Chapter 22: The Illusory Realm of Delusion

  Another quiet night, gazing at the vast starry sky, the Gobi wind mixed with dust and sand hits my dark face, drying the tears that haven't fallen yet.

  "You'll get a headache blowing like that." Rourou put the fox fur cloak on Momo. She took a cushion and sat down beside him, accompanying Momo to watch the starry sea.

  "Thank you." Mo Mo has been talking to Luo Luo since the day before yesterday, when he found out she was a girl. Luo Luo is also more familiar with Mo Mo and cares about her even more than before.

  Silence. Suddenly, a starlight flashed at the edge of the sky. Mo was taken aback, quickly stood up, and looked up. One after another, the starlights appeared, slowly swaying, getting closer and closer.

  "Not good, Lu Lu, quickly hide with me!" Mo Mo pulled the Divine Doctor's hand and was about to run. But she couldn't budge her. Mo Mo turned back, anxiously saying "It's people from the Heavenly Fate Palace! If we don't leave now, it'll be too late!"

  "How far can you escape?" Huo Huo ignored Mo Mo, took out a packet of powder from her own bosom, then picked out two small grass seeds, ate one herself and gave one to Mo Mo.

  "If you want to live, eat it." Looking at the grass seeds in her hand and then at the not-so-distant torches, Mo Mo almost bit her lip. She looked up at Luo Luo's eyes, couldn't see anything unusual, took a deep breath, and swallowed the grass seeds into her stomach. Then she saw Luo Luo's hand rise, and what seemed like gray dust-like medicine powder scattered and fell all over the entire procession.

  The torches in the distance drew near, and several people on horseback dismounted to look around. They gazed at Mò Mò and Luò Luò without seeing them.

  Mo was frozen in place, staring wide-eyed as the Tianxia Palace people flitted about like headless flies. Meanwhile, Luoluo pulled Mo's hand and dodged the people's touches, heading towards the main tent. When the curses from the Tianxia Palace people grew fainter as they moved away from the main tent, Luoluo whispered, "As long as we stay within the range of the ceremonial guards, don't make a sound, and don't touch them, they won't be able to see us."

  "So that's how it is!" With a long sigh, Mo's hanging heart finally put down. "Then can we track them down? Wuye, Hanlin and Auntie might all be in their hands."

  "I'll think about it." Luo Luo bit her finger joint, furrowing her brow. She turned around and walked towards her medicine box. She took out a purple-brown powder, then opened the small bottle in her sleeve, mixing all the liquid into the powder, sprinkling some on Mo Mo and also applying some to herself. "This way we can follow them," Luo Luo said, looking at Mo Mo.

  "But why can I see you?" Mo Mo asked, looking at the purple-brown armored creature.

  Because we all ate the immortal grass seeds. Luo Luo took out a small bag of tiny fruits from the medical box, pulled Mo Mo's hand and walked towards those people. She poked holes in the small bag with a needle and tied it to the tail of a horse. Mo Mo and Luo Luo hid aside, watching those Tianxia Palace people scolding and riding their horses away.

  "Alright, let's get going." Rourou packed up the water and food, tied a bundle for Momo, and hung one on herself. She lifted the door curtain, and Momo saw a pale blue glow stretching out in the distance, curving and bending. At the far end, several torches flickered.

  Mo and the others walked along the fairy grass seeds for a whole night. Finally, at dawn, they saw a sunken green oasis and also saw the people of the Heavenly Palace sitting on the edge of a small lake resting. Mo relied on them not being able to see themselves, plucked up the courage to get close to them and eavesdrop.

  "We didn't bring that princess back. Will we lose our heads?"

  "I think it's possible. Mo Zhuti is a responsible person, you all know that. He didn't bring his daughter back. We... sigh!"

  "Being able to sleep for one night is just one night, let's talk about it after sleeping enough." A man in black turned around and was about to lie down again. The person next to him kicked him, "Not enough sleep? It's already been a whole night! If you don't go back now, it won't be that the task can't be completed, but rather treason!"

  Mo Mo heard Mo Zhu Shi, and also heard his daughter, the princess. His heart moved! He stared foolishly at the Xuan Xuan in front of him, unaware that the person from the Tian Sha Gong had left.

  "They left, aren't you going after them?" Lulu looked at MoMo's unpredictable face with some concern.

  "Ah?" Mo Mo stared blankly at the departing figure, suddenly snapped out of it, and chased after him. Next to her, Luo Luo heard Mo Mo muttering to herself "Is that Father, is he still alive? But he... in front of me... Father, why did you deceive me? The Way of Longevity... the Mystic Ink Stone... what else are you hiding from me?"

