Nan Qingyun closed her eyes and leaned into Jiang Ruan’s embrace to rest.
Although she had seen through the illusion, everything that had happened within it was still replaying in her mind.
She had to admit… Nan Qingyun was truly worried and shaken. Even after escaping the Illusion Realm, she still feared she might remain trapped inside.
Only when she felt the warmth supporting her from behind did Nan Qingyun finally relax a little.
Jiang Ruan was worried too, but her concern was solely for Nan Qingyun’s physical state. She did care about her disciple’s brush with Devil Transformation earlier, but this was not the time to dwell on it. After all, Jiang Ruan had a fiercely protective streak toward her apprentice, and right now, all she wanted was for Nan Qingyun to rest properly.
But Han Lin was visibly anxious.
He furrowed his brow. After waiting a short while until Nan Qingyun seemed sufficiently recovered, he asked directly, “What did you discover in the Illusion Realm?”
Nan Qingyun pursed her lips, apparently hesitating over whether to speak plainly.
Jiang Ruan intervened to smooth things over. “Senior Brother, don’t interrogate her like some criminal. Qingyun just broke free from the Illusion Realm, and whatever she experienced inside has left her shaken. She needs proper rest right now.”
Han Lin shot Jiang Ruan a glance. “She’s resting, isn’t she? And she’s doing it right now.”
Then he grew serious. “Junior Sister, we’re still inside the Illusion Realm. There’s no one else around, and no one to eavesdrop. This is the perfect moment to ask. I know you dote on your disciple, but we have to get to the bottom of this. Trust me—asking here is far better than waiting until we return to the sect.”
“Besides, you need to give me something solid to work with, so I can figure out how to report back to the Sect Leader and our master.”
Jiang Ruan knew he had a point. She had simply reacted with instinctive wariness.
Shan Hu glanced left and right. “So you all see me as one of your own, huh?”
Han Lin cleared his throat lightly.
He had forgotten there was still someone from the Hehuan Sect present.
The sudden crisis with Nan Qingyun had caught him completely off guard, leaving him too rattled to think straight.
Shan Hu grinned. “Don’t worry. Since you trust me this much, I’ll definitely keep your secret.”
Jiang Ruan’s lips curved slightly at that. “Good. Then thank you.”
By now, Nan Qingyun had mostly recovered. She sat up a little straighter and said softly, “Shizun, it’s all right.”
This was something she needed to explain, after all.
If she stubbornly kept it hidden, that would only hurt her in the long run.
She had no desire to be expelled from the Mirror Moon Sect someday.
Nan Qingyun wanted to stay by her Shizun’s side, in the Mirror Moon Sect, for a long, long time.
After gathering her thoughts, Nan Qingyun gave a concise account of what she had encountered in the Illusion Realm.
When she described how the false Jiang Ruan had deliberately spoken those tempting words to lure her into Devil Transformation, Jiang Ruan angrily pounded the grass beside her.
“That’s going too far! Utterly vile! I…” Jiang Ruan was so furious she couldn’t come up with any proper curses.
Were it not for her fear that railing against the Illusion Realm’s master might provoke them into burying everyone alive on the spot, she would have shaken her fist at the sky and let loose a torrent of abuse.
Jiang Ruan was no stranger to Nan Qingyun’s unique circumstances. She had even mentally prepared herself for the possibility of the worst happening and how she might face her disciple afterward.
But she could never have imagined that someone would exploit her image to push Nan Qingyun toward Devil Transformation. It was utterly unacceptable.
Especially since… she had once wondered if the person Nan Qingyun harbored feelings for might be her.
Should that prove true, Jiang Ruan shuddered to think how agonizing her disciple’s Illusion Realm must have been.
Heart aching, Jiang Ruan pressed her lips together, the memory of Nan Qingyun teetering on the edge of Devil Transformation flashing through her mind.
As a cultivator of the Righteous Path, she could naturally sense the sinister, ominous devilish qi. Yet the moment she realized it emanated from her own disciple, all vigilance evaporated. Seeing Nan Qingyun in such agony had filled her with nothing but heartache.
Han Lin frowned in thought, analyzing the situation. “That tracks. A provocation like that, combined with being trapped in an Illusion Realm, could very well induce Devil Transformation. Still, your experience feels a bit different from ours.”
Chen Xu’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Come to think of it, it’s kind of like Lu Ning’s!”
At the mention of Lu Ning’s name from Chen Xu’s lips, Nan Qingyun’s brows furrowed ever so slightly—almost imperceptibly.
She still harbored no fondness for Lu Ning. Especially after… what she had witnessed in that second illusion.
If her suspicions were correct—and factoring in the events at the Hehuan Sect—the visions the Illusion Realm had shown her earlier were undoubtedly real.
Lu Ning had indeed clung to Jiang Ruan in that manner after being drugged.
The thought made Nan Qingyun lower her gaze, veiling the chill that flickered in her eyes.
Han Lin asked, “In what way?”
Chen Xu said, “The early parts are all grounded in real memories, but then there’s suddenly this brilliant twist—an unexpected and utterly creepy plot that comes out of nowhere.”
“Take Lu Ning, for example. The beginning is all that cozy village life from her childhood memories, but then bam—a gang of bandits shows up and slaughters everyone. And Nan Qingyun’s memory starts with her time spent with Shishu Jiang Ruan, only for it to shift into Shishu Jiang Ruan luring her into Devil Transformation. Doesn’t that strike you as awfully strange?”
Han Lin replied, “When you put it that way, yeah, it does.”
Jiang Ruan asked, “But none of our Illusions had that kind of problem, right?”
