Chapter 152 – Festival of Sins (IV)

Chapter 152

Festival of Sins (IV)

The orchard itself was located to the back of the village, practically pressing against it, and was loosely fenced off by some scatterings of wood and stone. It was cleaved into two, as far as I could tell–on the left, they looked like plum trees, while on the right, they looked like… well, they didn’t look like grapes, at least not any of the ones I knew.

I watched grapes grow woven into a literal metallic net, but not on a tree. So, yet another thing that differs from back on Earth.

Anyway, the atmosphere here really was a bit… drab.

There was a strange haze seeming to cover the entire thing, and when the wind would blow, I noticed that the way trees behaved was… wrong.

“An illusion,” I mumbled.

“A relatively high-grade one,” Long Tao affirmed. “But it’s not set up by a cultivator. This is a good opportunity.” Oh no. That smirk. That damned smirk.

“… opportunity for what?” I asked tentatively.

“To train their wills.”

“…” Oh, so it’s for the kids. Yeah, that’s fine.

I almost shrugged but maintained my dignified expression–or, well, what I thought was one, at least.

“There are five entrances,” Long Tao said. “All of us will take one while Master watches over us.” They all looked over at me with strangely… determined expressions.

I mean, I know why–it seems they’ve made it their mission to put me in harm’s way basically never. Does it make me feel small, like a chestnut?

Yes.

Do I sometimes wanna crawl into a bedroll and cry myself to sleep?

… no comment.

“Be careful,” I warned, though I didn’t feel too fearful. They all had innate resistance to illusions because they were protagonists, not to mention the Art of Survival.

Speaking of which, Wan Lan actually managed to gain initial mastery and has changed her appearance–she is now a black-haired, black-eyed, flat-nosed, slightly hunched young woman who looks closer to 20 than she does to 16.

“V-Venerable One, is… what is happening?” Oh, right. I forgot that the old man was here.

“The orchard’s failed yields and the sleeping of the villagers are connected,” I said. “Whatever is causing it resides somewhere in the orchard. Just be a bit patient; the kids will find a way.”

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**

Long Tao stepped past an innocent-seeming tree but immediately realized he had been drawn into an illusion.