Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 112 - 102 Secret Realm (Two in One)_2

Chapter 112: 102 Secret Realm (Two in One)_2

He suddenly became curious about the scene of Ran Qingmo taking Tianyan on a journey through Jiuyuan Gorge.

One big and one small, two icy lumps, probably couldn’t squeeze out a single word half the day.

Xu Yuan gathered his thoughts and said,

"Hmm, indeed there’s nothing strange. By the way, how much longer until we reach the entrance to the Secret Realm?"

Upon hearing this, Ran Qingmo showed a slight hesitation:

"Are you going to take her with you?"

"If I could defeat her easily, I naturally wouldn’t take her along."

"We’ve already arrived."

As he spoke, Ran Qingmo raised his hand and pointed ahead.

Xu Yuan followed the direction of Ran Qingmo’s delicate jade-like finger, but the snow-filled night in the mountains was so dark that even with Origin Qi aiding his vision, with his current cultivation level, he could only see a hundred meters around him.

After walking a bit further, Xu Yuan slowed his pace slightly.

In the darkness of the night, large snowflakes, like goose feathers, continued to tirelessly fall from the sky.

This was a lake beneath a waterfall, surrounded by withered trees. The waterfall had run dry, and the lake’s surface, twenty zhang in diameter, had frozen over.

And in the middle of the frozen lake’s surface, a hundred meters away, lay a giant tiger with two-zhang flesh wings, quietly lying on the ice.

Even as they approached within a hundred meters, this Qiong Qi-like giant beast still showed no sign of stirring.

After walking a bit further, Xu Yuan finally understood.

The reason it was so quiet was probably that a giant ice spike had pierced through the tiger’s head, and web-like cracks spread from beneath its body on the solid ice.

Xu Yuan also roughly recognized the breed of this large cat through its features.

Cloud Wing Tiger.

It looked terrifying, but it was just a showpiece, its strength nowhere near that of the White Fierce Bird they had encountered earlier.

Of course, saying the Cloud Wing Tiger wasn’t strong was relative to cultivators; to ordinary mountain villagers, this would be a mountain lord capable of turning humans into blood food.

No wonder all the mountain villages in this Guanyin Mountain range had been abandoned.

Counting the White Fierce Bird they ate tonight and the Bloodfang Boar from the day before yesterday, that made three powerful Demonic Beasts. The other fierce creatures lurking in the forest were surely too numerous to count; this Guanyin Mountain range was almost becoming a Demonic Beast’s nest.

Gathering his thoughts, Xu Yuan looked around and, not finding an entrance behind the dried-up waterfall, turned his head and asked,

"Is the entrance on the lakebed?"

"Hmm."

"How do we get in?" Xu Yuan asked.

As his voice fell, he suddenly caught sight of Ran Qingmo taking out the Black Sword from the corner of his eye and then swinging it down towards the frozen lake surface.

A flash of sword light passed, streaking a blue glow across the snowy night of the mountain forest.

After a moment of silence, the pressure of the wind swept over, the snow that had settled all night flew about, turning the place into a fairyland.

Brandishing the sword to cut through the water, the entire lake was neatly split open, and the bone-chilling sword intent quickly spread down, freezing the surface before the water on both sides could surge back to the center.

An entrance made of lake water appeared before Xu Yuan’s eyes, a small ice gorge.

Ran Qingmo turned back, calmly and softly speaking,

"Let’s go, the entrance is at the bottom of the lake."

Reigning in his amazed gaze, Xu Yuan walked to the edge of the lake and peered down, his brow furrowing slightly.

The little lake was only twenty zhang in diameter, but its depth was almost a bottomless black hole.

"Do you need me to carry you?" Ran Qingmo walked over to Xu Yuan and asked.

Xu Yuan shook his head: "No need."

Who would be foolish enough to jump straight down from such a height, which was at least a hundred meters?

Swoosh—

The wind rustled his clothes, and Ran Qingmo jumped straight down.

"..."

Xu Yuan smacked his lips, looked back at Tianyan, and said,

"Tianyan, if you don’t kill me, I’m going into the Secret Realm."

"..." Tianyan stared at Xu Yuan, her golden pupils swirling with light, yet still not speaking a word.

Xu Yuan sighed, operated his cultivation technique, and leapt forward, moving back and forth between the ice layers. He eventually landed safely at the bottom of the lake.

Once he reached the bottom of the lake, Xu Yuan’s attention was immediately drawn to a dark purple gateway of light.

The gateway, nestled in the sand and stones at the lakebed, swirled with light, emitting a faint pulse of Origin Qi.

"Is this the place?" Xu Yuan walked up to Ran Qingmo and asked.

"Hmm." Ran Qingmo nodded: "The Secret Realm’s entrance overseen by Sword Sect, which my master took me to, looked like this."

Xu Yuan hesitated slightly: "Is there anything I need to be cautious about before entering?"

Although he had entered countless Secret Realms in the game of Cang Yuan, this was his first time in reality.

Ran Qingmo shook her head:

"No, just go straight in."

