"Shuangshuang, what kind of magic did you use?" Feng Yixuan asked curiously.
"Dream Lotus," Qi Aoshuang responded quietly.
"Ah?" Feng Yixuan blinked. "What"s that?"
Qi Aoshuang raised her hand. With a flick of her finger, a tiny golden lotus appeared on the tip of her finger. Scarlet wisps swirled around the flower.
"They will see whatever I want them to see." Qi Aoshuang withdrew her hand and the golden lotus dissipated.
"It will give them an illusion?" Feng Yixuan frowned.
"Yes." Qi Aoshuang nodded lightly. It was basically true, except what she let the nine holy knights see was not an illusion, but her memories of that day!
Leng Lingyun remained silent, his head down. No one could see his expression.
The nine knights still had not awakened, but everything they knew was being overturned. After a long time, they finally woke up. All of them collapsed onto the ground.
"Illusion! Everything was an illusion! It was all an illusion crafted by that witch!" Carter was sprawled on the ground, muttering to himself, his gaze unfocused. The scenario that had been replayed repeatedly in his mind must have been an illusion created by the witch!
"Captain…" the holy knights called out with difficulty.
Carther turned around and met the gazes of his most trusted companions. He saw that they all had the same vacant look as he.
"An illusion…" Carter spat out, but found it was the first time it had been so difficult to convince himself.
Breaking off relations with the Temple of Light publically and risking it all in order to save her mother, then despicably killing her mother in order to repair relations with the Temple of Light…
How was that possible!
Carter sat frozen in place, his heart unable to settle down. The scene that had replayed in his head multiple times had been so cruel, so b.l.o.o.d.y.
"Captain, it was all an illusion! It was an illusion created by the witch!" one of the holy knights bellowed frantically.
Carter fell silent, his expression darkening. His pike lay to the side, untouched. Nearby, the bonfire continued to crackle.
"She didn"t kill us in order to confuse us." Another holy knight raised a fist angrily.
"If her heart was truly faithful to the Temple, then why did she break off relations with the Temple of Light in front of so many people that day?" Carter said slowly with difficulty. Something that had been deeply rooted in his heart for years started to sway for the first time.
"She broke off relations with the Temple that day, then slaughtered her mother in order to display her loyalty to the Temple of Light…" One of the holy knights started off saying this angrily, but then his voice quieted and died down. His expression also changed. Who would believe such an excuse?
"Slaughtering her own mother to express goodwill towards the Temple, would the Temple accept this?" Carter asked, frowning.
"No!" another holy knight said angrily. "The Temple would never accept a b.a.s.t.a.r.d who would kill their own mother!"
"Everyone knows this. Would that girl not know?" Carter"s hand was already starting to shake.
The other holy knights" faces paled. Something deep within their hearts started to stir. Something that had remained upright, towering for years, was starting to rumble.
One of the holy knights" eyes started to lose focus. He shook his head incredulously, muttering, "No… How could it be…" He wanted to convince himself, but found that he could not.
Every person sat still, their gazes vacant. Wind blew and the bonfire crackled.
Under the scorching sun, Qi Aoshuang and the others traveled slowly.
"My lady, I still don"t understand why you let those holy knights live. What if they chase after us again? Are you going to let them go again?" Xi Shaoqi had never understood. He knew clearly, however, that Qi Aoshuang was definitely not a forgiving person. She was a vengeful person who was not to be provoked.
"They won"t come," Qi Aoshuang said faintly.
"What? Won"t come? How is that possible? They are loyal fools of the Temple of Light!" Xi Shaoqi almost jumped up. He thought the Miss was tricking him again.
Xi Shaosi, on the other hand, frowned. It had already been five days, but the holy knights still hadn"t come yet. With their speed, they should have caught up long ago, but it had been quiet the past few days. Why?
"Oh? Is that Stone Forest?" The scene before them suddenly caught Xi Shaoqi"s attention. He stopped questioning Qi Aoshuang.
Before them were huge stone pillars that stood together like a forest. The craggy pillars seem to extend on forever. Many pillars were grotesquely shaped from wind and rain. Whenever the wind blew, an eerie sound would echo throughout the entire forest. Xi Shaoqi shuddered at the creepy scene. He was afraid of these kinds of things the most.
