Ye Fan gently approached the bedside, gazing deeply at the woman's face.
The female cultivator's appearance was not particularly stunning; among many female cultivators, she was at best of average beauty.
The woman appeared very weak, her complexion terrifyingly pale.
Ye Fan had originally thought that the moment he saw this face again, he would be filled with excitement or madness.
Yet now, he was surprisingly calm.
He looked at the woman on the bed with deep affection.
His hand slowly stroked her cheek.
His movements were incredibly gentle, as if conveying endless longing...
And his eyes were completely wet...
Memories...
Rushed in like a tidal wave...
That year.
After being injured by his enemies, he hid in a remote town to recuperate.
On the night of the Lantern Festival, Ye Fan met her for the first time.
They brushed past each other, yet simultaneously turned back.
Her smile showed Ye Fan all the beauty in the world...
...
As if sensing something.
The woman slowly opened her eyes.
Her eyes were vacant...
The woman fumbled with her hands, touching her face, murmuring.
"Fan, is that you?"
Her panic disappeared only after she grasped Ye Fan's hand.
"Yes, I'm back."
Ye Fan gently held her hand, replying softly.
"Fan, they will find this place sooner or later..." the woman said weakly, "Hurry and take our son and the others away..."
The woman's words struck Ye Fan's heart like a sharp thorn...
Ye Fan, suppressing the pain in his heart, said gently, "Don't worry, I've already sent them to a safe place... Now, I've come to take you."
"I'm afraid I won't make it..." the woman suddenly pushed Ye Fan's hand away, "Don't mind me anymore, you should leave..."
Ye Fan said nothing, but tightly gripped her hand.
Suddenly!
Several strong surges of true energy came from afar!
At this moment, the woman seemed to summon all her remaining strength, and abruptly sat up from the bed!
"They're here... Fan, don't mind me, you quickly leave!"
Her hands feebly pushed Ye Fan, attempting to push him away.
Ye Fan, with a natural movement, pulled her into his embrace, his face gently nuzzling her cheek.
"Hurry and leave!"
The woman urged him anxiously, tears welling up in her eyes.
Ye Fan said nothing, simply holding her tightly.
As if wanting to make this moment eternal...
At the same time, those powerful energies had already reached the door!
"Ye Fan, your time of death has arrived!"
True energy raged outside the door, and the opponents were clearly preparing to attack!
Ye Fan took a deep breath, a complex expression flashing across his face.
Then, Ye Fan slowly uttered a sentence.
And this sentence seemed to consume all his strength...
"Even though I knew it was fake... it's truly wonderful to see you again..."
As Ye Fan's words fell, the surroundings changed drastically!
Cracks appeared on the woman and everything within the room.
The cracks grew more numerous and denser...
Finally, everything turned to dust...
And dissipated with the wind...
His vision flashed.
Ye Fan found himself back in the great hall he was in before!
Standing opposite him was a counterfeit version of himself.
The black-clothed Ye Fan was filled with shock!
"How... No... This is impossible..."
"Regardless..." Ye Fan gave the other himself a polite smile, "Thank you."
"No, this is impossible!" The black-clothed Ye Fan, unable to accept this reality, shouted hysterically, "You couldn't have escaped, it's impossible!"
After shouting, the black-clothed Ye Fan transformed into a stream of light and merged into Ye Fan's brow.
"This time, I will definitely make you die!"
Ye Fan paid no mind to this.
He even felt a fleeting moment of sympathy for the other.
As expected!
The next moment, a terrified voice echoed from Ye Fan's mind!
"What... What the hell is this?!"
"What kind of monster... are you...?"
"No—!"
...
Then.
There was no then...
After the black-clothed Ye Fan was defeated, four doors opened in the walls surrounding the great hall.
A moment later, three figures emerged from the doors, looking bewildered.
It was the little demoness and the two demons.
"Ye Fan?"
"Big Brother?"
"Come here." Ye Fan gestured to the three of them.
After the three approached, Ye Fan casually asked, "Do you remember what just happened?"
"What just happened?"
Shānjī scratched his head, confused.
"I remember finding you missing... then there seemed to be a lot of fire... and then..."
At this point, Shānjī paused.
Because he realized he couldn't quite remember what had just happened.
He could only vaguely recall a lot of fire, and nothing else...
Five minutes later.
"Ahhhhhh!" Shānjī let out a few pained screams, "No, no, I really can't remember..."
