Chapter Seventeen.

When Duan Xinyue enters his room back at Qingfeng Pavilion he's welcomed by the sweet aroma of chrysanthemum tea on the table. Beside the tea there are several pieces of jujube cake. He picks one piece of cake and takes a bite. The cake tastes uniquely sweet, a little different from the rest of the jujube cakes he has tasted before. He feels a little nostalgic while eating them. It's like they taste exactly the same as the ones he used to eat during his childhood. Su Jiali comes in with sets of folded clean robes.

"Thanks for doing the laundry for me," Duan Xinyue says with a large piece of cake still stuffed in his mouth.

"You are enjoying the cakes just like we expected."

"What do you mean? I always love jujube cakes. Who made these? They taste different."

" Madam Ruo,"Su Jiali smiles waiting for his reaction.

Duan Xinyue almost spits out the chewed pieces of cake from his mouth on hearing that Madam Ruo was the one who made them.

"Don't worry she didn't poison you. She refused to let us taste them so a few showgirls and I stole one each and we're still alive."

" Did she make lots of them?"

"Yeah."

"Oh I forgot I have my lecture in the afternoon."

Duan Xinyue rushes to the bathroom to bathe. When he comes back he finds Madam Ruo seated on his bed. He gets shocked that he returns to the bathroom and yells at her to leave.

"I wasn't going to stay anyway. I bought you a new fur cloak. Remember to wear it when you go out."

Madam Ruo's voice and actions portray motherly affection towards Duan Xinyue. He even stays at the bathroom for a while even after Madam Ruo leaves. He's not used to this version of Madam Ruo. He only knows the pervert version of her.

For the following few weeks Duan Xinyue attends all his lectures and does his tasks diligently. At White Pavilion Lei Qiang and Hong Yi are discussing the slight change in Duan Xinyue's behaviour.

"You said his alchemy skills have improved ?"Lei Qiang laughs sarcastically," With his skills I think he should be the one teaching the disciples instead of Miss Du."

Lei Qiang is clever enough to figure out Duan Xinyue knows a lot about alchemy than one can imagine yet he allows him to stay at the sect and attend all the lectures.

In the evening Duan Xinyue passes by White Pavilion before leaving for home.Wei Yi happens to be there too. Wei Yi and Lei Qiang are playing chess and each time Lei Qiang emerges the winner. Duan Xinyue is seated between them like some sort of judge. He studies and figures out how Lei Qiang reasons before moving the chess pieces so when his turn to play comes he defeats Lei Qiang in one go.

After playing several rounds, Duan Xinyue is the first to leave. By the time he leaves the sect, darkness has already covered the earth. Wei Yi stays over and takes dinner together with Lei Qiang. As he's about to leave two dark figures leaping on the roof attract his attention. Hong Yi and Lei Qiang get out of the pavilion to find out who the intruders are. Without hesitating, Hong Yi quickly flies to the top of the roof to fight one of the intruders. The other dark figure flies down and attacks both Lei Qiang and Wei Yi.

Wei Yi can only dodge the attacks since he has no sword. Lei Qiang instructs him to go back to the pavilion as he remains behind to fight the attacker. Lei Qiang fights fiercely and when the dark figure sees he's at a disadvantage,he creates an illusion where several dark figure versions of him appear at the same time making it hard for Lei Qiang to identify who the real attacker is so Lei Qiang can only attack all of the figures.

The dark figure fighting with Hong Yi on the roof leaps away and disappears. Hong Yi flies down to help his master fight the several figures. Wei Yi is standing somewhere outside White Pavilion and watching the fight happily like someone watching a cockfight. He acknowledges Lei Qiang's martial arts skills. The dark figure sprays a certain powder at them and disappears.

The powder is called Illusion powder. It creates illusions of the place you desire to be or people you to be with the most. It creates a misty atmosphere making the victim to be trapped in the illusion. In Lei Qiang's case he can only see his younger self calling out his Shifu while playing hide and seek with him. Hong Yi can only see his younger self being fed by his mother.

Wei Yi on the other hand tries to rescue them from the illusion. He takes a hold of the flute that he is always carrying and plays a mind calming tune which brings Lei Qiang and Hong Yi back to reality. The two seem to be very exhausted. Wei Yi holds Lei Qiang's hand as he's the most affected one and takes him back to the pavilion. He ensures they get in their beds before leaving.

When Wei Yi arrives at home,he finds his attendant Dragon Guard waiting for him with a number of envelopes which he hands over to him immediately. Wei Yi places them on the table and says he's too tired to read them.

"My Lord,is something wrong?"

"No."

There is a moment of silence for a while before Wei Yi begins speaking to himself," Illusions Lair have made their appearance,what is my uncle really thinking?"

"Illusions Lair ?"Dragon Guard asks loudly with a startled expression on his face.

Wei Yi ignores Dragon Guard's question and picks up one of the envelopes.

"As from tomorrow we won't be sending out letters in such big envelopes. How are the pigeons fairing?" Wei Yi speaks up with a solemn facial expression.

"They are doing well."

"Tomorrow send out one of them to deliver a letter to my uncle."

"Sure,My Lord."