The city of Chang'an bustled with activity.
The cries of vendors in the market grew louder with each passing moment.
The illusion before them was so real that Qi Yu couldn't help but peek out from Si Qing's embrace, then vigorously sniff the pastry aroma from nearby, almost drooling with craving. But before long, Si Qing behind him pressed his head back.
Si Qing, pressing on Qi Yu's small head with his hand, asked Yan Hua:
"Master, you said that everyone sees a different illusion in the Dream Butterfly Illusion. Since we are all on you now, we can only see what you see. What about Senior Brother Sui You?"
"Is the illusion Senior Brother Sui You sees different from ours? How long will we have to wander here before we meet him?"
Yan Hua pursed his lips and thought carefully:
"Although the Dream Butterfly Secret Realm is mainly based on illusions, this place actually has a traceable pattern. The environment here mainly works in the opposite direction of what a person imagines."
"Although you have consciousness, you are all on me. In the Dream Butterfly Secret Realm, you are not complete individuals. Therefore, the Dream Butterfly Secret Realm will mainly change according to my consciousness."
"So, the moment the scene changed, what I thought in my mind was the furthest point from Sui You."
"The Dream Butterfly Illusion works by thinking in reverse, so this place should be the closest."
"So, it's possible Sui You is also here."
"Oh," Qi Nian understood immediately: "In other words, we are not considered people when we are on you."
Everyone: "..."
How did that sentence sound a bit strange.
Yan Hua looked at Qi Nian, as if wanting to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he heard a familiar hawking sound from not far away:
"Dried vegetables for sale, dried vegetables!"
Yan Hua immediately turned his head and looked in the direction of the sound.
As expected, he saw a young man who looked and sounded exactly like Sui You, standing at the street corner, carrying a shoulder pole and selling bundles of dried vegetables.
These so-called dried vegetables were nothing more than miscellaneous items like mushrooms picked from the mountains.
After being air-dried, they were threaded with needles and sold in strings.
Yan Hua's steps faltered for a moment.
Looking at the young man carrying the shoulder pole, Si Qing realized how difficult it was to find someone in the Dream Butterfly Secret Realm.
Just like now.
They couldn't be sure if the young man with the shoulder pole, who looked exactly like Sui You, was the real Sui You.
Moreover, there was no way to verify it.
"What should we do?" Qi Nian couldn't leave Yan Hua's side and was anxious to the point of tears: "Will Junior Brother Sui You be lost just like this?"
"What if we judge by memory?" An Nuo suggested: "Although Sui You is currently immersed in the illusion, it doesn't mean we can't wake him up in other ways."
"For example, if we keep calling Sui You's name, or deliberately appear before him to get his attention, after many times, he will surely remember what he was doing before he fell into the illusion."
"Although the method you suggested is good, the rules of the Dream Butterfly Secret Realm are not like that," Yan Hua looked at the young man with the shoulder pole: "In the Dream Butterfly Secret Realm, others cannot interfere with the illusion. Even if you tell the young man with the shoulder pole, 'Your real name is Sui You, you don't belong here,' in the eyes of that young man, you are just a guest buying dried vegetables."
Hearing this, An Nuo was at a loss.
After discussion, everyone decided to follow the young man with the shoulder pole for now.
The young man with the shoulder pole acted as if he didn't see them staring at him, and diligently hawked his wares. After an unknown amount of time, as the sky darkened and everyone in the market dispersed, the young man with the shoulder pole packed up his stall, counted the copper coins, threaded them, put them in his pocket, and carried his empty shoulder pole back.
Yan Hua and the others followed him stealthily.
They followed the young man with the shoulder pole towards the depths of the mountains, passing by a winding stream, and finally saw a small wooden house in the depths of the mountains.
It was a beautiful forest cabin with chickens, ducks, and livestock in the fenced yard, and a cow nearby.
The young man with the shoulder pole placed his goods at the entrance and called out: "Sister!"
Yan Hua and the others really didn't expect there to be anyone else in the house, because when they arrived, they saw from a distance that there was no candlelight in the small wooden house.
Yan Hua took a step back, hid in the bushes, and looked out from the side.
He happened to see the door of the forest cabin being pushed open from the inside by a slender hand.
A girl wearing a fiery red phoenix feather coat, with injuries on her wrists and ankles, blind eyes, and red marks on her neck and arms, groped her way out, tentatively asking: "Brother, is that you? You're back so late today!"
"Business was good today, so I sold a little more to earn some extra money to buy you rouge," the young man with the shoulder pole teased, while pushing the girl inside: "Okay, I'll bring in some firewood to boil water. You wait inside. Oh, and I'll light the candle too, but you shouldn't touch it. The candle is in the center of the table, don't knock it over."
The girl responded with a sound and nodded, returning inside.
Yan Hua, watching the girl's appearance from behind the bushes, along with Si Qing, An Nuo, Shao Feng, and Qi Nian, was shocked.
Especially Qi Nian.
Her hands trembled with excitement: "Did you all see that girl just now!?"
"That girl looks exactly like how Qi Yu was first brought back to the Beiyuan Sect!"
Yan Hua frowned: "You mean, that was Qi Yu's appearance in her first life, when she was still Yan Zhen Jing?"
"Yes, yes, yes," Qi Nian said anxiously: "When Qi Yu was first brought back to the Beiyuan Sect by Li Yu, after her true body was healed, she had these scars. It was because her mirror body was shattered, so it was like this. Si Qing should remember very clearly, and you were the one who healed her injuries in the end."
Si Qing nodded: "The 'sister' that the young man with the shoulder pole called out just now, if I'm not mistaken, should be one of Sister's three souls and seven spirits."
Chen Xi lazily rested on Yan Hua's shoulder: "So, do you think there's a possibility that the young man with the shoulder pole is actually Sui You? Sui You hasn't come out for so long, making people mistakenly think he's trapped in the Dream Butterfly Secret Realm, and he did it on purpose because he met Qi Yu's soul in this secret realm and wanted to take this soul away!?"
"Congratulations, you can already answer the question."
Before Chen Xi's words even fell, Sui You's approving voice came from behind.
Yan Hua and the others turned around together.
They saw that Sui You, who had been dressed as a young man with a shoulder pole just moments ago, had now changed back into the fiery red, floor-sweeping robes of the Phoenix Lord.
Si Qing was stunned for a moment. It wasn't until Sui You walked up to him that he asked with some uncertainty:
"Senior Brother Sui You? Was that young man with the shoulder pole really you? You weren't controlled by the illusion?"