The Fox Spirit Raised by the Villain Wants to Defect - Chapter 47

The surrounding clamor grew louder. Xiaoyu heard someone shouting for the Sword Venerable, immediately looked, but didn’t see Wen Yu.

The water mirrors still hadn’t recovered the image, and the scene was gradually descending into chaos.

Although she hadn’t read the original book carefully, Xiaoyu remembered that after the Grand Tournament, no accidents happened. Why did so many things go wrong as soon as she arrived?

What was Nan Cheng Hui rushing in for? Was it because he saw Duanmu Ying injured and was worried about her, so he rushed in?

But that didn’t make any sense at all.

“Without external forces, the water mirror simply wouldn’t break! This is absolutely something you did! You want to cheat!”

Xiaoyu heard a roar. The entire field fell silent. Everyone stared at the few team leaders at the center, their expressions universally showing extreme shock.

Li Xianshan broke the barrier, insisting that everyone hear their conversation and recognize Qiu Hong’s character.

Qiu Hong had intended to wait for Wen Yu to arrive to solve the sudden accident and did not want others to know, but Li Xianshan didn’t mind making a spectacle of things and specifically amplified his voice.

He darted his eyes around. The disciples he saw were all showing fear and suspicion. He cursed inwardly, but at this moment, he couldn’t show any anger and could only grit his teeth and endure.

What kind of people are these? It’s fine if they don’t help, but they only know how to make trouble!

“Where is the Sword Venerable? Why hasn’t the Sword Venerable arrived yet?”

As Qiu Hong’s words fell, the water mirror image recovered.

“Look, it’s back—”

The joyful words abruptly ceased. The images on all ten water mirrors were the same; not a single one showed a participating disciple.

The image only showed a still lake surface and a dense fog that was gradually rising.

The entire crowd was in an uproar, staring wide-eyed at the water mirrors, discussing animatedly.

“What’s going on? Why can’t we see anyone?”

Before their discussions stopped, the water mirror image shifted. The calm lake surface suddenly began to shake violently, as if water currents were rising from the lake surface into mid-air, and the fog began to disperse.

The sight, which seemed to defy the laws of nature, was displayed before everyone.

Xiaoyu felt it was miraculous just watching it: water flowing backward?

Soon, someone noticed something was wrong.

“This is not a real image! This is time reversing!”

Che Yurong stood up abruptly, no longer able to maintain his composure.

“Qiu Hong, explain yourself! Why is the water mirror showing a reversed image? What are you doing?”

Qiu Hong’s eyes were bulging out of their sockets. He stared at the image, his mind anxious, completely unable to listen to the accusations.

In the picture, all the lake water was suspended in mid-air. The fog completely dissipated, immediately revealing the figure of a person.

He was wearing clothes that were not the uniform of the four major sects; he was a disciple from a smaller sect who had rushed into the finals.

“This is the third layer trial!”

Someone exclaimed.

Xiaoyu fixed her eyes on the image. That disciple walked backward out of the lake bottom, then stood by the lake, motionless.

“What is he looking at?”

The disciple in the image stood there motionless for a long time, his head maintaining the posture of looking forward. For one or two seconds, it might not seem strange.

But as he stood like that, watching everyone present begin to urge him to move, he still maintained the same posture.

“Has he been bewitched by a demonic beast?”

The surrounding disciples couldn’t tell what he was doing. The faces of the team leaders from the major sects were paler than the last.

Seeing his own sect’s disciple, one team leader anxiously ran up to Qiu Hong to ask him what exactly was happening.

The water mirror image was linked to the participating disciple. Unless influenced by extremely powerful external forces, it was impossible for the image to disappear.

It was precisely for this reason that Qiu Hong was so anxious to invite Wen Yu over.

“If the Sword Venerable doesn’t come soon, I’m going in myself to see what’s going on.” Che Yurong stared at the screen, waiting for his own disciple to appear.

“Could it be that disciple of yours who rushed in and interfered with the image to cheat and win the top prize with such despicable means!” Li Xianshan didn’t give Qiu Hong any courtesy, rolling up his sleeves again, ready to beat Qiu Hong, but was pulled back by Qi Zhuolun.

“Everyone, wait and see. A mere disciple doesn’t have the ability to affect the water mirror,” Li Xianshan unceremoniously refuted Qi Zhuolun’s words.

“Who knows if they have some special magic artifact? Yuehui Sect is hosting the Grand Tournament, not your Xuanqiu Sect, Qi Zhuolun. You’re so eager to defend Qiu Hong. I’m afraid you’re colluding with him, having calculated to share the top three spots in the tournament!”

