Chapter 192 - 191: She Just Lost Her Memory

Chapter 192: Chapter 191: She Just Lost Her Memory

Huo Yunjing raised an eyebrow. "I’ve noticed. Don’t be nervous."

Kong Xu: ’...’ ’These people break your arms and legs at the drop of a hat. Who wouldn’t be nervous?’

The group walked a little further and, through a gap in the bushes, spotted a dilapidated house. It was a red-brick building with a tiled roof that looked like it had been there for ages.

"This place doesn’t look like anyone has been here," Miao Yan said, a bit hesitant.

’In a horror movie, a place like this is guaranteed to be a deathtrap. However many people go in is how many get picked off.’

Gu Qingyin started walking forward. "Then you can stay out here and keep watch."

Huo Yunjing followed silently, with Liu Ergou and Elder Miao close behind.

As he passed Miao Yan, Elder Miao paused. "You watch that father and son. Don’t let them escape."

Miao Yan, who had been struggling to find a legitimate excuse to stay outside, immediately perked up. "No problem!"

It was true that Miao Yan was born into a Heavenly Master Family, but due to certain childhood experiences, he had an instinctive fear of and aversion to specific types of scenes.

But he had always hidden it well. Other than his close family, no one had ever noticed.

Having given Miao Yan a way out, Elder Miao left. After all, Miao Yan was a Special-level Heavenly Master; controlling two ghosts would be effortless for him.

Miao Yan couldn’t be bothered to waste words on Kong Xu and his son. He simply raised a hand, bound them up, and gagged their mouths.

Kong Xu and his son: ’...’ ’How can every single one of these people be a bigger jerk than the last?!’

As soon as she neared the house, Gu Qingyin sensed the presence of an Array. It wasn’t outside, however, but within the house itself.

The door was slightly ajar, and the unique fluctuations of the Array emanated from the gap.

A textbook case of luring them into a trap. It wasn’t a very clever one, either.

Gu Qingyin stood rooted to the spot and began rummaging through her satchel. After fumbling for a moment without success, her brow furrowed. She then shoved her entire arm in, digging around impatiently.

Finally! Her brow relaxed. She’d found it.

The one ghost and two humans watched with curiosity, wondering what strange gadget she would pull out.

But when Gu Qingyin yanked her hand out, she was holding... two small, white Little Papermen. They were hopelessly crumpled in her grasp, looking as if they’d been put through the wash.

The corner of Liu Ergou’s mouth twitched. "If I’d known you were looking for these, I could’ve pulled out a dozen in a second."

Gu Qingyin scoffed. "And would yours be the same as mine?"

They were indeed different. Gu Qingyin bit the tip of her finger and used the blood to dot eyes and draw mouths on the Little Papermen. With a POOF, they inflated into 3D, chubby figures, as if the cherubs from a New Year’s painting had come to life.

Liu Ergou’s goatee trembled. ’Why is it that everything in Gu Qingyin’s hands ends up being so different from the norm?’

Elder Miao stared at the three-dimensional Little Papermen and asked reservedly, "Do they have any special functions?"

Gu Qingyin looked up in surprise. "What kind of functions were you hoping for? Isn’t it enough that they look better than before?"

Elder Miao: ’...’ ’I don’t know why I bothered to ask!’

The two Little Papermen held hands and cheerfully hopped into the house. And then... they were gone. Vanished, in the most literal, physical sense of the word.

Gu Qingyin raised an eyebrow, analyzing the situation rationally.

"There are two possibilities. One, they were destroyed the moment they went inside. Two, something is blocking my connection to the Little Papermen," Gu Qingyin said. "I’m leaning toward the second option."

"Why?" Elder Miao couldn’t help but question. "Things like Little Papermen are inherently fragile. It’s perfectly normal for them to be destroyed on contact."

Gu Qingyin’s expression turned serious. "Didn’t you notice how thick their bodies were? That’s because I boosted their defenses."

