Chapter 53: Breaking the Layout (1/2)

Images slowly imprinted themselves upon the scroll. There were natural landscapes, living beings, and all other things between heaven and earth. When combined, the images conveyed a concept of utmost infinity, a notion too much for Lu Yun’s eyes to take in. That was why it’d looked blank, at first.

Even now, he was struggling to come up with the right words to describe it. “The most perfect of art is one with dao?” he muttered.

Eventually, the light emitting from the scroll dissipated, and it sank into Qing Han’s body. For a fleeting moment, Lu Yun seemed to see a familiar sparkle of starlight twinkle from Qing Han’s chest. However, his sole focus was on the young man’s safety, so he dismissed what he saw as a trick of the light.

Color slowly returned to Qing Han’s pale face.

His skin seems lighter, and the scars less pronounced. He’s easier on the eyes now. The changes made Lu Yun sigh in relief. Qing Han was no longer in a coma, but simply asleep.

“Time to leave!” When he helped the young man up, he realized that the imperial envoy’s body had become softer—even more so than Wanfeng’s!

What’s going on here? He can’t be a girl, can he? Lu Yun checked Qing Han’s throat and found an Adam’s apple. After some hesitation, he reached out to feel the envoy’s chest.

“It’s flat.” Lu Yun smiled wryly. What am I thinking?

“What—what are you doing?” Qing Han asked in a weak, panicky voice.

“Nothing.” Lu Yun immediately withdrew his hand to avoid any misunderstandings. He swung Qing Han onto his back and jumped off the floating summit.

“How, how am I alive?” Qing Han’s voice was as quiet as a fly’s, and his face was so red that tomato juice could be wrung from it. Heavens, he was touching my chest just now! Does he know?

He was even more exhausted than before. If Lu Yun hadn’t touched his chest and triggered his natural reflexes, he wouldn’t have regained consciousness. He fell asleep again before Lu Yun could answer.

“This brat—” Lu Yun noticed how sweet the imperial envoy’s breath was. Is he really a man?

His mind wandered again and he had to stop himself from reaching for Qing Han’s crotch. It’d be horrifying if he actually felt up a guy’s junk. “I’m not gay!”

Stop being ridiculous. He told himself to snap out of it with a firm mental shake.

“Come on,” Miao urged. “The undead hag will recover if we wait any longer.”

With a nod, Lu Yun put away the floating summit and picked a tunnel to enter. Miao took point while Yuying and Feinie flanked Lu Yun, guarding him. Yueshen followed the rest in Li Youcai’s body.

“The layout of certain death!” Lu Yun stopped in his tracks. The tunnel ahead narrowed and his vision was obscured by a thick veil of mist, a sign that they’d returned to that particular layout.

“Leave through another path, you two,” he whispered. “You won’t be of any help here.”

Yuying and Feinie shared a look, then disappeared with a nod. Their master meant for them to return to the Gates of the Abyss.

“Go ahead with the fatty, Yueshen!” He raised his concentration to the utmost to avoid being tricked again.

He had a theory: what had deceived him the first time was likely the undead hag’s consciousness, which had been sealed in the corpse coffin. It was invisible and omnipresent in the burial mound, capable of exerting power over this strange layout.

Miao had already entered the layout, since, as a master of illusions, the layout was of no threat to him.

Lu Yun took a deep breath and stepped forward, brandishing Violetgrave in his hand. His surroundings suddenly changed. All manner of terrifying monsters lunged at him, some real and some fake. With his previous experiences, he was able to thread his way through much more easily.

“This is it.” He came to a sudden halt after some time. This was the spot where the layout had turned Qing Han into that beautiful girl. “As expected,” Lu Yun spoke to himself placatingly.

Qing Han had transformed again.

The young man’s tanned face became fair and his body turned soft. Lu Yun could feel supple breasts pressing against his back.

Qing Han woke up again when he felt his body undergoing those changes. He began trembling, and his face tensed with panic and uncertainty.

“Don’t worry, it’s all fake. The layout turned you into a girl, but it’s all a surface illusion. You’re still a guy.” Lu Yun gulped, aroused by the softness behind his back.

Qing Han tightened his jaw and made a sound of assent.