Xiāngjiāo Jūn was even more direct.
From the moment he reappeared, he had been holding his head tightly, looking as if he was in great pain.
When Ye Fan asked him to recall just now, it was so painful that his face almost contorted...
"Big Brother, I can't..." Xiāngjiāo Jūn said painfully, "My head hurts whenever I try to think, and I can't remember anything..."
As he spoke, Xiāngjiāo Jūn vigorously massaged his temples.
As if this could alleviate some of the pain.
"I vaguely remember being captured by that crazy old man again..." the little demoness recalled, "But I only remember him tormenting me, though I can't recall the specifics..." Da Feng Novel Network
"Oh, right, I remember seeing something else later..."
The little demoness seemed to remember something and quickly said.
"It was... it was like purplish-black scales, and they seemed to be covered in terrifying flames..."
Ye Fan raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
Purplish-black scales and flames... it sounded like something from the Abyss Demons or the Demon Race?
Could the little demoness have had contact with these two entities before?
Or perhaps...
She herself was related to these two races?
It seemed that what she had experienced in the past was far more than what she remembered now...
And adding Shānjī and Xiāngjiāo Jūn to the mix...
It seemed that everyone around him was an extraordinary individual...
"Ye Fan, what was all that just now?" the little demoness asked the question in her heart, "Were we trapped in some illusion?"
"It was something similar to a heart demon." Ye Fan replied simply, "It's somewhat like an illusion, but far more dangerous."
In truth, this matter was far more complex to explain.
Ye Fan considered the intelligence levels of the three of them...
He could only simplify it.
"It seems you must have defeated that guy!" The little demoness happily hugged Ye Fan's arm, "I knew it, you're the strongest!"
As expected...
The little demoness didn't dwell on the matter at all, nor did she seem bothered by it...
"Brother Jiāo, how are you now?" Ye Fan glanced at Xiāngjiāo Jūn, "Do you need to rest more?"
"Big Brother, I'm fine." Xiāngjiāo Jūn shook his head, "As long as I don't try to recall what just happened, my head doesn't hurt as much."
"In that case." Ye Fan glanced at the remaining door, "Then let's go!"
Behind the door was a dark corridor.
Dim oil lamps lined the walls, which were adorned with strange murals.
All of them depicted images of stitched-together monsters, making one feel deeply uncomfortable.
Especially the eyes of those monsters, which seemed almost alive...
Fortunately, the corridor was not long.
Approximately half an hour later, Ye Fan and the other three reached the end of the corridor.
They pushed the door open.
Beyond was a circular room, about two hundred zhang in diameter.
Around the room were piled numerous vessels and containers.
These containers held unknown liquids, and some even contained severed limbs and torsos of demonic beasts.
Several tables were scattered around the room, also covered with various instruments.
There were also some strange machines.
It was less like a room and more like a laboratory...
What surprised Ye Fan and the others the most was that someone was already inside.
It was Zhao Hao and the others, who had disappeared earlier!
However, their numbers had dwindled from over fifty to just over twenty, and those remaining were mostly injured, clearly having gone through a tough battle.
Ye Fan's arrival attracted the attention of Zhao Hao and his group.
"You?!" Zhao Hao exclaimed in surprise.
He had clearly checked earlier, and Ye Fan's spiritual power had been completely consumed by the great door.
Without spiritual power, a person would not survive for long.
He never expected Ye Fan to reappear before him unharmed!
Now it seemed that Ye Fan had definitely been hiding his strength before!
"Senior Ye..." Zhao Hao greeted him cautiously.
At this moment.
He no longer dared to underestimate Ye Fan in the slightest!
In fact, he was beginning to feel a sense of fear.
"Sect Leader Zhao." Ye Fan politely cupped his fists, "It's truly good to see you all again."
Earlier, he had worried that he might take a wrong turn if he couldn't find Zhao Hao and the others.
Now that he had found them, it was all good.
As for the fact that these people had set him up before...
Am I, Ye Fan, such a petty person, to hold grudges?!
There are truly not many kind people like me nowadays!
Suddenly!
"Bang—!"
"Bang—!"
"Bang—!"
A series of impact sounds came from beneath their feet, as if something was forcefully hitting the ground below!
The ground even began to tremble due to the immense force of the impacts!
Then...
"Bang—!"
The ground broke open with a large gap, and something emerged from within!