jdhmnovel Chapter 177 Encountering an Old Acquaintance
Chapter 177 Encountering an Old Acquaintance
"This is the Void Realm? What an amazing place..."
"How amazing! We're still standing on a scroll of book!"
"This place is truly like a fairyland..."
While everyone else was filled with emotion, Su Luo took out the Frost Lotus, cleared her throat, and said, "Everyone, I have something to say..."
At once, everyone looked over.
Chu Wenqing, with his sharp eyes, immediately noticed the Frost Lotus in Su Luo's hand and asked in surprise, "Su Luo, why did you take out the Frost Lotus?"
Now, whenever Chu Wenqing sees something called Frost and Snow Darkness, he can't help but recall that terrible nightmare, and feels extremely uncomfortable!
Su Luo was speechless, and reminded her, "Have you all forgotten the uses of the Frost Lotus?"
"Of course I haven't forgotten."
Feng Xiyue picked up the conversation, her delicate brows furrowing slightly as she recalled, "Frost Lotus can not only temper a cultivator's body and remove impurities, but also ensure that a person's mind remains clear, preventing them from going into qi deviation during cultivation!"
Su Luo smiled and nodded, "That's right, Frost Lotus can keep people clear-headed. Since there are hallucinogenic monsters or spiritual plants in many places in this Void Illusion, it wouldn't hurt to eat one in advance as a precaution, would it?"
As she spoke, Su Luo plucked a petal from the Frost Lotus and gave one to each person.
"I see."
Chu Wenqing suddenly realized, and holding the flower petals, asked again, "This... can we eat it directly?"
"Zhuzhu said it's okay to eat directly, right? I'll try it first..."
Su Luo looked at the Frost Lotus with some uncertainty, and was about to put a petal of the Frost Lotus into her mouth when Lin Ji stopped her halfway.
The boy said with a deep look in his eyes, "Don't eat yet, let me go first."
Before Su Luo could refuse, Lin Ji opened his mouth and swallowed the Frost Lotus petal. After swallowing it, his expression changed almost imperceptibly, startling Su Luo, who grabbed his wrist. "What's wrong? Is it poisonous?"
The others also looked worried. Chu Wenqing was especially anxious and rushed over, grabbing Lin Ji's shoulder and shaking him violently. "Are you alright? Should I give you a physical vomiting treatment?"
"I'm fine, don't shake me..."
Lin Ji was dizzy from Chu Wenqing's shaking, so he slapped his hand away without any politeness before describing his feelings, "The petals weren't poisonous, but they tasted icy cold and melted in my mouth. I didn't even have time to savor them properly before they were gone."
The group breathed a sigh of relief. "I see, it's good that it's not poisonous."
Since Lin Ji said it wasn't poisonous, Su Luo immediately ate the flower petal without hesitation. The others followed suit and immediately experienced what it meant to be "icy cool" and "melt-in-your-mouth." The taste was indeed quite wonderful.
After consuming the flower petals, everyone officially embarked on the path of the Void Illusion, advancing step by step forward.
The name "Void Illusion" is truly fitting. Along the way, Su Luo and her group saw all sorts of hallucinogenic spiritual plants by the roadside. Occasionally, small demonic beasts would suddenly appear and use illusions on them. Fortunately, they had eaten the petals of the Frost Lotus and were not affected.
According to Feng Xiyue, those hallucinogenic spiritual plants are suitable for making Illusionary Spirit Pills, and therefore extremely valuable. So Su Luo and her companions would occasionally stop to pick them. After all, they were already here…
The group strolled along, picking spiritual plants as they went, looking like they were on a spring outing. It wasn't until they reached a blooming spiritual plant that Song Qiao noticed a group of cultivators of varying numbers and appearances lying nearby, and exclaimed in surprise.
"There's someone here!"
Only then did everyone have a moment to look, and they immediately understood.
These cultivators must have fallen into a hallucination because of those spiritual plants. At this moment, they look like patients suffering from severe mushroom poisoning, each one acting strangely.
Some cultivators lay on the ground doing the frog swimming motion, chanting, "Croak! Croak... I'm a little frog, I want to eat worms..."
Some cultivators squatted on the ground, crawling slowly like old tortoises, occasionally groaning and shaking their heads, muttering, "Alas, this old tortoise is really old... I can't even take a few steps..."
Some cultivators even knelt on the ground, hugging the hallucinogenic flowers and weeping bitterly, wiping their snot on them, crying, "Mother! I missed you! Waaaaah~"
Some cultivators paced back and forth on the ground, clutching their heads tightly with both hands, looking extremely tense, as if something was pressing down on their heads. They kept muttering in a panic, "Ahhh! I'm going to poop! I'm going to poop!"
Even more astonishingly, three cultivators, under the influence of an illusion, were kneeling on the ground, weeping bitterly before the spiritual plant, confessing all the bad things they had done, and begging for forgiveness.
Chu Wenqing exclaimed in amazement, "Goodness, it's just a hallucination, is it really that exaggerated?"
