Chapter 2303: Self-Entrapment

Liu Qingdao's words were accurate; Junior Brother Chu, ready to strike, didn't even bother glancing at the mortals in the room, detonating it with a simple raise of his hand.

Immediately afterward, Elder Chu's secret message, delivered via divine power, reached Yuan Xilin's ear: "It's a trap! These are all empty, paper-pasted houses!"

Yuan Xilin immediately clenched his fists, a chill running down his spine. He quickly called out to Elder Chu, "Red Pagoda, come quickly!"

The enemy's intention was precisely to have them scattered, making it easier to defeat them one by one!

Elder Chu's words also filled him with a creeping sense of dread.

The south of the city was far from here, separated by at least several market districts and even a dried-up stream. Yet, the residences Elder Chu destroyed there were also made of paper!

The tall pagoda by the Dragon God Temple was made of paper, and so were the residences dozens of *li* away. The enemy couldn't have predicted their target or direction of movement in advance. Therefore, the only possibility was—

"The entire Wei'an City is fake?"

Liu Qingdao stood with his hands clasped behind his back, even stepping back a few paces to observe the heroes fighting from the periphery. "Master Yuan," he remarked, "has always been meticulous. How did you not notice it wasn't raining here?"

As the leader of the Bingyuan Department, he had plenty of subordinates to do the work; fighting usually didn't require his personal involvement.

Yuan Xilin swung his sword, forcing back a giant bear demon, then instinctively looked up. The night sky was still overcast, but the lightning had vanished.

The ground was also dry; not a single drop of rain had fallen.

When they had just left the small grotto-heaven earlier, the sky had clearly been flashing with lightning and thundering, with a downpour imminent.

Seeing Yuan Xilin's sudden realization, Liu Qingdao smiled and said, "It was truly not easy to lure you into the trap."

Yuan Xilin closed his eyes, feeling a pang of self-reproach. "Is this an illusion?" he murmured. "Where did we enter from?"

"Right at the entrance of your small grotto-heaven," Liu Qingdao said with a shrug. "In fact, you all plunged directly into this small world as soon as you left Butterfly Stream!"

Yuan Xilin's expression changed dramatically.

The other party had set up the illusion directly on Qixia Sect's territory, yet they had been completely oblivious.

What kind of method was this?

Liu Qingdao, in his heart, also marveled at the Great Emperor's skill.

Within those precious few dozen breaths, the Great Emperor had placed his precious mirror in front of the Reclining Ox Stone at Butterfly Stream, directly blocking the direction of Wei'an City. The mirror's diameter reached an astonishing hundred *zhang*!

The most astonishing aspect was that it completely blended with the surrounding scenery.

After those few flashes of lightning, what the Qixia Sect members saw in the direction of Wei'an City was actually a simulated scene from the small world within the mirror, encompassing not only Wei'an City but also the landscape of Xunyang Mountain!

The Soul-Siphon Mirror's simulation was not originally seamless, but with the aid of the Great Evolution Heaven Bead, every scene, angle, and contrast in the mirrored image became flawless. No one could find a weakness, even when walking to the side or behind the mirror, which ultimately allowed it to deceive Yuan Xilin and Elder Chu's discerning eyes.

Just moments ago, when Qixia Sect members summoned their leaf-boat and set off for Wei'an City, they had, in fact, walked straight into the trap, rushing directly into the mirror's world.

The Soul-Siphon Mirror, however, needed to buy more time for the Bingyuan Department to gather its forces, which is why it continuously perfected the "Wei'an City" within the mirror, modeling it after reality.

Due to its limited capabilities, the mountains, cities, and buildings in this mirrored world were not exact replicas of reality. If He Lingchuan were to look for discrepancies, he could likely spot seven or eight at a glance. But the critical point was: had Qixia Sect ever truly paid attention to the number of trees in the mountains, the exact count of residences in Wei'an City, or the precise movements of pedestrians? As long as the iconic landmarks were accurate, they were unlikely to notice any inconsistencies.

