Chapter Sixteen: Deadlock

  She had already wasted a lot of time outside, and although she didn't feel like the time was passing quickly, it was actually already early morning on the second day. The trees were too tall and dense, making the forest dark with little sunlight, and since she wasn't sleepy at all and was also colorblind, she hadn't noticed that not only had night fallen, but it had also passed. However, after walking for so long, she still had a general sense of time. Jiang Nian looked at the dew on the leaves and figured that it was probably dawn already.

  When I left, it was still in the afternoon. It's been so long and I don't know how Lan Ao Xue is doing alone. A mentally ill person dares to throw things there, what if something happens? If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have come out. Being bored is just being bored. Now that I think about it, Jiang Nian really makes me feel a little scared. What if something happens to him? Where would the plot go if the female lead died?

  Time was of the essence, so she immediately followed the map she had memorized to head towards the cave. It wasn't far from here, and it only took her a few minutes to find it. However, she didn't dare rush in hastily, instead quietly making her way along the edge of the cave, wanting to see if the female lead was still in a frenzied state.

  It seems she was overthinking, Lan Aoxue wasn't frantically excited anywhere, but instead had fallen asleep quietly, not making a sound, her breathing barely audible. Jiang Nian tiptoed over and squatted down to take a closer look at this legendary female lead, it's been so long since she'd really looked at her. Her gaze should have been almost brazen, probably like a young fan seeing their favorite celebrity for the first time, but with heavy thoughts weighing on her mind, she only gave Lan Aoxue's face a cursory glance. After looking for half a day, Jiang Nian finally lifted her head, feeling that at this moment, the female lead was just a child, her body not yet fully developed, slender and delicate. Underneath her eyes were slightly dark circles, her eyelashes short but straight and dense, just like her personality.

  I don't know why, but Jiang Nian suddenly felt a warm and gentle emotion, thinking that this quiet atmosphere was really nice, why be so persistent? She turned her head towards the entrance of the cave, where the golden light of dawn had dyed the opening, illuminating many tiny organisms that were invisible to the naked eye, serene and gentle. This delicate and peaceful scene was very moving, to the point where Jiang Nian remained motionless for a long time, simply sitting on the ground with her knees hugged, her face buried in her lap, lost in thought. The morning sun shining into the cave stretched out the silhouettes of the two people sitting and sleeping, casting twisted shadows on the stone wall.

  It took a long time for Jiang Nian to move his numb hands and feet, he looked back at Lan Aoxue's peaceful sleeping face, lowered his eyes, slowly sighed, then heavily slapped Lan Aoxue's forehead, a large amount of illusionary power was released frantically until the female lead felt uncomfortable and started struggling. He used his hand to press down on Lan Aoxue, accelerating the release of the illusionary power even more until she completely stopped moving.

  This awakening was unexpected, but she couldn't let the heroine and her family rebel at this time. She had to go see Wu Shi Qi in the forbidden land, use the forbidden water to awaken, so that later on, she wouldn't be counterattacked by the swelling of her bloodline, could obtain solid fantasy power, and... continue forward until they became enemies.

  Jiang Nian looked somewhat helpless, his lips pale from the massive release of spiritual energy, and his expression wasn't great either, making him appear a bit weak. However, his demeanor remained proud as ever, and he didn't seem too worn out.

  They should part ways here, she thought. This person's road ahead is still so long, how can they be disturbed so early?

  She left the female lead alone in the cave, continuing to be unconscious, slowly walking out, facing the beautiful sunrise, closing her eyes, and starting to release the illusion power on her body. Her illusion power slowly invaded the entire Beta Forest, and every grass and tree in the forest could not escape her perception at this moment. If DouDou were here, he would definitely discover that her illusion power was no longer just that of a Purple Mang Fantasy Master, but how could there be such high-level illusion power here when it was so far from the Lianlian Tree?

  The yellow divine power was searching the entire forest in a carpet-like manner, and then extended to the entire Ninth City, until it touched a house in the center of the Ninth City, where those faint star-like lights finally disappeared. Jiang Nian suddenly raised her head, with scarlet pupils and black irises, and the dark lines along the irises spread into her heart, forming a beautiful and eerie hibiscus flower, with a blood-red bud in the center of the flower, just like the hidden red flowers she had seen when she was young.

  She smiled profoundly in the entwining blackness, turning towards the direction where the light spot disappeared, her mouth corners slowly rising, like the arc of death, yet her complexion was as captivating as the entire world.

  Jiang Nian's arrival here was not an accident, it was just another tragic cycle, she couldn't get out of that node, this life would forever be trapped in this dead knot, with no end.

  ……

  Lan Ran returned with water to find that Jiang Nian was indeed gone. He immediately followed the scattered scent, wanting to find her. When he reached the entrance of a cave, the smell suddenly disappeared. At that moment, his expression changed from confusion to surprise, fear, worry, and expectation, before slowly turning into hatred. His eyes were filled with dark emotions, and his originally warm and pure temperament turned sinister and frightening. His fists were clenched tightly, and his short fingernails even pierced the soft flesh of his palms, creating small wounds that bled profusely, staining all his fingers red.

  How could she leave without a word? How could she be so heartless, how could...how could she abandon him?

  He slammed his fist heavily on the thick trunk beside him, the trunk shook and then shattered into several pieces, slowly falling down, it was violently split open.

  Lan Lun kicked the broken tree trunk under his foot, turned around and walked back. But after taking only two steps, he stopped again, roughly pulling off the ring that stored creek water on his left ring finger, immediately rubbing a red mark on his hand. Then he forcefully threw the ring into the cave in front of him.

  Just as the ring was still in mid-air and hadn't fallen into the cave, a figure appeared on the stone wall outside the cave. As soon as the figure emerged, he saw something flying towards him, and subconsciously released his spiritual power. It wasn't until after he had knocked down the flying object that he realized it was just a harmless ring.

  The figure raised his head in some surprise and met Landon's ferocious expression outside.

  "Lan, Ao, Xue." Lan Lun gritted his teeth, enunciating each word clearly, his expression even more ferocious than when he wanted to kill Wu Shi Qi earlier.

  Digression

  Well, I still want to write the article more refinedly.

  Also thank you for the flowers from Qing Cheng Wang Chuan