"Snowball is awesome!"
Upon learning of Xue Tuan's abilities, Feng Fei, carried away with his pride, hugged Xue Tuan and "tortured" him for a while.
Xue Tuan just kept smiling foolishly in Feng Fei's arms.
"Alright, Xue Tuan, hurry up and use your moves!" Feng Fei gently patted Xue Tuan's shoulder and urged him on.
Xue Tuan nodded, then closed her eyes, clasped her hands together in front of her chest, and murmured softly.
Soon, hazy halos of light emanated from the snowball and spread outwards. As these visible halos spread out, the twin leeches crowded on the turquoise tortoise shell opened their disgusting mouths wide, and a series of shrill and unpleasant sounds immediately spread in all directions.
Feng Fei covered his ears in discomfort.
Fortunately, this ear torment ended soon afterward.
As Feng Fei watched the twin leeches, which quickly turned to charcoal, being swept away by the surrounding vortex, she suddenly realized that they seemed to have overestimated these creatures. Even so, it was impossible for Feng Fei to remove the protection of her azure tortoise shell and directly confront the twin leeches.
"Alright!" Xue Tuan clapped her hands in satisfaction, seemingly extremely happy and proud of herself for completing the task.
Feng Fei chuckled and said, "Xue Tuan is really amazing!"
Upon receiving Feng Fei's praise, the last trace of reserve on Xue Tuan's face vanished instantly.
Feng Fei and Xue Tuan were still happy about getting rid of the two-handed leeches, unaware that the surrounding vortex had suddenly changed. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
Chapter 18 Young Woman
The original whirlpool had eased when the twin leeches appeared, but Feng Fei and Xue Tuan were focused on the twin leeches and did not notice the changes in the surrounding whirlpool.
At this moment, the previously calming eddy suddenly became turbulent, but thanks to the protection of the azure tortoise shell, Feng Fei and Xue Tuan did not notice the change. However, the aura emanating from the azure tortoise shell trembled even more violently, as if it would shatter at any moment.
At this point, Feng Fei seemed to realize that something was wrong with his surroundings.
But it was too late. The wildly spinning vortex, as if receiving a command, instantly erupted into an unbelievable speed of rotation the moment Feng Fei noticed something amiss. Feng Fei and Xue Tuan were caught in it without any chance to react.
A strong feeling of dizziness followed, and Feng Fei felt like she was about to vomit, but a force blocked her back, making her feel terrible.
Snowball wasn't in much better shape. Although she was formed from a spiritual spring and possessed first-rate water control abilities, any technique was futile against such direct suppression of power. Therefore, Snowball's eyes were now filled with swirling circles.
The water suddenly changed, engulfing Feng Fei and Xue Tuan before returning to calm, as if everything that had happened before was an illusion.
Feng Fei and Xue Tuan were on the verge of fainting in the swirling eddy; perhaps only the clothes being frantically spun dry in the washing machine could understand their suffering. No, Feng Fei and Xue Tuan did know.
Finally, Feng Fei felt a "pop" sound in her mind, as if something had shattered, and then she lost consciousness. At the same time, the same thing happened to Xue Tuan. The two of them fainted almost simultaneously.
The swirling eddies carried Feng Fei and Xue Tuan wildly in one direction, as if their very existence was meant to lead them to a potentially mysterious place. However, the truth remained unknown.
…………
"Hmm..."
Feng Fei sat up groggily, seemingly unaware of where she was.
"It hurts!" Feng Fei muttered. For some reason, her whole body ached terribly, as if she had just gone through a fierce battle.
Upon realizing this, Feng Fei was suddenly startled.
She and Xue Tuan had just dealt with the disgusting twin leeches. But the next moment, they were pulled into a whirlpool by a sudden, wildly churning water vortex, and even the azure tortoise shell didn't have time to prepare a defense.
"Snowball!" Feng Fei suddenly remembered Snowball, who had been caught in the same trap, and a wave of fear washed over her. She was afraid that Snowball would be separated from her like Yuan Jue and the others had been, after experiencing something irreversible. She was afraid of suddenly becoming alone. She was still afraid of this world full of unknowns.
Feng Fei looked around anxiously, but the moment he saw Xue Tuan, he suddenly felt at ease.
Feng Fei quickly stepped forward and hugged Xue Tuan tightly. In that moment, she realized her own weakness. She also realized that she had to become strong, strong enough that she and the people she cared about wouldn't be forcibly separated. At that moment, Feng Fei's pursuit of power rose to an extremely terrifying level.
"Snowball..." Feng Fei murmured softly. It seemed as if she was processing the goal she had just formed, or perhaps trying to ease the fear she had just felt.
