Chapter 146 This is My Wife

Xuanyuan Tunhan recognized Ning Xianyue instantly. In his eyes, Ning Xianyue’s appearance had hardly changed at all.

However, Ning Xianyue did not recognize him, merely feeling that the man before her looked somewhat familiar.

Xuanyuan Tunhan strode over in a few swift steps, opening his mouth to speak, but Xiahou Fang cut in first, "Brother, who might you be, and from whence do you come?"

Xuanyuan Tunhan froze for a moment, unable to help himself from glancing at Ning Xianyue.

Ning Xianyue also asked quite cheerfully, "Brother, where are you from? Did you just come down from above?"

He instantly realized that this woman had failed to recognize him after just a few days apart.

He reached up to touch his face. Could it be that his appearance had undergone some sort of change?

The thick, swirling fog all around did indeed look rather bizarre.

Presumably, that strange stone was playing tricks.

Xuanyuan Tunhan looked at the two of them, not answering the question, and instead asked, "Who are you two, and what is your relationship?"

They had been meeting for quite a while now, yet they were still holding hands. Their relationship was truly close, wasn't it?

Heh!

It seemed the person beside her was none other than Xiahou Fang.

Ning Xianyue wanted to declare that she did not know the person next to her, but Xiahou Fang spoke up with lightning speed, "This is my wife, hahaha."

Xuanyuan Tunhan felt the anger in his heart flare up fiercely in an instant.

"Oh? Your wife?"

Ning Xianyue tried to pull her hand back, but no matter how hard she tugged, she couldn't free it. She was so furious that she felt ready to burst into flames.

Daring not provoke Xiahou Fang, she could only lower her head and pretend she heard nothing.

Xiahou Fang was still demanding to know where Xuanyuan Tunhan had come from when a domestic servant came running over.

"Master, Madam, this is terrible! That fellow Zhang Lang has run off with the eldest young miss!"

Seeing Xuanyuan Tunhan, the servant started in surprise, shouting in astonishment, "It's you! Ah, Master, run quickly with Madam! This old servant will hold off this scoundrel who intends to snatch away Madam."

As he spoke, he even assumed a defensive posture right in front of Xuanyuan Tunhan.

Ning Xianyue was left stunned upon hearing this.

What on earth was going on? Why was this old servant improvising his own role?

Xiahou Fang was also momentarily taken aback, but he grasped the situation instantly. Roles and storylines were being assigned to the newcomers.

When they had first arrived, they had instantly transformed into the master and mistress of a grand estate. Now that an extra person had appeared, that person had been cast as the mistress's former lover.

Regardless of who was messing with them here, whoever it was must be out of their mind. Did they simply enjoy watching theatrical dramas?

He also realized in a flash that the culprit was most likely a fragment of the Heaven-Mending Stone.

Right, only that mystical stone could produce such bizarre and unfathomable phenomena.

Xiahou Fang immediately pulled Ning Xianyue into his embrace, wearing an irritated expression, "Come, men, block him for me! This master is taking his wife back right now."

With that, he grabbed Ning Xianyue and bolted.

Behind them, the old servant dutifully stayed to cover their rear.

Xuanyuan Tunhan felt that his spiritual power was still usable here, though it was far less convenient than outside.

Therefore, he swept the old servant aside with a flick of his sleeve and gave chase to Ning Xianyue and the other.

Yet he found the pair running at lightning speed, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.

Ning Xianyue felt as though she had only run a few steps before entering a courtyard directly.

It was as if she had returned to the estate in the blink of an eye.

This was utterly bizarre.

Servants knelt all over the ground, weeping and wailing that they had failed in their duties and allowed the eldest young miss to be carried off by the man surnamed Zhang.

Xiahou Fang waved his hand, telling them all to get lost and go search for the missing people immediately, forbidding them to return until they were found. He even drove away everyone in the household, including the old gatekeeper.

Once only the two of them were left in the courtyard, Ning Xianyue turned and asked, "Why did you chase everyone away?"

