Versatile Mage

Mo Fan and Ai Jiangtu searched the temple, yet the place was too crowded with people from Xixiong City or other places. It was impossible to find the demon spirit among the crowd.

They decided to visit the city after failing to find any clues in the temple. The city was lively and busy, but for some reason, there was something missing.

Mo Fan and Ai Jiangtu walked from the temple to the city. They took the same stairs, the same path, walked on the same street. Even the owner of the izakaya was the same. Mo Fan clearly remembered his gently flickering, tiny eyes.

However, Mo Fan could tell something was wrong with the city. He finally realized what it was when he almost reached the other side of Xixiong City.

The world in the illusion was like a GIF image. Unlike the real world where everyone was carrying on with their lives, the people and events in the illusion were like a scripted program. They would all return to their initial position after the loop restarted.

For example, they had seen an old woman dropping some fruits from her basket on the side of the road an hour ago. However, when they walked past the same place again, they saw the old woman dropping the fruits again in the same manner. Even the trails of the fruits when rolling on the ground were exactly the same. An old, yellow truck had just driven past, but it would drive past again some time later. They also heard the same honks from the harbor repeating after the same period of time.

“It seems like everything here is constructed based on the Wooden Clapper Demon Spirit’s memories, which is why the events kept repeating in the time frame that she remembered. Didn’t you notice the one particular area is somewhat blurry? It means she has never been to that part of the city, so she doesn’t have any memory of it.” Ai Jiangtu possessed the Space Element, and soon discovered the bugs in this illusionary world!

Mo Fan nodded, although he was fairly surprised on the inside. He did not think a small wooden clapper would be able to construct such an enormous world. He could not help but wonder at the wooden clapper’s background.

“If this world is constructed based on her memories, it’s most likely she’s still using her own identity here…” said Mo Fan.

“That’s right, you’ve already seen the demon spirit, you know what she looks like. All we need to do is to find her,” said Ai Jiangtu.

“I believe we’ve taken the situation too lightly. If we can wait until Jiang Yu and the others come back with some information, it will be easier for us to find Miyata!” said Mo Fan.

Ai Jiangtu nodded. He was about to say something when he smelled something. He subconsciously turned around, but there was nothing behind him.

“Did you smell something?” asked Ai Jiangtu.

“I did, it smells like Chinese mugwort,” said Mo Fan

It was fairly easy to identify the smell of Chinese mugwort when it was set aflame. Mo Fan remembered his dad often burned it to provide some relief for his stomach.

“Is there Chinese mugwort nearby?”

“I don’t think so… hang on, we have no sense of smell in this world. The scent has come from the outside. Strange, aren’t Nanyu and Jiang Shaoxu keeping an eye for us? Why are they burning Chinese mugwort? I think it’s right in front of…(cough cough) Holy crap, are they burning it right beside my nose? The smell, it’s too strong!” Mo Fan began coughing.

“What are they up to? Why are they burning Chinese mugwort close to us?” Ai Jiangtu was confused.

—

Back in the run-down temple, Jiang Yu was holding a stalk of burning Chinese mugwort and fanning it into Mo Fan and Ai Jiangtu’s noses. The two almost teared up from the strong smell.

“Is it going to work? Chinese mugwort is pretty common in our country, but the environment here in Japan isn’t suitable for their growth,” said Mu Tingying.

“Which is why, if they can find the place with Chinese mugwort, they will be able to find Miyata too. Didn’t you hear them sleep talking? They are most likely in Xixiong City from a few years ago,” said Jiang Yu.

—

Mo Fan and Ai Jiangtu were unaware that every conversation they had in the illusion would be spoken too in the real world. To the others, it simply looked like they were talking in their sleep.

Through their speech, Jiang Shaoxu and Nanyu were able to understand the world inside the vessel.

“By the way, didn’t you say that Miyata is actually a person from Xixiong City?” said Jiang Shaoxu to Jiang Yu.

“Yeah, Miyata’s house has a herb garden planted with wild chrysanthemums and Chinese mugwort. When some monk that knows the art of healing came to the temple, he needed to find a supply of natural herbs. Miyata would visit the temple occasionally to deliver the dried herbs, so she’s quite a regular of the temple,” said Jiang Yu.

“Then how did she become a dangerous demon spirit?” asked Jiang Shaoxu.

—

Inside the illusion of the wooden clapper…

The quick-witted Mo Fan immediately realized that someone in the outside world was trying to give them hints when he smelled Chinese mugwort. Otherwise, it did not make sense for them to burn a stalk of Chinese mugwort and fan its scent at them!

“It doesn’t make any sense. Why would they know what’s happening in this world?” said Ai Jiangtu.

“I feel like they do, should I try?”

“How?”

“Hey, if you assholes know what’s happening in here, please move the herb away, I can’t even breathe!” Mo Fan raised his head and cursed pointing at a cloud.

Ai Jiangtu was left speechless. He had failed to understand Mo Fan’s intelligence, coming up with such an unreliable approach!

However, Ai Jiangtu was soon dumbfounded when he discovered the scent of the Chinese mugwort weakening!

The heck? Did it actually work?

Ai Jiangtu was lost for words.

“It actually worked, HAH!” Mo Fan grinned. To confirm it once again, he added, “Ask Jiang Shaoxu to come closer, so I can smell her perfume!”

A while later, after the scent of the Chinese mugwort weakened, Mo Fan immediately captured Jiang Shaoxu’s alluring rose fragrance.

Ai Jiangtu had smelled it too. His tanned face had an utterly impressed expression.

“Come closer, come closer…hey, Ai Jiangtu, do you know that vixen Jiang Shaoxu has a natural body fragrance? She smells like roses even though she isn’t using any perfume. It smells quite nice. Mm? The smell is stronger, are her boobs right in front of us? Could this be the so-called boob fragrance?” Mo Fan wondered aloud.

As soon as Mo Fan finished the sentence, he immediately felt his face burning with pain.

Ai Jiangtu was startled, too. He took a closer look and saw a palmprint on Mo Fan’s face…

“It seems like they can hear whatever we say…” Ai Jangtu coughed awkwardly. “You should watch what you say.”