Food Fairy Lord

Chapter 714 Burning Rhinoceros
When the road is exhausted and the dream is far away, a miracle can be found.

The book "Seeking the Ferry in Luochuan" says that the spirit realm will choose those who are on the verge of despair in the human world.

But is the dead end in the search for the spiritual realm itself also within these gentle rules?
This had nothing to do with boundary markers; it was reflected on a larger scale. This left Pei Ye stunned for a long time.

The kitten hadn't actually seen anything, but it shared Pei Ye's perception through the quail's head and whispered, "I told you, the Mirage Realm will remember your efforts."

Pei Ye looked down at the ribbon of blood flowing from her wrist; it was so delicate, as if it would vanish without a trace at the slightest touch.

This illusion tightened his heart, wondering if it meant his master's life was hanging by a thread. Pei Ye scrambled up from the boat in a fluster. He stared intently at the ribbon, which was unaffected by the rainy night and floated lightly below the lake surface.

It seems to have always been there, only to be seen by Pei Ye just now.

Pei Ye pursed his lips, suppressing the sudden surge of his heartbeat. He leaned over from the boat and touched the lake surface with his hand along the ribbon... The water was cool to the touch, and large raindrops quickly covered the back of his hand.

The ribbon faded and disappeared within a few inches of being submerged in water.

Pei Ye was stunned for a moment, then realized that it hadn't broken off; it had extended into the spiritual realm.

Even during the days when he was able to enter the spiritual realm, he had never felt its existence so directly.

Pei Ye pursed her dry lips, her eyes fixed on the lake, and turned halfway back to say, "Little...kitten, quick, it's here—"

He paused for a moment, not really knowing what to do. The black cat walked over and calmly said, "Because the Spirit Realm has been sealed off."

Pei Ye realized what was happening.

Yes, the Water Lord has passed away, and the Spirit Realm has not only disappeared, but has also been sealed off.

He used to be able to enter the spiritual realm directly by relying on this link, but now he has been wearing it on his wrist for many days, yet he can only wander around Dragon Lake.

Even if you see it again, the door is now tightly closed, and the ribbon only slips out through the crack.

What can be done?
Pei Ye stared intently at the lake surface.

Li Xizhou's collusion... How do we open this door? There must be a way... You don't need to rack your brains anymore. The most confusing step has been solved. Now you just need to face the door right in front of you and kick it open, no matter what... Pei Ye suddenly felt a chill.

He immediately thought of it, took out the rhinoceros horn that was only the size of a fingertip from his pocket, and placed it firmly in front of him.

This was given to him by the Tiger Head Water Lord.

Tiger Head Water Lord was originally supposed to be controlled by Mirage City, but it broke away, which is why it later acquired this rhinoceros horn for itself.

The reason it broke away was because of its own meddling.

The reason he was able to disrupt things was because… Pei Ye lowered his head and looked again at the ribbon on his wrist.

Therefore, this horn is suitable for use here.

But... how do I use it?

Pei Ye gripped the broken rhinoceros horn tightly. He had already taken the medicine, but it had no effect. He threw it back into the water where the ribbon had disappeared, but it sank immediately, so Pei Ye quickly retrieved it.

Stabbing, splitting water, injecting true energy... none of them worked. Pei Ye pursed his lips tightly. Clearly, there was only one last door to close, and he only had one key in his hand. He didn't even know how to insert it.

Pei Ye turned her head, and the black cat walked over at this moment. After thinking for a moment, it said, "Why don't you try burning it?"

"……what?"

"Light it, use fire."

Pei Ye was stunned, but he had neither the time to think nor the desire to waste time asking questions. He raised his finger and lit a cluster of orange flames, placing it under the rhinoceros horn.

In a short while, the horn actually caught fire, just like a candle.

Then, without needing the kitten's reminder, Pei Ye lowered his eyes and looked down.

The rhinoceros horn did not undergo any changes. The flames swayed and danced in the rainy night, but they did not burn a large hole in the night sky. However, the light they emitted reflected in the water, as if illuminating another ghostly world.

Pei Ye had never imagined that the lake beneath his feet was so eerie in the mirage, with strangely shaped scaled creatures drifting by, some beautiful, some hideous... Suddenly, they all raised their heads and stared at the boy on the boat.

Pei Ye showed no coldness at being stared at by a stranger. He raised his hand and took off his bamboo hat. He barely had time to find out what was going on. He left only the words, "Little cat, I'm going," and then leaped into the room with his sword.

The scaled demons were completely taken aback when he crashed down with a "plop." The rhinoceros fire was extinguished in an instant, the portal closed, the sound of rain disappeared, and suddenly only darkness remained in the water.

