After Rebirth, the Heroine is Consumed by Overwhelming Regret Chapter 47

Foxes, it’s foxes again!
Yu Yan didn’t know if she was just cursed when it came to foxes, always ending up captured by them wherever she went. But then she thought, I’m already miserable enough, what’s a little more to fear?
She sneered, and her sharp sword flew from its sheath.
Youyu wasn’t actually a very good sword, but Yu Yan was highly talented. In her hands, a five-tenths quality sword could display ten-tenths of its power. The blade, carrying surging currents of water, shot towards the sky, spraying outwards in all directions like toppling mountains and overturning seas, searching for an exit for its master.
Water could find crevices invisible to the human eye.
This was also the cleverest and most direct method.
The water currents rushed out very far, almost covering the entire surrounding world, yet they showed no sign of returning. This meant there was indeed an exit, but it was highly likely distorted, making it impossible to leave even if found.
Yu Yan looked down. The cloth doll emitting black energy still lay at her feet. It was this thing that had cut off her spiritual sense earlier, preventing her from detecting the illusion formation.
Could it have other uses?
She casually formed a fire spell, intending to burn it.
But not burning it would have been better. Once it burned, the thing emitted thick black smoke. Yu Yan immediately realized this was a mistake and quickly covered it with a protective barrier, hopping back several steps to escape the smoke’s range.
But the pungent smell still lingered faintly in her mind. Yu Yan quickly checked her body. Finding no ill effects, she breathed a slight sigh of relief. Knowing she couldn’t stay put, she headed deeper into the alley.
Illusion formations weren’t hard to break; what was difficult was patience.
Yu Yan had studied formations for many years and knew the quickest way to dispel them. Many people became too flustered and anxious, falling into the trap of thinking they could find the formation’s core using certain spells or shortcuts, then press some mechanisms in order to escape.
In reality, it wasn’t like that at all.
There were no shortcuts to breaking an illusion formation.
It relied on patience and insight.
Illusion formations were built upon the foundation of the real world. Even if the area was expanded thousands of times, its anchor points still had to be in reality. Therefore, no matter how bizarre and grotesque an illusion formation was, there would always be parts that corresponded with reality.
And that place was often the key to escape.
She first walked through it roughly and found that the illusion formation trapping her was a long alley. This long alley was rooted in a real alley, and there were many similarities, making it difficult to identify the parts that corresponded with reality.
Although she had walked through it once, she hadn’t paid close attention at the time.
Which stone brick had a crack, which corner had weeds – these details were too minute. Even if she examined it inch by inch, it would be hard to find that specific detail immediately.
Besides—
Yu Yan was a bit confused. Didn’t that person say they wanted her to pay her blood debt in blood? Why have they only locked me up without any intention of attacking?
What exactly is their motive?
As if hearing her thoughts, the other person suddenly spoke: “Don’t waste your effort. You can’t get out. This is a prison I’ve researched for a long time and specially made for you. As long as I don’t release you, you’ll never escape. However, I won’t kill you for now. After all, Qi Qing is the one who killed my mother. I still need you to lure her here. Don’t worry, you two will be reunited soon.”
Yu Yan then realized this person was Hua Jiaolian.
Back then, the two of them had been forced by Hua Yayun in the secret realm and had nearly died in its collapse. They had no choice but to act against her. After that, Qi Qing had even paid the price of hibernating for half a year.
Nothing had happened during that half-year, and Yu Yan had thought it was all over. Who knew Hua Jiaolian had been investigating all along, likely using a soul-searching technique.
After discovering the truth, she blamed them for Hua Yayun’s death. It seemed she was also very clever, knowing how to use her strengths and feign weakness to lure people into a trap.
But trying to lure Qi Qing in was her miscalculation.
Yu Yan said coldly, “She and I are not together. Your scheme will likely fail.”
The other person was silent for a moment, then said, “You don’t need to worry about that.”
“We separated long ago,” Yu Yan said, half-truthfully. “She can’t contact me at all, nor will she know my location. So even if you wait until you die, you won’t get that result.”
Just as her voice fell, she suddenly heard a whooshing sound.
Qi Qing then dropped from above, looking as pristine as ever.
The two looked at each other, both somewhat stunned. Above them, Hua Jiaolian laughed endlessly, saying, “Didn’t you say she wouldn’t come to save you? It seems your estimation was off. Good, this saves me the trouble of searching everywhere.”
With that, the alley before them suddenly changed. It transformed from an alley into individual rooms. The rooms encircled them in a ring. They didn’t know that, viewed from high above, these ring-shaped rooms had countless layers, slowly rotating, like many layers of a giant bearing stacked together.
“I’ve thought about it. Just killing you like this would be too easy. Aren’t you two deeply in love? Then let me see if you can truly live and die together.
If you can pass the test, I’ll give you a way out. If your luck is bad and one of you dies, or both of you die, then you can only blame fate for having eyes.”
Hua Jiaolian smiled charmingly, but her words were heart-piercing. After her voice fell, the surrounding doors suddenly began to rotate, then spun faster and faster, until the Eight Gates and cosmic order were in utter disarray.
