CHAPTER 1997: CHAPTER 1996: YOUNG WEI YU

"I just saw the young Fen Jiu, but he couldn’t see me," Bai Ruozhu said again.

Jianqi was also puzzled, "But I can see you."

Bai Ruozhu nodded, "Let’s go check out the trial they’ve mentioned first. You should hide carefully."

"Yes."

Bai Ruozhu quickly followed the young Fen Jiu from earlier. She soon arrived at a spacious valley where more people had gathered.

Since no one could see Bai Ruozhu, she walked through directly, but Jianqi couldn’t do the same. He hid in the shadows temporarily to avoid being captured by the Jiuli people as a spy.

"Everyone, quiet down. The auspicious time is about to arrive, and this year, boys and girls who have turned sixteen can enter the trial," an elder began speaking. Bai Ruozhu guessed this was the great elder, and she saw Elder Su standing respectfully behind the elder, looking just over thirty.

"You all know that a person can only undergo the trial once in their lifetime, so I hope you take this opportunity seriously and strive to improve your skills. That way, when you venture out of the valley in the future, you’ll have a better grasp," the elder continued.

As soon as venturing out of the valley was mentioned, the young boys and girls below became excited. With youthful hearts, who wouldn’t want to see the great world outside?

At this moment, Bai Ruozhu finally saw the young Jiao Ling, who was quite different from her current aunt.

She stood there with her back straight, like a quiet and blooming orchid in an empty valley, though not allowing others to approach.

"Little Lingdang, make sure you perform well today, and don’t lose to me again," a boy made a face at her, who was none other than the young Fen Jiu.

The young Jiao Ling remained silent, seemingly lost in thought.

Bai Ruozhu’s heart tightened. Could it be that her aunt knows this is a dreamland?

She slowly moved closer and softly said, "Aunt, can you hear me? Do you know this is an illusory realm?"

Unfortunately, young Jiao Ling gave Bai Ruozhu no response, instead turning her head in a different direction.

"Wei Yu is here!" a girl exclaimed from not far away, "He’ll definitely take the top spot this year; he’s the strongest of our generation."

Bai Ruozhu finally saw Wei Yu and couldn’t help but gasp.

This Wei Yu was greatly different from now, wasn’t he?

If Jiao Ling’s appearance had changed because of her suffering, which made her look older than her peers with slightly drooped eyes and mouth corners, losing the brilliance of her younger years,

Then at his youth, Wei Yu was unexpectedly handsome, though his handsomeness carried a slight enchantment, suggesting a hint of frivolity if not matched by his serious expression.

The young Wei Yu ignored everyone and walked to Jiao Ling’s side, whispering, "You’re not on good terms with them. Stick with me later."

The young Jiao Ling was stunned for a moment, then slightly nodded. On the other side, the young Fen Jiu clenched his fists in anger, secretly determining that he would quietly follow the pair later.

Bai Ruozhu took everything in and understood why her aunt liked Wei Yu back then. If it were her, she might also be enamored with such a man.

Considering her aunt’s special identity, she was Jiao Yunyun’s child with someone from another tribe without the clan’s permission. Looking at others’ attitudes, it was easy to see that these young girls somewhat ostracized her.

Thus, Wei Yu’s concern left an impression on her heart easily.

Just at this moment, the young Wei Yu suddenly turned to look in Bai Ruozhu’s direction, startling her. Could Wei Yu have woken up?

"What’s wrong?" Jiao Ling asked in confusion.

Wei Yu withdrew his gaze, "Nothing, I just felt like someone was watching me, but there’s no one over there. I must be too sensitive."

Jiao Ling’s mouth twitched slightly, "Many people are watching you here."

"The auspicious time has come, and the trial begins!" The great elder’s voice echoed, and Wei Yu said no more, grabbing Jiao Ling’s hand and quickly heading towards the trial ground.

The sound of many people gasping could be heard around, and some women even cursed at Jiao Ling. Wei Yu’s action stirred quite a few people.

Bai Ruozhu closely followed the pair into the trial ground, turning back quickly, only to find Jianqi couldn’t enter.

She could only faithfully follow the two, as no one could see her; she was temporarily safe.

"Let go!" Jiao Ling said through gritted teeth, her voice low.

Wei Yu’s ruby-red thin lips slightly curled up, as if in a good mood, "I won’t let go. The secret realm will separate people. We agreed to be together."

Bai Ruozhu instinctively grasped Jiao Ling’s clothes upon hearing this, and then a feeling of dizziness overcame her. The next moment, she was in the secret realm with Wei Yu and Jiao Ling.

She looked at Wei Yu’s expression. He held onto Jiao Ling’s hand tightly, as if afraid of losing his treasure. Bai Ruozhu recalled that before entering the illusory realm, he had said he pursued Jiao Ling to provoke Fen Jiu, but how could she tell when he held Jiao Ling, he didn’t care about Fen Jiu’s reaction?

Indeed, Bai Ruozhu felt Wei Yu acted like a youth experience his first love upon meeting his beloved.

Perhaps even the greatest Evil Demon once had true love; they just changed afterward.

The two faced the trial together, and Bai Ruozhu, following behind, learned some things about the trial, which would be beneficial as she had agreed to Elder Su to participate in the Jiuli trial.

Along the way, the pair faced great danger when Jiao Ling unwittingly stepped on an underground mechanism, sending a series of dark arrows toward her.

"Little Ling, be careful!" Wei Yu shouted, leaping towards Jiao Ling.

Bai Ruozhu anxiously tried to fend off the dark arrows. She knew the present Jiao Ling didn’t possess future mechanical puppets and the trial prohibited using mechanical puppets and poisonous insects, leaving only her own abilities to navigate.

Unfortunately, her dagger seemed to hit empty air against the dark arrows, failing to stop them from heading towards Jiao Ling.

"Aunt!" Bai Ruozhu knew it was an illusory realm, a past event in their memories, yet she couldn’t help but feel nervous.

In the next moment, Wei Yu let out a muffled groan and fell to the ground.

"Wei Yu, are you okay? Why did you shield me?" Jiao Ling’s eyes reddened, reaching to pull the short arrow from his shoulder. "What do we do? You’re bleeding a lot!"

Being just a fifteen-year-old girl, Jiao Ling quickly panicked. It was Wei Yu who reminded her to help bandage him, and she finally responded, tearing some cloth to bandage his wound.

"I’m fine. Let me rest against you for a moment." Wei Yu leaned entirely into Jiao Ling, holding her as he drifted into sleep.

Bai Ruozhu watched and sighed; neither of them had brought any hemostatic medicine?

While Wei Yu slept, Bai Ruozhu tried calling out to Jiao Ling again, but unfortunately, Jiao Ling couldn’t hear her voice.

Wei Yu woke up after only a half-hour nap and promptly suggested, "Let’s continue moving forward."

"Is your wound healed?" Jiao Ling asked.