Even If You're My Senior, It's Still Forbidden - Chapter 48

“Great minds truly think alike,” Zhao Mu said, cupping his hands in a respectful gesture. In that instant, he felt even more justified in his actions. He then asked, “Senior Sister Weining, what are your plans now?”

No sooner had he spoken than another scream echoed from outside the room. This time, the voice was different from the previous one, it seemed to belong to one of the cultivators who had arrived with her. If he remembered correctly, it was Lu Mingzhu’s voice.

“Senior Sister, should we go and check?” Su Jin’an inquired.

Ji Weining raised an eyebrow slightly. She wanted to ask her to come along but found herself at a loss for a reason.

“Junior Sister, wait here for a moment.”

With a wave of her hand, Ji Weining set up a defensive formation around the area, her impatience growing. She leaped out the window, vaulting upward along the rooftop. The moon that should have been visible in the sky was nowhere to be seen, leaving no light to guide her, as if she were walking through a tunnel. She considered taking out a luminous pearl but realized it would also reveal her position to any enemies. In the end, she had to rely on sound to determine the direction. Fortunately, she remembered the layout of this area. The rooms were identical, and by feeling her way, she quickly located the source of the scream.

“Is everything alright?” Ji Weining asked as she entered the room.

Lu Mingzhu recognized her immediately. “Senior Sister Weining, there, there’s a demonic cultivator here.”

A woman’s voice, sharp and tinged with a sinister charm, cut through the air. “Oh? So I’ve been discovered?”

The lamps in the room suddenly lit up, revealing the source of the eerie voice: Jin Yishuang. She was seated on a table, one leg propped up on a chair, the bell on her ankle emitting a clear, crisp chime. She raised an eyebrow and looked directly at Lu Mingzhu.

Though this was Lu Mingzhu’s first encounter with a demonic cultivator, her expression remained calm. “City Lord, we mean no offense.”

“Miss Lu didn’t even open the door, did she?” Ji Weining asked curiously. Since the rules here were set by Jin Yishuang, she shouldn’t be targeting those who hadn’t violated them.

Jin Yishuang looked at her with interest. “I was the one who opened her door.”

Now Ji Weining was certain: Jin Yishuang was the master of this illusion. But what connection did she have with Qingheng Mountain? And why had she become an illusion within Qingheng Mountain’s secret realm?

Since Jin Yishuang had established the rules, it wouldn’t be difficult for her to alter them. Ji Weining found herself puzzled.

“You seem to be trying to see something else through me,” Jin Yishuang said, meeting her gaze. She couldn’t understand what Ji Weining was thinking, why she showed no fear, not even of the dreaded demonic energy.

Ji Weining pressed on, “Do you know anyone from Qingheng Mountain?”

Jin Yishuang’s pupils visibly shifted. In an instant, a blur of movement brought her face-to-face with Ji Weining. “How do you know that?”

“Impossible,” she muttered, shaking her head in a daze. “No one knows about my connection to her.”

She grabbed the edge of Ji Weining’s sleeve, staring intently. “Do you know? I am her greatest shame.”

Suddenly, Jin Yishuang burst into laughter, bordering on madness.

What was there to know? To become an illusion here, she must have known someone from Qingheng Mountain. What was she thinking?

“Your cultivation of the Five Elements is flawed,” Ji Weining continued, reminding her. That was why she had descended into demonic cultivation.

Hearing this, Jin Yishuang froze. “How, how could it be wrong?”

Ji Weining didn’t particularly care about her feelings. She couldn’t determine whether this woman had become an illusion after death due to obsession or had willingly transformed into one while still alive. She pressed on, “Who taught you this array formation?”

“No one taught me,” she replied swiftly, without a hint of hesitation, yet it seemed as if she had wrestled with this question many times in her heart.

“Was it her?”

Do people of Qingheng Mountain cultivate through the five elements to enter the Dao? Ji Weining hadn’t heard of any precedent for this.

She could only continue probing.

“Are you testing me?”

“After all these years, you are the first variable.” Jin Yishuang looked at her with a faint smile, her eyes holding an unreadable expression.

“A variable?”

She might be a variable for many people.

“I have existed here for many, many years.”

“I don’t know why demonic energy has recently invaded this illusion, allowing you to enter.”

That was indeed the case, which was why she had appeared among the illusions they could choose from. Ji Weining said, “Wait for me. I’ll go out and take another look.”

“If you want to know, just keep watching. By my calculations, she should be arriving soon.”

The moment her words fell, the sky instantly brightened.

“How do you want to see her?”

She shed her nighttime appearance, and even the demonic patterns that had covered her face vanished, leaving it clean.

“I’ll decide after I see.” Ji Weining hadn’t made up her mind, nor did she even know who that person was.

“Bring everyone to the altar.” She curled her lips in a half-smile. “This illusion will kill all the demonic energy that enters the secret realm.”

Kill all the demonic energy in the secret realm?

No, could it be an exorcism array? Ji Weining’s mind was still fixated on that formation. It could be used and was the best exorcism array.

“Alright.”

Zhao Xi, confused by the sudden daylight, pushed the door open, followed by the rest of their companions.

Ji Weining said, “Follow her.”

Su Jin’an, equally puzzled, walked to her side. Growing weary of the surrounding illusions, she calmly asked Ji Weining, “What’s happening?”

“Just another person seeking death.” That was the only assessment she could offer.

Could there be a better way? To this day, she still didn’t understand why they insisted on using this array formation over and over again. Was it really such a great method?

Ji Weining truly couldn’t fathom what they were thinking.

Since these were events of the past, there was nothing she could do to change them. Perhaps someday someone would understand. She thought back to their time in Taoyuan Town. She really hadn’t asked enough questions back then. If she had inquired more, she might have understood by now.

