Chapter 20: The Kiss Part 1

Huo Zhi saw her modern room before her eyes. The laptop on the desk in front of the bed was open, a drawing tablet sat beside it, and the fragrant aroma of steaming hot coffee wafted over from the side. Before Huo Zhi could throw herself onto the bed in joy at having returned home, she heard 006’s voice.

“Host, wake up! Host, something terrible has happened!” 006’s voice echoed in Huo Zhi’s Sea of Consciousness, making her head throb painfully.

“What? Didn’t I return home?!” Huo Zhi asked back. The scene before her was far too real.

“It’s all an illusion. Wake up quickly! If you don’t wake up, you’ll be eaten! There’s a Fire Scale Flood Dragon guardian beast here. It’s the one forcing you into this illusion!” 006 yelled.

Huo Zhi looked at the scene before her and shook her head vigorously, but it was still her room in front of her.

Huo Zhi pinched herself. She felt no pain, probably because that action also occurred within her mental stream.

“Does this count as not waking up? How do I wake up?” Huo Zhi asked 006.

“You have to shatter the illusion before your eyes to wake up. Otherwise, someone in the outside world has to wake you.” 006 said.

“You said it yourself, this is fake! If it’s real, you owe me big time!” Huo Zhi walked over, picked up her prized drawing tablet, and smashed it onto the laptop. With a loud bang, both of her treasures shattered, making her heart ache in tandem.

This move seemed to have some effect. The shattered drawing tablet and laptop both vanished.

Huo Zhi then picked up the coffee cup, intending to smash it, but smelling that rich, fragrant scent, she felt it would be a loss not to take a sip. She brought it to her lips and took a small taste.

Rich, smooth, silky, and warmly fragrant, with a bittersweet flavor. It was a taste she hadn’t experienced in a very long time.

Why was it so delicious!

Huo Zhi took one sip, then couldn’t resist another. When she tried to put the coffee cup down, she couldn’t.

The coffee cup seemed to come alive, sticking to her lips. The rim became incredibly soft and slick, with a burning hot sensation, even blocking her breath.

“What’s going on? This illusion is wicked!” Huo Zhi was speechless. She wanted to take the cup away, but it pressed tighter and tighter against her.

“…” 006 went into a silent state.

It wanted to say something, but how could it put this into words?

Right now, outside, Huo Zhi was holding Linlang and kissing her, and Linlang was also kissing Huo Zhi.

Linlang’s Happiness Value continuously climbed, already crossing -2000 and reaching over -1000, still soaring upwards.

For the sake of Happiness Value, it was better to just pretend it hadn’t seen anything.

Linlang had also fallen into an illusion. The Huo Zhi she saw before her eyes was somewhat different from the Huo Zhi of the past.

She wasn’t playing the aloof, revered master imparting serious lectures. Instead, she was seductive, making one utterly unable to control themselves.

When her neck was embraced by Huo Zhi, who spoke so softly and tenderly, saying “Kiss me,” Linlang couldn’t hold back anymore and kissed Huo Zhi’s lips.

Soft, cool, with a unique sweetness. This feeling…

Linlang wanted to taste more, but suddenly a slight pain came from her lip. The cool, soft lip departed. Linlang jolted awake instantly, her body instinctively on guard from the sudden sense of danger.

“Linlang, did you wake up?! Something terrible has happened!” Huo Zhi’s voice transmitted into Linlang’s Sea of Consciousness.

Right now, the two were still in an embrace, though their lips had separated.

Huo Zhi had bitten the rim of the cup in the illusion, threw the cup away, and only then did the illusion break.

“There’s a guardian beast around, a Fire Scale Flood Dragon.” Huo Zhi continued transmitting to Linlang, also shaking Linlang’s body, trying to wake her.

“I’m awake. Don’t move.” The real situation appeared before Linlang’s eyes. What met her sight was Huo Zhi’s anxious expression, her crimson lips slightly swollen, with traces of blood at the corner of her mouth.

That was…

Blood from the bite on her own lip.

“The surroundings are full of cultivators, all seem to have fallen into illusions.” Huo Zhi stopped moving Linlang. She lay on top of Linlang, not daring to move, using her Spiritual Sense to perceive the surroundings and quietly transmitting to Linlang.

Linlang had also sensed it.

The place they were in was an extremely large palace. Scattered around them were quite a few cultivators lying every which way. These cultivators had strange expressions. Some were muttering things under their breath, some had taken off their clothes and were performing bizarre acts…

At the very front of this palace was a Flood Dragon, its body covered in dark red scales, with a pair of short horns growing from its head. This was precisely the guardian beast 006 mentioned: the Fire Scale Flood Dragon.

This Flood Dragon was currently eating. An entire person was swallowed by it. As that person was swallowed, a bulge visibly appeared on its thick body, the bulge continuously moving downwards.

Just one glance made Huo Zhi feel like she was going to faint.

“Don’t, don’t look! I’ll think of a way. Don’t be afraid…” Trembling, Huo Zhi covered Linlang’s eyes.

Feeling Huo Zhi’s cool hands covering her eyes, Linlang’s eyes trembled slightly.