Xue Tuan hadn't woken up yet, probably because the dizziness from before hadn't subsided. However, Feng Fei was no longer worried. The azure tortoise shell still vaguely protected Xue Tuan, and his spiritual energy probed into Xue Tuan's body without finding anything amiss.
Now, Feng Fei finally had the energy to observe his surroundings.
This was a completely sealed room, surrounded by dark brown stone walls. It was impossible to tell how Feng Fei and Xue Tuan had entered. The room was only six zhang long, three zhang wide, and two zhang high, with only a stone table, about one zhang long, placed in the north-facing section. A round futon was placed directly in front of the stone table.
In his daze, Feng Fei seemed to see a child, his face full of sincerity and concentration, sitting cross-legged on a futon, gazing with adoration at the young woman sitting behind the stone table. The woman had a faint smile on her face, but he couldn't see her features clearly. For some reason, Feng Fei felt that this woman was smiling, a smile so moving and beautiful that it was intoxicating.
The young woman suddenly looked in Feng Fei's direction, seemingly noticing his presence, a tender look flashing in her eyes. Feng Fei involuntarily returned the smile, inwardly astonished. She had clearly seen this young woman in a daze, yet now she felt as if she were truly there. Even though a voice inside her told her that what she saw was an illusion, she stubbornly insisted that what she was seeing was real.
"Little Feifei..."
Feng Fei seemed to hear an extremely clear female voice calling her name, the love contained within almost making her forget herself and become intoxicated by it. She seemed to see that the voice was coming from the young woman's mouth.
"Little Feifei...hehe..."
The young woman laughed and joked, but Feng Fei noticed that she was seriously instructing the child on the prayer mat.
"Sister Feifei!"
Xue Tuan's voice suddenly rang in Feng Fei's ears, and Feng Fei looked over blankly.
"Sister Feifei, what's wrong?" Xue Tuan's little face was full of anxiety. She had just woken up and saw Feng Fei staring blankly at the wall behind the stone table, looking lost and disoriented. Afraid that Feng Fei had been bewitched, she quickly shook Feng Fei, trying to wake her up.
Fortunately, she managed to call Feng Fei back after a few calls, but his completely disoriented state only made her more worried.
Feng Fei's eyes met the worry in Xue Tuan's eyes, and he suddenly came to his senses.
Suppressing his previous doubts, he put on a nonchalant expression and reassured Xue Tuan, "Don't worry, I'm fine."
Such an explanation was not convincing at all, and even Xue Tuan, who was usually very gullible, could not believe it.
Xue Tuan's eyes were still full of worry, which moved Feng Fei deeply.
"Xue Tuan, I'm really fine. But there are some things I haven't figured out yet, so I don't know how to explain them to you." Feng Fei's tone was sincere, trying his best to make Xue Tuan accept and believe what he said.
Although Xue Tuan still had doubts, her unwavering trust in Feng Fei told her that this was not the time to dwell on the matter, so she changed the subject, asking, "Where are we?"
As he spoke, he turned and looked around. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
Chapter Nineteen: The Stone Table
What Xue Tuan saw was exactly the same as what Feng Fei saw, except that she did not see the young woman behind the stone table and the child sitting on the futon.
"Sister Feifei, are we trapped in a secret room?" The turquoise tortoise shell automatically retracted into Xuetuan's body when she regained consciousness. At this moment, all she knew was that she and Fengfei had been inexplicably sent to this airtight place.
Feng Fei nodded, and his attention returned to the secret room.
Ever since she woke up, she had felt a strange sense of familiarity and warmth. If it weren't for the sudden appearance of the young woman who had drawn her attention, she might have already discovered some things. However, she didn't resent the young woman's thoughts; after all, the feeling she had for that young woman was more compelling than the secret room itself, making her want to explore and understand it.
Feng Fei suppressed her eagerness and quietly told Xue Tuan to protect her, while she carefully explored the secret room.
The secret room wasn't large; it could be traversed in just a few steps. Aside from a stone table and a futon, there was nothing else in the room, so there wasn't much to investigate. However, Feng Fei still meticulously searched the other three walls thoroughly, but found no mechanisms, not even a single protrusion; they seemed to have been polished smooth.
Feng Fei slowly walked towards the stone table.
Under other circumstances, Feng Fei would have checked the prayer mat first, since it was relatively small, and the stone table was what caused her hallucinations. But it was precisely because of that stone table that Feng Fei examined it first.
Her intuition told her that the secret room had no intention of harming anyone. However, trapping someone was the greatest intention, which contradicted Feng Fei's feeling about the room. Therefore, Feng Fei was even more convinced that there was a way out within the secret room. But as for where the secret room was, they still needed to search carefully.
