C221

As the sun set in the west, Qiao Qiao was still bored as he paced back and forth in the courtyard filled with pear blossoms. However, he could not come up with an answer no matter how much he thought about it.

Even Ming Yuan had completely lost contact with them, which caused her to feel strange. Even if Ming Yuan had lied to them and was not the little doorman guarding the entrance to the temple, he should still be a person inside the temple. How could she have known that they had arrived without even a shadow?

"Yan Yan, shall we go out and take a look?" Qiao once again strode into the courtyard, just in time to see Yan Mo Chen wiping the sword in his hand joyfully.

"Alright." Without even thinking, Yan Mo Chen stood up and sheathed the long sword he had just polished back into his waist. He patted Qiao Qiao's shoulder, and the two of them walked out of the courtyard.

The two of them slowly and carefully strolled around this elegant residence that was said to be alive in the martial arts world.

"Yan Yan, where do you think He Mingyou will be?" Qiao Qiao suddenly raised his brows and asked Yan Mo Chen seriously.

Yan Mo Chen shrugged his shoulders, curled his lips and said, "I don't know."

He only hoped that the blind cat would run into a dead rat, and that it would be best if he could find He Huan You immediately. Whether or not He You You You was the lord of the demon palace or the subordinate of the mysterious old man Qing You, he was still her eldest senior brother and his safety was not something she could ignore.

"But it doesn't matter, I'll accompany you to look around." Yan Mo Chen embraced Qiao's still body, and smiled at her uneasy expression.

"Yes." Yan Mo Chen's words seemed to give Qiao Qiao some comfort. She secretly nodded and followed his footsteps.

After leaving Pear Blossom Garden and walking further inside, the view suddenly widened. The originally lush and verdant winding path suddenly turned into a wide road. Although the two sides of the road were still densely packed with trees, Qiao Qiao could still see through the entire area.

In front of his eyes was a pavilion, and around him was a square road. Following the pavilion, they passed through the arch, and what entered his line of sight was another pavilion.

Qiao Qiao and Yan Mo Chen looked at each other and entered the same arch. As they expected, behind the arch was still the pavilion, the arch and the square circuit. They repeated the same action back and forth …

"We've entered the formation." Yan Mo Chen's face was full of amazement. He had only heard of formations before, and had never seen the real formation mentioned in the martial arts world. He never expected that he would be able to see through it.

"Formation?" Qiao Qiao still frowned slightly.

"That's right. This formation is impressive, and it uses the Five Elemental Eight Trigrams Technique. It can be said to be the most powerful formation in the martial arts world. Unless the person who laid the formation personally deactivates it, no one can leave this place." Yan Mo Chen's expression turned serious, he turned to Qiao Qiao and said, "This time we've really met an expert."

Qiao Qiao couldn't help but raise her brows as she looked around. If this place was really based on the Five Elemental Eight Trigrams, then she would be able to break through this place!

She snickered. Luckily, her master had taught her the art of deciphering the Five Elements Eight Trigrams since she was young. She didn't expect it to be useful here. She proudly waved her hand at Yan Mo Chen and said:

"Follow me."

Yan Mo Chen was stunned. Although he had trained in the Martial Arts since childhood, he didn't know anything about the Five Elemental Eight Trigrams. Seeing how pleased Ran Er was with herself, could it be that she was really able to walk out of here?

"The five elements of the Five Elemental Eight Trigrams are metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. As the saying goes, metal is wood, wood is earth, earth is water, water is fire, fire is metal …" "Come, let's go this way."

Joe pointed to the arch on the left as he spoke, and the two of them followed each other through the arch on the left, where they were met by thousands of square loops.

"As for the Art of Eight Trigrams, it is a sign that the sun will rise in the sky." A flash of inspiration passed through Qiao Qiao and he smiled at Yan Mo Chen, "Go to the east!"

Yan Mo Chen followed closely without hesitation.

"Second, the void is the Earth, and the Earth is the Earth!" Qiao Qiao was still mumbling to herself as she continued to ponder how her master had taught her in the modern world.

"Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, Bie, Eight Trigrams, Heaven, Earth, Thunder, Wind, Water, Fire, Mountain, Pond …"

Qiao Qiao continued mumbling nonstop along the way, using the Five Elements Eight Trigrams Technique to identify the way out of the formation.

Although Yan Mo Chen was suspicious, he did not interrupt Qiao Qiao's train of thoughts. He merely followed behind her silently, following the direction she was pointing in.

Just like this, the two of them walked in the formation for who knows how long. However, when they exited the final arch, the square path had already disappeared from their sight. What they saw instead was a scene of small bridges and flowing water.

"Don't move!" Qiao Qiao's eyes were still cold. Although they had left the Five Elements Eight Trigram Formation, she remembered that her master had unintentionally said that if they met this formation in the future, there would definitely be an illusion.

"We haven't completely exited that formation yet." Qiao Qiao's face was still taut as he said to Yan Mo Chen with a serious face, "The scene before us could very well be an illusion!"