Xiahou Fang replied, "Naturally, to take a closer look at this estate."

Staring intently at his surroundings, he murmured, "Haven't you noticed that only this courtyard is completely real?"

Ning Xianyue stamped her feet against the ground, "Weren't they all conjured up by the illusion?"

Xiahou Fang shook his head, "No. Everything around us is an illusion, but the moment we step into this estate, everything becomes real. Even the people feel much more tangible. If you don't believe me, look."

He pulled Ning Xianyue to look outside, and she saw the servants who had just run off dissolving into wisps of smoke and vanishing.

Ning Xianyue was startled, "But that old servant looked real enough in the fog just now."

Xiahou Fang explained, "That was because he was standing within the boundaries of the estate. I suspect this estate remains real within a certain radius."

Ning Xianyue pondered this, "So you believe this estate is real, and the Emperor of the Yulai Kingdom is still here?"

"Whether the Emperor is here or not, I couldn't care less. I only know that this estate is extraordinary."

Xiahou Fang cared nothing for the Emperor. He had never come here for the Emperor's sake in the first place; his sole objective was to find the fragment of the Heaven-Mending Stone.

Now that he had found a clue, he naturally wouldn't bother about where the so-called Emperor had gone.

Ning Xianyue was utterly speechless, but she didn't argue with him.

To an evil cultivator who skinned and murdered people, the lives of cultivators meant nothing at all, let alone the life of a mere mortal.

Xiahou Fang attempted to fly up above the courtyard, but his attempts failed twice.

The restrictive barrier inside this estate was far more powerful than the one outside. He could only ascend to a height level with the eaves, and any higher than that proved impossible.

He tried to view the entire layout of the courtyard clearly, but no matter what he did, it remained blurred, which began to irritate him.

Ning Xianyue kindly offered a suggestion, "Why don't you try climbing up onto the roof?"

Xiahou Fang instantly decided this was a brilliant idea, yet he had no desire to go up himself.

Since there were restrictive barriers blocking ascent further up, climbing onto the roof might prove equally hazardous.

He gave Ning Xianyue a shove, "You, go up. Tell me whatever you see."

Ning Xianyue pointed at herself in astonishment, "Me, go up?"

Why on earth should she?

Xiahou Fang said coldly, "This deity commands you to go."

Fine. Since she couldn't beat him, she had no choice but to obey.

Accepting her fate, Ning Xianyue looked left and right, "But how am I supposed to get up there?"

Xiahou Fang glanced around and spotted a towering tree, "Climb up the trunk, then jump onto the roof. Don't worry, if you happen to fall, this deity will catch you."

Catch her my foot!

Ning Xianyue discovered that ever since she arrived here, her system had lost connection once again, leaving her with no one to hear her inward rants. She felt utterly depressed.

This damn system was too useless. Whenever she encountered illusions or barriers, it would lose contact. She would definitely file a complaint later.

With no other choice, she inched her way up the tree trunk bit by bit.

Having grown up in the city as a lazy homebody who loathed even running an eight-hundred-meter dash, she had never climbed a tree in her life.

Asking her to climb a tree now was a truly cruel torment.

Helpless, Xiahou Fang grabbed her by the collar and tossed her onto a branch.

Clinging to the tree trunk in terror, Ning Xianyue wailed, "I don't want to go up! I'm scared! You should go up yourself!"

Xiahou Fang bellowed from below, "Do you want to come down and have this deity go up himself?"

His eyes were filled with chilling coldness and murderous intent, sending a shiver of dread even through Ning Xianyue up in the tree.

Frightened into silence, she dared not say another word and could only crawl forward.

Drawing closer and closer to the eaves, she was just about to reach out and touch them when, for reasons unknown, she heard a sharp snap.

The branch beneath her seemed unable to support her weight, cracking loudly before finally breaking clean through.

With a terrified shriek, Ning Xianyue clutched the branch and plummeted straight down.

And at that exact moment, Xuanyuan Tunhan happened to walk into the courtyard.