Xu Yuan hesitated for a moment, then began to search his mind again for information related to this Secret Realm.

About half a minute later, Xu Yuan was ready and reached out to grab Ran Qingmo’s hand.

If they didn’t go together, the Secret Realm’s entrance would randomly transport people to different places within the Secret Realm.

But just as Xu Yuan took a step forward, he felt his hand being held by someone else.

It wasn’t Ran Qingmo, because the hand was very small.

Glancing to the side, Tianyan had also jumped down at some point, silently appearing beside him and taking hold of his hand.

Xu Yuan tried to pull his hand out, but couldn’t.

With a bit more force, Cang Yuan’s petite body was directly flung by him in the lake bottom, turning a circle in mid-air.

She landed softly on the ground, still staring at him with the same expression as before.

Xu Yuan looked at Cang Yuan’s eyes as if looking at a lunatic, but his heart sank slightly.

He had originally intended to use the teleportation mechanism to shake off Cang Yuan, but it seemed that the other party knew about the oddities of this Secret Realm’s entrance!

As he was thinking,

A cold gleam flashed without warning at the pitch-black bottom of the lake!

Ran Qingmo had drawn her sword.

With a speed Xu Yuan couldn’t see clearly, her sword chopped towards Cang Yuan’s slender arm.

In the blink of an eye,

"Stop."

A child’s naive voice murmured in the silent lake bottom.

In an instant,

As if time had frozen, the Black Sword was instantly fixed in place about a foot from Cang Yuan, unable to advance an inch.

Ran Qingmo held the sword, her brow slightly furrowed.

After a second of silence,

Threads of blue cold light started to emerge on the edge of the sword blade, and the suspended Black Sword began to tremble.

Cang Yuan’s gaze was calm, and she opened her small mouth slightly:

"Seal."

The blue cold light on the sword blade vanished instantly.

Seeing Cang Yuan’s eerie method, Xu Yuan didn’t think twice and immediately spoke out:

"Ran Qingmo!"

"..."

Ran Qingmo didn’t turn back, her gaze fixed on Cang Yuan; she had discovered something from her prior probing.

Xu Yuan exhaled slowly and said softly:

"Ran Qingmo, if she wants to pull me, just let her. If there were any real danger, Old Man Luo would have already made his move. He probably knows something about the Yantian Art."

This old man, is most likely peeking right now.

The Thought Imprint hasn’t been released; he’s still somewhat one of our own.

Ran Qingmo hesitated slightly but still sheathed her sword.

Cang Yuan then lowered her eyes.

Xu Yuan smiled faintly and reached out his hand to Cang Yuan:

"Let’s go."

Ran Qingmo looked hesitantly at Xu Yuan’s extended hand, but still placed her own hand onto it.

Maybe it was because of the Cultivation Technique, her hand was very cold, yet her skin was as clear and delicate as snow.

"Ordinary Secret Realms have teleportation platforms within them. This Secret Realm’s teleportation platform is destroyed, and the location is uncertain. Not holding together might end up being teleported to different places."

After a brief hesitation, Xu Yuan still gave an explanation.

Having said that, he then pulled Ran Qingmo and Cang Yuan into the dark purple light gate of the Secret Realm.

...

...

The sky within the Secret Realm was a clear blue, devoid of the bitter cold of the snow-capped mountains from the outside world.

Amidst the bird songs and fragrant flowers, the lush jungle swayed gently in the breeze, creating overlapping waves across the lawn.

Xu Yuan slowly came to his senses and instantly became alert as he looked around.

This vast grassy slope stretched to the end of the plain, where a great mountain loomed and what seemed like jade towers and pavilions could be glimpsed hidden amongst the cloud-wreathed mountaintop.

Xu Yuan frowned slightly, looking around, but he only saw a strange young lady in a light red palace dress sitting quietly beside him, hugging her knees.

Her face was untouched by makeup, naturally beautiful, with deep, golden eyes like clear mirrors or mysterious lakes, a flat chest, and from beneath her palace dress, a pair of snow-white, crystal-clear feet, with ten snowy white toes.

No, she’s not a stranger.

This is Cang Yuan!

Xu Yuan’s eyes shifted slightly and he took a step back:

"Are you... Cang Yuan?"

"Giggle~"

The moment the strange young lady saw Xu Yuan wake up, she laughed crisply like a silver bell, her golden eyes curving into crescents, and she slowly stood up, dusting off the dirt from her palace dress before approaching Xu Yuan:

"Guess? If you guess right, I’ll tell you.

"Ah~ no, you’ve already guessed right. I am indeed Cang Yuan."

Xu Yuan stared at this woman: "Where’s Ran Qingmo?"

The young lady Cang Yuan raised a slender jade finger and lightly tapped it on her chin, tilting her head:

"She was probably teleported elsewhere."

Xu Yuan frowned.

Cang Yuan giggled like a sprite, her golden eyes gleaming enchantingly in the sunlight:

"Don’t look at me like that. I’m serious. For now, there’s no need to kill you or Ran Qingmo."