Heavenly Illusions

Chapter 5- Plotted Against

Under Xai Lin’s large, icy blue eyes, An Mo stared wide-eyed at her. But after a moment, he soon became enraged.

“Damn bastard! You were a Kun-Peng in disguise all along?!”

However, immediately after saying this, his deep golden eyes flickered with confusion.

“No, that’s not right. Her soul is clearly human. It’s just that her body has taken on the form of a Kun-Peng. But that’s even more absurd! Just what is going on with this human?”

An Mo somewhat crazed muttering was swept away by the passing wind. Even now, he had not slowed down his flight speed. However, his brain was no longer solely focused on escaping; it was also rummaging through his Legacy Memories from his four Divine forms, trying to understand what was going on with that human.

However, none of his Divine forms’ Legacy Memories could explain the oddity of Xai Lin’s situation.

As An Mo became more lost in his thoughts, he suddenly felt a surge of air current behind him that almost knocked him out of the sky. Before he could fully steady himself, a shadow loomed over him, blocking out the sun.

Snapping back to reality, An Mo turned to look behind him to see Xai Lin with her mouth wide open, as if to swallow him whole.

His scalp instantly went numb, and before that mouth could fully enclose around him, his body twisted and transformed into wisps of black feathers that scattered away in the turbulent wind.

In the next second, An Mo’s figure reappeared several hundred meters ahead.

Xia Lin calmly closed her mouth, not at all discouraged that her prey had gotten away. However, her icy blue eyes did flicker with surprise upon witnessing An Mo’s escape technique.

‘It should be an Innate Ability of his Three-legged Divine Crow form, similar to the defensive ability he showed in his Divine Tortoise form. But I temporarily can’t see through it… Interesting.’

Xai Lin had plenty of methods to catch this rare specimen, but she was in no hurry to snatch him just yet. Instead, she would play with him for a bit so she could fully understand the extent of his abilities. After all, they would soon become hers.

A burst of excitement welled up in Xai Lin’s heart, but she managed to suppress it and keep calm.

Like a lion playing with its prey, she would flap her wings once to traverse the void to catch up with An Mo, and like a frightened mouse, he would use that Innate Ability to escape time and time again.

So, like this, one big and one small flew through the sky above the great forest playing a ‘you run, and I chase’ game.

Because of this, it didn’t take long for An Mo to reach the center of the great forest, where there was a large clearing with a small waterfall within it. Below the waterfall was a small lake that had several small tributaries that disappeared into the forest in various directions.

At this point, An Mo knew Xai Lin was merely playing with him. Undoubtedly, he was far from calm, and his somewhat hoarse voice, which came as a result of his loud cursing, was proof of this.

However, seeing that lake, all his anger and frustration from being chased around the Demonic Realm, his own home, was swept away.

An Mo turned his head and uttered one final curse at Xai Lin.

“Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, don’t bully a poor youth! I’ll definitely pay you back for today!!”

Upon hearing this statement, Xai Lin almost burst out laughing. She glanced at the lake, which was still far ahead, and mocked him internally.

‘Idiot! Did he think I didn’t know he was up to something?’

Xai Lin completely dismissed An Mo’s attempt to escape, as there was no way she would let him leave her grasp.

Meanwhile, An Mo himself also mocked Xai Lin in his heart.

‘Heh. I was obviously making sure you know I plan to use this lake to escape. But so what if you know? Idiot!’

With a sneer, An Mo’s figure twisted and suddenly appeared in the air above the lake, while leaving a cluster of black feathers where he previously was.

Xai Lin’s eyes flickered with surprise. The distance An Mo just teleported to was far beyond what he had shown before, and it momentarily caught her off guard. However, she reacted fast.

She opened her mouth, and a suction force locked onto An Mo from a distance.

The suction force only lasted for an instant, but it completely negated An Mo’s few seconds of advantage and plunged him back under Xai Lin’s control.

However, as Xai Lin’s massive figure ignored the distance between them and appeared next to him, An Mo showed not an ounce of panic but instead looked at her with a mocking expression.

Almost the instant Xai Lin saw An Mo’s mocking expression, a sense of alarm erupted in her heart.

An Mo suddenly transformed back into his Divine Tortoise form before tucking his head and limbs into his shell. At the same time, a terrifying aura far more powerful than before erupted from his body.

Xai Lin’s breath hitched in her throat. However, rather than retreating, she transformed back into her eagle form and rushed toward An Mo, who was now surrounded by a blinding golden light and was falling into the lake below.

In the same moment that Xai Lin reached An Mo and slapped one of her talons on his shell, An Mo’s aura reached its peak.

However, something that the two of them never expected happened next.

The terrifying aura around An Mo suddenly transformed into a sealing power, and the light that was emanating from the golden marking on his shell converged on Xai Lin’s body. While at the same time, black symbols flew out of Xai Lin’s talons and snaked their way around An Mo’s body like venomous pythons. They emanated sealing power no weaker than An Mo’s own golden light.

As a result…

Pop!

Pop!

Xai Lin and An Mo’s cultivations were both sealed, and with the sound of something popping, they were forced out of their transformations.

Xai Lin transformed back into a breathtakingly beautiful maiden from before, but unexpectedly, An Mo also took on the form of a human.

His bright, reddish orange hair that resembled a dandelion flapped wildly in the air as he fell along with Xai Lin. His pale skin, which created a complete contrast with his hair color and the several freckles across his cheeks and nose, made him look like some exotic creature.

An Mo’s golden eyes stared blankly at Xai Lin as they fell. Similarly, Xai Lin stared at An Mo’s somewhat odd appearance and completely naked body with a shocked expression.

“Eh?”

“Eh?”

The two both let out a sound of confusion at the same time. It was unexpected that they both had the same idea to seal the other.

But what now?

Xia Lin was the first to recover, and that greedy look once again appeared in her eyes as her gaze roamed across An Mo’s body.

An Mo immediately felt goosebumps pop up on his body everywhere Xai Lin’s gaze fell, while a cold chill traveled down his spine.

Xai Lin shifted her position in the air as she fell and moved closer to An Mo.

An Mo wanted to dodge, but how could he dodge when they were in the air?

Plus, he was somewhat unaccustomed to this human body. In fact, this was the second time he had ever transformed into his human form since he was able to do so at the age of thirteen. The first time he tried, he had felt uncomfortable being so exposed, so he never tried again. After all, aside from a few dried leaves, there was nothing to wear after transforming.

So, he could only watch helplessly as Xai Lin floated over and started clinging to him. He couldn’t even push her off since his limbs were uncoordinated because of being unaccustomed to using them.

“You! L-Let go right now!”

An Mo angrily yelled over the rushing wind around them, while a deep blush appeared across his face, which made his freckles even more prominent. Perhaps it was because his skin was so pale, but his entire body looked like it was blushing as it gained a slightly pinkish hue.

Xai Lin opened her mouth to speak; however, after falling for so long, they finally reached the lake below and landed inside with a loud splash.