"Yino, there’s a new collectible here!"
Ruoning had sharp eyes, she imdiately spotted a small box tucked away on a corner table.
She held up the box to show Yino first, and only after he nodded permission did she carefully open it.
"This is... a ring?"
The girl blinked curiously.
"Wait, the flower carved on this ring feels sohow..."
Ruoning murmured, her beautiful eyes gradually becoming srized by the ring.
At so point, Yino stepped forward and tapped her shoulder, pulling her back from the ring’s illusion to reality.
"That’s a Red Spider Lily. Don’t stare at it too long, just put it on."
"Red Spider Lily... wait... I’m wearing it?"
"When we defeated the breeding monster earlier, we got one ring. This one hidden in the secret chamber makes a perfect pair."
Yino explained, raising his hand to show the ring on his fingertip.
Ruoning stepped closer to compare. She discovered the two rings indeed had the sa number of petals.
However, Yino’s ring showed vibrant Red Spider Lily blooms, while Ruoning’s appeared much more gray and withered.
"I suspect that if these Red Spider Lily rings are worn by lovers, they’ll activate hidden stat bonuses."
"Of course, if you really think the Red Spider Lily has bad symbolism, I could have Jinyue or Yuebai try instead."
Seeing Ruoning still staring at the ring in a daze, Yino glanced sowhat helplessly at the two eager little foxes nearby.
In his previous life, Yino had obtained this ring before.
However, both rings had very low stat bonuses, pretty disappointing as boss room drops and collectibles.
That’s when Yino began suspecting the description of these Red Spider Lily rings.
The description read sothing like "Lovers cross to the other shore, yearning thoughts bloom into flowers", typical flower symbolism.
Yino theorized the rings had so hidden couple buff, which would fit perfectly with the hero-saves-beauty story depicted in the murals.
But the problem was, in the ga, Ruoning who traveled with the protagonist wasn’t in a romantic relationship with Yino like now. So even if players found this ring pair in the secret chamber, they’d have to wear it alone. Even if given to Ruoning, she’d at most stuff it in her pocket, she’d never wear sothing so suspicious.
However... Yino had transmigrated now.
With Ruoning right here beside him, who wouldn’t want to try putting on couple rings with the ga’s aloof young miss to see what would happen?
"No! Don’t!"
"I was just srized by the Red Spider Lily—I never said I didn’t want to wear it!"
Seeing the two little foxes already eyeing the ring and wagging their tails, Ruoning panicked and quickly snapped out of her Red Spider Lily-induced trance.
Afraid the precious ring might be snatched away by the fox demons, she hurriedly slipped it onto her index finger as Yino suggested.
"How is it? Feel anything?"
After about two or three seconds of silence, Yino asked tentatively.
Ruoning looked confused too, glancing up at him. "I don’t know..."
"Try switching it to your ring finger, like the princess in the mural?"
"Ring... ring finger?"
The girl blinked. Though she didn’t understand the difference, she obediently complied.
But this ti, the mont the ring settled at the base of her finger, terrifying mystical power burst forth.
"?!"
For an instant, Yino saw Ruoning standing above a sea of flas in the vision.
He saw the blue-haired girl standing before him protectively.
He looked up to see a red-haired, golden-eyed woman in white robes positioned above nine suns in the sky.
A crimson divine sword descended from heaven. The blue-haired girl vanished in an instant, and Yino’s vision dissolved into black mist.
When Yino opened his eyes again, the blue-haired girl lay lifeless in his arms...
He looked up, trying to see who had killed her, but the vision seed to end there. After a mont’s daze, Yino’s consciousness returned to the dungeon chamber.
"This is... a scene the Palace Master witnessed when he was alive?"
"Then through illusion techniques, it inserted and Ruoning into those roles?"
Yino gently touched the ring on his ring finger, murmuring thoughtfully.
"Ahhhhhh!"
After a mont of silence, Ruoning also snapped back from the vision with a sharp cry.
Unlike Yino who had read the script, Ruoning was genuinely frightened. Her scream instantly filled the already claustrophobic dungeon chamber with tension.
As outsiders, Jinyue and Yuebai didn’t dare speak, silently edging closer to Yino.
"Don’t be afraid. I’m right here."
Yino roughly guessed Ruoning’s ntal state and stepped forward to pull the shaken girl into his arms.
After all, unlike Yino who knew the Liuli Illusion Realm’s script, she naturally had much less resistance to such imrsive visions.
"Yino... I think I saw our ending..."
"You saw that sea of flas too?"
Yino asked tentatively.
At his words, Ruoning’s delicate body trembled. She lifted her face with lingering fear and nodded obediently.
"Does this foretell... our future..."
She was still fixated on the mory from the ring.
This ti, Yino cut her off: "That’s the Liuli Palace Master’s mory, nothing to do with you and . It’s only because we’re challengers of this Illusion Realm that the vision substituted us as the protagonists in that sea of flas."
"The Palace Master’s mory...?"
"Right. The so-called Liuli Palace Master was actually your Liuli Sect’s missing sect leader from a century ago."
Yino said calmly.
When he ntioned the missing sect leader, Yuebai’s fox ears visibly perked up.
After all...
That day at the Liuli Sect’s back mountain, when Yino explained the Liuli Illusion Realm’s route to Yuebai, he’d also told her the truth about the realm.
"Regarding that piece of Liuli Sect history, I can only observe fragnts from these murals, I don’t know the full picture... I’m afraid only soone at Chaerin’s level would truly understand what happened back then."
Discussing this story, Yino shrugged helplessly.
In the ga, the Liuli Palace Master had gone mad, so Yino couldn’t learn the story through character dialogue.
His extensive knowledge of the Liuli Illusion Realm ca from farming the dungeon in his previous life, unlocking every floor and seeing so many murals that he could roughly piece together this as the Liuli Palace Master’s life story.
However...
Murals were ultimately fragnted plot pieces. There were still many mysteries about this history that even Yino didn’t know.
For example, in the Red Spider Lily ring vision, who was that red-haired, golden-eyed figure in white robes, and what exactly had the Liuli Palace Master and his lover experienced to end up being executed?
In the ga, without couples wearing the rings, this was Yino’s first ti seeing this hidden story cutscene.
"Next, each unlocked floor will have new murals and story fragnts."
"When we reach the final confrontation and et the Liuli Palace Master, perhaps the truth will finally co to light."
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