Elder Miao didn’t want to speak. ’You just said they didn’t have any special functions! You can’t speak a single honest sentence, can you! How infuriating!’

Gu Qingyin speculated, "Once we’re inside, we’ll most likely be separated and disoriented. Be prepared to fight on your own."

"Can’t we break the Array from out here?" Liu Ergou suggested, trying to approach the problem from a different angle. "What about going through a window?"

"Don’t waste your time," Huo Yunjing immediately shot down the idea. "The Array near the window would only be more dangerous."

Elder Miao frowned, recalling, "I’ve never heard that Dongfang Ran and Chen Ling were skilled with Arrays. Could they have been hiding their true abilities?"

Gu Qingyin shook her head. "It could also be a third party. In any case, everyone be careful. Use all your defensive measures; when it comes down to it, staying alive is the top priority."

"Who’s going in first?"

"It makes no difference." With that, Huo Yunjing was the first to walk to the doorway. He glanced back at his wife. "Don’t get careless."

Gu Qingyin nodded. "You as well."

The moment she stepped into the Array, a flash of white light flared before Gu Qingyin’s eyes. When she opened them again, she glanced around in a daze for a few seconds before clarity returned to her gaze.

She drew the Fire Burning Stick, holding it horizontally before her as she moved forward, wary and slow.

The surroundings resembled a valley. It was utterly silent, as if she were the only living thing there, but she knew that was just an illusion.

Because she had come in here chasing the Candle Dragon!

Gu Qingyin was utterly convinced of this, so she naturally ignored any sense of dissonance about her own situation.

After walking for what felt like an eternity, the scenery remained unchanged. Gu Qingyin suspected she had entered an illusion, but just then, a black shadow flashed over her head.

Gu Qingyin instinctively threw up a defensive barrier and looked up. The sky was a hazy gray, and completely empty.

Her suspicion deepened. After a few seconds of thought, she blasted a clap of thunder into the empty air.

The thunderclap sounded only once before vanishing, leaving not even an echo.

Gu Qingyin was now certain: most of what she saw in this place was fake. She walked over to a rocky cliffside and tapped it with her Fire Burning Stick. The sound was a dull thud, and it felt completely real.

"Heh, not bad," Gu Qingyin muttered. She continued walking, her soul power spreading out around her as she periodically set off another thunderclap.

If this was an illusion, it had to be anchored to a physical object. That object would be the key to returning to the real world.

Gu Qingyin continued her bombardment, as if sweeping for mines, muttering to herself, "The Candle Dragon can create illusions? Never heard of that..."

She remembered entering a spatial portal that looked like a wormhole. Could it be that was just the entrance to this illusion?

Something felt off. Wasn’t the Candle Dragon a god that controlled time and space? It wouldn’t stoop to something so lame, would it?

After some time, Gu Qingyin suddenly stopped and looked quizzically at the mountainside to her left.

Another thunderclap illuminated the scene, and she saw it clearly: embedded in the rock face were two Little Papermen, and their aura was identical to her own.

Gu Qingyin stood before the rock face, perplexed.

Judging from their aura, these Little Papermen were indeed her creations, but she had no memory whatsoever of making them.

She had indeed thought about making her flat Little Papermen three-dimensional, but until now, it had remained just an idea, something she had never put into practice.

Yet here were three-dimensional Little Papermen, having appeared inexplicably inside an illusion supposedly created by the Candle Dragon.

Gu Qingyin began to suspect there was something wrong with her memory.

Pursing her lips, Gu Qingyin wreathed her Fire Burning Stick in flames, plunged it into the rock face, and smoothly extracted the two Little Papermen.

Hm?

Gu Qingyin glanced at the Little Papermen’s facial features. They were painted on with blood, the color still vibrant, suggesting it hadn’t been long since they were drawn.

She paused, then slowly held up her hand. There, on her left index finger, was a fresh bite mark.

’Well then,’ she thought. ’Case closed. I’ve lost my memory.’