Chapter 140: Fusion of Dream and Reality

Translator: Minotauruz

Jun Xiaomo had managed to determine her little packrat’s rough location. But narrowing that field down to determine her little packrat’s exact location was where the real difficulty lay.

Her little packrat’s physical body was far too small, and Jun Xiaomo did not possess any particularly special artefacts belonging to her little packrat apart from the few strands of her little packrat’s fur that were stuck to her clothing. Thus, no matter how hard Jun Xiaomo tried, she could only narrow the search location to a radius of one kilometer.

That is to say, her little packrat could be anywhere within a one-kilometer radius of where they were located right now.

“What are we going to do now...” Jun Xiaomo sighed helplessly as she muttered to herself in distress.

Ye Xiuwen stared at the formation diagram. After a moment of deliberation, he raised a fresh possibility, “Perhaps we don’t actually have to determine his exact location. These little creatures have intuition that are often far better than us humans anyway. We can slowly search around within the area marked out by the map. Once the little packrat discovers our presence and auras, it will naturally come looking for us.”

Jun Xiaomo furrowed her brows as she looked helplessly at the little red blip on the map that was fading in and out. Then she conceded, “I suppose that’s our best option for now. There’s nothing else I can think of.”

Jun Xiaomo rolled up her formation diagram once they determined their search routes. Then, after briefing Ye Xiuwen and Rong Ruihan on what they had to do, they began their search and rescue mission. Time was of the essence. If they could not locate little packrat’s tracks before sundown, then they would be forced to wait until daybreak again. At the same time, they were cognizant of the fact that the Grand Vizier’s men were not far away. The longer they took to locate the little packrat, the more dangerous it was for them. Therefore, it was best if they could locate the little packrat within the shortest amount of time possible.

Rong Ruihan had no objections to Jun Xiaomo’s arrangements. He only reminded everyone that they should stay relatively close to each other so that they could have each other’s back when emergencies arose.

Although searching for a little ball of fluff in such an immensely large space was a monumental task, Jun Xiaomo had made her resolve, and she was determined to see it through to the very end. Therefore, she began to search high and low, not letting up even at the slightest trace or clues of her little packrat. For example, when a mound of small pebbles formed a small cavern of sorts, she would kneel on the ground and stretch her hand into the hole to see if her little packrat were inside.

But her search would be in vain each time, and the only thing she gained was that dirt and grass left on her clothing.

On the other side, Rong Ruihan released his divine sense to continually probe about at their surroundings. His area of vigilance and search naturally encompassed Jun Xiaomo as well.

Even though the main purpose of sending his divine sense probing about was to detect the presence of any potential threats or dangers, Rong Ruihan could not help but observe Jun Xiaomo’s actions at the same time. He saw that an anxious grimace was plastered all over Jun Xiaomo’s face. Her eyes were filled with serious determination and care. As she walked along, she would brush aside the vines and flowers, and if there was anything suspicious which caught her eye, she would then bend down to take a closer look.

Her entire body had been covered with soil and grass by now, and Jun Xiaomo’s body was gray and dirty. As a person extremely conscious about his appearances and image, Rong Ruihan wondered with amazement at how Jun Xiaomo could stand being like this.

Was she also like this when she was looking for me earlier? An anxious expression on her face and yet painstaking and meticulous in her approach?

These thoughts subconsciously surfaced at the front of his mind, and they even brought a peculiar sense of joy to Rong Ruihan.

When Jun Xiaomo was still Yao Mo, Rong Ruihan had already discovered that he would subconsciously pay attention to the young man’s actions and idiosyncrasies. But his attention towards Yao Mo never came anywhere as close to what it was now – Rong Ruihan was completely rapt with attention as he observed Jun Xiaomo.

Rong Ruihan knew that he saw the lady in red through Jun Xiaomo’s body. But as time went by, he gradually discovered that Jun Xiaomo was still Yao Mo through and through. Even though her external appearances had changed, the internal things could never be changed just like that.

