The two of them sat not far from Luo Mingzhi's dormitory, able to notice the situation there. When the police arrived, Luo Mingzhi spoke incoherently about what had just happened.
He Kao explained many things and introduced a lot of situations, so even if Luo Mingzhi wanted to relay it all, it wouldn't be easy. Later, she went to the police station with the officers, and a staff member patiently took her statement.
As for how much effort the police would expend to investigate and verify, that was another matter. Even if they investigated, they probably wouldn't find any clues.
He Kao and Lan Jiwan followed from a distance. Although they didn't enter the police station, they could still understand the situation inside. The officers didn't believe a word of what Luo Mingzhi said, not even half a word.
Luo Mingzhi relayed the information He Kao provided about techniques, sorcerers, Magic Sect, and Xiao Alliance to the police, but she explained it very disorderly and fragmented.
Judging by the police's reaction, it was obvious they felt this was too far-fetched. Perhaps the person had watched too many short dramas and gone crazy? But when it came to Luo Mingzhi, it almost made sense, as her mental state was already abnormal.
Before the statement was even finished, He Kao and Lan Jiwan left, as there was no need to listen any further.
In the morning sun, surrounded by the footsteps of city people and the flow of traffic, during the rush hour, Lan Jiwan spoke: "The police don't believe her at all."
He Kao: "Whether it's what she said or who she is, the police wouldn't believe her."
Lan Jiwan sighed inexplicably: "Even if you told her the truth, she wouldn't find the world that holds it. The world she faces now has become completely unfamiliar."
He Kao didn't speak but understood Lan Jiwan's point; perhaps it described Lan Jiwan's own past feelings.
After thinking for a moment, Lan Jiwan said again: "You did point her in a direction, but who knows if she can understand it."
He Kao pondered, "Some things just can't be done, but there are other things that aren't impossible, just unnoticed or unthought of. As for her, she might, as long as she wakes up; this person isn't actually stupid."
The matter was done, and He Kao was preparing to find a secluded place to send Lan Jiwan back to the Floating Colors Grotto Heaven. Lan Jiwan asked casually: "Are you in a hurry to send me back because you need to return to work?"
He Kao stopped in his tracks, looked into Lan Jiwan's eyes, and asked, "When did you guess my identity?"
Lan Jiwan stepped back and hurriedly explained, "No, I didn't! I don't know the identity of the Sect Leader, really don't know, don't want to ask, and wouldn't try to find out."
The Sect Leader Senior Brother is Hidden Moth; his true identity in the world is his greatest secret, also the safety guarantee for him and his close relatives, which is a taboo not to be touched, so it's no wonder Lan Jiwan would be so nervous.
He Kao: "I didn't say you knew, just asked when you guessed."
Lan Jiwan: "Blind guesses don't count. I would never say it, nor have I thought of coming to ask you."
He Kao laughed: "No need to be nervous; even if you guessed it, it's okay. Just help me keep it secret."
Lan Jiwan quickly lifted her head and said, "Of course, I will, just consider me completely ignorant!"
Lan Jiwan had met He Kao in person before; back when she was Li Chun's assistant in Nanhua, she even had meals with He Kao.
When He Kao appeared as Hidden Moth, it was usually with Feng Zilong's appearance and manner, but in some ways, Lan Jiwan was really familiar with him, enough to feel it without looking at appearance or manner.
Therefore, the first time she met He Kao in person, she felt a sense of closeness and familiarity, like meeting Senior Brother Huo Qing...
She guessed Hidden Moth's possible identity but never mentioned it to anyone, nor did she ask He Kao about it.
These things were revealed by He Kao today, and then the two reached a new mutual understanding.
After sending Lan Jiwan back to the Floating Colors Grotto Heaven, He Kao didn't go to work but stood by the street with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky. The sky was clear and blue without a trace of clouds.
His gaze seemed to penetrate the firmament, and beyond the sky, more sky... Though stars are invisible during the day, the boundless starry sky appeared before his eyes, as if he could see it if he wished.
In the next instant, he opened an invisible space portal and disappeared from where he stood, while the pedestrians around him seemed oblivious.
He left Qi Yuan, crossed Gu Lake, entered the neighboring province, and arrived in the northern suburbs of Wucheng City, at the foot of Jingteng Mountain. This mountain was formerly known as Zhaoting, renamed to Jingteng to avoid taboo in later generations—
All the birds fly high, a solitary cloud drifts idly away.
Gazing at each other, neither tires, save for Jingteng Mountain.
The countryside children of Taibai's poem can recite it fluently, with the utmost conciseness of white depiction, it achieves the ultimate artistic conception words can reach. At this moment, recalling the poem, He Kao felt a poignant sentiment.
Standing amidst the mountains, he couldn't find a better description than the poetic imagery.
He passed through the ancient Zhaoting gate, climbed the mountain path step by step, and soon reached the halfway point of the mountain. There lay the ruins of an ancient nunnery, in front of which was a well named "Tiger Peeping Spring."
Tiger Peeping Spring was in a triangular pavilion; with a light touch, He Kao lifted the heavy well cover. The well was deep, and the water surface reflected the well's opening like a hanging full moon.
He Kao looked down at the moon, and his face appeared in the moon's circle, now showing his true face.
He smiled, then turned to sit on the pavilion railing and slightly stretched his hand to open a book, "Divine Travel." He didn't actually carry any book; this one was simply conjured from thin air.
As a young person in the new era, He Kao certainly read many online novels. After engaging with techniques, he particularly enjoyed fantasy, cultivation, and xianxia novels. This was the one he read most frequently.
In the story, these events unfold in a place called Wucheng, where, from ancient times to the present, many cultivators and even immortals have left their traces in Jingteng Mountain.
