My best friend asked me if I was still doing system tasks.

Ruan Chayan felt a bit overwhelmed: "They haven't really been defeated, have they?! Could it be that Taibai Pavilion has been putting on a show for us these past two days? Just to set a trap in Qiuxi City?"

Luo Hanying couldn't describe her current feelings: "May the world end, I'm really tired."

The world cannot be destroyed, and even if it were to be destroyed, it wouldn't be something that could be accomplished in a day or two. Besides, Ruan Chayan and Luo Hanying still need to complete their mission to be resurrected, so they can only work hard now.

"System, 7195, can you help us check the current situation in Qiuxi City?" Ruan Chayan asked with some hope.

7195: ["Live coverage for thirty minutes requires 1000 points. Given the large amount of debt owed by the two hosts, loans will not be granted."]

Ruan Chayan & Luo Hanying: "..."

It's better not to say anything at all than to tell them directly that it won't work. Why do you have to stab them in the heart?

After discussing for a long time, the monk, Mu Qing, and Widow Qiao agreed that they should at least go and find out about the current situation in Qiuxi City.

They need to know exactly what's going on with the Bai family and the academy's cultivators before deciding on their next course of action.

Apart from the Bai family's physicians and alchemists, the ancient city was filled with the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled. This task could only fall to Ruan Chayan and Luo Hanying. The two of them concealed their figures with a death-defying spirit and quickly approached Qiuxi City.

The image of Qiu Xicheng was very different from what Ruan Luo remembered. They still remembered the day they arrived at the city gate. There were guards at the gate, and through the wide-open gate, they could see and hear the bustling scene inside the city.

However, Ruan Chayan and Luo Hanying already knew that everything they saw that day was just an illusion that Taibai Xie wanted them to see, and the empty city now was what Qiuxi City should be like.

"Did you see anyone?" Luo Hanying withdrew her divine sense and said, "I looked everywhere but couldn't detect any aura."

Ruan Chayan frowned: "I didn't find anything either. Qiuxi City is like a dead city."

"I didn't see a single person, not even an insect; it seemed like there wasn't a single living creature."

The once bustling city was now deathly silent, giving Ruan Chayan a chilling sense of disconnect; she feared such emptiness.

"Damn it, so many people couldn't have just vanished into thin air. What we're seeing is probably an illusion."

Luo Hanying's expression was tense. ["What should we do? Should we go in and check? Do you think we'll die here?"]

If they cannot escape unscathed, they will likely be imprisoned in the pill cauldron again, and at that time, no second Daoist Yu Chen can save them.

Ruan Chayan sighed wearily: "If I said I wanted to run away, to leave this place as soon as possible and go to the Light Ruins Secret Realm, would you come with me?"

Luo Hanying fell silent, her expression conflicted. She was pondering whether Ruan Chayan was joking or serious, considering what she should do in the current situation, and what she was truly thinking.

Ruan Chayan said heavily, "Let's go. Don't think about it anymore. You just want to go in and die."

Luo Hanying stood up with Ruan Chayan, and said blankly, "Chacha? You want to go in?"

"I can't just stand by and watch you go to your death, can I?"

Ruan Chayan summoned her magical artifacts and talismans, walking in front of Luo Hanying. [“I can escape for a while, but not forever. I might as well go in with you and see. Whether we live or die, we'll at least have a good reputation.”]

Luo Hanying took a deep breath: "We won't die. Our mission isn't finished yet. How could God let us die?"

She summoned her magical artifacts and array plates, took a few quick steps, and stepped into Qiuxi City side by side with Ruan Chayan.

Contrary to what Ruan Luo and her companion had imagined, even after entering the city, the scene they saw was the same as what they had seen outside the city. No one appeared, and no formations were triggered.

Luo Hanying peeked around cautiously: "Is there really no one in Qiuxi City?"

Ruan Chayan was a cautious person, and she was also prone to overthinking, so she came up with many guesses: "How could there be no one here? Could we have been deceived by an illusion?"

Luo Hanying froze: "...No way?"

Recalling her previous experience in the Incense-Inviting Secret Realm, she quickly took out the communication jade slip to contact the Wine Monk.

Ruan Chayan watched Luo Hanying's actions, but no voice came from the other side of the communication jade slip for a long time.

She had a feeling that she had known all along: "The case is solved. I was in an illusion, and you were the fake Xiaoxue."

The image of Luo Hanying before Ruan Chayan flickered like a projection before disappearing, but the scene in front of her remained unchanged.

This was the only loophole they discovered in the illusion array of Taibai Pavilion: after using the communication jade slip, the illusion array would not create an image to connect the communication.

Ruan Chayan hurriedly said, "Xiaoxue, are you still conscious? We've entered an illusion."

"I am conscious, but I don't know how to leave the illusion."

Luo Hanying said irritably, "Do I have to stab myself to wake up? Back in the Invitation Fragrance Secret Realm, Xiange said our cultivation wasn't high enough to break through the illusion. Are we really going to be helpless against the illusion now?!"

Luo Hanying's situation was similar to Ruan Chayan's. She wanted to contact the Drunken Monk and the others to tell them that Qiuxi City was an empty city, but the communication jade slip was useless, so she knew that she was trapped in an illusion.

"Don't be impulsive. What if you really hurt yourself?" Ruan Chayan asked after thinking for a moment. "What's the illusion like over there?"

Luo Hanying described it, and it was an empty city, just like Ruan Chayan's.

Luo Hanying knew she was in an illusion, so she casually found a spot to sit down and said, "If only we had the sheet music that awakened us back then, maybe humming it would help? At least we could still struggle a bit."

"We've learned so many techniques, let's give it a try. What if we can break through on our own?"

Ruan Chayan was bold and decisive, and immediately began to perform hand seals and chant incantations, trying to see if her magic could break through the illusion before her.

Luo Hanying thought that Ruan Chayan's words made sense. They couldn't just wait to die in the illusion. They should try to struggle and see if it would work.

In times like these, no one can save them; they can only rely on themselves.

Ruan Chayan tried several spells, but the scene before her remained unchanged. She couldn't help but feel a little discouraged, but she had no choice but to keep trying. She couldn't just do nothing and wait to die.

"Without the arising of things, there are no things. Exorcise evil and bind demons, and the poisonous dragon will vanish."

As the hand seals were completed, the sky above Qiuxi City suddenly shattered like a mirror. Ruan Chayan felt a sudden weightlessness and opened her eyes abruptly. She realized that she had been transported by magic and was now floating in mid-air!

Seeing that the pitch-black cauldron was just a few steps away, Ruan Chayan immediately channeled her spiritual power to activate the talisman attack on the cultivator supporting Luo Hanying: "Break!"

The cultivators at Taibai Pavilion were shocked: "How did she break through the illusion array?! What were you all doing?!"