Chapter 218: Staring at me all the time, have you fallen in love with me?

Liu Ruyan knitted her beautiful brows, gave Su Chen a look that was half-reproach, and playfully struck him in feigned annoyance.

This strike was no small matter; a look of pain instantly appeared on Su Chen's face.

"Are you alright?"

Seeing this, Liu Ruyan hurriedly stepped forward, making a move to check Su Chen's wound.

But she was pulled into his embrace by Su Chen.

"Stop messing around, I'm being serious."

Liu Ruyan struggled twice, failed to break free, and said in a rush.

"This Young Master isn't messing around; I'm just in pain in my heart, but with you in my arms, the pain is gone in an instant."

Su Chen felt Liu Ruyan's delicate body, the two of them pressed tightly together.

Smelling the fragrance belonging to Liu Ruyan, Su Chen felt as if the pain from just now was not so severe after all; no wonder they all say, "To die beneath the peony flower, one remains romantic even as a ghost."

Hearing this, Liu Ruyan blushed, feeling at a loss.

The strength of that mountain-piercing beast had reached the Quasi-Emperor Realm, so how could he possibly be completely fine? These words were nothing more than to comfort her.

"You only know how to spout nonsense."

Liu Ruyan covered the smile on her face, but her words were insincere.

"Master, how did you know that spirit beasts would appear right away?"

Lv Luo saw the two of them hugging and felt inexplicably uncomfortable in her heart, so she immediately diverted their attention.

This was also a question Liu Ruyan was curious about; in an instant, both of their curious gazes were fixed on Su Chen.

Su Chen smiled slightly and then said, "Ruyan, I have entered the Desolate Ancient Secret Realm, and I discovered that many places we just passed are similar to it."

Once mentioned, Liu Ruyan could not help but recall; there were indeed several furnishings she had an impression of from the Desolate Ancient Secret Realm, she just hadn't expected to encounter them here.

Thinking of this, she nodded.

"Since we've reached this point, I presume you both have a premonition in your hearts; we are likely not in the real Qingyun Secret Realm right now, but inside an Illusion Realm. This Illusion Realm is influenced by the depths of our hearts and will manifest things we have seen before or thoughts we hold within."

Su Chen raised the corners of his mouth, his eyes filled with certainty.

"Just now, in order to verify my hypothesis, I kept recalling the mountain-piercing beast in my mind. Not long after, the mountain-piercing beast appeared before us, and its appearance was exactly the same as the one I had seen before."

Su Chen's mouth curled up slightly, stating firmly.

"No wonder those spirit plants were so familiar; it turns out it's because they all came from our memories."

Lv Luo immediately said, "But this Illusion Realm is far too eerie; to be able to reflect what is in the depths of a person's heart, the strength of the person who created this world cannot be underestimated."

For this Illusion Realm to be so vivid and to be able to pull people in without them noticing, such cultivation is something even those at the Quasi-Emperor Level cannot achieve.

Generally, this kind of Illusion Realm is either for tempering one's state of mind or for hiding some extremely precious treasure, but the level of risk is equally immeasurable; it can be said that risk and opportunity coexist.

It is just unclear what exactly is waiting for them ahead.

"Then what should we do now?"

Hearing this, Liu Ruyan arched her willow-leaf brows and asked in confusion.

They were currently like headless flies, scurrying around frantically.

"We still don't know the intention of the master of this Illusion Realm; for now, we can only take it one step at a time."

Su Chen squinted his eyes as he looked ahead and said slowly, "Ruyan, you are the Saintess of the Qingyun Alliance; did you know about the existence of an Illusion Realm in this Secret Realm?"

"The Alliance Leader has never mentioned it. My understanding of the Qingyun Secret Realm is limited to some theoretical knowledge, excluding the possibility that they didn't tell me because of my current status."

Liu Ruyan pondered for a moment and said.

"If their Alliance Leader really knew, he would definitely have warned us in advance, otherwise he wouldn't have let so many disciples come in, unless..."

Lv Luo thought for a moment and felt it was unlikely the Alliance Leader knew.

"The probability of an Illusion Realm appearing is very small, and they don't know much about it either, so they didn't mention it to avoid causing panic."

Liu Ruyan finished the sentence Lv Luo had left hanging.

"That possibility cannot be ruled out. The most pressing matter is for us to find a place to rest first, then see what is eerie about this place tomorrow; staying here and wasting time is not a solution."

Su Chen finally made the decision.

The sky was now completely dark, with black clouds covering the sky and towering trees, making the entire atmosphere look gray and gloomy, which dampened one's spirits.

The three of them only managed to find a cave to shelter in once it was completely dark.

Lv Luo found some firewood and started a fire; the cave was very dry and showed no signs of wild beasts.

Along the way here, Su Chen had discovered that this Illusion Realm did not manifest everything exactly as one thought; only things one extremely craved or feared would appear, and most of the time it maintained its original appearance.

They had encountered quite a few low-level spirit beasts back and forth, and since the three people present were not low in strength, they naturally resolved them easily, but they couldn't handle the sheer number of beasts, and now everyone was somewhat exhausted.

The further they went inside, the more spirit beasts there were, and these beasts were different from the previous ones; they were real existences within the Illusion Realm, and their strength was much higher than those of the same rank.

"You all rest first, I'll keep watch tonight," Liu Ruyan said.

Along this journey, Su Chen and Lv Luo had handled most things, and she had been well protected; if she didn't do something now, her own conscience would be uneasy.

"Can you manage alone? How about I do it?"

Su Chen looked at Liu Ruyan; after all, she was his woman, and he couldn't bear to let her be so exhausted.

"Let me do it, you all rest."

Liu Ruyan insisted repeatedly, and Su Chen and Lv Luo could not sway her, so they agreed.

It was quiet in the dead of night, with only the crackling sound of the fire burning; looking out from the cave entrance, the outside was shrouded in thick darkness, pitch black.

It had to be said that this cave was very clean, with not even a trace of spirit beasts; even though they had encountered many on the way, it was as if they had deliberately avoided this place.

Keeping watch alone was lonely and long; Liu Ruyan watched the fire in boredom and subconsciously swept her gaze over Su Chen's face.

The young man's breathing was steady, occasionally taking a few heavy breaths; his long eyelashes trembled slightly from time to time, his sleep was extremely restless; his high-bridged nose and thin lips made him look very kissable.

Very kissable. Liu Ruyan was frightened by her own thought.

She had clearly loathed Su Chen before, so when did her thoughts become like this?

Liu Ruyan could not help but place a hand over her chest, feeling her own violent heartbeat; at this moment, as if it had also sensed its master's emotions, it was beating exceptionally joyfully because of another person, almost as if it were about to burst out of her chest.

"Staring at me this whole time, have you fallen in love with me?"

(End of this chapter)