Rong Ruihan could no longer distinguish what his heart desired anymore.

Just then, Jun Xiaomo suddenly exclaimed, “This looks like the little packrat’s footprints! It must have come here before!”

Jun Xiaomo’s exclamation broke Rong Ruihan’s train of thought. He retracted his divine sense. Then, just as he was going to walk towards Jun Xiaomo’s side to take a look, an unusual phenomenon occurred.

The atmosphere in the air twisted, and tens of sword beams congealed in the air out of nowhere. These densely packed sword beams overlapped with each other in the air, as though forming a net. Then in the next moment, they surged forward towards Jun Xiaomo!

Jun Xiaomo coincidentally lifted her head at this moment. The radiance of the sword beams forced her to reflexively squint her eyes.

“Xiaomo!”

“Yao Mo!”

Two cries rang out at the same time. One came from Ye Xiuwen, while the other came from Rong Ruihan. Both rushed towards Jun Xiaomo immediately.

Yet Jun Xiaomo’s performance exceeded their expectations. Her lips stretched grimly as she swiftly retrieved four talismans from her Interspatial Ring, imbued them with her spiritual energy and tossed these talismans in all four directions around her.

These talismans exploded in mid-air, and the net of sword beams were blown apart and shattered by the shockwaves of these explosions. As a result of this, the power of the remaining sword beams was greatly diminished by the time it struck Jun Xiaomo’s body. Some of the sword beams were even blown off course and completely missed Jun Xiaomo’s body.

Even then, Jun Xiaomo’s green clothes were still sliced apart in over ten different places. Blood flowed profusely from her resultant wounds.

Jun Xiaomo immediately retrieved a medicinal pill from her Interspatial ring and swallowed it. Then, she forcibly opened her eyes once more.

When these explosions rang out, the covert assailants who had been hiding in their surroundings finally made their appearance. They hesitated slightly, before rushing towards Jun Xiaomo at the same time.

Conversely, apart from a few assailants whose jobs were obviously to block and deter Ye Xiuwen and Rong Ruihan, the two of them were hardly in any danger. It was evident that these assailants were either after Jun Xiaomo’s life, or they intended to pick off the weakest link before turning their attention back to Ye Xiuwen and Rong Ruihan.

Jun Xiaomo had reflexively retrieved her spirit sword to defend herself. But her cultivation level was simply far too low. She was only at the second level of Qi Mastery, and there was no way she was going to be able to defeat her assailants. To make matters worse, the number of talismans in her Interspatial Ring was dwindling rapidly. Unless push came to shove, and she found herself in a critical situation, she did not intend to use anymore of her talismans.

Therefore, she knew that she could only attempt to hold out here until Ye Xiuwen and Rong Ruihan could rush over and rescue her.

As the battle intensified, Ye Xiuwen killed off two assailants who had been blocking and obstructing him and found time to glance over at Jun Xiaomo to check on her. Yet this glance made him almost lose his mind –

“Xiaomo!!!”

Ye Xiuwen’s voice was incredibly hoarse and carried immense dread with it. As a result, Rong Ruihan turned to look at Jun Xiaomo as well.

In the end, both of them witnessed how a single sword had stabbed straight through Jun Xiaomo’s chest...

No, in fact, it did not completely stab through Jun Xiaomo’s chest. This was because Jun Xiaomo had grabbed onto the sword’s blade in the nick of time. From Rong Ruihan’s perspective, he could see that bulk of the sword’s place had been stopped outside of her body.

Yet apart from Jun Xiaomo, no one was aware of the extent of her injuries right now.

Time seemed to pause at this moment. The assailants were anticipating her death, while Rong Ruihan and Ye Xiuwen were praying for a miracle.

An excruciating pain emanated from Jun Xiaomo’s palm. Crimson-red blood coursed out along her jade-white fingers and dripped onto the flowerbed below.

