I've Led the Villain Astray, How Do I Fix It?

I’ve Led the Villain Astray, How Do I Fix It?

Chapter 394

At the corner on their side, there stood a magnificent underground city. Buildings on both sides of the street adhered to an ancient and solemn architectural style, representing the characteristics of an ancient city.

However, as they turned around the corner to the other side, it was as if they had entered another world. Before them clearly showed the scenery of the floating town of Jiangnan. A gentle stream was flowing, with the calls of boatmen, and young ladies under bamboo umbrellas smiling gracefully by the small bridges…

It seemed that every corner exuded the soft charm of a Jiangnan floating town.

“How is this possible?” Xu Ziyan was not bewildered by the scene in front of him, but he could not understand how the transformation had occurred.

Due to Mr. Little Square’s existence, Xu Ziyan possessed a keen sensitivity to changes of space, far surpassing other cultivators of the same level. Merely a street away, they had already encountered two completely different styles. Moreover, the setup of the Jiangnan floating town was highly illogical. Setting aside the fact that the water stream had appeared out of thin air, the ability for it to flow naturally and the sudden emergence of “people” was enough to raise his vigilance.

He could not forget that in other places of the central city, they were like dead cities, with no signs of any living beings at all. However, the most ordinary small town had living people, which in itself was the most abnormal thing!

“For now, let’s not go in. I feel that something’s very wrong.” Xu Ziyan said with a frown.

His eyes and ears were constantly telling him that the scene in front of him was extremely real, yet another voice in his mind kept warning him that it was dangerous, incredibly dangerous, the kind of danger that could threaten his life.

Currently, he felt very contradictory, because his eyes, his nose, and his every sense were telling him that everything in front of him was real.

He could see the misty haze, smell the freshness of the green willows, hear bustling crowd, and feel the gentle breeze brushing against his face…

Every sensation was so real, real beyond comparison.

However, his mind was giving him an entirely opposite answer, as if someone was constantly repeating in his ears that the place was all fake, the place was really dangerous, the place was enough to endanger his life!

Xu Ziyan looked a little dazed as his senses and his brain reached completely contradictory conclusions, leaving him in a state of profound conflict.

He turned around, intending to ask Tianle and the other for their opinions, but to his surprise, he saw Tianle rushing towards a red-dressed girl on a small bridge as if he had witnessed something shocking.

“Tianle?” Xu Ziyan was taken aback, but before he could stop Tianle, another figure beside him flew forward as well.

Xu Ziyan reached out to grab, but only just in time to catch hold of Xu Zirong’s sleeve. They both were then pulled along by a tremendous force, entering the street that seemed like another dimension.

As if stepping into a painting, when Xu Ziyan turned back, the original street was no longer visible. Instead, there was only a clear stream of water flowing behind them.

“Zirong, what happened to you?” Xu Ziyan asked nervously.

He had noticed something was off with Xu Zirong just now. Otherwise, given his cautious nature, it would be impossible for him to enter the place rashly without thorough investigation.

“I…” Xu Zirong’s eyes showed confusion, and then his pupils suddenly contracted, as if he had woken up from a nightmare, “What’s going on?”

“We have entered that street.” Xu Ziyan said helplessly.

Xu Zirong was taken aback, “How is that possible? I was clearly…” He had a sudden pause mid-speech, and looked around thoughtfully.

“What happened to you just now?” Xu Ziyan asked curiously.

After a moment of contemplation, Xu Zirong tried to use a spell, but nothing happened. He turned to Xu Ziyan and asked, “Brother, can you use spells?”

Xu Ziyan was stunned for a moment, and casted a spell casually. Like Xu Zirong, there was no effect at all.

“Have we become ordinary people?” Xu Ziyan scratched his head and said in distress.

Xu Zirong nodded, and then tried using his body to lightly bump the wall, “The wall seems to be made of ordinary blue bricks. I felt pain when I tapped it, and my strength is not enough to break the bricks.”

Xu Ziyan showed a bitter smile, “My strength is about the same. This transformation is really thorough. What do you think we should do now?”

Xu Zirong looked around, and happened to see Tianle standing on a small bridge not far away, chatting happily with a girl in red.

“Let’s meet up with Tian Le first. The situation here is unclear, so it’s better for us to stick together,” Xu Zirong said helplessly.

Xu Ziyan also agreed with Xu Zirong’s opinion. Besides, there was something suspicious with Tianle when he suddenly rushed into the place early. He was actually a little worried that something might have happened.

“Tianle!” Xu Ziyan shouted from a distance.

Tianle seemed to faintly hear something and turned to look, but he then turned back as if he had not seen anything, continuing his conversation.

