Shen Yanli interrupted him, looking at him displeased, with a hint of reproach in her words: "Didn't I tell you to stay at the Wang Family? Why did you come out?"
"I want to hunt demons with Master." Mo Bai lowered his head, allowing Shen Yanli to criticize him.
Shen Yanli frowned and sighed lightly: "What help can you offer me!"
She wanted to say more, but there was no time now. If they didn't act soon, who knew when they might catch the Demon Snake again.
"Time is pressing. Just stick close to me, no matter what happens, don't act rashly, understood?" Shen Yanli said urgently.
"Okay, I promise." Mo Bai said with determination.
"Hmm." Shen Yanli replied.
Before entering, Shen Yanli conjured a talisman into her hand and handed it to Mo Bai: "Keep this talisman on you, it will keep you clear-headed in the Illusion Realm and prevent you from being bewitched by curses."
Mo Bai carefully stored the talisman close to his body: "Thank you, Master."
Shen Yanli walked to the temple door, gently pushed it open. Dust, grimy like flying frost, filled the sky. The wooden door creaked eerily in the dead of night. A chilling wind blew through, making the fallen leaves on the ground roll wearily in their rotten decay. Spiders dropped from their webs, crawling slowly on the filthy ground.
So dirty! Shen Yanli thought.
She had always had a cleanliness obsession, and at this moment, she must be feeling utter disgust.
In her past life, the Demon Snake was found here, and in this life, it was still the same.
She had thought that a different start might change the course, but unexpectedly it was the same. Would future events also unfold just like the past life?
In the past life, the black whirlwind at the Wang Family was not present. She wondered why there was a change in this life and thought the subsequent events would also differ, but they did not.
Shen Yanli recognized the woman in purple within the whirlwind; she was the woman Wang Yiqian had met in the brothel, named Du Yan.
Du Yan's unresolved resentment made the Wang Family restless. People with unresolved resentment often experience grave injustices.
In the Mortal World, injustices that cannot be addressed transform into resentful spirits after death. Evil beings thrive on such powerful spiritual energy, often clinging to it like vines to sap its nutrients for their own growth.
The courtyard was filled with toxic gas. Ordinary people without cultivation would lose consciousness and die here if they inhaled it, meeting a tragic end.
Those who practice cultivation, however, can resist it.
Shen Yanli clearly remembered that there was a mechanism under the statue in this broken temple the last life. If nothing changed in this life, the mechanism should still be there.
She reached out to feel it, and as she expected, she twisted forcefully, and with a "whoosh," the mechanism under the statue suddenly opened.
"Go," she said.
Mo Bai was amazed: "Master, how did you know the mechanism was here?"
Shen Yanli just turned her head to look at him without answering.
Mo Bai thought to himself that it must be because Master is extraordinarily clever; otherwise, how could she find it?
He himself couldn't do it.
"Follow," Shen Yanli told Mo Bai, who was behind her.
"Hmm." Mo Bai nodded and closely followed behind her.
The two of them walked into the Illusion Realm, surrounded by a mist of white, unable to see anything.
Mo Bai didn't dare to say much and just kept following Shen Yanli.
They walked for a moment, and suddenly everything before them lit up, as if they had entered another world.
"Master, where is this place?" Mo Bai turned to ask Shen Yanli, but she was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, a group of flamboyantly dressed girls surrounded him, and before he could grasp the situation, they were enthusiastically asking which girl he was looking for, waving silk handkerchiefs.
Mo Bai was completely stunned.
"Where is this?" Mo Bai asked, bewildered.
"Young Master, look at all these beautiful girls. This is a brothel!" The women said with charming voices.
"Huh? A, a brothel?" Mo Bai was startled.
He had only read about such places in storybooks, never in reality. Remembering Shen Yanli's teachings kept him from daring to visit such places. If Shen Yanli found out, she'd probably break his legs.
"I want to go back! I need to find my Master!" Mo Bai shouted.
"Who cares about a Master! You can find whoever you want here!" A lavishly dressed, glamorous woman approached Mo Bai. She seemed to be the brothel's madam.
"Huh? Find anyone? Impossible, my Master would never come to a place like this!" Mo Bai shouted.