A thick fog rose, obscuring the view, with trees appearing and disappearing, making the path indiscernible.
Xia Xianning pondered for a moment, first stepping into the Xun position, then moving to the Li position. As his body turned, thousands of flowers suddenly bloomed, with petals falling everywhere.
Two graceful, beautiful women approached, looking delighted when they saw Xia Xianning and hurrying towards him.
The woman on the left approached Xia Xianning: “Sir, do you know where this is? My sister and I are lost. We can’t find our way out. Fortunately, we met you, or we would have been terrified.”
She grabbed Xia Xianning’s sleeve, seeming afraid he might leave: “Could you help us get out of here? Thank you.”
Before she could finish, Xia Xianning suddenly reached out, placing a hand on each woman’s head and then forcefully knocking them together with a loud “bang”.
Releasing his hands, the two women slid to the ground, transforming into two wooden stumps.
Xia Xianning coldly said: “Coming all this way just to play such a trick? Ge Panming, are you this boring?”
After his words, he heard rustling behind him. Turning and drawing his sword to strike, the approaching person raised a long knife, blocking his sword with the scabbard.
“Xianning, are you trying to murder me!”
Recognizing the voice, Xia Xianning retracted his killing intent, quickly rushing to Luo Mingbai’s side and grabbing him: “Senior brother? How did you get here?”
With the sudden emergence of a third voice, a horizontal knife swept from the side, directly slicing the neck of the “Luo Yingbai” talking to Xia Xianning, causing the head to fall to the ground with a muffled sound. Xia Xianning watched this scene, his pupils suddenly contracting.
He let go of his hand, and the headless “Luo Yingbai” fell to the ground. Xia Xianning slowly raised his head, only to see another “Luo Yingbai” appear before him.
He moved his mouth but couldn’t even call out the words “senior brother”.
Truth and falsehood, emptiness and substance were completely distorted at this moment, making even the originally familiar face seem strange.
Luo Yingbai apparently felt a bit awkward. He waved to shake off the blood from the blade, sheathed his sword, and said, “What kind of demon or ghost is this, actually thinking of using such a cheap trick to impersonate me.”
Xia Xianning leaned against a large tree, still looking at the corpse on the ground, motionless for a long time. Luo Yingbai walked over to pull his hand, saying, “Look at me, Xianning. I’m fine. That was fake.”
Xia Xianning pulled him into an embrace, whispering, “Let me hold you for a moment.”
Luo Yingbai paused, pushing him away, “Let’s go somewhere else to hug. There’s an illusion formation in this forest, so let’s not delay.”
Xia Xianning then let go. He realized that besides the illusion formation, there was definitely something wrong with the surrounding fog. A sweet, almost suffocating flower fragrance began to swirl around them.
Regardless of whether they found Ge Panming or not, this place was not suitable for a long stay. So the two walked side by side outward. Luo Yingbai said, “How annoying. I just chopped that ghostly thing with one blade, and now the blood won’t come off. Do you have any lamp oil? Let me use it.”
He wasn’t talking about ordinary lamp oil, but oil that had been offered before a Sanqing divine statue for ten years, dried and refined, with multiple materials added during the brewing process. It was extremely precious, not only capable of exorcising evil and treating injuries but also removing demonic energy from weapons.
Xia Xianning usually carried a small bottle, which Luo Yingbai knew. But when he reached out, he didn’t get the bottle. Instead, he was suddenly pulled forcefully, with his throat being grabbed.
Xia Xianning turned and pinned him against the nearby large tree.
He had one hand around Luo Yingbai’s neck, his knee pressing against his leg, coldly saying, “If you’re smart, don’t impersonate him in front of me. I’ll ask you again, who are you?”
Luo Yingbai, pressed against the tree, looked surprisingly at Xia Xianning. Seeing Xia Xianning’s frosty expression, he suddenly burst out laughing.
Xia Xianning coldly stared at him. Luo Yingbai, smiling, said, “Xianning, if I’m not Luo Yingbai, then who could I be?”
Xia Xianning’s pupils contracted, and he suddenly looked back quickly. Behind them, the headless corpse of the first “Luo Yingbai” was still lying on the ground and hadn’t transformed into wood like the two women earlier.
This quick glance revealed his inner thoughts. Luo Yingbai laughed, “What are you suspecting? What are you afraid of? Ah, you’re wondering if the previous one might have been real, right? If I’m real, you’d make your senior brother angry by treating me like this. But if he is real and has died, what would happen to Xia Xianning if Luo Yingbai is dead?”
His words struck at Xia Xianning’s heart, leaving him in turmoil. He shouted, “Shut up!”
He moved his arm as if wanting to act, but ultimately just clenched his fist, his brow furrowed.
He didn’t have time to look back. He raised his hand, bringing two fingers together, precisely catching the sword tip thrusting from behind between his fingers.
A thick black substance spread from the point of contact between his fingers and the sword.
His magical qi was corroding the sword blade!
Xia Xianning withdrew his hand and retracted the sword. Seeing the opponent retreat a few steps back, he did not continue to pursue. He said coldly, “Ge Panming, change back to your original appearance. Don’t talk to me while wearing his face.”
The headless corpse in the distance transformed into a piece of wood. Ge Panming laughed, “Magic barriers, illusion arrays, and my mind-controlling technique couldn’t fool you. Not bad, Xia Xianning.”
Xia Xianning said calmly, “You don’t need to be modest. Your unpleasantness is not limited to a single face. If you hadn’t transformed into Luo Mingbai’s appearance twice to confuse me, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have caught the opportunity to replace the body double with the real one. Those who calculate others will eventually be calculated. The score between us will be settled sooner or later!”
Ge Panming, who was originally smiling, suddenly darkened his expression upon hearing this and said, “I have no account with you.”
If there’s any settling to do, go find Luo Mingbai—what are you supposed to be?”
On the other side, the real Luo Yingbai and Gou Songze, after separating, were still worrying about how to get down the mountain. They had driven out for a while to chase Xia Xianning. Although Luo Yingbai had given the car to Gou Songze, he was unwilling to walk such a long way down the mountain, so he called Wei Shou to come and pick him up.
Wei Shou, who had just been responsible for sending the injured people down the mountain, had already taken Wen Qianqian to a nearby village clinic. Seeing that she was not seriously injured, he quickly drove back up and met Luo Yingbai halfway.
As soon as Luo Yingbai sat in the passenger seat, Wei Shou eagerly said, “Senior brother, I think the expert they mentioned is Peng Xuan! It seems Peng Xuan is nearby!”
To his surprise, Luo Yingbai didn’t seem very shocked and asked, “How do you know?”
Wei Shou said, “Let me tell you, after I sent Wen Qianqian down, the clinic staff checked her condition and said she was fine. I casually asked if she needed medication or nutrition while she was in a coma. The doctor said his skills were limited and suggested waiting for an expert in the afternoon to take a look. He said Wen Qianqian might be possessed, and the expert would exorcise her.”
Luo Yingbai asked, “Is that expert Peng Xuan?”
Wei Shou replied, “He used a fake name, and I wasn’t sure at first.”