Xu Ziyan was momentarily stunned, then furrowed his eyebrows tightly. Judging from Tianle’s appearance, something might have happened already…

“Tianle seems a bit off. He acted as if he didn’t see us just now. Although he’s unreliable, he wouldn’t do something like this.” Xu Ziyan pulled Xu Zirong aside and said in a low voice. Now that they had all become ordinary people, they had to be cautious.

Xu Zirong nodded, indicating that he understood what he meant. Looking around, he found that no matter whether it was the boatman in the river or the vendors on the street, everyone seemed to be immersed in their own work. It was shocking that no one noticed them.

It was not because Xu Zirong’s self-consciousness. As an outstanding beauty, he was always very confident in his good looks.

Even among the numerous handsome and beautiful cultivators, he could be regarded as a stunning beauty. In such an ordinary small Jiangnan town, how could he not attract attention when he walked down the street.

Xu Zirong himself certainly was not fond of being surrounded and stared at by people, but weren’t the people in the small town were behaving too strangely?

——It was as if… the two of them were non-existent at all!

Xu Zirong was intrigued and walked to the side of a vendor selling sugar-coated haws on the side of the street. He took out a spiritual stone and waved it “Do you accept spiritual stones?”

The sugar-coated haws vendor showed no response at all, continuing to call out to customers, occasionally giving a silly smile to the girl with a noodle stall next to her.

“Brother, there’s something strange about our existence here,” Xu Zirong turned back and said to Xu Ziyan.

Xu Ziyan also noticed Xu Zirong’s attempt, so he naturally understood that both of them were considered ‘non-existent’ to the people on that street. However, if the entire scene was an illusion, they still could physically touch all the substances.

Just like a moment ago, when Xu Zirong tried to buy the sugar-coated haws but failed, he touched it with his fingertip. The sticky and slightly cool sugar coating stuck to his finger, and he could even sense the sweet taste.

“So… what exactly is this place? Our bodies are ordinary people, but to others, we seem to be invisible?” Xu Ziyan murmured to himself in confusion.

Xu Zirong shook his head, “We’re not invisibility. We can’t touch other ‘people’, but we can touch other ‘objects’ without any hindrance.”

Xu Ziyan scratched his head, not quite understanding how they ended up in that state. However, it was clear that if they wanted to leave, they had to make changes to their current situation.

He had tried it earlier. It was impossible to return to the previous street where they came from. If he wanted to leave there, he had to advance forward.

Fortunately, after entering there, the divine cloth map could still be used, yet due to unknown reason, it had transformed into a detailed map of the entire street.

It seemed that despite the bustling appearance of the place looking like a small Jiangnan town, it was still essentially a ‘street,’ just wider with more shops and residences on both sides. The rest was not much different from the previous street.

Of course, there were no creatures there, only those seemingly ordinary mortals… Well, if viewed from the perspective where Xu Ziyan was unable to touch them, those people were anything, but ordinary…

Xu Ziyan could not communicate with those people, so he could only focus on Tianle.

Tianle seemed to be enjoying a pleasant conversation with the red-dressed girl. Xu Ziyan attempted to call out to him several times, but Tianle did not notice Xu Ziyan and Xu Zirong standing beside him.

Seeing his own hands passing through Tianle’s body, Xu Ziyan was also helpless. It seemed that they could not communicate with Tianle, at least not at the moment.

Although they could not physically interact Tianle, it did not stop them from eavesdropping on Tianle’s conversation with the girl in red. After listening for a while, Xu Ziyan confirmed that Tianle was actually still reliable, because he was relying on his superb language skills to secretly extract information from the girl in red without arousing suspicion.

Xu Ziyan had to admit that Tianle was quite good-looking when he had no symptoms of madness. With a little grooming, he could easily charm many young ladies.

At the moment, he was having a very cheery conversation with the girl in red, and even managed to inquire about any strange occurrences in the town recently.

Unfortunately, the girl in red did not know much and could not provide any useful info. After realizing there was no valuable information to be gained, Tianle found an excuse to leave.

Xu Ziyan and the other followed Tianle to the only inn in the town. After seeing him check in, the two looked at each other and thought of one thing at the same time.

Now that they could not communicate with Tianle, why don’t they—— go inquire for info as well?

Since they were currently in a ghost-like state and actively asking questions were impossible, eavesdropping on conversations from behind walls or corners would be surprisingly easy now!

╮(╯▽╰)╭

About two hours later, the two returned to the inn to meet again and briefly exchanged information.

“Nothing strange happened at all?” Xu Ziyan frowned.

Obviously, the small Jiangnan town they were in was the same as the skull trap marked on the map. Since it was a trap, there must be a solution to escape, provided it would not lead to immediate death.

Xu Ziyan speculated that since the trap drew them there, it must be related to what was happening there. Logically speaking, the person who set the trap must be a cultivator, and there should be some clues about what was going on in the town. However, they failed to gather any information, which seemed suspicious.