Qi Zhuolun flung his sleeve, his mouth twitching with anger: “How dare you speak like that? If you have the guts, you go in and try to destroy the water mirror for me to see.”

The two men argued, and the scene became uncontrollable.

“Where is the Sword Venerable? Has the Sword Venerable been invited yet?”

Qiu Hong pushed past the two of them, ignoring his own image, and roared.

But he saw all the disciples watching the excitement in front of him look terrified. Some were even trembling all over, their lips chattering, pointing at the water mirror and unable to utter a word.

He looked up—

The time-reversing water mirror had somehow started displaying footage of time flowing normally.

That disciple walked step-by-step into the bottom of the lake, his movements stiff, like a puppet on strings, until he reached the center of the lake bottom.

The clearly dry ground quickly became wet. The pale ground turned black-gray, and then a dense black mist swirled up, sweeping across the scene. The place where the disciple stood seemed to be shrouded in black mist, which then suddenly disappeared.

A shocking scene emerged.

The lake water suspended in mid-air violently crashed down. Those who saw this only had time to shout in their minds: Run!

The disciple seemed completely oblivious to the crushing lake water, standing rigidly in place.

In an instant, the lake water smashed down. Blood exploded, severed limbs and fragments splattered. The lake water filled the entire deep pit, yet not a single drop spilled out.

Moments later, a head with blurred features floated up, bobbing on the lake surface, sending out layers of blood-red ripples.

Everyone looked at the sight, speechless.

“Supervisors! Take them all away—”

Qiu Hong roared. The Yuehui Sect supervisors obeyed, driving away all the disciples who were scared or still wanting to look.

The team leader who saw his disciple die right in front of him moved his lips, unable to speak a single word.

Xiaoyu’s expression was no different from his.

This was the first time she had witnessed such a gory scene without any concealment. That bobbing head seemed to have floated out of the image and into Xiaoyu’s mind, and she couldn’t get rid of it.

“Go, go, go! Hurry up! What are you standing here for?”

The urging voice startled Xiaoyu. She turned her head and saw that everyone in front was being herded in her direction.

Soon, the training ground was empty in a large area. Xiaoyu looked at the image again. It was no longer the lake water but had switched to another scene, featuring a participating disciple Xiaoyu didn’t recognize.

She turned and followed the crowd. Some people were in a panic, while others dismissed it, saying that the disciple who died was simply incompetent.

Xiaoyu felt irritable and restless, her eyelids constantly twitching.

Never had she felt such anxiety, always feeling like something was about to happen.

The surging crowd suddenly burst into screams again. Someone shouted hoarsely: “Another one died!”

Xiaoyu instinctively looked up to see the water mirror but was bumped. She lost her footing and began to fall.

Just as she adjusted her body, a pair of hands wrapped around her shoulders. The person picked her up and helped her steady herself.

Xiaoyu stood firm and saw a face that was both familiar and strange.

It was Wen Yu’s transformed appearance.

Her heart suddenly calmed down.

“Come with me.”

Wen Yu held Xiaoyu’s hand, leading her to walk against the flow of the crowd.

A supervisor saw them walking back, ran over to drive them away, but upon seeing the token Wen Yu showed, he let them pass.

Xiaoyu followed behind him and asked, “What happened?”

Wen Yu was concise: “Some things have mixed into the Secret Realm.”

Before reaching the center of the training ground, he explained to Xiaoyu: “I will take you in with me later. This incident has gotten huge, and they might try to harm you.”

Xiaoyu didn’t have time to ask for details before they reached Qiu Hong and the others. She also saw Lian Qiao jogging over.

The image in the water mirror had already switched to another disciple.

“To hell with your Sword Venerable! I’m going in myself! If anything happens to my disciple, Qiu Hong, can you afford to pay the price!” Li Xianshan spoke harshly and rushed toward the teleportation array.

Qiu Hong immediately grabbed him: “This is the Grand Sect Tournament, not a place for you to act out!”

Wasn’t he anxious too? His own daughter was still inside!

But if he let the people from the other sects go in, he wouldn’t be able to know what they might do inside.

They cannot go in. Not one of them!

“You must give us an explanation! Why didn’t the tokens activate? Two disciples have already died, but the tokens haven’t brought them out!”

Qiu Hong had previously said that participating disciples could crush their tokens to leave the Secret Realm, but the token had another function, known only to the team leaders.

When detecting a life threat to the token holder, the token would automatically activate and bring the participating disciple out.

But now, the images in the water mirror showed two participating disciples had died, yet the tokens hadn’t shown any reaction.