The rest was fabricated by the Soul-Siphon Mirror itself.

Since they were within its small world, the Soul-Siphon Mirror, acting as a local insider, naturally overheard the Qixia Sect members' discussions on the leaf-boat. The Red Pagoda, where Yuan Xilin intended to go, was originally just a facade. The Soul-Siphon Mirror hastily perfected various external details, but it ran out of time to create the internal drawings, so it could only grit its teeth and present blank walls.

It hadn't intended to reveal the deception; its master's demands were simply too high for the mirror to fully achieve.

To have conjured an entire Wei'an City and half of Xunyang Mountain in such a short time, even with the help of the Great Evolution Heaven Bead, was an astonishing feat!

Fortunately, the Bingyuan Department members finally rushed into the mirrored world. Otherwise, the Soul-Siphon Mirror had no confidence it could indefinitely trap Qixia Sect; the combination of two immortals and ancient void spirits was a heavy burden for it.

Earlier, He Lingchuan had sent Dong Rui's bat demon puppet to secretly attack the Stone-skin Grass Spirit. It fed the spirit aphid candy coated with black spot disease. Because Dong Rui had precisely diluted the toxin, the Stone-skin Grass Spirit was paralyzed for a period after consuming it.

However, unaware of human treachery and oblivious to being poisoned, it did not alert Qixia Sect.

This period lasted for about fifty breaths, which was enough time for He Lingchuan to calmly set up the Soul-Siphon Mirror at Butterfly Stream and carefully adjust its angle.

He could sneak in using the Great Evolution Heaven Bead, but he couldn't remain invisible while setting up the mirror. If the Stone-skin Grass had projected this scene onto Qixia Sect's water mirror, his trick would certainly have been exposed.

Therefore, these fifty breaths were crucial; success would protect Wei'an City from the wrath of immortals and ensure a peaceful night.

Now, Qixia Sect was in the mirrored world.

Until they broke out, the true Wei'an City would remain safe.

Now, it was their turn to face Cang Yan's wrath!

A strange thought flashed through Yuan Xilin's mind: "Wei'an City and the Bingyuan Department moved so swiftly. Could your Great Emperor of the Nine Underworlds have come personally?"

Otherwise, how could the authorities react so quickly?

Liu Qingdao felt a slight jolt, secretly thinking that Yuan Xilin had hit the mark. But outwardly, he smiled and said, "How lofty is the Emperor's status? How could a mere Qixia Sect be worthy of his personal intervention?"

He subtly shifted the topic, as He Lingchuan had indeed not followed them into the mirrored world.

The Emperor had other important matters.

At this moment, the Qixia disciples behind Yuan Xilin had already engaged with the Bingyuan Department. Although there were only a dozen Qixia disciples, most had refined void spirits—some even more than one—which they now unleashed for battle. With the Qixia Sect members themselves, their total number suddenly surpassed forty.

The previously outnumbered situation was surprisingly reversed.

Qixia Sect's formations were also formidable. Despite being hastily arranged, the disciples and void spirits cooperated seamlessly, truly achieving a synergy where the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. Having been in seclusion for many years, with nothing else to do, they had naturally honed their divine abilities and techniques to perfection.

Wei'an City was at a disadvantage because Qixia Sect had emerged suddenly, and its powerful figures were widely dispersed, limiting their mobilization; those from distant areas couldn't arrive in time. Confronted with Qixia Sect, which had immortals overseeing it, Wei'an City couldn't leverage its usual strengths.

This sect was not an easy, conventional opponent to deal with.

Fortunately, just then, the surrounding streets and alleys shimmered as Cang Yan's army, clad in vibrant armor and exuding a formidable aura, arrived and immediately plunged into the battle.

As Cang Yan's seventh-largest city, Wei'an naturally had the Dragon God Army stationed nearby. In addition, there were the city defense forces protecting the city and the mountain patrol army, which had evolved from the local self-defense corps.