CH 34.2

They’d originally planned to sneak into Falling Flower Terrace to get a little jade essence to restore the dream bell. Everything else could wait until he unraveled the dream and restored his memory.

But now with this, they’d likely make a scene—

With this face of his, Zhaoye City’s people were sure to recognize him.

And Xiao Fuxuan was even worse, being, after all, the Tianxiu Immortal. Based on those fragments he’d dreamed, he reckoned most of Zhaoye City’s people knew what Xiao Fuxuan looked like.

Even Yi Wusheng was dangerous. As an elder of an influential cultivation sect with an outside reputation, there was no way to prevent people from recognizing him at a glance. 

All things considered, they truly didn’t appear to be attempting a low profile—more like they’d come to incite all of Zhaoye City.  

As a guard approached with a palm flame, Wu Xingxue heard a pair of syllables shooting out from the crack in Xiao Fuxuan’s lips: “It’s done.”  

It’s done?

Wu Xingxue saw that he hadn’t had a chance to lift his hand; he was utterly bamboozled. If he hadn’t moved, how could it be done? 

Before he could turn his head, he saw that nearby, Yi Wusheng’s style of dress hadn’t changed, a thick scarf still covering his mouth and nose, but his exposed eyes and brows had already changed appearance.

At first glance, he looked like a frail scholar being manipulated by a devil.

As the guard’s palm flame swept over, Wu Xingxue squinted his eyes in the dazzling light.  

That moment, the guard let out a hiss, muttering to another guard to the side: “These eyes… Why do I feel like I’ve seen them somewhere before.”

From the corner of his eyes, Wu Xingxue saw Ning Huaishan and Fang Chu’s hands already pressing against their sword handles, as though ready to attack at any moment. Then, the other guard said: “It’s been two days, and every day you keep feeling like you’d seen someone somewhere before.”

They examined them again, this time turning palm flames to Xiao Fuxuan.

From this Wu Xingxue could be assured, his own face, much like Yi Wusheng’s, had already been turned unrecognizable.  

“Are you done checking yet? You’re really dragging your feet. I already said, we were just hungry along the way and snatched a few people in passing,” Ning Huaishan spoke with evident impatience, “What else could we be bringing in?”

It appeared that he and Fang Chu had some standing in Zhaoye City. Seeing his impatience, the guards wasted no more time, and promptly opened a path through.  

“Oh, when entering the city, don’t use the Falling Flower Terrace path, City Lord opened another path to its right,” a guard exhorted from behind.

“What strange phenomena has there been around Falling Flower Terrace?” Ning Huaishan asked.

“Well it’s nothing other than a blaze appearing on the mountain again.”

“A blaze?”

“Mm.”

Wu Xingxue thought back to what Yi Wusheng had said in the carriage before, how back then, after the Falling Flower Mountain Market burned down, each year on the third day of the third month, the entire Falling Flower Terrace would still be ablaze. It’d lured a bunch of immortal sect disciples over, but all they’d discovered was a desolate expanse of scorched earth, nothing else. 

It wasn’t until Falling Flower Terrace was drawn into Zhaoye City’s territory and became Zhaoye City’s entrance, that the blaze on the third day of the third month slowly disappeared.  

Did these guards mean that, centuries after the fire, it was happening again?  

Ning Huaishan said: “When we’d left the city a few days ago, it was still just fine.”  

The guard replied, “It’s just started the past couple days.”

The past couple days?

Wu Xingxue worked it out in his head.

Wasn’t that when they’d just left Dabei Valley? 

Coincidence? What further implications were there between them? 

He pondered for a while. By the time he recovered his senses, they were already standing before the black iron gates. Supposedly, the otherworld lights he’d set up would float faintly on either side, and when a group of people approached, they’d sway up and down a few times, appearing to get restless.  

Taking advantage of the guards not being nearby, Ning Huaishan said quietly: “City Lord, do you still remember how to work these otherworld lights?” 

Wu Xingxue spoke calmly: “I forgot. What’s the matter?”

Ning Huaishan’s entire face gave off a petrified look: “These otherworld lights recognize immortal energy, they’re very sensitive. It’s said that in their hundreds of years of being gatekeepers, they’d never made a mistake. They’ll immediately catch anyone from the Immortal Capital, just changing appearances won’t be enough to fool them.” 

Xing Huaishan peeped at the Tianxiu Immortal, and his voice got even quieter: “If You remember how they work, it’d be easy to just let Tianxiu in on his own. But You don’t remember, so what should we do?”

Wu Xingxue: “……”

Unsure whether to laugh or cry. Ning Huaishan said: “They say when these otherworld lights burn up it’s really scary, I don’t wanna die here, I—” 

Halfway to crying, his eyes abruptly widened into perfect circles, and the tail end of his words went awry, nearly cut off. 

Wu Xingxue turned his head to follow his gaze, and saw that Xiao Fuxuan merely paused a moment before the otherworld lights, and then strode right on forward.

His longsword’s clinking let out a very faint sound, and his robe fluttered out, revealing his long, sturdy black boots.

The otherworld lights on either side just lightly swayed a few times, as though hesitating a moment. Soon after, they calmed down, totally unconcerned with how they’d just let in an ascended immortal. 