Feng Fei had a feeling that the exit of this secret room was definitely related to that young woman.
In just two steps, Feng Fei arrived behind the stone table.
There was nothing behind the stone table, and it seemed that the young woman was always standing when educating the children, which made Feng Fei feel a sense of envy. As for why he felt this way, Feng Fei couldn't explain it.
Feng Fei shook his head to clear his mind of these emotions. Only then did he look back at the stone table.
The stone table appeared to be carved from a single, massive rock. Its entire structure was perfectly natural, showing no trace of human intervention. Feng Fei was secretly amazed; the four legs of the table were intricately carved with ancient patterns, seemingly containing some profound Dao. Feng Fei gazed intently, trying to glean some insight, but this only exhausted his spiritual energy in an instant, leaving him with a sharp, needle-like pain in his head.
Resisting the allure of the openwork pattern, Feng Fei turned her gaze to the tabletop.
There was nothing on the table, but a fine layer of dust covered its smooth surface. Feng Fei felt a pang of pity; this dust, covering the stone table, seemed to have settled on the young woman, and she found it extremely difficult to accept.
With a heavy heart, Feng Fei wiped the dust off the table. Her face was filled with sorrow, and clear tears involuntarily streamed down her cheeks. They landed on the table and shattered into many smaller droplets.
"Sister Feifei! Why are you crying!" Xue Tuan had been quietly watching Fengfei investigate the secret room. Ever since she woke up, she had sensed that Fengfei had been behaving very strangely in the room, and now she was even shedding tears. This sight of Fengfei immediately alarmed Xue Tuan. She was only seven or eight years old, still at an age where she relied on trusted people for everything. But now, Fengfei, whom she depended on most, was showing such vulnerability and confusion, which made Xue Tuan feel uneasy.
Upon hearing Xue Tuan's voice, Feng Fei looked up, tears slowly sliding down her cheeks.
"I'm fine." Feng Fei wiped away her tears and gave Xue Tuan a reassuring smile, unaware of how breathtakingly beautiful that smile was. Feng Fei was already an exceptionally beautiful woman, possessing golden spiritual power, which added a touch of elegance and nobility to her already stunning beauty, captivating all who beheld her. Her tear-streaked smile, like the clear sky after rain, gave the impression that with just one smile from Feng Fei, the world itself seemed to brighten instantly.
Although Xue Tuan was a little girl and was used to Feng Fei's smile, she was still dazzled by Feng Fei's smile that illuminated the entire secret room.
Unnoticed by the person inside, Feng Fei's tears on the stone table vanished instantly, as if they had never existed. With the disappearance of those teardrops, the stone table suddenly emitted a faint, imperceptible light and trembled.
"Sister Feifei, you are so beautiful..." Xue Tuan was still immersed in Feng Fei's stunning beauty and couldn't come to her senses for a moment.
"Silly girl!" Feng Fei scolded softly, then couldn't help but laugh, emerging from her previous mood. Although her smile was still beautiful, it lacked a certain unique charm, causing Xue Tuan to shudder and return to normal. However, Xue Tuan, being a carefree child, didn't realize the difference.
He examined the stone table thoroughly but found nothing particularly special about it. Even the intricate openwork patterns on the table legs no longer held any allure. Feng Fei even began to wonder if he had been hallucinating.
With no problem with the stone table, Feng Fei naturally turned his gaze to the round prayer mat.
This futon doesn't seem particularly special; everything about it is extremely ordinary. But that's precisely what makes it extraordinary. Feng Fei wouldn't let his guard down just because the stone table seemed fine. Perhaps the person who arranged this secret room was a strange individual who insisted on placing the key to the exit on the futon.
His divine sense swept over the futon, and he saw its composition clearly without any hindrance; there was nothing unusual about it. He probed it with his spiritual energy, but still there was no reaction.
Feng Fei pursed his lips, seemingly considering whether to touch it with his hand. Finally, as if he had made up his mind, Feng Fei slowly touched the futon, but the next moment he exclaimed in surprise.
Xuetuan curiously leaned closer. "Sister Feifei, did you find something?"
Feng Fei nodded and told Xue Tuan about his discovery.
When Feng Fei's hand touched the futon, it was discovered that the speed of her spiritual energy circulation had increased significantly, by more than double. Such acceleration would be absolutely terrifying in the mortal world, but this was only the effect after her hand touched it. If she were to sit on it, who knows how geometrically her cultivation speed would increase?
Although Feng Fei and Xue Tuan were both itching to get on, they didn't impulsively sit down. Who knew if it might be a trap? (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.)