"Illusion realm!?" Yan Mo Chen was shocked, "This is unheard-of in the martial arts world."

"Although I'm guessing, it's still better to be careful in everything you do."

Qiao Qiao still let out a faint sigh, then carefully went forward, bent over, picked up a stone from the ground, and threw it towards that small bridge like scene of flowing water.

Just as she expected, the stone did not fall into that scene. Instead, it shot out a green wave and gradually disappeared.

Qiao Qiao's face was still cold. He turned his head to look at Yan Mo Chen and walked away in the opposite direction from that scene.

"This way." She carefully moved her legs. In this illusion, even if she took one wrong step, she would still be doomed.

"Ran Er …" Yan Mo Chen did not hold back and slowly spoke up behind Qiao Qiao. "Since you were born, I've been watching you. Why didn't I know that you could actually understand the Five Elements Eight Trigrams and still see through this illusion …"

Qiao Qiao's footsteps still stopped. Although she had never thought of confessing to Yan Mo Chen that she was not from the ancient people, she knew that one day he would ask her and she … He did not want to lie to him.

"Yan Yan, this matter …" It wasn't that she didn't want to speak the truth, but the situation was urgent and they needed to get through this illusion.

"Ran Er, actually, I wanted to ask you about this a long time ago. It's just that I understand that I should trust you." Yan Mo Chen did not wait for Qiao to finish before saying, "You are really much different from before."

Qiao Qiao still lowered her head. Although she knew that this was not the time to speak the truth, Yan Mo Chen's words were such that she had no choice but to do so.

"Yan Yan, if I tell you that I'm not the Qiao from before, would you believe me?" She frowned slightly and asked Yan Mo Chen with a serious expression.

Yan Mo Chen stopped in his tracks and looked at her seriously. However, he did not hesitate to say, "I don't care who you are, you're just a woman I love."

Qiao Qiao was still slightly startled. Shu Er raised his eyebrows and chuckled. "The former Qiao Qiao is now dead. I am only replacing her lonely soul."

Yan Mo Chen's expression turned slightly blank, he then laughed and protected Qiao Qiao's petite body in his embrace, his mouth full of determination as he said, "Even if you are a lonely spirit, even if you are here to harm me, I will willingly do it."

"Then, if Hades discovers that my lonely soul has replaced the lives of others and captures me back, how about it?" Qiao Qiao asked with a face full of ridicule.

"Then I will flatten the hall of the underworld and take back my wife!" Yan Mo Chen's entire body was filled with cold air, but there was no hint of a joke in between his brows.

Qiao Qiao's brows were still slightly raised, the corners of his lips slowly lifted up. He could not help but nestle into Yan Mo Chen's embrace, full of happiness.

"They're all about to die, yet you have the time to kiss me and me …"

A scornful voice rang out from the head of the illusionary world, but the corner of Qiao Qiao's lips still curled up. No matter how far away this voice was, she could tell what kind of person it was.

"Logically speaking, since you've already entered the Imperial Palace and become Imperial Concubine Hui's servant girl, I'm afraid we should respectfully address you as Your Majesty and Empress." Qiao Qiao continued to smile coldly as he pulled Yan Mo Chen's warm hand with one hand and walked towards the other side of the illusion.

"Humph, you wish! But I never thought that two array formations wouldn't be able to trap you!" Qing Xu emitted a baleful aura as he floated down from within the illusionary world to land in front of Qiao yet another. The corner of his mouth was filled with disdain.

"I'm also very surprised that your master didn't expel you from his tutelage and even met you here, it could be considered a pleasant surprise." Qiao Qiao continued to smile. Against this proud and arrogant little girl, she could lose completely just by bickering.

"You …!" Qing Xu's face turned red and he was at a loss for words. He pointed at Qiao Qiao's still face and was unable to say anything for a long time.

"Alright, stop trying to be mysterious. Let that geezer Qing You come out to see me!" Qiao Qiao's face was still cold as he stood on the spot and spoke without a trace of politeness.

"What arrogant words you have there. Let's see if you can come over safely first!" Qing Xu's expression was proud as he smiled contemptuously. Then, he gradually disappeared from the illusion.

"Did she just use an illusionary sound transmission?" Yan Mo Chen's brows slightly furrowed as he asked in doubt.

"Probably." Qiao Qiao still took in a deep breath and faced him as he turned his head with an apologetic expression. "Looks like this Amaranth is much more difficult than we imagined. It seems that I have implicated you …"

"Silly girl, I'm your husband. What are you saying?!" Yan Mo Chen's face was a little displeased, but he did not seem to blame her. He bent down and carefully fixed Qiao Qiao's slightly wrinkled clothes, then he smiled, "It seems like your husband will have to rely more on my wife in the face of formations."

Qiao Qiao still had a bright smile on his face, following that, he tightly held Yan Mo Chen's broad palm as the two of them walked side by side.