“Wait for the Sword Venerable. He will definitely have a solution!”

Qi Zhuolun was becoming anxious: “Little He’s injuries haven’t fully healed. If he also encounters this inexplicable attack and dies, Qiu Hong, our friendship ends here!”

“Wait, wait, wait! How long have we waited? The Sword Venerable hasn’t come! How long do you want me to wait!”

Qiu Hong opened his mouth to speak, but glimpsed the approaching figure from the corner of his eye, his face instantly brightening with joy.

“Sword Venerable, you have finally arrived!” He immediately went to meet him.

Wen Yu had already returned to his original appearance when he approached them. His face was expressionless. He stopped, his figure perfectly blocking Xiaoyu.

“The situation is urgent. We need Sword Venerable to go in and investigate what exactly happened in the Secret Realm.” Qiu Hong’s gaze was fixed only on Wen Yu, without a single extra look at Xiaoyu.

The others quickly gathered around, loudly shouting things that were impossible to distinguish.

Wen Yu raised his eyes and scanned them. His sharp gaze immediately silenced the group.

“You guard the outside. I will enter.”

Wen Yu walked toward the teleportation array. Xiaoyu followed, but after only two steps, someone grabbed her arm forcefully.

“Who are you, and what are you doing following the Sword Venerable?”

Xiaoyu twisted her arm, freeing herself.

“She is coming in with me to assist me,” Wen Yu warned Qiu Hong with his eyes. Qiu Hong took a step back. Just as he was about to tell Wen Yu to investigate thoroughly after entering, a woman’s voice sounded.

“Sword Venerable, I request to enter with you.” Lian Qiao, who had been jogging all the way, spoke up before she could even catch her breath: “My medical skills are good. If any disciple inside is injured, I can treat them.”

Xiaoyu saw her sincere attitude and noticed nothing out of the ordinary.

“Yes, yes, yes. Her medical skills are good. If anything happens to the disciples inside, she can provide timely treatment,” Qiu Hong immediately nodded.

“Are you few coordinating this—” Li Xianshan’s words were cut off by Che Yurong.

“Then hurry up and go in. Don’t waste time.”

Xiaoyu looked at Wen Yu and saw him nod in agreement.

The three of them stepped into the teleportation array together, also carrying a token.

They needed to find the cause of the Secret Realm’s abnormality and why the tokens had failed.

Xiaoyu stood beside Wen Yu. Before the array activated, she saw the previously packed training ground become completely empty, leaving only the few team leaders.

Her vision darkened for a moment.

The teleportation array activated. Threads of spiritual power supported the array. Wisp after wisp of fine threads floated around, looking very much like the puppet threads in the killing formation of the Sand Demon Territory.

Vaguely, she heard Wen Yu call her name. The voice was distant and quickly vanished.

Her heart suddenly pounded. A blinding light burst into her eyes. Xiaoyu instinctively closed her eyes, and after a moment, she opened them.

In her vision, only endless darkness remained, replacing the light from moments before.

“Where… is this?”

Suddenly, pat went a sound. The darkness receded, and a bright white light illuminated the surroundings.

Upon seeing everything in front of her, Xiaoyu’s entire body went rigid. Her pupils contracted, and her eyes were filled with disbelief.

The familiar white wall with peeling paint, the bed that took up almost the entire room, and the clothes that couldn’t be stretched out to see daylight but had to be hung by herself on a rope to dry.

This tiny rented room in front of her was the apartment she had lived in for many years.

“I…”

Xiaoyu stood there blankly, not daring to approach, not daring to touch.

She looked down at herself and found that her clothes had changed into a long-sleeved shirt and long pants.

Everything in her field of vision was exactly the place where she lived before transmigrating into the book—the small rented room she constantly said she would move out of for a bigger house but never did.

If this scene in front of her was real, then were the shouts, Wen Yu’s calls, and everything he said to her just now all fake?

Xiaoyu urged herself to sense everything around her. She took a step, going first to touch the quilt.

This was the winter quilt she hadn’t had time to change. Washing the quilt cover was too inconvenient. She planned to wash it on a big sunny day and dry it all day long.

But she hadn’t had time to wash it before transmigrating into the book.

The familiar texture. Touching it, her palm felt warm.

Xiaoyu suddenly collapsed onto the bed, smelling the familiar scent.

She buried her whole body in the quilt. Her body relaxed involuntarily. Her head felt dizzy, and she gradually felt sleepy.

Suddenly, Xiaoyu opened her eyes. Her eyelids were fighting, but she told herself in her mind to wash up before sleeping.

This was a habit she had developed over many years: brushing her teeth before bed.