By now, her green garbs had been dyed a striking red with her own blood, and the nauseating stench of blood diffused into the air as a result. It was almost as though she had just soaked herself in a pool of blood.

This description was not too far from reality either. Even though she had not soaked herself in a pool of blood, she was nevertheless soaked through and through with blood.

In everyone’s eyes, Jun Xiaomo had always been that pampered daughter who had been doted on and sheltered as she grew up. She was pretty much a princess in all regards. Given the extent of her injuries, anyone would have expected her to break down in fear and cry profusely. They might even have expected her to kneel on the floor and beg her assailants for mercy.

But she presented none of these reactions that others would expect of her. She remained completely expressionless as she faced her assailants. Her eyes revealed a heavy and frigid intent. The assailant who had stabbed her chest immediately felt himself faced with an immense, oppressive aura that was completely illogical and unimaginable given Jun Xiaomo’s tender age.

However, the assailant simply shrugged off that fleeting sense of dread in the next moment. This cultivation world was ruled by the strong after all. A person possessing the strongest aura without any true abilities would be an existence that is nothing more than a beautiful flower vase on display – a single tap would shatter it to pieces.

The assailant standing in front of Jun Xiaomo exerted more force, intending to push the sword further into Jun Xiaomo’s chest. Yet, the sword remained unmoving.

The amount of strength with which Jun Xiaomo had grabbed onto that sword far exceeded anyone’s expectations – Does it not hurt to grab the sword’s body like that?!

Just then, Jun Xiaomo chuckled. In fact, she had not frowned a single time ever since she got injured with the first volley of attacks. Right now, she was even laughing. Her lips slowly curled into a wicked smile as she mouthed the following words back to the assailant –

Back. At. You!

Before the assailant had any time to process what these three words meant and react to it, he immediately felt a tremor on the sword in his hand – the sword’s body had been snapped in half by Jun Xiaomo!

It was only at this moment that he discovered that Jun Xiaomo had applied a talisman on her hand. Under the effects of this talisman, his sword had been completely rendered useless.

Yet his thoughts went no further, because in the next moment, Jun Xiaomo curled her hands into a claw-like posture, and then she struck directly at the assailant’s chest, crushing his heart with one swift, concise action.

A gory and gruesome sputter echoed out into the surroundings, and Jun Xiaomo’s body was dyed with yet another layer of blood. This time, it was no longer hers, but that of her assailant.

Jun Xiaomo’s final strike was incredibly shocking and deterred all who were around. Despite her low cultivation level, no one else dared to view or treat her as the weakest link among the trio any longer.

After all, the skilled feared the vicious; while the vicious feared the suicidal. Jun Xiaomo’s earlier behaviour ostensibly portrayed her menacing intention to take the lives of others with hers.

At this moment, the original encirclement around her dispersed, and some assailants decided to regroup with the other assailants who were battling with Rong Ruihan and Ye Xiuwen. Therefore, the pressure on Jun Xiaomo had diminished substantially as well.

“Xiaomo has just broken through to the third level of Qi Mastery.” Ye Xiuwen exclaimed aloud. Yet his eyes were filled with a deeper resolve as he increased the intensity of his attacks.

Ye Xiuwen was not afraid of Jun Xiaomo’s intention to take the lives of others with hers. Rather, he only felt his heart ache at such a notion.

Naturally, the frustrations arising from Ye Xiuwen’s heartache was ventilated on the assailants who had come charging towards him. Within moments, Ye Xiuwen had cut down a multitude of his assailants.

Rong Ruihan’s attacks had also grown increasingly fiery and ferocious. Yet at the same time, some of his attention fell on Jun Xiaomo’s body –

Clothed in striking red...they look exactly the same...and that earlier viciousness and intention to take others down with her...

At this moment, Jun Xiaomo’s image had finally begun to coincide with the image of the lady in red of Rong Ruihan’s dreams.