Ye Ting Yu

Chapter 397 Clues to Breaking the Formation

"No way? Did I see wrong? Shouldn't she be down there?" I rubbed my eyes, looking at Chen Yun lying ten steps away from me, then glanced back at the stairs shrouded in thick fog behind me. This was too bizarre.

Illusion arrays, while varying in power, are mostly set up according to the mindset of the trapped person. The array setter attacks the trapped person's weaknesses based on their deepest fears, until the trapped person's spirit collapses from resistance before delivering the final blow.

Logically, my greatest fears are my father's life and death, followed by the debts my master owed, and the fear of the Ox-Head and Horse-Face suddenly coming to collect. Chen Yun's safety is definitely not among them.

This isn't to say I'm cold-blooded and heartless, but rather that we don't have any particular relationship. We were strangers yesterday. If it weren't for the fight we had, I wouldn't have gotten involved in her mess. Wouldn't that be asking for trouble?

To verify I wasn't mistaken, I pinched the flesh of my thigh. The sharp pain made sweat bead on my forehead. Although it hurt and I winced, my eyes never left Chen Yun.

Illusion arrays also have their weaknesses; they aren't invincible. While self-inflicted pain can't break the illusion, it can help me see the reality of the situation. Combined with the help of my Ghost Eyes, I could confirm that the person lying there, fast asleep, was indeed Chen Yun and not a phantasm conjured by the array.

"No wonder they call you a pig. You really are fearless, sleeping here like this?"

Confirming there was no danger and that the person before me was indeed Chen Yun, I muttered curses at her under my breath, then quickly ran up, intending to ask her if she noticed anything unusual when I left.

"Pig? You're the pig, and your whole family are pigs." Before I could get close, Chen Yun suddenly jumped up from the ground and attacked me with a flurry of punches, her hands moving in a Tai Chi style.

Her action completely caught me off guard. I only reacted after taking a punch to my eye socket.

"Are you crazy? I'm Song Qingyun, not that young Taoist priest." I covered my eye socket, looking at her aggrievedly. If she weren't a woman, I would have fought back long ago.

"I'll hit whoever I want, you pig's head, you big pervert..."

Chen Yun seemed to have gone mad, not listening to my explanation. Her fists aimed for my eyes and nose, and her feet continued to move, her kicks targeting my groin. Each move was vicious, each kick venomous. I dodged them with a pounding heart, terrified of being a step too slow and ending the Song family line.

After dodging Chen Yun's attack once more, I casually pulled out a Yang Talisman from my bag, quickly bit my middle finger, drew a Calming Talisman, and shot it towards Chen Yun.

The Calming Talisman is a spiritual pacifying charm, commonly used in Taoism, mainly to deal with frenzied spirits, bringing them clarity for easier transcendence.

Facing the frenzied Chen Yun, I didn't know how else to cope, so I resorted to this method used against evil spirits.

Unexpectedly, the method worked remarkably well. Chen Yun, with the Calming Talisman stuck to her forehead, froze in place and then fell backward stiffly. Seeing her head about to hit the steps, I cursed inwardly, "This is going to be the death of me!" and rushed forward, becoming a human cushion.

"Damn it..."

Due to the angle and my lack of thought, the result was me sitting down on the steps, while Chen Yun's head slammed into my groin. Instantly, I felt all my senses converge, blood rushing to my head. The piercing pain was like being disemboweled, spreading from the localized area throughout my entire body.

"Mmm..."

Just as I was in so much pain I wanted to find a hole to crawl into, Chen Yun let out an unconscious moan. I thought, "No way, she's woken up now. How am I going to explain this?"

At this moment, I couldn't afford to ignore the pain in my groin. It was better to place her on the ground first. Otherwise, if she truly woke up then, it would be like mud falling into the crotch of your pants – whether it's shit or not, you can't wash it off even in the Yellow River.

As I bent down to cradle her head, preparing to place her on the ground, Chen Yun suddenly opened her eyes. Her clear gaze indicated she was now awake, but why did I feel a spark of fire in her eyes?

Before I could explain, my other eye, the one that hadn't been hit, received another black fist, accompanied by Chen Yun's angry curse, "Pervert!" The pain in my eyes, coupled with the agony in my groin, made tears stream down my face. Who did I offend? I was suffering such undeserved misfortune, it was truly bad luck.

"You little brat, instead of learning good things, you want to make a move on me? You must be blind..." After checking that her clothes were intact, Chen Yun breathed a sigh of relief, but her curses didn't stop. In her mind, she had woken up quickly. If she had been a moment later, she would have been kissed by this scumbag. And that would have been her first kiss.

I trembled, unable to speak, partly from anger at her words and partly from the pain. "How blind would I have to be to look at an old woman like you? Touch your head."

"You're the old woman..." Chen Yun replied verbally, but she still reached up to touch her forehead, then pulled off the Calming Talisman I had placed there. She stared at me with wide eyes, thinking, "What were your intentions in using a Calming Talisman on me?"

I knew she had misunderstood again. Calming Talismans not only suppress evil spirits and bring them out of chaos but also have a soporific effect. However, it only works on ordinary people who have encountered evil spirits.

"What intentions could I have? You started hitting and scratching me the moment you woke up. Look at my eyes, and these scratches on my face. Aren't they all thanks to you? What kind of madness is this?"

"I..." Chen Yun was stunned by my question because the injuries on my face were real. Although I hadn't looked in a mirror, the stinging pain on my face was proof of scratched skin. My eye sockets were beyond question; they must look like a panda's. If I wore a black and white outfit, I'd be a skinny panda.

Chen Yun frowned and thought for a moment before explaining. After I left, she couldn't resist her drowsiness and leaned against the steps, dozing off. However, she knew this wasn't a place to sleep, so she remained in a state of half-alertness and half-drowsiness.

After sleeping for an unknown amount of time, she heard Xiao Yun calling her, her voice choked with tears, urging Chen Yun to save her. Hearing Xiao Yun's voice, Chen Yun's sleepiness vanished, and she ran down the mountain following the sound.

But after running only a few steps, Chen Yun suddenly stopped. She suddenly remembered that I had told her to wait for me there. However, thinking of Xiao Yun suffering, she naturally disregarded my instructions.

As a result, after running for more than ten minutes, there wasn't even a shadow of a person, let alone anything else. Instead, she was exhausted. It was then that Chen Yun realized she had been tricked. She was so annoyed she almost hit her head against the steps. She wanted to climb back up but had no strength.

She felt that chasing Xiao Yun's voice down the mountain was her last bit of strength. She could only sit on the steps, hoping that I would come down looking for her if she wasn't in her original spot. While waiting for me, she had dozed off again due to exhaustion.

"I dreamed that..." Chen Yun stopped mid-sentence, her face flushing as she looked at me.

I opened my mouth to ask for more details, but then I remembered how she had beaten and cursed me, and I could roughly guess what she had encountered. Naturally, I didn't have the nerve to ask further.

"Do you remember how many steps you ran or how many paces you took?" I changed the subject, as a possibility occurred to me.

"I didn't count them precisely, but it should be around a hundred. Why do you ask?"

"I think I have a rough idea of how this illusion array is set up."