The two instinctively moved closer, standing back-to-back on guard.
But no danger rushed out. After spinning for a while, the doors’ rotation speed slowed down. Finally, one door stopped in front of them, while the other doors gradually faded away, leaving no trace.
“Isn’t this controlled by you?” Although Qi Qing didn’t know what was happening, she could recognize Hua Jiaolian’s voice from above and immediately fumed, “What if it’s directly lava inside?”
Hua Jiaolian said, “Relax, I’m not that sinister. When I say there’s a way out, there’s a way out. Qi Qing, I’ve already been merciful enough to you. You killed my mother, and I haven’t killed you directly. That’s already an act of extraordinary leniency. Stop wasting words and hurry up and start.”
Qi Qing looked at the door. It was wide open, and inside it was pitch-black, impossible to see clearly. But she inexplicably felt uneasy, as if some fierce beasts were hidden within.
“Do we really have to listen to her? Is there any other way?”
She was asking Yu Yan. Since Qi Qing had arrived, Yu Yan hadn’t said a word to her. But things had reached this point, and not speaking was no longer an option. She could only hope Yu Yan wouldn’t ignore her.
Yu Yan was silent for a moment, then said, “This kind of precise magic artifact wasn’t made by her. She probably doesn’t have the ability to control it. We can try; success isn’t impossible.”
Seeing Yu Yan was finally willing to speak to her, Qi Qing felt greatly relieved inwardly, but she couldn’t show too much joy on her face. She just said, “Did she capture you and bring you here?”
“No, I… I came here myself, but I fell for her trick,” Yu Yan said. “How did you find me?”
I should have blocked every possible way I could be found.
“Jiu Chan has a divine artifact that can locate you,” Qi Qing said, then remembered about the fox. She had come down too quickly just now and hadn’t noticed if Jiu Chan was behind her. “Oh no, she’s still outside.”
“It’s good that she’s outside,” Yu Yan said. “See if you can contact her. Tell her to find Hua Jiaolian. This divine artifact is too powerful; we can’t escape on our own.”
Qi Qing quickly took out a voice transmission talisman, but it couldn’t connect at all.
All voice transmission magic tools were also malfunctioning.
She said dejectedly, “It’s no use.”
Yu Yan had actually anticipated this. She sighed, “You shouldn’t have come in. Maybe with one person outside, we could find a solution faster.”
“I know,” Qi Qing said. “I was just too anxious, afraid you’d be in danger inside. This way, if anything happens, we’ll face it together.”
Yu Yan was silent for a moment, a pang of sorrow welling up in her heart. She knew Qi Qing was this kind of person. When they had first met, Qi Qing had also done life-or-death things for her.
Perhaps Qi Qing is just like that, so warm-hearted to everyone, and it has nothing to do with romantic love.
Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly heard the sound of mechanisms.
Turning her head, she saw the surrounding walls advancing, slowly pressing towards the center. Hua Jiaolian above also began to speak: “Stop being all sentimental here. No matter how nice your words sound, they can’t compare to a real test. Let’s see how you two act when faced with a real choice. Heh, I’m really looking forward to it.”
As she spoke, the speed at which the walls were shrinking suddenly increased.
The two were forced to the doorway, with no path of retreat.
Helpless, they could only jump into the room to escape. After they entered, they heard the sound of the walls closing outside. If they hadn’t gone in, they would have been crushed into pulp.
Yu Yan was about to speak when she found her body bound. She was kneeling on a floating stone, a faint breeze brushing her back. Before her was an endless void.
And on the other side of the void was Qi Qing.
The void between them was bottomless. Only a suspended path of floating stones connected them. The talisman papers beneath the floating stones were as thin as cicada wings; one glance told them they could only be used once. Before one could step a second time, they would immediately fall.
To put it bluntly, it was a one-way path.
And parallel to this path in the void, there was another path of floating stones. At the end of this other path was a familiar figure—Ling Aorui. They were each at the end of one such path; if Qi Qing chose one path, she couldn’t take the other.
“You see it too, don’t you? You can only take one path, and you can only save one person. Qi Qing, come, make your choice.”
Hua Jiaolian’s voice sounded, tinged with mockery.
“Let me remind you first, both of these people are real. The one you don’t choose will immediately fall into the void. They will really die, you know.”
Ling Aorui’s voice also sounded at the right moment: “Qingqing, I beg you, save me, please? I don’t want to be separated from you again.”
Yu Yan’s heart sank. As expected, Ling Aorui is here too.
She looked down. The void beneath her feet was bottomless. If she fell, her body would be utterly destroyed. Qi Qing will definitely choose Ling Aorui, right? They just reunited after a long separation and are getting married soon. Why set up such a pointless test? Wouldn’t it be better to just kill me directly?
She closed her eyes, not wanting to hear the verdict.
“Whether it’s real or fake, I will always choose the person I love.” Qi Qing’s voice sounded faintly. “So, I’m sorry. The life you owe me, repay it now.”