The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

"I'm determined to go to Wuchi."

Tang Xixue's voice was resolute.

"As long as you're alive, there's at least hope, and you can still feel the sunshine and warmth."

"As for obsessions... forget them and forget them. What's wrong with finding something new?"

"As long as he can still open his eyes and see the colors of this world, what does it matter whether he remembers me or not?"

"At worst, I'll get to know him again. I'll tell him all the things I've forgotten about him, one by one."

Her voice trailed off here.

"It's okay if you forget. As long as I remember."

These words carried an almost extravagant sense of magnanimity.

Feng Zhuo stood behind her, turning his head to the side, his nose slightly red.

The Xuan Tian Pavilion Master continued walking forward.

His back remained cold and hard, his steps steady, but his turning around was a beat slower than before.

How do you know that person wants to live?

He asked in a low voice without turning around.

In stark contrast to the coldness and sternness he displayed when questioning Shen Duo, his voice now carried a hint of probing.

There's also envy for those who are kept very well hidden.

"I know. He wants to live."

Tangxi Xue responded.

She doesn't need to explain any further.

She saw his last smile, the glimmer of light in his eyes that hadn't yet faded.

He opened his eyes so forcefully just to see her one more time, and to see the dawn one more time.

He was someone who wanted to live so much, and he kept trying to live on. How could he not want to live?

The Xuan Tian Pavilion Master did not ask any further questions.

"Okay. Then come with me."

He raised his hand and gently tapped the stone wall at the end of the passageway three times with his fingertips.

Two long and one short, with a distinct rhythm.

"The true pool of Guixu Palace lies deeper within."

As soon as the knocking sound ended, the entire stone wall silently caved inward, revealing layers upon layers of intricate mechanisms behind it.

The gears and chains turn slowly, each tooth precisely meshing with the other.

They push and pull each other, like a clock that has been turning for thousands of years.

The gears varied in size, some as large as a carriage cover and others as small as a copper coin, yet they all fit together perfectly, producing a very soft and precise clicking sound when they turned.

Feng Zhuo stared in astonishment for a moment.

"Rumor has it that the mechanical arts of Tiangong City are unparalleled in the world. Seeing it today, the rumors are indeed true."

The Xuan Tian Pavilion Master did not respond to the praise, but simply raised his hand slightly.

As he moved his fingertips, the gears suddenly accelerated, and rows of dark gold inscriptions lit up on the walls on both sides of the passage, awakening the dormant ancient formation.

Then, the entire tunnel began to slowly sink.

The entire section of ground gently sank downwards, as if sinking into an unseen deep sea.

"A truly poolless environment?"

Feng Zhuo snapped out of his daze.

"You mean all those outside are fake?"

"Half true, half false."

The Xuan Tian Pavilion Master talked as he walked, his steps never faltering.

"Some are poisonous pools, some are defective products. Only the deepest part can truly wash away obsessions and preserve one's wisdom."

"Why are you telling us this? What makes you think you can help us? Why are you being so helpful for no reason?"

"I have my reasons."

"What reason?"

"I cannot disclose that information."

"How long will this inconvenience last?"

Tang Xixue asked a question.

The Xuan Tian Pavilion Master was speechless. He felt that his mask could not hide his secret.

"When the time comes, you will know."

"Playing hard to get," Feng Zhuo muttered.

"Burn it."

Tang Xixue interrupted him.

"Let's go."

Feng Zhuo remained silent and followed behind.

Mu Liang patted his shoulder very lightly as she passed by.

Tang Xixue walked at the back, and as she passed the stone wall full of mechanisms, she stretched out her finger and touched the spot where the three taps had been made very lightly and quickly.

Her fingertips touched the cold metal, and she lowered her eyes.

She had seen the same method before.

Many years ago, in some corner of Baiyujing, someone knocked on her window with the same rhythm, bringing her medicine.

She didn't say anything.

She simply withdrew her hand and followed in his footsteps.

The passageway suddenly narrowed at that moment.

The walls on both sides transformed from jade to dark metal, and ancient mechanisms counted time between the gears.

At the end of the passageway, a stone door is slowly opening to both sides.

The light shining through the door rushed towards me.

The clear, deep blue color is as if someone had placed an entire deep sea in the deepest part of the earth.

There is no pond, it's right there.

As the stone gate opened, Tang Xixue suddenly paused.

"What's wrong?"

Feng Zhuo asked warily.

"It's nothing."

Tang Xixue said softly.

She suddenly smelled the scent of herbs in the air, a scent that seemed strangely familiar.

The taste was the same as that of the Xuan Tian Pavilion Master wearing a mask.

His voice was filtered through the mask, and his face was obscured by black iron, but she had smelled the faint herbal scent emanating from him before.

Some people don't need to be judged by their faces or heard by their voices.

Whether you ask or not, some things are already clear.

As Tang Xixue walked past him, she paused slightly.

"Sect Master."

"Hmm. What's wrong? Are you scared?"

The Xuan Tian Pavilion Master was puzzled.

"No, I just wanted to say... thank you."

Tang Xixue's words caused the Xuan Tian Pavilion Master to stiffen slightly.

The deep blue water rippled quietly before them, existing since the beginning of time.

The air by the pool was dry and warm, a stark contrast to the cold and damp atmosphere of other parts of Guixu Palace.

"There's no poison here. Put him in."

The deep blue water shimmered slightly beneath his feet.

The light fell on him, clearly outlining the contours of the mask.

"Is there still poison in the pond?"

Tangxi Xue asked calmly.

"some."

Jiu Fangzhi's gaze fell on the surface of the pool, his voice calm.

"Previously, there was a pool without a pond, which became a poisonous pool. The puppets that were resurrected from that pool were not very intelligent."

These words, though spoken lightly, are tantamount to stating one thing directly.

The absence of a pool has always been a method used by the Guixu Palace to create puppets.

Of those people pulled from the pond, how many actually came back?

How many are merely walking corpses, their memories and emotions wiped away, leaving only obedient shells?

No one knows.