35 Illusion Array

Song Yu Qi's heart skipped a beat when she heard Tan Yanyan's question. Could it be that she suspected something about her real identity? No, it shouldn't be.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, I noticed that your name was very similar to the name of the founder of our sect. Are you actually related to him? Is that how you were able to obtain the pills you gave us?" Said Tan Yanyan.

Song Yu Qi inwardly sighed in relief. For a second, she had thought that her real identity as a transmigrator was exposed. But it was obvious that she panicked for nothing because no one could really imagine that a person's soul could suddenly be replaced by another,

A part of her wanted to tell them the truth. She wanted to tell them 'I'm a man from another world who came to this world after buying a game'. However, if she said that, either they wouldn't believe it or they would run away from her...

Unfortunately, the best thing to do was lying. She could only tell them that she had lost her memories a few months ago and didn't remember anything about herself.

Song Yu Qi had obviously also noticed that her name was almost the same as the name of the founder of the sect. Song Yu Qi - Song Yu Hai, the similarity between the two names couldn't be denied. However, she believed that it was simply a coincidence. After all, if she was really the descendant of the founder of the Myriad Clouds Sect, everyone should have known her and she would not have been a mere outer disciple but at least a core disciple. Unless things were more complicated like she was a hidden descendant or she was disowned by her family...

"I don't think that I'm related to the founder of the sect." Said Song Yu Qi, shaking her head.

"You don't think?" Asked Tan Yanyan, raising her eyebrows.

"I..."

"Sister Yu Qi, I'm not forcing you to answer, I just want to know more about you. Sister Zilin and I told you a lot about our lives but we don't know anything about yours. We don't know from which country you are from, if you have any brothers or sisters, and what you like or dislike..." Interrupted Tan Yanyan.

"I know and I really want to tell you but the problem is that I don't know. Actually, I have lost my memories." Said Song Yu Qi.

"What?!" Both Tan Yanyan and Xia Zilin exclaimed in surprise.

"It happened the day after I joined the sect. When I woke up, I had forgotten almost everything about myself and the world. I didn't tell you because I was scared and didn't know how you would react." Explained Song Yu Qi. It was the closest lie to the truth she could tell.

Hearing this, Tan Yanyan and Xia Zilin looked at Song Yu Qi with widened eyes. Now that they thought about it, they remembered that the few days after meeting her she was sometimes acting strange and seemed to lack common sense, but they hadn't imagined that it was because she had lost her memories!

Realising that, they both rushed towards Song Yu Qi and hugged her tightly.

"Sister Yu Qi, you should have told us!" Said Xia Zilin.

"Yes, we would have helped you!" Nodded Tan Yanyan.

Tan Yanyan and Xia Zilin both loved her so they had no reason to doubt her words. Song Yu Qi felt very bad about it, but the truth was too strange and too complicated to be said.

She patted the two girls' heads and smiled.

"Sorry for not telling you sooner." She said.

"You really don't remember anything? Not even your parents?" Asked Xia Zilin.

"No, I don't remember my original family but I have a new family now." Answered Song Yu Qi.

The three girls smiled at each other and exchanged a tender kiss full of love.

Then, they resumed their walk with a lighter heart but still excited at the idea of finding treasures.

They only had seven days to explore two areas so they didn't want to stay for too long in the Green Jade Forest. That was why they planned not to hang around and to leave this area as quickly as possible.

Well, that was the plan but Xia Zilin was too excited by the Spiritual Plants around her and frequently stopped to examine them. The Alchemist-wannabe was totally in her element in this area.

"Look, this is a Crimson Spirit Leaf!"

"Oh, and these ones are called Fire Monkey Roots!"

"Wow, there is even Jade Spirit Grass here!"

A few minutes later, Xia Zilin suddenly approached a bush and squatted on the ground, she seemed to look intently at something.

Sighing, Song Yu Qi got closer to her to reprimand her. If the time was not counted, she would have been overjoyed to visit this area with Xia Zilin but that was unfortunately not the case.

"Sister Zilin, what are you doing? We must move on." She said.

"Shhh! Look, these bugs are called silver scarabs." Whispered Xia Zilin, pointing at the dozen small scarabs on the ground. They looked exactly like the scarabs on Earth except they were entirely silver colored.

"What's so special about these bugs?" Asked Tan Yanyan.

"The silver scarabs are usually attracted to areas with the highest density of Spiritual Energy. If we follow them, I'm sure that we can find a treasure!" Explained Xia Zilin.

"Really?" Asked Song Yu Qi, surprised.

Seeing Xia Zilin nodding, Song Yu Qi considered her suggestion. In the end, the three girls decided that following the bugs was worth it. If they could find a treasure, it would be amazing!

The silver scarabs were extremely fast. So fast that even a mortal running at full speed couldn't match the bugs' speed! Thankfully, the three girls were cultivators so it was not a problem for them.

They followed the scarabs for several minutes through trees and bushes. They had to keep their distance from the bugs to not scare them or they would just run away instead of leading them in the right direction.

Because of the silver scarabs' small size and high speed, they had to constantly stay focused to not lose track of them...

"Sister Zilin, we have been following them for almost an hour, are you sure that the silver scarabs are not toying with us?" Asked Song Yu Qi.

"Of course, I am. Why would they do that?" She answered.

"But I'm sure that we passed by the same trees a few minutes ago, aren't we going in circles?" Wondered Song Yu Qi.

"I think this is more complicated than that..." Said Tan Yanyan, in a serious tone.

"What do you mean?" Asked Song Yu Qi.

"Eh?? The silver scarabs suddenly disappeared! But they were in front of us just a second ago!" Exclaimed Xia Zilin.

"That's what I thought..." Said Tan Yanyan, frowning.

"Sister Yanyan, can you please stop speaking so mysteriously and tell us what's going on?" Said Song Yu Qi.

"I think that we are trapped in an Illusion Array." Said Tan Yanyan.