Ex-Wife is a Big Villainess
Chapter 728 - 360: Taoyuan?

At this moment, he and Xiao Lingqiu were still trapped on that ship, as though everything had been frozen, and even time had ceased to flow.

Although Xiao Lingqiu had regained some of her strength, she still couldn’t stand properly. She could only lean against the door of the cabin, looking up at the water curtain as thin as a cicada’s wing, lost in thought.

She was wearing the black dress Jiang Shouzhong had given her, the fabric fitting her figure and tracing her curves.

Meanwhile, Jiang Shouzhong had casually tied a piece of cloth around his waist.

"Do you think we’ll die here?"

Xiao Lingqiu suddenly asked.

Jiang Shouzhong, who was still examining the red powder skull inside the crystal coffin, responded irritably, "If you want to die, do it yourself. I’m not going to sit here waiting for death with you."

Xiao Lingqiu said faintly, "Sometimes, life and death are beyond our control."

Jiang Shouzhong ignored her.

He had a vague intuition that the key to leaving this place lay in this skeleton.

Jiang Shouzhong tried to touch the skull, but as soon as his fingers reached the bones, the pink skeleton immediately dissolved into countless tiny pink light particles, drifting slowly within the coffin, dreamlike yet slightly eerie.

When he withdrew his hand, those pink light particles reassembled into the shape of the skeleton.

Jiang Shouzhong frowned, his eyes glancing at the copper lamp in his other hand. After some hesitation, he moved the eerie white flame of the copper lamp closer to the skeleton.

At the moment of contact, strands of icy white mist streamed out from the lamp’s flame, enveloping the red powder skeleton.

Soon after, the skeleton once again transformed into pink light particles.

But this time, those pink light particles, along with the cold mist, were absorbed into the copper lamp.

The flame in the copper lamp also extinguished as a result.

Staring at the now-empty crystal coffin, Jiang Shouzhong was somewhat bewildered.

He pressed the recessed area at the bottom of the copper lamp, but it didn’t react.

What’s going on?

Before he could figure it out, the ship beneath his feet suddenly began to rise, floating on the water’s surface. Then the ship slowly moved forward, ripples spreading across the water and pushing aside waves.

It was as if time, previously stagnant, had started flowing again.

The scenery around them had changed as well. On both sides were dense forests, the lake water had turned slightly murky, and occasionally fish leaped out of the water, splashing up waves.

From time to time, strange bird calls, reminiscent of crow caws, could be heard from the shores.

Xiao Lingqiu shifted from her initial astonishment to contemplation.

She stared at the copper lamp in Jiang Shouzhong’s hand and spoke:

"I once read a legend in the secret archives of the Great Witch God Su Gu. It spoke of an extremely mysterious peach blossom paradise during the time of the Emperor.

Anyone who stepped into it would be trapped on a ship. Without the Guiding Divine Lamp to break through the illusions there, they would remain confined for a lifetime, unable to enter the peach blossom paradise."

Peach blossom paradise?

Jiang Shouzhong was stunned upon hearing this and speculated, "Could this lamp perhaps be the fabled Guiding Divine Lamp?"

Xiao Lingqiu shook her delicate head and replied, "I don’t know. I just suddenly remembered that story."

Jiang Shouzhong walked to the bow of the ship and found a mist cloud ahead.

The bright sunlight had dimmed considerably.

Unable to tell if dangers were hidden within the mist, Jiang Shouzhong carefully inspected the ship again and confirmed that it couldn’t stop or turn around. He stayed by Xiao Lingqiu’s side to ensure she wouldn’t be attacked by any sudden monsters.

Xiao Lingqiu understood that Jiang Shouzhong was protecting her, and the tense expression on her graceful face softened.

She wanted to utter the words "thank you," but recalling the bite marks left on her by him, the gratitude welled up but was swallowed back, as she turned her head to maintain an indifferent demeanor.

The ship slowly sailed into the mist.

Afraid that the mist might be poisonous, Jiang Shouzhong told Xiao Lingqiu to cover her mouth while he tested the air with a few breaths.

After confirming that the mist was non-toxic, he signaled for her to breathe normally.

The mist was dense, seemingly endless. Jiang Shouzhong could no longer discern the surroundings clearly, so he simply sat beside Xiao Lingqiu, waiting for the ship to stop on its own.

"Are there any other records about the peach blossom paradise?" Jiang Shouzhong asked.

Xiao Lingqiu shook her head. "It’s all fragmented tales that no one takes seriously. Honestly, if I hadn’t witnessed all this with my own eyes, I could hardly imagine such a mysterious place existing in this world."

"It is indeed fascinating."

Jiang Shouzhong also found it surreal.

But considering that cultivators could undergo ascension to become immortals, such a fantastical hidden realm wasn’t entirely surprising.

Becoming an immortal...

Sparks of thought suddenly ignited within Jiang Shouzhong.

He glanced around at the foggy surroundings and muttered to himself, "Could this possibly be the so-called Immortal Realm?"

For ages, people had yearned for the Immortal Realm, yet no one could accurately describe what it looked like. Cultivators who ascended had never returned, leaving no opportunity for inquiry.

Especially with the pathway to ascension severed, the mystery deepened further.

The strange world they were currently in was utterly unlike the mortal realm.

Perhaps it truly was the Immortal Realm—it wasn’t impossible.

Jiang Shouzhong shared his speculation with Xiao Lingqiu and joked, "If this really is the Immortal Realm, then we’ve become immortals without ascension."

"Is becoming an immortal really worth it?"

Xiao Lingqiu turned to look at him, her gaze unintentionally brushing against the bronze-hued, muscular body of the man. Her eyes quickly shifted away.

Although she had seen it many times, each encounter with those sleek, well-defined muscles steeped in masculine energy brought an indescribable feeling in her heart.

Her heartbeat seemed to speed up ever so slightly.

Especially now that the two were sitting in close proximity, she could distinctly catch the scent of the man’s masculine aura.