Pei Ye once again felt that chaotic loss of his five senses. He realized that he had not taken the Luoshen Peach this time, nor had he eaten the boundary marker raw. The spiritual realm was once again a fog for him.

The sharp sound of water in his ears was like a whistle. It was the scaled demons he had just seen rushing over. Pei Ye did not dodge. Just as the spikes pierced his skin, he twisted his body and used his forearm to grab them. He drew his sword with his right hand and cut them in two.

The sweet, pungent blood instantly splashed into the water. Binglu suddenly awoke in his dantian. Pei Ye reached into the still twitching scaled demon's corpse, where the flesh and scales softened and melted into strands of liquid, seeping into the skin as clear as a spring.

A brief shower of sweet rain descended upon his dantian once more. Its total amount was actually less than that of a single Luoshen peach, but it was enough for Binglu to swallow a mouthful. The skin that had just been pierced healed and scabbed over within a few breaths.

Then a burning pain shot through his back as something bit him hard. Pei Ye turned around fiercely, grabbed its strange and prickly head, and pierced it from head to tail with his sword. The scaly body then melted into a clear liquid.

None of the claws that came to prey on the boy were able to be pulled away alive. In just a few breaths, the scaled demons that had just been seen had all disappeared without a trace. The only traces of blood remaining in the water came from Pei Ye himself.

Then Pei Ye could clearly see that each of these devoured scaly bodies had left behind a trace of almost invisible foreign flesh and blood.

Human flesh and blood.

This once again confirmed his guess about Zhao Lingjun. The feast that lasted seven days and involved tens of thousands of boats on the eight waters has now filled the Spirit Realm with the scaled demons who control the Mirage City.

The Prince of Yan's mansion did indeed use this most forceful and rebellious method to forcibly invade this spiritual realm from beginning to end.

The water was dark and silent. Pei Ye couldn't imagine how Li Xizhou had survived for so many days in such an environment where he was surrounded by enemies. He pursed his lips and looked down at the thin ribbon on his wrist.

It stretches far into the deeper water.

This was probably the only thing that could guide him at the moment. Pei Ye plunged down and sped away amidst the chaos of sight and sound.

On the way, he encountered four more scaled demons that attacked him. He dealt with them one by one, and about fifteen minutes later, he arrived at a node.

The ribbon was gently tied into a knot here. Pei Ye didn't know how this intangible ribbon was bent and tied, but it was indeed in the shape of an apricot blossom. Pei Ye slowed down and walked towards it. When he got to it, his feet suddenly touched the ground.

Pei Ye paused here, then slowly extended her wrist forward, causing the ribbon to shorten. When her wrist overlapped with the apricot blossom, it slowly dissipated into the water. Then, right before Pei Ye's eyes, a Luoshen peach blossom sprouted from the stone where it had been resting.

Pei Ye watched it grow, bud, bloom, and unfold. Its color was pale, its shape small, and its petals few... It wasn't Luo Weiyou; it was the kind of flower that grew on her wrist when she met the Water Lord.

Pei Ye watched it for two breaths, and then there was no change. It just swayed gently, as if waving to him.

Pei Ye pulled it out and swallowed it.

In an instant, chaos was restored to order, violence vanished into tranquility, and darkness faded into clarity.

A faint, scaly flower appeared on her wrist.

But Pei Ye didn't look down. He stared blankly at the brightened view before him and suddenly realized that the mirage in the Daming Palace was a wild frontier.

It has only existed for twenty years, and the desolate Ming Palace Eight Ponds really has nothing new to offer for renewal.

But Longfor is different.

Four thousand years of the spread of all things, the cycle of life and death.

On the rock where Pei Ye picked the hibiscus peach, many beautiful, fingernail-sized fish and shrimp lay on it, swimming and nibbling at the moss.

This was a square and beautiful cyan jade stone, which was placed under a large tree that was four or five stories high. Pei Ye had never seen such a tree before. It probably only grew in such a watery place. Perhaps because it was springtime, it was covered with pale pink flowers, which were densely covering the tree.

The shape of the flower was indeed quite similar to that of an apricot blossom, and Pei Ye probably figured out why the woman had tied it in such a shape here.

Looking further ahead, one sees a beautiful and prosperous landscape.

Soft, verdant grass, exotic flowers, coral, thickets, tall trees, and enormous, pale, veil-like creatures swaying high in the sky, groups drifting slowly like stars… yet it is never cramped, only vastness fills the eye. In the distance, jagged mountain peaks rise high, as if supporting the sky.

