Heavenly Illusions

Chapter 3- How Strange

While leaning against the tree, the girl tried to prop herself up, her eyes never leaving An Mo’s faintly glowing figure on the ground several meters ahead of her.

She slowly recovered from the shock of what had just happened, but none of that diminished the greed in her heart. However, her gaze now held a hint of suspicion as she stared at this strange creature in front of her.

‘What species of Demonic Beast is this? None of the books I’ve read ever mentioned such a beast living in the Demonic Realm. No, rather, I’ve seen tortoise Demonic Beasts, but none with such bizarre abilities. It even seems like the beasts in this great forest were avoiding it. But why is that? Judging from its aura, its cultivation should only be in the early stages of the Foundation Establishment Realm. How strange…’

After a moment of thought, the girl pushed all the questions to the back of her mind. Looking at the vigilant creature in front of it, she gave a sweet smile before softly saying.

“It seems I was impolite. My name is Xai Lin. Do you have a name?”

An Mo paused upon hearing that.

Staring at the girl’s face, which seemed to become even more beautiful with her smile, he became even more cautious. However, he still chose to introduce himself. After all, he was just too curious.

“My name is An Mo. Who are you? Are you human? Where did you come from? How did you come here? Why do you have such a strange appearance? Could you actually be a Spirit fox trying to fool me? Heh, let me tell you, I won’t be fooled by your despicable schemes again!”

An Mo’s reasonable questions suddenly shifted into a strange territory as memories of past events popped into his mind.

But that was just how he was, jumping from one thing to another, following his thoughts and heart in the truest sense. However, this made him seem somewhat scatterbrained to others.

“I…”

Xai Lin was momentarily at a loss for how to respond to An Mo’s rapid-fire questions.

However, An Mo didn’t wait for her to respond as he repeated one of his questions.

“Hey, why is your appearance so strange?”

It was obvious this question was what puzzled him the most.

At this point in their meeting, Xai Lin felt like she had stumbled upon something extremely troublesome for some inexplicable reason.

Looking at the creature who was staring at her in confusion, she ignored the faint headache that was coming on and responded while climbing up from the ground.

“I’m not sure what you mean. Have you never seen a human before?”

“No, I have not.”

As if his previous cautiousness had never happened, An Mo swaddled forward to stop in front of Xai Lin.

Xai Lin used the back of her hand to wipe away the blood at the corner of her mouth. Then, looking down at the suddenly friendly creature at her feet, she rubbed her still aching chest and said somewhat sarcastically.

“Oh, is that so. Then you should be grateful since my appearance can be considered exceptional in the Human Realm. So, for the first human you laid eyes on to be me, it can be considered a blessing of a lifetime for you.”

An Mo snorted upon hearing this claim and immediately retorted.

“I may have never seen a human before, and I admit your appearance is even more remarkable than those spirit foxes, but such an appearance does not match your soul at all.”

Xai Lin, who was brushing off the dirt on her clothes, snapped her head toward An Mo while her pupils constricted in shock.

She took several unsteady steps back and stared at An Mo with slightly wide eyes as she asked.

“W-What are you talking about?”

An Mo was confused by Xai Lin's exaggerated reaction, but he honestly answered.

“As I said, your appearance doesn’t match your soul!”

After saying that, An Mo’s eyes focused on Xai Lin. At the same time, starting from the edge of his eyes, his body began to transform. The leather-like skin of a tortoise and black shell was replaced by pitch-black feathers, a pair of wings, and three crow feet.

The only resemblance to his previous appearance of a tortoise was those golden eyes. However, perhaps because he transformed into the original form those golden eyes belong to, those eyes now glowed with an even brighter luster of gold.

The transformation took time to describe, but the process happened within the blink of an eye.

Now that he had transformed into his crow form, those golden eyes’ ability to see through falsehood and the essence of nature carefully examined Xai Lin’s soul.

Before Xai Lin could even be shocked by An Mo’s sudden transformation, his voice, which sounded so casual, entered her ear like a demon’s whisper.

“See! I wasn’t mistaken! Your soul is that of a boy, but you have the appearance of a girl. Isn’t that strange? Or is this perhaps common in the Human Realm?”

An Mo’s crow head tilted to the side as he looked up at Xai Lin.

Meanwhile, Xai Lin’s face had turned ashen as he met those eerie golden eyes.

An Mo didn’t seem to realize Xai Lin’s abnormality, or perhaps he saw it but simply ignored it.

“Also, your soul seems even stranger. It’s older than your body… Oh my god, could you be some old monster that took over this body?! Wait, no, that’s not it either!”

An Mo’s golden eyes flickered; meanwhile, Xai Lin had already closed his eyes, as if closing his eyes could block An Mo’s voice. Unfortunately, this guy’s voice continued to spill his secrets.

“Ah, so that’s it!”

An Mo cried out in realization.

Xai Lin couldn’t take it anymore and lunged at him to shut him up, but An Mo reacted instantly. With a flap of his wings, he distanced himself from Xai Lin.

Missing his target, Xai Lin fell face-first on the ground.

Meanwhile, An Mo flapped his wings to stabilize himself in the air before looking down at Xai Lin and continuing where he left off.

“If I’m not mistaken, that soul of yours should only be a few years older than that body, which means you’re not some old monster. Also, there’s no rejection or dissonance between your soul and body, so your soul has been in that body from the very beginning of its conception. In conclusion your… uh…”

An Mo, upon reaching here, paused, and the joy he was feeling of satisfying his curiosity abruptly came to a stop.

“Eh? What exactly does this mean? Strange… This is so strange.”

An Mo flapped his wings and started circling around Xai Lin, who remained unmoving on the ground.

“How strange… truly strange…”

His muttering entered Xai Lin’s ears, causing his fists to clench a handful of dirt.

To think the secret of his soul had been discovered so easily by this strange thing.

Xai Lin lifted his head from the ground to glance at An Mo circling above his head.

‘Just what is this thing? How can he have the bloodline of a three-legged Divine Crow? And now that I think about it, isn’t his tortoise appearance that of a Divine Tortoise from legends? Heh, heh-heh…’

Xai Lin chuckled sinisterly in his mind.

‘So what if he figured out my soul is reincarnated into this body? Now that he’s appeared before me, such treasured bloodlines should naturally be taken to be used by me… Heh-heh-heh…’

Xai Lin quickly regained his composure, and that intense greed reappeared in his eyes, as he quietly watched An Mo’s noisy figure fluttering about in the air.