“What do we do? How do we deal with the Fire Scale Flood Dragon?” While comforting Linlang, Huo Zhi had absolutely no idea what to do in her heart. She could only ask 006.

The Vermilion Flame Secret Realm’s underground palace was conquered by the people of the Artifact Talisman Sect. As for how they conquered it, because the male lead Mo Zhenfeng wasn’t involved, it wasn’t mentioned at all.

“Find its weakness to strike. If you have good aim, shoot arrows at its eyes. If not, you can strike its seven-inch vital spot. Although it’s a flood dragon, it hasn’t escaped the snake category yet. At the seven-inch spot, there’s a darker scale. Pry off this scale and use a talisman artifact like a sword to attack that spot, and you can kill it. Host, don’t worry. It just ate a cultivator; it probably isn’t hungry right now.” 006 said.

“…” What 006 said had some use, but doing it was too difficult. Just thinking about it made Huo Zhi tense and terrified.

“Can demon beasts communicate with each other? Can we negotiate with it?” Huo Zhi transmitted to Linlang.

“No. This Fire Scale Flood Dragon is a Barbarian Beast; its intelligence isn’t awakened.” Linlang transmitted back, also thinking of a strategy.

Their Storage Bags had many talismans, and she still had a bit of the Nether Soul Thread left.

This Fire Scale Flood Dragon had thick skin and tough flesh. Not only was it fire-attributed, but it also had a supplementary skill that made people fall into illusions. It was very difficult to deal with.

Thinking that she would have to personally battle this terrifying Fire Scale Flood Dragon, Huo Zhi grew even more desperate upon hearing from Linlang that there wasn’t even room for negotiation.

“There are people everywhere here, and these people aren’t dead. We can wake them up. The Artifact Talisman Sect people should have brought quite a few things. They’re only lost in illusions right now. They should be fine once they wake up.” As Huo Zhi trembled in fear, sensing the auras of the surrounding cultivators, she also thought of Ji Shuling, who had entered with them covered in talisman artifacts.

“…” Hearing Huo Zhi’s transmission, Linlang hesitated. If she woke the others, likely it meant they’d have to split the treasures afterwards.

If she didn’t wake them and a real fight broke out, with Linlang’s current abilities, it would likely be extremely difficult, hard to guarantee Huo Zhi wouldn’t get hurt.

When the Fire Scale Flood Dragon died, she herself would probably lose half her life. If not all the people here were killed, a few might wake up and perhaps even forcibly steal things.

Better to find helpers now and preserve strength.

“Put away your tail.” Having thought this through, Linlang reminded Huo Zhi.

Huo Zhi felt embarrassed. She didn’t know how many times Linlang had to remind her. Her tail had popped out again. If the surrounding cultivators weren’t all trapped in illusions, she would be in big trouble.

Huo Zhi hurriedly circulated her energy first to properly retract her tail and ears.

“We’re still wanted. I don’t know if they’ve shown my likeness to those people. To be safe, I’ll wear a veil. You put on the veiled hat to cover your hair and eyes, careful not to lose it.” After finishing her energy circulation, Huo Zhi reminded Linlang. She took out a new veiled hat for Linlang. Huo Zhi only wore a face veil.

Linlang tied up her hair and put the veiled hat on properly. Only then did the two split up tasks, quietly crawling toward the nearest area to start waking people, beginning with the closest cultivators.

Earlier, while lying on top of Linlang, Huo Zhi hadn’t felt anything special. But now, crawling on the ground herself, it felt scorching hot, like stones that had been baking in the peak summer sun all afternoon. She didn’t dare pause long, hurriedly and quickly waking people.

Waking someone from the outside just required enough stimulation.

Linlang directly burned them with fire-attribute Spiritual Qi. Huo Zhi, not daring to waste her own Spiritual Qi, mostly resorted to pinching people hard.

“Sister Ji!” Huo Zhi found Ji Shuling. Unwilling to pinch her, she sent a wisp of ice-attribute Spiritual Qi into her. Ji Shuling shivered and woke up, her eyes brimming with tears, looking as if she had just suffered great grievance.

Earlier, when she and Huo Zhi were dragged in, she had watched Mo Zhenfeng hesitate, moving one slow step at a time. Her heart had turned ice-cold. Just now in the illusion, she’d seen him again and confronted him.

He still tried to deceive her, his words carrying a guilty conscience.

The heart of a girl awakening to love was shattered into pieces.

“You are?” Ji Shuling saw Huo Zhi’s face, veiled yet revealing her brows and eyes, and was struck by their beauty, momentarily forgetting the matters in the illusion.

“Shh, it’s me. Listen to me…” Huo Zhi pressed a finger to Ji Shuling’s lips, transmitting to her, explaining the current dangerous situation.

“Whatever you saw in the illusion just now doesn’t matter. The most important thing right now is saving our lives. We need to wake everyone else up. Be good.” Huo Zhi comforted Ji Shuling.

Knowing it was Huo Zhi, Ji Shuling nodded emphatically. Remembering something, she took the bracelet off her wrist and slipped it onto Huo Zhi’s.