Han Lin nodded. “True. Though maybe it’s because we got out early? Nan Qingyun was the last one to emerge, so perhaps that’s why her Illusion turned out so bizarre?”
But that was merely a hypothesis.
Jiang Ruan suddenly recalled something and pulled out the artifact the Sect Leader had given her to contain the Devil Cultivator.
“Could it be him?”
She couldn’t help speculating, “Maybe this Devil Cultivator did something sneaky while trapped inside it?”
Han Lin leaned in for a closer look and shook his head. “No way. The Sect Leader’s artifact is top-notch—it wouldn’t give this Devil Cultivator any chance to exploit.”
As the group discussed, a snow-white, four-legged beast suddenly appeared in a nearby clearing.
It had elephant-like ears and a piggish snout, giving it an endearingly dopey look, complete with a little tail that swished back and forth.
Jiang Ruan and the others immediately went on high alert.
Han Lin exclaimed, “Hold on—is that a Dream Beast?!”
Jiang Ruan asked, “What’s that?”
She could guess from the name, but she asked Han Lin anyway.
Han Lin explained, “Just like the name suggests, it’s a divine beast that can manipulate people’s dreams. Legend has it they’re extinct, with no sightings left in the world. How could one be here…? Is this its lair? Were all those Illusions we went through actually dreams it crafted?”
The Dream Beast raised its head smugly. “You got it, kid—you’re sharp!”
Han Lin sucked in a breath. “Hiss.”
The Dream Beast continued, “My Secret Realm shifts locations every ten years, and it just happened to land here this time. Who would’ve thought you lot were scrapping so hard up top that you smashed right through my roof? Infuriating!”
Jiang Ruan said, “So you dragged us in here?”
The Dream Beast huffed. “As if! I had no interest in visitors—you fell in on your own. This lord merely whipped up some dreams to give you a bit of a les—er, trial. To temper your spirits, you see.”
Jiang Ruan inwardly rolled her eyes. This guy’scough was almost “lesson.”
Jiang Ruan pressed, “Fair enough. So how do we get out?”
Han Lin whispered, “Hang on, that’s not right.”
He turned to the Dream Beast. “We’ve passed your trials, so… any rewards going?”
Chen Xu’s eyes lit up, and he bobbed his head furiously in agreement behind Han Lin.
Jiang Ruan: ……
Master and disciple through and through.
The Dream Beast’s fur stood on end. “What?! You crash my peace and quiet, and now you want handouts? Dream on!”
Shan Hu puffed out her cheeks. “You’re such a cheapskate. Your dreams almost got our friends lost to Devil Transformation—don’t you owe us anything for that?”
The Dream Beast bristled even more fiercely. “Baloney! My dreams are always sweet ones—they just make folks wallow in bliss. At worst, they nap for a century or two before waking. Devil Transformation? No way!”
“Maybe you’ve already gone and turned yourselves, and now you can’t hide it in my dreams—so you’re pinning it on me.”
Jiang Ruan had been content to watch from the sidelines until then, but this pushed her over the edge.
“Don’t you dare slander us.”
She pressed her lips together tightly. “Your dreams are the problem. ‘Wallow in bliss’? You conjure up an illusion of someone’s Shizun, then trash them and tempt them toward Devil Transformation—is that supposed to be a good dream?”
The Dream Beast snapped, “I did no such thing!”
It spat out a few bubbles in a huff. “See for yourselves—these are your dreams!”
The bubbles matched up perfectly with each of them, and the Dream Beast got ready to replay the scenes.
Jiang Ruan: “……”
W-wait a second! She wasn’t prepared for everyone else to see her dream!
This would strip away every last shred of privacy!
An inexplicable wave of embarrassment washed over Jiang Ruan.
And besides…
She still hadn’t figured out whether to expose the connection between Lu Ning and Nan Qingyun right now.
It wasn’t just her—the others rushed to intervene as well.
“No, you can’t show our dreams!”
The only ones staying cool were Nan Qingyun and Lu Ning.
That said, Nan Qingyun seemed distracted, her fingers absently tracing her lips as if lost in thought.
After a moment’s consideration, Nan Qingyun spoke. “Very well, then. Just replay the end of my* dream. That’ll serve as my proof.”
The Dream Beast impatiently flicked its tail. “You humans are so troublesome.”
But it still did as Nan Qingyun instructed.
Soon, the bubble replayed Nan Qingyun’s dream.
After seeing the words and actions of the “Jiang Ruan” within it, Jiang Ruan frowned. If she hadn’t known it was just a replay, she really would have been unable to resist punching that fake.
How could she treat Nan Qingyun like that…
The others all drew in sharp breaths as well.
Such a vicious attack on the heart—no wonder Nan Qingyun hadn’t been able to resist.
The Dream Beast stared at the replay in the bubble, its eyes widening in shock.
“How could this be? How could this be… My dream was tampered with! The dreams I create are absolutely nothing like this!”
Han Lin said, “But that’s the reality.”
The Dream Beast looked utterly incredulous, and fury burned in its eyes. “Who did this!”
Han Lin replied, “First off, we can rule out ourselves.”
The Dream Beast grew so frantic it nearly started pacing in circles.
Jiang Ruan added, “No matter what, we didn’t wrong you.”
At her words, it froze stiff, then slumped despondently to the ground.
![Villainous Beauty’s Shura Field Guide [Quick Transmigration]](https://i0.wp.com/dobytranslations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/la.png?resize=151,215 "Villainous Beauty’s Shura Field Guide [Quick Transmigration]")
