

The sudden sound of her voice awoke Gu Feng’s rational mind. Right, I saw that pink thing fly toward Xiao Jin’s face. So, all of this was Tao Yao’s machinations, and obviously not Xiao Jin’s idea. Gu Feng was able to silently convince himself.