  Ma didn't stop rushing for a whole day and night, and MoMo finally saw those people disappear in front of the cliff before dawn.

  "I see they went in from here." Luo Luo touched the seamless stone in front of her, tapping and knocking here and there.

  "But I think they disappeared from here." Mo Mo tapped on a large stone beside him. "It would be great if there were still some celestial grass seeds left." Mo Mo's face was full of regret.

  "So far on the road, with such a small package, it's already great to have made it this far." Luo Luo squatted down to look at the ground, wanting to see if there were any missing fairy grass seeds. Mo Mo also squatted down to search together. Finally, in a small gap, they found a single grain of fairy grass seed that shone with a faint blue light. As soon as Luo Luo reached out to pick it up, she felt the scene before her eyes ripple and open like water waves, and after calming down, another scene appeared.

  It was another sunken oasis, different from the one MoMo encountered before, this one was slightly larger. MoMo's location was at the edge of a rainforest, with towering trees and dense foliage blocking his view, several hoof prints were faintly visible.

  "It was an illusion! It seems the master of Tiān Shā Gōng has been to Bái Yǔ Guó, and is a person of Lán Yùn Bái." Lù Lù touched the place that was originally a rock but now was a tree root, stood up and said to Mò Mò "It seems Tiān Shā Gōng is in the depths of this oasis. Let's hurry up and go."

  Along the faint hoof prints, Mo picked up a sturdy branch and parted the serrated plants, seeing only green in front of her, unable to tell which direction to go.

  "Hurry up, let's go! The hoof prints ahead seem deeper, we should be arriving soon." MoMo, who had been walking for a day, stumbled and staggered forward.

  "Momo, stop!" Huohuo pulled Momo back and said with a serious expression, "Don't you think it's too easy for us?"

  "Ah? We have Xian Cao seeds!"

  "If it were someone else who accidentally touched the mechanism to unlock the illusion, wouldn't they also be able to find it? Besides, didn't we see that the scenery around us hasn't changed?" Mo Mo was startled and looked around, having previously overlooked this in her haste. Now it seemed that indeed nothing had changed.

  "What should I do?" Momo's eyes were brimming with tears.

  "Hmm... " Luoluo sat on the ground, tilting her head in thought.

  "Hurry up!" Mo Mo urged beside her.

  "Stop arguing! I'm a doctor, not a god." Lulu frowned and glared at MoMo, who shut up and sat down on the ground.

  She buried her face in her knees, and beside her, Luo Luo saw Mo Mo's shoulders shaking and sighed. She patted her gently. Suddenly, a cool breeze blew through the air, and the scene in front of them rapidly retreated and slowly disintegrated. A golden cat appeared, its dark blue eyes warily staring at Mo Mo and Luo Luo. It arched its body, baring its sharp teeth and claws at them.

  Mo Mo vigilantly protected the incompetent Luo Luo, staring at the golden cat in front of her. Suddenly, the cat jumped up and pounced on Mo Mo's throat, about to bite down. Mo Mo closed her eyes, using force to fling her right hand towards the cat's neck, instantly releasing a fragrance of jasmine flowers. The golden kitten suddenly stiffened, passing over Mo Mo and Luo Luo in mid-air, landing behind them. Withdrawing its claws and closing its mouth, it sat on the ground, wagging its tail, its pair of blue eyes alternately gazing at Mo Mo and Luo Luo, sniffing the fragrance of flowers in the air, slowly approaching Mo Mo.

  Mo Mo protected Huo Huo and also retreated backward, the golden cat jumped towards Mo Mo, hugged her leg and started rubbing against it. Mo Mo was frozen in place, Huo Huo too. They looked at each other, this cat that just had a fierce face, now had a gentle expression.

  "Momo, look! That's Tiānxià Gōng!" Huòhuò pointed to the cave that was faintly glowing with light, pushing Momo forward so she could see.

  "Let's go quickly." Momo picked up the golden kitten from her leg and followed Huohuo into the cave.

  Through the dry path, what I saw was indeed the pavilions and towers of Jiangnan's water town. A few azure-colored ones were darting about, and Mòmò was so frightened that she was just about to hide when Lùlù beside her grabbed Mòmò and said "They can't see us." She reached out to snatch the golden kitten from Mòmò's hand, but instead got a wound with blood seeping out.

  The cat was so startled that it threw itself to the ground, turned its head and glared at Luo Luo with one eye, then walked forward with a swish of its tail, indicating for them to follow. After walking in twists and turns, they arrived at a half-underground room door. The cat crouched down and lifted up its front paws to scratch the ground.

  "Is it here?" Momo muttered to herself, looking around and seeing no one, she pushed open the unlocked door.