All the scenery and creatures were unlike anything he had ever seen in the mortal realm. He wondered how they had evolved over the past few millennia. Pei Ye looked around and saw almost nothing that was repeated.

Their overall tone remains cool and serene, but everything is too quiet and carries an unsettling emptiness.

Even in desolate frontiers like the Daming Palace Pond, Pei Ye was ambushed by a water fox the first time he fell in. The excruciating pain from that mouthful of poisonous sand was still fresh in his memory. It was insidious, cautious, and extremely difficult to deal with.

He had encountered several scaled demons, but they were all wandering aimlessly in the upper levels. When they saw him, they rushed over together. Pei Ye knew that they had become puppets, but he did not expect that apart from that kind of thing, it would be difficult to find a normal, vibrant demon spirit in the Mirage.

Moreover, all the plants, trees, and fish seemed to fade into the distance, appearing like moving shadows upon closer inspection.

A unified, immense force, so vast it covers the entire land, is erasing everything.

He paused for a few breaths, then followed the guidance of the ribbon on his wrist and flew forward again. A moment later, he consumed another peach blossom left behind by the woman. This time, he was beside a cluster of orchids, the knot the woman had tied resembling an orchid.

The further they went, the more faint the mirage became, and they couldn't even encounter a single scaled demon anymore.

Pei Ye looked down at the ribbon on his wrist. Half an hour had passed since he first saw it. During this time, he followed it into the water and swallowed the knots it left behind, but it hadn't reacted at all.

Since it's a strap connecting the two of them, can't she feel herself?
If the woman is truly unharmed, why has there been no response from the other end until now?

It floated weakly in the water before me, like a dead thing.

This thought immediately seized Pei Ye's mind. He gripped his sword tightly and galloped forward. Gradually, the distant hills came closer and closer. Beyond the hills, there were two extremely lush trees, a hundred feet apart, that seemed to have been growing since time immemorial.

The scenery began to change, but Pei Ye paid no attention to it until he came to a wide, flat area, where he suddenly stopped.

He stared straight at the ground and saw what he had been terrified of.

blood.

A large amount of blood.

It wasn't red, but had that clear, soft texture. Flowing on the ground, it was like liquefied jade. Countless small fish and shrimp swirled around it, seemingly yearning for it yet also in awe, too afraid to approach.

It splashed onto a large rock, then flowed down, accumulating into a puddle on the ground. The spray and dragging patterns were shocking to behold.

The shape of the murder weapon remains on the stone; it is a sharp and thick ridge that pierces the stone nearly a palm's length long, leaving behind several strands of innocent clothing.

Yong Ji was not lying.

He did indeed stab the woman.

Moreover, it pierced through her completely, pinning her to this large rock, then lifting and dragging her half a zhang (approximately 3.3 meters), intending to split her open diagonally.

The tenacious struggle for life despite severe injuries is a privilege of cultivators. Even without blood, they still possess true energy.

Pei Ye could hardly imagine how a body that would wrap itself tightly in a cloak and hug a heater if it caught a slight cold could survive such a violent shot.

This happened three days ago.

Pei Ye scanned the area and saw that the corpses of numerous scaled demons covered the ground. Some had died from a single attack, while others had died from tearing each other apart... The tranquility of the Mirage Realm seemed to have found its answer here.

“Yongji…” Pei Ye didn’t hear his own soft murmur; he looked down at the trail of blood.

The ribbon stopped here in the blood, and from here on, no woman tied a flower knot.

Moreover, Pei Ye doesn't really need this ribbon anymore.

The woman's flowing blood shone like fluorescent light in his eyes, and the traces left by Yong Ji's pursuit were also too conspicuous. The heavy iron spear left sharp marks on the trees and stones.

Pei Ye took two steps forward when two scaled demons suddenly sprang up from beside the tree, howling and lunging at him. Pei Ye raised his hand, grabbed one, and pinned the other against the tree trunk. Claws broke and bones pierced, and blood gushed out.

Pei Ye raised his fist, his taut arm muscles bursting open and relaxing, the two scaled demon heads suddenly bursting open like watermelons, and the boy's fist was firmly embedded in the tree trunk.

As the clear spring water seeped into his skin, and his five senses returned to normal, these scaled demons were indeed no different from melons and fruits in his eyes.

The muscles in his clenched cheeks flashed for a moment, then the boy withdrew his fist, his face expressionless.

He followed the trail of blood into the distance, and as he went further, he finally saw the scaled demons again. On the opposite mountain, they had gathered there, constantly trying to burrow in, almost completely obscuring the ridge. In the distance, they looked like countless wriggling ants.

(End of this chapter)