She opened her eyes and saw her wrist was empty.

Something is wrong.

Xiaoyu instantly cleared her mind, chasing away the sleepiness.

She should have the bracelet Wen Yu gave her.

With this thought, she stood up, scanned the surroundings, and searched for her phone.

If she had returned to her own world, she would be able to see the complete original book.

If not, she was still in the book, and all of this was… an illusion.

Xiaoyu found her phone, her heart pounding heavily, feeling nervous and expectant.

Her hand trembled slightly, and she nearly dropped it.

She opened the search page, typed in the name of the original book, and scrolled through the table of contents.

Xiaoyu stared intently at the screen, quickly scrolling a few times at first, then looking at it slowly, one page at a time.

When she saw the title of the final chapter, Xiaoyu’s entire body turned cold.

It was missing—

The second half was missing.

Only the content she had already read was there.

She was in an illusion. All of this was a hallucination, and she hadn’t returned to her original world.

Xiaoyu couldn’t tell whether she was disappointed or relieved at this moment.

She dropped the phone and fell to the floor, looking up at the ceiling. The white walls around her gradually dissolved. The familiar room disappeared piece by piece before her eyes, turning into nothingness.

Even a brief return to her own room had caused her emotions to fluctuate wildly.

Scene after scene of transmigrating into the book flashed through her mind. Xiaoyu suddenly felt like crying.

Her vision gradually blurred. She blinked, forcing the tears out. Xiaoyu stood up, turning to watch the bed in the room dissipate.

She thought she had successfully suppressed her longing for her original world, but upon seeing the place where she lived, an impulse erupted within her.

She wanted to go home. She wanted to return to her world.

Even though she had tried hard to integrate into this new world, it was impossible for her to be safe from the very beginning.

No matter how much she integrated, it was still unfamiliar.

Until the very last corner disappeared, darkness enveloped Xiaoyu.

Xiaoyu stood rigidly for a long time. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Her heart panicked for a moment.

This Secret Realm was so powerful that it could even conjure things that didn’t exist in this world. Could the people outside see her?

As soon as this thought appeared, it grew uncontrollably. The tragic state of the two disciples played like a movie in her mind. The gory scenes scared Xiaoyu into immediately opening her eyes, only to see pitch blackness.

She started to feel afraid.

“Wen Yu?”

She called out softly. The pitch-black surroundings were completely dark. Even her voice seemed to be swallowed up.

Xiaoyu’s mind went numb. She suddenly couldn’t think of what to do next.

It’s so dark.

She stared at the darkness ahead for a long time before remembering that she could use magic now.

She reached out and conjured a small cluster of flame. She didn’t dare to make it too bright, afraid of encountering something.

She stared at the flame and noticed that it wasn’t flickering.

Is there no wind here?

The lit flame illuminated a small area. The emerald green bracelet on her wrist shone brightly.

Xiaoyu’s eyes lit up. The bracelet Wen Yu gave her was made of fragments of the sword-in-flute. Maybe it could help her find Wen Yu.

She reached out to touch it. The cold temperature gave Xiaoyu a great sense of security.

“Where is he?”

The bracelet moved, flickering on and off like starlight in the night sky.

Xiaoyu was delighted. The bracelet was responding to her.

“Can he find me?” Xiaoyu immediately asked: “Or, can you take me to him?”

The bracelet’s light gradually dimmed, finally falling silent under Xiaoyu’s expectant gaze.

It stopped shining.

Xiaoyu’s eyes darkened accordingly.

She wanted to wait where she was for Wen Yu to find her.

The road ahead was dangerous and unknown. She didn’t know what she might encounter.

However, staying put also posed a risk of being attacked by something else.

Moreover, Wen Yu still had to save those people. She couldn’t place her hopes on him coming to her just because of that ethereal relationship between them.

She had to stand up and save herself.

Xiaoyu encouraged herself.

You can do it. You can achieve it.

She took another deep breath and took a step. In that instant, the surrounding darkness receded like a tide. A dim stairwell appeared, and the foot she stepped out with landed on a stair.

Xiaoyu looked down. She was wearing yellowed white sneakers.

This was the place where she lived during high school.

The old, dilapidated building had exposed wires, flickering light bulbs, and dust covering the stair railings.

Xiaoyu turned her head back. Outside the unit door was pitch black, just like the darkness she had seen moments ago.

So, this was still a layer of the illusion. She hadn’t left.

If she hadn’t taken that step, she would have been trapped there forever.

Xiaoyu glanced at the darkness behind her, lifted her foot, and walked up the stairs until she reached her front door, Room 401.

