Chapter 191: The Malicious Love Obsession in Xianxia (53)

Chapter 191: The Toxic Love Obsession in Xianxia (53)

"I warmed up the tea cakes from this morning."

"Thank you." Facing Bai Mufeng's gentle smile, Tang Qing had a gut feeling something was wrong but still politely accepted the food.

That cold "thank you" from Tang Qing made Bai Mufeng frown sharply.

This...

She's coming to her senses?

"Where are we?"

The next question made Bai Mufeng's eyes twitched slightly—indeed...

She was waking up.

That day, the Army Breaker Sword landed a full-powered strike, and Si Yin was slain.

After regaining his cultivation, Bai Mufeng immediately went to find Tang Qing, only to discover...

Tang Qing had changed.

She resented him...

Blaming his Army Breaker Sword, blaming his constant wavering, which had ultimately cost Si Yin his life.

Unwilling to speak further, Tang Qing was eager to return to the demon realm, gather reinforcements, and lay siege to the Immortal Sect once more!

Seeing Tang Qing blinded by revenge and losing all reason, Bai Mufeng had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure—using the Nightmare's hallucinogenic incense to temporarily control her.

This was the tenth illusion he and Tang Qing had shared, crafted by him, a blend of reality and illusion, where the two of them wandered the world like countless other devoted couples, roaming freely.

Only during this time with Tang Qing did Bai Mufeng realize what his devotion to the Heartless Way had truly cost him...

Even if it was just an illusion, having someone by his side was already a precious happiness in this world.

Sitting beside Tang Qing, Bai Mufeng cast his eyes downward, a faint glimmer in his eyes. In an unseen corner, a tendril of incense smoke quietly burned.

The subtle fragrance drifted, and Tang Qing sniffed suspiciously. "Do you smell something?"

The same question repeated countless times over these days, and Bai Mufeng still answered with a smile, "No."

Really?

An alchemist's senses were sharpest. This faint scent—Tang Qing was certain she had smelled it somewhere before.

She sniffed again, and the fragrance grew stronger.

What was this?

Her consciousness suddenly began to fog, and Bai Mufeng’s figure before her started swimming before her eyes. The only thing she could make out was the ghost of a smile on his lips.

"Getting tired again?"

"Just sleep..."

*No.*

Not tired at all.

Struggling to open her eyes, her body felt heavier, sinking deeper. Hands caught her, gently placing her on the bed. Bai Mufeng's voice drifted from afar, "Good dreams..."

Half-awake, Bai Mufeng's face began to blur and overlap with the one from her recent dream. Tang Qing suddenly realized—they looked remarkably alike.

"Tang Qing, don't look back."

"May everything go your way."

No!

Suddenly realizing what that scent was, Tang Qing's eyes snapped open!

The Nightmare's illusionary incense!

She was trapped in the Nightmare's illusion!

Her sharp gaze met Bai Mufeng's gentle smile—his expression froze instantly.

Then, Bai Mufeng felt a searing pain in his chest.

It was Tang Qing...

He looked down to see a hairpin embedded in his heart.

The pain reminded Bai Mufeng of the agony his Army Breaker Sword had once inflicted on Tang Qing in the illusion.

"You shouldn't have used illusions on me."

"Bai Mufeng, I told you—I will avenge Si Yin..."

Gasping through the pain, Bai Mufeng's words came out fragmented, "Being... with me... wouldn't that be... good?"

"Good."

Tang Qing replied, "Shixiong, this is what I've dreamed of for so long..."

"I wanted to be with you."

"But now... I can't."

She couldn't accept this happiness, built upon Si Yin's death.

Suddenly, Si Yin's back from that day flashed in Tang Qing's mind—he had told her not to look back. Yet, in the end, she couldn't move forward as he had hoped.

"Si Yin said, our families and Cloud Ripple Sect have feuded for generations."

"I have to see this through..."

With Tang Qing's words, the illusion broke apart. The room, the tea cakes, even the hairpin lodged in Bai Mufeng's chest—all vanished as if never there.

Only Bai Mufeng's chest pain remained real.

By the tenth illusion, Bai Mufeng and Tang Qing had completely reversed roles. Now Bai Mufeng was the one who couldn't let go.

The once Heartless Way cultivator stared with longing at the figure before him. "Must you go?"

"Even at the cost of my life..."

Tang Qing's eyes once again burned with that same stubborn fire—only this time, it was no longer directed at Bai Mufeng.

She said, "Yes."

"I must go."

Without another word, Tang Qing turned away, her green robes and dark hair slowly fading from Bai Mufeng's sight.

Left behind, Bai Mufeng gave a bitter smile. She was right—from the moment he hesitated, the boundary between them had already been drawn.

Clutching his chest, he murmured, "So this is what the pain feels like..."

The Army Breaker Sword in his hand had long fallen silent, as lifeless as its wielder.

Three days later, the demonic faction crowned a new leader.

It was none other than Tang Qing, who had nearly been executed at the cliff that day!

She proclaimed herself the bride of the demon lord Si Yin, leading a legion of slaughterers to besiege the Cloud Ripple Sect for ten full days!

"How does the demonic faction possess such strength? To fight the number one Immortal Sect for ten days?"

"It's all because of that new leader, Tang Qing. They say she's a genius in puppetry arts! With her techniques, the demonic faction suddenly gained armies of deadly puppet soldiers! They even cut down three Cloud Ripple Sect elders!"

"He Yong miscalculated this time—not only did he lose his Taoist Soldier, but he also brought this hellspawn upon the Cloud Ripple Sect!"

...

With the Cloud Ripple Sect besieged, none of the other Immortal Sects came to their aid. All waited—to see which side would falter first.

Ten days later, it was the demonic faction that finally showed exhaustion...

As they retreated, the so-called righteous Immortal Sects conveniently showed up, cleaning up the stragglers.

Tang Qing fell in this ambush. Before closing her eyes, she left only one command:

"After my death, the Cloud Ripple Sect—generation after generation—will never know peace!"

Those very words again!

Still unwilling to let the Cloud Ripple Sect go!

If the disciples of the Cloud Ripple Sect had once brushed off Si Yin's warning, these ten days of siege made them realize just how far these fiends would go.

She meant to take the Cloud Ripple Sect to the grave with her, even in death!

For decades afterward, the demonic faction and the Cloud Ripple Sect were bound in blood feud. True to their vow, wherever and whenever demons encountered Cloud Ripple disciples, they hunted them to the edge of the world!

With such no-holds-barred warfare, the Cloud Ripple Sect crumbled fast. The once-renowned number one Immortal Sect, He Yong's painstakingly built legacy, vanished without a trace—no one dared speak of it again.