This time, the change centered around Jin Yishuang.

They arrived at an altar, where Jin Yishuang stood at the very center, an exorcism array drawn beneath her feet with a demon-transforming brush.

Using the exorcism array as the core to sacrifice herself?

Ji Weining took a deep breath. How many times would she have to witness this? Even if this spell was so secretive, why did so many people know about it?

Her heart had gradually grown numb from their actions. Perhaps, back then, they truly had no better alternatives. In an instant, she seemed to understand their reasoning, yet she still refused to believe it.

The ritual was a lengthy process. Ji Weining knew it was the journey of someone seeking death.

To harbor such thoughts even after falling into demonhood, Jin Yishuang was indeed a peculiar person.

Someone in the crowd asked, “What kind of array is this?”

Ji Weining offered no explanation.

The pale formation beneath their feet began to reveal itself before everyone. Line by line, it grew clearer, suddenly glowing with golden light, forming a shield-like barrier that tightly enclosed the area.

“Do you truly believe this can cover up everything? Jin Yishuang.” Someone stepped forward from below, moving to stop her from completing the final stroke.

The Demon-Purging Brush in Jin Yishuang’s hand was knocked to the ground.

“You’ve come.”

She had been waiting, longing for her deity to descend.

Countless times.

And still, she had come.

Those below the platform could only see a figure from behind.

But Ji Weining recognized her, it was Ancestor Hou Qian. Who would have thought the Five Elements spiritual power had such deep ties to Qingheng Mountain?

It was surprising, yet it made sense. After all, Qingheng Mountain had always been a cradle of talent, with many secrets hidden over the years. Even more astonishing was that she picked up the Demon-Purging Brush and completed the final stroke.

The demonic energy around them instantly began to dissipate.

And the true core of the formation became Hou Qian.

Perhaps it was because it had happened too many times, but Jin Yishuang simply held her and wept.

“Why are you so foolish?”

“You fool.”

She couldn’t speak, sitting on the ground in disarray as she stared at her.

“Is this the final answer to the illusion?” Ji Weining asked, having pondered it over and over, finding no other explanation. “You returned to Qingheng Mountain and trapped yourself in this illusion, meeting her again and again.”

“Yes.”

Ji Weining asked, “Has the demonic energy within you been dispelled?”

“Not entirely.”

“Resolved little by little, time and again here?”

Jin Yishuang nodded this was the illusion’s final purpose.

“What about the common people in the city?”

Jin Yishuang laughed. “They’ve fallen into demonhood, just like me. This place is now known as the City of Demons.”

The City of Demons in the mortal realm.

Ji Weining couldn’t recall its name but had heard of it, how the Ancestor had once offered herself as a sacrifice to drive away the hordes of demons.

“The illusion is about to end. Are you willing to believe what I’ve said?” Jin Yishuang’s attention turned to Su Jin’an. She had long sensed something different within her and had intended to observe her slowly, never expecting to be discovered so soon.

Truly, staying too long in the illusion had dulled her mind.

The surroundings shifted back to the city’s original appearance, and Jin Yishuang seemed to grow younger as well.

Su Jin’an replied earnestly, “I think I’d rather know how to leave this place ahead of time.”

“Leave?” Jin Yishuang pondered seriously before answering, “For instance, by killing the current me.”

The fastest way to break an illusion is to kill its present master.

“Alright.” Su Jin’an agreed.

She had long grown weary. A dagger appeared in her hand as she looked at Jin Yishuang. In the next moment, the blade pierced Jin Yishuang’s heart, blood gushing from her body and splattering onto Su Jin’an’s face.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone as decisive as you.” Jin Yishuang’s voice didn’t sound like that of a normal person facing death.

Su Jin’an, well-versed in the rules of illusions, replied calmly, “After all, you’ll still be alive within the illusion.”

“I hope you find a different ending.” Jin Yishuang pulled the dagger from her heart, and the wound began to heal.

As the illusion shattered, Ji Weining grasped Su Jin’an’s hand amidst the chaotic crowd, and everyone arrived on an island.

“How can you not give me a moment to catch my breath?” Su Jin’an turned her head to look at Ji Weining, a trace of weariness in her eyes.

The illusionary realm shifted its scenery, and had Ji Weining still been there, she would have immediately recognized it as the landscape of Qingheng Mountain.

“Master, do you love Loulan City the most?” The young girl pushed open the door, holding a basket of fruits as she approached, her eyes curved with laughter.

She set down the brush in her hand, looked up at her, and gently tapped her nose. “Shuang’er remembers so clearly.”

“Of course,” the girl replied, patting her chest and smiling brightly at the person before her. “I will remember everything about Master clearly.”

“I want to take Master to Loulan City someday.”

The girl lowered her head and saw the cultivation method her master had created for her. Although her master had only briefly discussed it with her, for some reason, she had never attempted it. “Master, I’m willing to try the method you mentioned.”

“No, it’s too dangerous,” she frowned, her expression turning cold.

“I just want to give it a try. I want to live as long as you, Master,” the girl pressed close to her, acting coquettishly.

She still shook her head, and in the next moment, the paper lying on the table burst into flames before their eyes.

It was a cultivation method created specifically for her, yet in the end, she dared not let her try it. She couldn’t bear to let her take the risk.

“If you won’t let me learn it, then I won’t. But why did you have to burn it?” The girl threw down the basket in her hand, and the fruits scattered across the floor.

She only watched the girl’s retreating figure, reaching out a hand but saying nothing.

With a sigh, she bent down to pick up the fruits from the floor, wiped them with her sleeve, and took a bite.

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