She subconsciously reached behind her, touched the canvas backpack, and paused her hand. She took out the keys from the bag.

Knowing that everything was an illusion, her mood lightened considerably.

It was just something she had experienced before. Going through it again wouldn’t scare her.

The key turned, and the door opened.

Xiaoyu underestimated the cruelty of the illusion.

Some things, when experienced again, are still difficult to overcome.

She saw her mother lying on the ground, her eyes staring at the doorway, staring at her.

Xiaoyu felt as if something had pierced her body, making her unable to breathe from the pain.

Those deep-seated memories were cruelly dragged out, forcing her to face them one more time.

Xiaoyu told herself in her heart, It’s over. It’s already over. Don’t be afraid. You are stronger now. They can’t hurt you anymore.

But she still couldn’t stop the flood of tears, still couldn’t completely restore the scarred wound back to its original state.

She stood there stiffly, her fingers dug into the wall. Powder fell into the cracks of her fingers, but she couldn’t feel the pain.

At that time, she came back from evening study hall and saw her mother lying on the ground. Blood spread to the doorway. Confusion and helplessness filled her entire body.

She cried out in pain and finally fainted. It was the neighbor who heard the commotion and finally called the police.

This time, Xiaoyu walked in herself, closed her mother’s eyes, and made the phone call.

As she pressed the final button, everything around her dissolved. Her palm felt empty, and her arm dropped weakly.

Xiaoyu opened her eyes blankly. Extreme grief poured out.

After a long time, she covered her eyes and squatted down.

The cold bracelet pressed against her cheek, one side warm, the other cold.

She still couldn’t face her mother’s death again.

The squatted figure trembled slightly, tears soaking her sleeves.

She wanted to curl up, shrink into her quilt, and once she was too tired from crying, sink into a deep sleep.

But her home wasn’t here.

Xiaoyu raised her head. All she could see was darkness.

She didn’t know how many more layers of illusion lay beneath.

But…

Xiaoyu stood up. Her head swam for a moment, and her body swayed.

“No matter how many more layers there are, I won’t be afraid.”

The most painful thing has already appeared. Could there be anything more painful?

Xiaoyu lowered her hand. The emerald green bracelet hung down.

She took a step. The darkness changed. Unlike every scene before, this time it was endless black and white. These two colors were like opposing forces, dividing the entire world.

At the same time, the bracelet on her wrist trembled violently.

Xiaoyu raised her hand and saw the bracelet glowing.

She abruptly looked up, staring ahead.

The white and black were clashing, sometimes white gained the upper hand, and the next second, black would surge over.

This was nowhere she had seen before. Was that… Wen Yu?

The scene in front of her seemed very close, reachable by stretching out her hand, yet it also seemed very far away, on an unattainable firmament.

The bracelet was still glowing.

Xiaoyu tried to walk forward, but the black and white around her seemed to be churned, rotating in one direction, gradually blending, yet the distinct black and white could still be differentiated.

She took another step but stepped onto empty air. Her whole body quickly fell. A strong sense of weightlessness hit her. Her body was falling, and her soul was chasing after it.

Then, she was caught, and her body stopped falling.

A cool, clear aura enveloped her. Xiaoyu widened her eyes and saw Wen Yu’s face.

“I found you.”

The bracelet settled down, resting stably on her wrist.

“I apologize. Something went wrong, and you and I were separated.” Wen Yu didn’t let go, carrying Xiaoyu out of the black and white chaos.

“Are you real?”

Xiaoyu gently touched Wen Yu’s face. The familiar coldness filled her palm.

“Mhm, I’m real.” Wen Yu looked down, gazing at her intently.

Xiaoyu was afraid this was still an illusion.

She didn’t let go of the hand covering Wen Yu’s face. Her eyes showed such clear unwillingness to easily believe.

Wen Yu frowned, pity filling his heart.

He knew what those entering the illusion would experience. The corners of the eyes of the person in his arms were red, her lashes were damp, and there was still moisture in her eyes.

She had clearly just experienced suffering.

Wen Yu held Xiaoyu tighter against his chest and said, “Do you want me to prove it?”

After Xiaoyu realized what he meant, he asked again: “Prove that I am Wen Yu.”

Xiaoyu looked up. From this angle, she could clearly see Wen Yu’s eyes effortlessly.

His long, straight eyelashes fluttered, revealing eyes that only reflected her image.

Xiaoyu didn’t know if she wanted proof. Before she could think of what to say, she saw him slowly lower his head, moving closer to her.

Her eyes gradually widened, and her heart gave a strong beat.

What is he going to do?