Crush's Cold Senior Sister is Actually Childhood Sweetheart - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: In An Instant, Countless Iron Crossbow Bolts Shot Out From the Stone Wall.

“Mm… I know.” An Jin slightly pursed her lips in the complete darkness. She figured the Wuxu Secret Realm was full of traps, and since she couldn’t see anything, Ling Qi was holding her hand to prevent her from accidentally triggering something. After hearing her response, the Ling Qi beside her fell silent again.

They walked forward for a long time, so long that An Jin started to feel a pain in her back, before finally seeing a faint glimmer of light ahead. They quickened their pace towards the light. As the cave entrance gradually grew taller, they no longer needed to bend over.

As soon as An Jin stood upright, she saw a thick stone door deep within the cave. The cyan stone door had no carvings or decorations, but it was covered in dents and several cracks of varying depths. There were also traces of wear at the door seams, suggesting it had been pushed by many people. On either side of the stone door hung an oil lamp. The lamps were rusted and mottled, casting a dim yellow glow, the only light source in the entire cave.

“Ahead is the Illusion Gate area. Each door, once pushed open, will lead to different traps. Those of you who’ve been here before should know that the traps constantly change and have no pattern. Once someone triggers a trap, everyone else might be implicated, so I need you to listen to me and don’t wander off.” Ling Qi, uncharacteristically, explained patiently, afraid that this group would start running around as soon as they entered.

Seeing everyone nod, she continued, “From now on, every door we open could be an Illusion Gate. Entering the true Illusion Gate will cause you to temporarily lose your memory and fall into your most desired or most feared memories.”

“It won’t be long. After breaking the illusion, you’ll immediately regain your memories. Exiting the Illusion Gate leads to the Sword Mound, and then you can move freely. But I want you to pay attention—” Ling Qi’s gaze turned cold. “I know most of you are here for opportunities, but staying in the illusion for too long isn’t a good thing. Judge for yourselves.”

An Jin understood. Cultivating immortality also meant cultivating the mind, and cultivating the mind was for refining the heart. Although most people in the Upper Realm couldn’t ascend to True Godhood due to insufficient divine power or lack of talent, many gifted immortals had a smooth journey only to get stuck because their disposition wasn’t good enough. Breaking through one’s disposition, unlike divine power, couldn’t be trained in any training ground, nor were there any tricks to follow; one could only slowly refine and ponder it alone, understanding it through their own insight. It could only be said that in this aspect, Wuxu was indeed a rare opportunity. —Falling into an illusion and confronting one’s desires or fears, while it sounded terrifying, also offered the possibility of a breakthrough in disposition for those who didn’t fully understand themselves.

After speaking, Ling Qi pushed open the stone door and walked in front. Behind her were An Jin, Yang Anping, and Liao Huan, followed by two other Chongguang Palace disciples, and finally, rogue immortals and other immortal sect disciples. An Jin followed closely behind Ling Qi, her peripheral vision sweeping over her now empty hand, her eyes shifting slightly.

The first door was an ordinary trap door. An Jin breathed a sigh of relief the moment she saw it. Although she felt she had no particular fears or desires, it would still be a bit scary to enter an illusion directly without any buffer.

The trap inside the stone door was very simple, almost abnormally simple. A dozen or so red thin lines were arranged horizontally above the ground, each spaced about half a foot apart, extending from one end of the stone door to the other, covering the entire room. These red lines were only about an inch off the ground, each pulled very taut, almost imperceptible in the dim light. The ends of the red lines were embedded in the stone walls on both sides, where vaguely visible, irregularly arranged dark holes could be seen. These dark holes varied greatly in shape; those who didn’t look carefully might even mistake them for carved decorations. Cold light emanated from the dark holes, indicating they were not simple.

But the people inside the stone door, being immortal cultivators who had practiced for a long time, were not afraid at all. Instead, they all breathed a sigh of relief: “The spacing between the red lines isn’t small; it shouldn’t be touched.” “Let’s go step by step, don’t walk too fast.” “Why not just fly over?” “What if there are traps in the air…”

The few in the back quietly discussed, their expressions relaxed. They finally agreed that it would be safer to walk on the ground while avoiding the red lines.

“Senior Ling, how about I go first to scout the path?” The rogue immortal who had just been discussing actively offered. Ling Qi ignored him, walking alone to the first red line. An Jin was about to go with her, but Ling Qi subtly shook her head at her, and An Jin retreated.

Ling Qi’s eyes shifted. She flicked her wrist, and her white water sleeves, like waves, swished out, sweeping quickly over each red line in succession. The moment the water sleeves touched the red lines, a “click” was heard, and the sound of mechanisms turning came from inside the wall. Before everyone could react, several iron crossbow bolts shot out from inside the stone wall with extreme speed. If anyone had been beside the red lines at that moment, they would have likely been instantly pierced through the heart and died.

