Chapter 205: I Underestimated You

Wan Shixuan was puzzled by Lin Xiao’s inexplicable behavior. If not for Lin Xiao’s recent display of formidable martial prowess that had left him terrified, he would have mocked him by now. There was no one beside him, yet Lin Xiao acted as if he saw someone. If that wasn’t foolishness, what was?

Unconcerned with Wan Shixuan’s thoughts, Lin Xiao stood solemnly two meters away.

“Come out, I see you.”

“Kikiki, I didn’t expect you to notice me. Indeed, I was not mistaken about you, your skill is at least at the late stage of Dark Force, perhaps even at the peak.”

Following a silvery laugh, ripples appeared in the air, and a graceful figure slowly materialized to Wan Shixuan’s right. Her radiant face smiled at Lin Xiao.

“Xuan Yue? You…”

Wan Shixuan stared in shock at the woman who had suddenly appeared beside him. It was Xuan Yue, the woman Lin Xiao found somewhat inscrutable.

As Xuan Yue appeared, the body that had been lying on the ground with a dart through its chest vanished like a bubble.

“What… what’s going on?” Wan Shixuan asked, visibly losing his composure.

In his mind, although Xuan Yue was formidable, she definitely did not possess such miraculous abilities. Yet the scene before him was truly shocking. Although deeply astonished, Wan Shixuan quickly grew excited. Regardless of how Xuan Yue had these abilities, Lin Xiao was a real threat to his life at that moment.

“Xuan Yue, help me kill him,” Wan Shixuan pointed at Lin Xiao, his face twisted with fury.

However, Xuan Yue did not respond to his plea but instead smiled sweetly at Lin Xiao and asked, “Are you trying to capture Wan Shixuan?”

“If I am?” Lin Xiao nodded, then looked at the beautiful Xuan Yue with a calm expression. “Do you plan to stop me?”

Although Lin Xiao appeared completely calm on the surface, the tension in his muscles showed that he was not as relaxed as he appeared.

Illusions, such a mystical art, were not actually mysterious.

Illusions were fundamentally about deceiving the human eye, creating a perception where what you see isn’t real, and what you think is false isn’t necessarily so.

Lin Xiao had encountered such illusions multiple times in his missions, used by Japanese ninjas or Indian ascetics, among others. Even Lin Xiao himself was versed in illusion techniques, though they varied in complexity.

The more basic illusions involved using the environment for camouflage, manipulating light and positioning to remain unseen. Sometimes, a person could stand right next to you without your knowledge due to such deception.

However, these were the most rudimentary forms of illusions, so basic that even untrained ordinary people could achieve similar effects through different methods.

The more advanced illusions could only be performed by trained practitioners. They employed mental power to manipulate the environment and deceive the senses, even distorting perception to make the illusionist see whatever they wanted, which could be terrifying.

Of course, while this type of mystic art was formidable, it was also extremely challenging to execute because mental power differed from internal energy. Internal energy could be cultivated gradually, step by step, but mental power involved the brain. It lacked specific training methods and was very risky, potentially leading to brain damage and vegetative states.

Therefore, practitioners who used illusions typically combined them with environmental elements, such as using dense forests for concealment rather than distorting the senses. These illusions might not be very powerful, but they consumed much less mental energy.

But now, Lin Xiao gazed at Xuan Yue with a serious expression.

When the dart hit Xuan Yue in the chest, he truly believed she was dead, which was why he had initially planned to capture Wan Shixuan.

Remember, he was a master of Flowing Force. Although he hadn’t specifically trained his mental powers, his profound transformation made it virtually impossible to distort his senses.

Yet, he had indeed been tricked by Xuan Yue’s manipulation of his senses, only realizing her presence when he was about two meters away from Wan Shixuan.

Such a high level of illusion and mental power warranted Lin Xiao’s cautious approach.

“Stop you? No, no, no, I’m not your match, I’m just giving you a heads-up. Do you really think you can capture Wan Shixuan?” Xuan Yue said with a shake of her head and a laugh, glancing at Wan Shixuan while Lin Xiao watched intently.

“What do you mean?” Lin Xiao asked, his voice tinged with confusion.

“What do I mean?” Xuan Yue didn’t elaborate further, “You’ll find out soon enough. I believe we’ll meet again.”

With those words, Xuan Yue’s figure suddenly vanished.

Lin Xiao frowned and quickly turned toward the villa’s entrance. Despite briefly falling for Xuan Yue’s trick, his profound cultivation enabled him to still sense her presence.

“I underestimated you,” a voice, tinged with surprise, echoed through the villa.

Following Lin Xiao’s gaze, a slight shadow appeared at what had been an empty doorway. Xuan Yue was surprised that Lin Xiao could sense her.

The shadow quickly vanished, leaving the doorway empty again.

Lin Xiao didn’t dwell on Xuan Yue’s disappearance.

Truthfully, he could have pursued and captured Xuan Yue. Her illusion techniques were indeed at a peak level, but when he got serious, with his master level of Flowing Force, Xuan Yue stood no chance against him.

However, his priority was Wan Shixuan. Chasing Xuan Yue would only give Wan Shixuan a chance to escape.

At that moment, Wan Shixuan also realized what was happening. He looked around the once again empty villa and yelled, “Xuan Yue, where are you? Don’t leave, you bitch! Don’t go, take me with you!”

But the villa remained silent. After a while, he finally gave up, his expression desolate as he turned to face Lin Xiao.

“How much did Wan Caixuan pay you? I’m willing to pay double, just let me go,” Wan Shixuan, though inwardly panicking, had regained his composure and tried to negotiate with Lin Xiao as he approached.

“We have no past grievances; offending me does you no good. You’ve also said that you won’t kill me, so it might be better to just let me go.”

“Save your breath for words that won’t be wasted,” Lin Xiao walked up to within two meters of Wan Shixuan and stopped. “No past grievances? Do you even believe that yourself?”