Song Qiao was also somewhat frightened.
Feng Xiyue clutched her chest, feeling a lingering fear: "Luckily, we listened to Su Luo! Otherwise, these people would have suffered the same fate as us!"
Lin Ji nodded, agreeing with Feng Xiyue's words for the first time.
Although his body is immune to all poisons, he is not very good at illusions. If he accidentally falls under an illusion and Su Luo finds out his true identity, he will really go crazy when he wakes up!
Seeing that everyone's faces were pale, clearly still shaken by the hallucination from last time, Su Luo couldn't help but smile and reassure them not to worry.
The group was slightly relieved and then asked Su Luo if she wanted to rescue these people as well.
After all, the way to save them is simple: just get rid of the hallucinogenic plants in the vicinity.
Thinking that she could also do good deeds in the process, Su Luo nodded, "However..."
She changed the subject, pointing to the three cultivators who had just accused her of crimes, and said, "These people have done many wrong things and deserve to die. We don't need to worry about them."
Coincidentally, the others thought the same thing.
So, apart from the three cultivators, the group removed all the spiritual plants near the others, and the cultivators gradually awoke from their illusions.
"Huh? Where am I?"
"How...how did I get here?"
"Wasn't I just talking to my mother? How could this be..."
They were initially quite bewildered, but after Chu Wenqing kindly explained things to them, they immediately realized that they had almost been trapped to death in the illusion. They hurriedly thanked the group profusely and even inquired about their names, thinking of visiting them to express their gratitude after leaving the secret realm.
Upon learning that the group were disciples of the Lingxiao Sect, the expressions on their faces varied, with most showing surprise.
Who would have thought that these young talents, their benefactors, actually came from the most impoverished Lingxiao Sect?!
Su Luo and Lin Ji glanced at them but remained silent.
Chu Wenqing and the others had long been used to it.
After all, the Lingxiao Sect has never had a good reputation, and its disciples are looked down upon by some other sects. Many cultivators find them strange and dare not approach them.
However, these people quickly composed themselves and thanked the group again without hesitation, even offering them their valuable treasures.
Feng Xiyue and the others were extremely surprised and somewhat pleased. However, being greedy, they refused to accept the treasures no matter what. The two groups argued for a while before finally persuading the cultivators to take their things back.
Their actions increased the cultivators' goodwill towards them, and their eyes showed even more respect.
Who says the disciples of the Lingxiao Sect are all strange people?! They are clearly kind-hearted, capable of saving strangers from dire straits, and regard money and magical treasures as dirt. Their noble character makes them true role models for us all! Anyone who speaks ill of the Lingxiao Sect disciples is definitely trying to smear them! Once we get out, we must help spread the word!
Well, without Chu Wenqing and the others realizing it, the Lingxiao Sect's reputation improved even further...
To prevent these people from falling for the same trick again, Chu Wenqing and the others kindly offered some tips on how to prevent hallucinogenic plants and monsters, and also instructed them not to rescue the three criminals. Only then did they bid farewell to the group and leave without looking back.
They continued walking for another half an hour until Su Luo suddenly stopped, her gaze fixed ahead, remaining motionless for a long time.
"what happened?"
Seeing that Su Luo had stopped walking, Lin Ji turned his gaze back to the front, then raised an eyebrow slightly.
Chu Wenqing and the other two also looked ahead, and then exclaimed in surprise, "What's that? A... lake?"
In the distance, where the lake merges with the sky, lies a pure white lake. A gentle breeze ripples the water, and occasionally a few cranes skim across its surface, uttering melodious cries.
Hearing what Chu Wenqing and the others said, Su Luo shook her head, "That's not a lake, that's a sea of flowers..."
"A sea of flowers?"
The group was shocked.
That's a huge sea of flowers! How many flowers must be in there?!
"Such a vast sea of flowers probably contains tens of thousands of hallucinogenic spiritual plants. I wonder if the Frost Lotus we ate will still be effective."
Su Luo stroked her chin and thought for a moment, then took out five more talismans. "Just in case, everyone should put on a breath-holding talisman."
The group then snapped out of their shock and realized that Su Luo's words made sense. They accepted the talismans and continued on their way.
As they drew closer, they finally saw the white flowers covering the hillsides. From their stamens to their petals, the flowers were pure white, appearing incredibly pristine. They bloomed freely towards the sky, layer upon layer, huddled together, dancing gracefully in the breeze. Strolling among them, the group felt as if they had stepped into a fairytale world.
"Beautiful... so beautiful..."
It's really beautiful. If these flowers didn't have hallucinogenic effects, they would really like to stay in such a beautiful place a little longer!
As Su Luo thought this to herself, a smile played on her lips as she looked around. Suddenly, she saw something, and her eyes turned icy cold.
Lin Ji immediately looked over, keenly sensing that the girl was in a very bad mood.
Su Luo stared blankly ahead, her voice icy, "Heh, we've run into an old acquaintance..."