"What do you guys think?" Qi Aoshuang stared off into the distance, her gaze cool.
"A good place to ambush people." Feng Yixuan shaded his eyes with one hand and squinted into the distance. The complex, amalgamated stone pillars blocked much of their sight.
"Let"s go." Qi Aoshuang dismounted and led her camel forward by the reins.
"Uh, Miss, young master Feng even said that it"s a good place for an ambush. You"re still going in?" Xi Shaoqi"s eyes were wide.
"I want to know who else is trying to kill me besides the Temple of Light," Qi Aoshuang replied lightly.
Feng Yixuan and Leng Lingyun did not say anything. They had already dismounted and were following Qi Aoshuang. Xi Shaoqi and Xi Shaosi shared a glance, then also dismounted. The party"s figures disappeared into the forest.
The grotesquely shaped stone pillars were a breathtaking sight to behold. Although they obstructed much of their sight, as long as they walked in one direction, they would be able to get out.
In a hidden corner of Stone Forest.
"Boss, the target has entered the perimeter," someone said in a low voice.
"Boss, you must help me get back my Rainbow Inkstone," another voice said, filled with resentment. Evidently, it was the bird nest hair guy who had trapped Qi Aoshuang and the others within the magic formation.
"Shut up! You idiot, if not for your independent actions, would they have been able to take it?" the first voice berated the bird nest hair guy.
The bird nest hair guy shut up. It was indeed his fault for losing such an important treasure.
"Heehee, the feast is about to start." The person the others called boss let out a strange laugh. His teeth clicked together, creating a zeze sound. His blue hair covered half his face. The uncovered half could be considered handsome, but his malevolent smile and sinister gaze left one uncomfortable. His covered half did not have any skin, only reddish flesh. His eyes and, with no lips, his teeth were exposed. He appeared extremely terrifying.
With a slight wave of the boss"s hand, a figure standing on the tallest pillar suddenly moved. From her elegant figure, you could tell she was a woman. She jumped nimbly from pillar to pillar, agile like a fairy, silently approaching Qi Aoshuang and the others.
She stopped at what she thought was a safe distance away, then slowly reached for the bow from her back. Squinting, she took aim at the person leading at the front, Qi Aoshuang. Killing this girl was their only objective. They would be rewarded with generous riches.
Her bow was an enchanted bow imbued with magic that shot out water arrows. She silently shot it at the black haired girl. In mid air, the originally single arrow became two, one after the other. This was her specialty, double arrow attack! Even if one knocked away the first arrow, the second arrow was right behind it! She couldn"t even keep count of how many people had been killed by this attack.
The female archer watched the magic arrow fly towards the black haired girl"s chest, her lips curling into a smile. The arrows this enchanted bow shot were silent and only had a tiny magic undulation. Whenever the target noticed, it would be too late. After killing this girl, the boss would take care of the lackeys.
However, the next moment, the female archer"s smile froze.
Just when the fierce magic arrow was about to hit the girl, it suddenly stopped in its tracks. What happened next almost frightened her stiff. The vicious arrow suddenly shot backwards in the exact path it had come.
Third brother"s Rainbow Inkstone?! This was the first thought that came to her mind. What was even more terrifying, the black haired girl calmly looked up towards her, then smiled coldly.
She antic.i.p.ated it all along? The thought flashed across the female archer"s mind. She struggled slightly as she dodged the her own arrow.
"An ambush!" Xi Shaoqi called out.
"The Temple of Light?" Feng Yixuan looked at Leng Lingyun.
"No." Leng Lingyun shook his head.
"Then they"re with that crazy guy." Feng Yixuan was certain.
Qi Aoshuang"s eyes darkened. She sensed a faint anomaly underfoot.
The next moment, a skeletal palm erupted from the ground. Gradually, skeletons crawled up from the ground.
"Necromancer!" Xi Shaoqi"s face greened. He hated this kind of stuff the most, but why did he keep running into them recently! The camels started to stomp, wanting to run away. With a gentle wave of Leng Lingyun"s hand, white light poured onto the camels. They quieted down and kneeled, nestling together.
Feng Yixuan was already on the offense. A translucent wind blade appeared in his hand. He threw it towards his right fiercely.
The crackling sound of countless skeletons being fractured echoed in the forest.
However, Feng Yixuan"s target weren"t these, but the person approaching!