As Ling Qi retracted her water sleeves, she waved her right hand. A golden light, like an arrow, shot through the hall, and all the iron crossbow bolts instantly shattered into iron filings in mid-air. When the water sleeves returned to her hand, not even a speck of dust had touched them. Ling Qi turned, her gaze sweeping over everyone: “You should have all seen it clearly, right? Don’t touch the first three, step directly on the fourth. Then step every two lines, and once you reach the middle, step on two out of every three. When only six are left, step on five consecutively, and don’t touch the last one.” Although she felt she had demonstrated it very clearly, Ling Qi repeated the rules again.

Everyone beside the stone door: “…” What could they have seen clearly?! From the moment Ling Qi flicked her water sleeves, their mouths hadn’t closed. Before they even had time to see what the iron crossbow bolts looked like, they heard this verbal assault.

Seeing no one speak, Ling Qi frowned slightly, her eyes like she was looking at idiots. “Do you remember? Do I need to demonstrate it again?”

“No, no, no… it’s very clear.” “We remember, we remember.” The people by the stone door quickly nodded, no one daring to say they hadn’t understood. Ling Qi nodded, withdrew her gaze, and didn’t care if they truly remembered. She just turned to An Jin and asked, “Are you coming with me?”

“No, I guess not.” Although tempted, An Jin still refused. “If I accidentally touch something, it won’t just be me who’s unlucky.”

But even if you wanted to step on every trap in Wuxu, it’s fine. Ling Qi swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue. Then, with a flicker of her figure, she flew directly to the opposite side. Before the crowd could clearly see her movements, the white figure had gracefully landed on the other end of the red lines. The mechanisms on the stone wall were silent; only a few of the stepped-on red lines above the ground trembled gently in the air.

An Jin followed behind her, her speed noticeably much slower, taking each step extremely carefully. When she crossed the last red line, she took Ling Qi’s outstretched hand and landed steadily on the ground. Yang Anping and Liao Huan also successfully passed. Seeing them all proceed smoothly, everyone else started to pick up their pace.

But no matter how fast they were, it would still take a long time for everyone to pass one by one. An Jin eventually got a little bored waiting for the last person. Seeing that the last person had just crossed the first red line, she turned to wait at the next stone door. Who knew that before she could even take a step, several arguments suddenly erupted behind her—

“Hurry up, why are you stopping here?”

“Don’t… don’t interrupt me, I’m thinking.”

“Just follow the order, there’s nothing to think about.”

The last few people, in a hurry, didn’t even spread out one by one. The second to last person hadn’t even crossed a few red lines when the person at the very end rushed forward impatiently, resulting in both of them getting stuck near the end of the red lines. The person in front was trembling slightly, clearly somewhat afraid, their voice even shaking. “I… I’ve forgotten a little. Give me some time to think.”

“You have to step on all the ones in front of you, don’t touch the last one,” the person behind said, a bit impatient. “But I clearly remember it was…” He couldn’t even explain what he remembered. The two stood in a stalemate for a long time. The person behind was clearly more impatient. “Just do as I say.”

The person in front slowly raised their foot, trembling, as if their foot weighed a thousand pounds. The person behind couldn’t help but push him. “Can you hurry up?” The next second, the person in front stumbled, stepped over the red line in front of them, and landed on the ground.

In an instant, countless iron crossbow bolts shot out from the stone wall. The two in the middle were so shocked they froze in place, even forgetting to counterattack. The one in front even closed his eyes as if waiting for death. Just as the iron crossbow bolts were about to pierce their skulls, a golden light flashed in the air. All the crossbow bolts suddenly broke into several pieces, scattering onto the ground with a clatter, not touching any red lines as they fell.

The person in front tremblingly opened their eyes, only to see Ling Qi, at the very front, retract her hand and glance at them faintly. “Concentrate.”

“Yes, yes, yes.” The two dared not hesitate any longer, and under the guidance of others, carefully crossed the red lines.

Seeing everyone safely arrive at this end of the room, Ling Qi finally turned and pushed open the next stone door.

It was still not an illusion. Behind the stone door was a pitch-black void. Below was a bottomless abyss. On the rock walls to the left and right were stone platforms of varying sizes, barely large enough for two people to stand on. Chilling air surged up from below, making many people in the back shiver. The stone platforms on both sides were also covered in cracks, some even wrapped in a layer of damp moss, looking somewhat slippery.

Crack. On the nearest stone platform in front, the cracks gradually deepened, and the sound of the stone breaking was particularly harsh at that moment. With a crisp snapping sound, the stone platform shattered into several pieces, falling with a faint whooshing sound. The fragmented stones scraped against the rock wall with a “tap-tap” sound, eventually being completely swallowed by the bottomless darkness.

The others behind: “…” The stone platforms are gone. Maybe we should just go home. An Jin was also startled, instinctively looking for the white figure beside her. Ling Qi’s face was expressionless: “Let’s go when you’re ready.”

Others: “?” Where can they go?!