Xing Huaishan: “?????????” 

At that moment, he and Fang Chu were truly flabbergasted.

“City Lord, how come he could enter…?” 

“How come he could enter even without you doing anything…?” 

“It looks like this isn’t even his first time entering.”

“City Lord?”

They turned to look at their City Lord, only to see City Lord’s narrow neck and chin burying themselves into the silver-white fox fur. After a beat, words escaped from between his lips: “Don’t know, are you two going or not?” 

“……”

“Going.”

Until crossing the heavy black iron gates, Wu Xingxue kept on thinking over those phrases “how come he could enter,” and “this isn’t even his first time entering.”

In fact, he could guess how come.

Because in that dream, Sang Yu said when those two little imps had been spying on No Sparrow’s Landing, they saw the Tianxiu Immortal. If the dream was true, then it meant the Tianxiu Immortal had once come to Zhaoye City without ever stirring the otherworld lights, without tasting the otherworld ghost fires’ conflagration. 

But from Ning Huaishan’s words, the otherworld lights had been set up by him. If they were to be meddled with, perhaps they could only be changed by him.  

So, there was only one explanation—

A long time ago, when he’d been Zhaoye City’s lord, he’d already allowed Xiao Fuxuan’s passage.  

…..

Wu Xingxue stopped in his tracks.  

He’d subconsciously been following the silhouette before him. It wasn’t until now, lifting his eyes, that he discovered that at some point he’d already entered a mountain path and was currently standing within an expanse of fog.  

He’d barely even taken a step when he saw Xiao Fuxuan’s tall back submerging into the white fog. 

This fog was abnormally thick, and exceptionally cold.

When Wu Xingxue passed through in turn, he felt the misty air swiping against his neck, as though a large drop of freezing water had plopped onto his nape and trickled down his back.  

The chill was so brisk he shut his eyes. When he opened them again, the scene before him had already completely changed.  

The thick fog fell behind him, and beside his feet was a white boundary stone crawling with vines and inscribed with the words “Falling Flower Terrace” in beautiful handwriting.  

Before him snaked yellow-orange lights. Commencing at his feet, the mountain path wound straight on up into the sky.  

Illuminated by the lights were faintly distinguishable buildings connected by arches, their windows and doors wide open. Shop windows of all shapes and sizes were strewn everywhere, along with human figures milling about.

All sorts of banners fluttered in the mountain’s shadow. The nearest one was a long banner that read four large words.

Falling Flower Mountain Market

Wu Xingxue stood there awhile, lifting his feet to walk over to the long banner. 

As he lowered his head past the banner, a swell of lively human voices surged over like the Eternal Sea, washing over him. 

Although he’d completely lost his memory, upon hearing that clamorous din, he abruptly felt that this was it; this was the Falling Flower Mountain Market of yesteryear.  

But the real Falling Flower Mountain Market had already burned down, and disappeared centuries ago. 

So what was this before his eyes?

The guard from when they’d just entered the city gates had said, there had recently been strange movements around Falling Flower Terrace, frequent sightings of lights in the mountain. 

Could it be that he’d accidentally set foot in an illusion realm? 

Then this illusion realm was really too real.

This mountain market didn’t appear to be set on the mountain path; it looked more like a never-ending lane. The ground was paved with white stones, but not paved very seamlessly. When he stepped on one it’d wobble a little to the side, and when he stepped off it’d fall lightly back into position. 

Nearest to him was a three-story teahouse. Its floors were set into the mountain, but weren’t at all askew.  

A long string of lanterns hung down from its flying eaves. Many people were sitting in the teahouse, chatting away, while a folk storyteller sat before the hall grasping a block of gavel wood, spittle flying in all directions.

A waiter was hoisting up a white cloth as he set up a stand outside the hall. His hawking pierced through Wu Xingxue’s ears: “Falling Flower Terrace immortal spring fried spiritual tea. One pot cures all diseases. Two pots guarantee a thousand years without worry—”  

Wu Xingxue: “……”

He loitered beside the pennant erected by the teahouse for a while until he really couldn’t bear it anymore, and extended a hand to feel along its border… 

This illusion realm was somewhat powerful, even the texture of coarse cloth was rendered clearly. 

“Ai, Lord Official here! Don’tcha pull at my place’s banner!” The waiter said to him: “Are You drinking tea? My place’s tea and refreshments are a must, no need to taste anything else in this Falling Flower Mountain Market.”  

Wu Xingxue shook his head, just about to say: “No thanks.” 

He suddenly caught sight of a tall figure approximately three-to-five meters away from him. The person lifted his sword to push aside the fluttering shop pennants, and dodged to the side to let an uncle pushing a shop cart through. Wu Xingxue watched as he was about to disappear into the sea of people.” 

Wu Xingxue strode over, about to shout “Xiao Fuxuan.” 

Just as the syllable “Xiao” left his mouth, he felt a clap on his shoulder. The next moment, a palm gently covered the space below his nose. Retreating half a step, his back was knocked into an expanse of warmth. 

Xiao Fuxuan’s voice sounded beside his ear, kept quite low: “Don’t say that. This is an illusion realm.”