He Kao's footprints have illuminated many places in the world, he had been here before and found nothing, after all, a novel is just a novel...but today's situation is quite different.
He has a small realization, just after sending off Lan Jiwan, from looking up at the sky to the series of actions in this present moment, as if verifying something.
He opened the book and hasn't turned the page since, yet one hand occasionally swipes on the pages, smoothly transitioning the text to another page. Clearly a paper book, yet he plays with it as though it were touch screen.
As the time approached noon, the scorching sun was high in the sky, and no tourists were seen on the mountain path, yet a silver-haired man strolled leisurely down from the direction of the Green Snow Tea Garden, verbally reciting —
"Jingteng for poem ink, Qingjiang lays the scroll. Nanyi Pool autumn inkstone, the brush splashes Wucheng moon."
Hearing the voice, He Kao put away his book, and greeted with a smile, "Mr. Feng, what poem are you reciting?"
The man was named Feng Junzi, someone He Kao has never met before, how did he know him? Interestingly, this Mr. Feng was precisely a character from the book he was just reading, yet walked out from the book to stand before him.
Mr. Feng smiled and said, "An impromptu piece to set the scene, it's about the Four Treasures of Wucheng. Recently, the city is hosting a Four Treasures Festival and invited me to act as a recommendation officer to help promote."
He Kao said, "This limerick of yours, compared to the famous compositions of this mountain, is quite average."
Mr. Feng gave him a glaring look, "Whose standard are you talking about, don't you have a clue yourself? According to your stereotype, am I just idling all day reciting poetry in Jingteng Mountain?"
He Kao bowed and said, "Thank you for the guidance!"
Mr. Feng waved his hand and went down the mountain on his own.
He Kao sat down again, looked up to the sky, and also recited, "As usual, not aware of entering illusion, dreams preserve the ancient and continue the interaction. In the world, my reflection often shines upon me, still in the dust, yet unrelieved."
Though it was still noon, suddenly, the moon was already hanging high in the sky, an unknown year and month's full moon coming into view, then in the blink of an eye shifted to a waxing crescent moon at the horizon.
With the falling moonlight gradually lowering his gaze...when he looked around again, he was no longer in Jingteng Mountain.
Surrounding him were swaying tree shadows, he was still sitting deep within a tranquil valley in Qihuang Spirit Garden, where he personally set up the Tai Chi Yin Yang Array, he had just taken the Pure Yang Pill with Mei Guyu here.
The early moonlight slanted through the tree shadows, Mei Guyu was sitting quietly nearby beneath a tree, seeming to be waiting for something.
Upon seeing He Kao open his eyes, Mei Guyu stood up and bowed, "Congratulations Senior Brother on breaking the Illusion Realm, achieving great success in cultivation!"
He Kao also stood up and returned the gesture, asking a bewildering question, "What date is it now?"
Mei Guyu did not mind, but with curiosity looked at He Kao and replied, "It's still June 29th, 2005, no wait, it's past midnight now, it should be June 30th... don't know which year and month you returned from?"
He Kao thought for a moment, "It should be October 19th, but after that, the time is unclear."
Can one exist in the same space but come from different times? Actually, what He Kao referred to was the Illusion Realm, in reality, he had been sitting here all along, the time was June 30th early morning.
He took pills with Mei Guyu, from the evening of June 28th at 9 pm to the morning of June 29th at 9 am, after finishing the pills they chatted a bit, specifically discussing the method of "breaking illusion before breaking the gate."
Then He Kao slightly stabilized in sitting meditation to nourish divine qi and left Qihuang Spirit Garden to return to Qi Yuan...actually from then on, his experience had already unfolded as an Illusion Realm.
What he considered brief sitting meditation was in fact sitting until late at night, without knowing when he had already entered the Illusion Realm. (Author's note: This connects to the content of chapter 345, all between was the scene of He Kao entering illusion during meditation.)
Even when He Kao was in the Illusion Realm, he was unaware, until the time sending Lan Jiwan back to Floating Colors Grotto Heaven, he finally broke through and could break the illusion to exit the gate.
If according to the date within the Illusion Realm, the time was October 19th.
As for subsequently going to Jingteng Mountain in the Illusion Realm, meeting a character from the book in the mountain, looking up at the changing moon shadow...these were all transformations of the Illusion Realm.
When one is within the Illusion Realm yet can clarify the illusion, they can make the Illusion Realm transform freely, thoughts manifest as reality, like the master of the world, there are only things one cannot think of, nothing unachievable.
He Kao merely did a small verification attempt.
Generally speaking, clarifying the illusion not only can transform the Illusion Realm but also enter and exit it, but does not equate to breaking the illusion realm. Some still need to repeatedly refine and train body and mind within the Illusion Realm, while others may indulge in it.
But for He Kao, the situation is subtly different, because he practices the method of "breaking illusion before breaking the gate," unaware while entering the Illusion Realm, only comprehending when breaking it.
Thus, as he clarified the Illusion Realm, it meant he broke the illusion, attained Tier Six cultivation, becoming a Tier Six Master Yan of the Hidden Moth skill.
Since ancient times Tier Six cultivation is also referred to as great success.
All events experienced in the Illusion Realm have not actually occurred or have yet to occur in reality.
Such as the beam ceremony in Floating Colors Grotto Heaven, Hu Weidong sending two children to study in the Eastern Country, Hilary sneaking into Qi Yuan, He Kao creating a scheme to eliminate Hilary, taking Lan Jiwan to find Luo Mingzhi...
These all naturally evolved and unfolded in the Illusion Realm according to He Kao's own consciousness.
**
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