Chapter 1265: Chapter 692: Nemesis Daoist Companion
"Where... is this place?"
The sky was plunged into ultimate darkness, a dense silence filled the mountain forest, and there were no sounds of birds, beasts, or insects. On both sides, familiar tiled roofs and brick walls stood quietly, empty and uninhabited, as if it was an untimely moment.
The young girl stood there quietly, looking around with a slight sense of bewilderment, and gazed at the towering, silent temple. She pushed the door open and entered, seeing the everlasting lamp inside, seemingly confirming her location in that moment.
"I’m... back?"
But... wasn’t she just in... the Capital City, hadn’t she just avenged herself on that enemy...
How, in the blink of an eye, was she back within the sect?
Dead silence surrounded her, the girl stood in place, staring at the overly thick darkness outside the door, layer upon layer of gloom, endless, like ink endlessly building up on paper.
She thought the "World of Ignorance" spoken of in Buddhism was just so.
But unlike the Buddhist Law often discussed with her mother, the world of ignorance spoken of by the Divine Sect was a real world where the souls of people were trapped, lost, ignorant, gradually losing themselves, falling into the Resentment Demon Master’s prison, never able to escape. The girl’s floating thoughts tugged at her heartstrings, under the lamplight, it seemed her mother still softly caressed her head. The ignorance of Buddhism was different, ignorance was something in people’s hearts, an obstinate attachment to greed, anger, and delusion, or an inherent unawareness, ignorance of law’s existence.
She was young then and didn’t understand it, just thought it was profound. Some children always liked to learn profound things to earn adults’ praise and peers’ admiration. The lamplight illuminated her eyes, revealing an unspeakable loneliness. She had already replaced much of Buddhism with the Divine Sect’s teachings, just as she became the Purity Saintess with the Heavenly Ear Technique.
However, it was all worth it.
The girl raised her hand, gazing silently, as if it was stained with blood, a vivid delight.
But as she looked, her brow slightly furrowed.
It was her hand for sure, but... it seemed too tender.
Where were the calluses that had formed when she first practiced swordsmanship on Gaoliang Mountain?
The girl momentarily came to her senses, glancing around again, murmuring, "Why is there no one in the school?"
Gaoliang Mountain was the main altar of the Ming’an Divine Sect, always bustling, whether winter or summer, with believers burning incense and praying, disciples coming and going up and down the mountain. If you set aside the Demon Sect’s label in the Jianghu, it was no different from the Taoist immortal mountains or the sacred places of the Buddhist sects.
But today... why so desolate?
Rather than calling it desolate, it was more like dead silence.
In such a situation, one should have been fearful, but Yin Tingxue had no such emotions. She had just eliminated a formidable foe of her life, leaving her heart empty and hollow, there was indeed the joy of revenge, but the momentary satisfaction vanished without a trace soon after the fatal strike.
Everyone has these experiences, going through countless hardships, finally obtaining what they’ve been yearning for, only to greet emptiness in the end.
Luckily, the feeling of emptiness comes quickly and goes away just as fast.
Yin Tingxue closed her eyes, realizing she needed to reassess her current situation. She intended to search everywhere for clues, but she heard faint rustling sounds in the distance, like wind and waves stirred at the base of the mountain gate.
She stilled her mind, and the distant rustling gradually became distinct, turning into human voices.
The sound pierced through the darkness, coming from the base of Gaoliang Mountain. Yin Tingxue immediately took up a sword from the hall’s furnishings, leaped onto the beam, and hid in the darkness. She peeled away a piece of the tile from within, looking towards the mountain gate outside, hiding from the everlasting lamp’s flickering glow that couldn’t reach her.
......
"Master, what’s... wrong with her?"
Yin Tingxue lay in the hut, facing the sky, maintaining a meditative posture, eyes closed, like an old monk in silent meditation. However, the girl’s face was too tender, offering little sense of Zen.
Lu Ying stood by, knowing Yin Tingxue was performing some sort of ritual, but couldn’t help asking. Her tone carried little emotion, more student confusion and curiosity than concern.
Nowadays, Lu Ying truly had no form or self, rarely showing unnecessary emotions. Every time Chen Yi saw her, he always felt it was like back in the days of Zhou Yitang, and felt anguished, but Zhou Yitang was quite pleased.
"Do not disturb her," Zhou Yitang said.
Lu Ying slightly nodded, gazing at Yin Tingxue’s face, around her, nature’s spiritual energy subtly resonated,
Flowing through her cavities, giving a sense that her soul had traveled miles away, yet upon divining, she was clearly still in place, reminiscent of Zhuang Zhou dreaming of a butterfly.
The girl’s breath was ethereal, as if producing a mysterious resonance with some distant time and space, even the flickering fire in the furnace wavered correspondingly, casting dancing shadows on her fair cheeks.
Li Kang stood aside observing Yin Tingxue, marveling at her Heavenly Ear Technique identity with amazement.
Heavenly Ear Technique, one of the Six Divine Powers of Buddhism, rare to see in millennia, capable of hearing the ten directions’ six realms’ sounds, discerning all beings’ thoughts.
For this reason, to forge a sword befitting the Heavenly Ear, the usual so-called superior Immortal Sword for all its excellence, was lifeless and ultimately wasted this extraordinary gift. Man and sword could not truly harmonize, akin to scratching an itch from outside the boot.
The best method was to trace back the origin, using the causes and effects of the past life as a guide, glimpse the deepest imprint of the heart and soul, forge a sword for her, composing unfulfilled wishes and profound emotions from her past life, then and only then, a sword truly belonging to her, resonating with her soul, could be forged.
Li Kang focused further, noticing the aura lingering on Yin Tingxue’s Heavenly Spirit Cover was not the usual cultivator’s Clear Spirit Qi but eerily swirled, resembling smoke clouds, in which seemingly vague scenes floated and sank, exuding an indescribable sense of time dissonance.
She couldn’t help feeling puzzled, her brows furrowing: This girl is traveling through her past lives in her dreams, but where exactly has she gone? Why does the atmosphere seem so steeped in... a deathly demonic aura?
Zhou Yitang spoke up at the right time, his tone steady yet indisputable, interrupting Li Kang’s contemplation: "Master Li, get ready."
Li Kang abruptly came to his senses, suppressing the uneasiness in his heart, and nodded.
Indeed, with Sword Armor Zhou Yitang here, there was discretion and assurance, no need for him to worry too much. The urgent task was to prepare all the spiritual materials and the array needed for sword forging.
...
Chen Yi restrained Donggong Ruoshu, leaping along the mountain paths.
Sweeping past towering ancient trees and deep ravines, the scenery of Gaoliang Mountain grew ever closer.
Perhaps out of an innate dread of the Demon Sect, Chen Yi never wished to linger too long on Gaoliang Mountain. Even when he previously settled the women temporarily there, he would not stay overnight, quickly retrieving each woman one by one, naturally including Donggong Ruoshu’s body.
On the way, Chen Yi did consider using the heart’s desires of the World of Ignorance to allow Donggong Ruoshu to return to her physical form.
But after further thought, he dismissed the idea; Donggong Ruoshu as a ghost was already troublesome enough, turning her back into a human would be even more unbearable!
Compared to this annoying Miss Donggong, Chen Yi again appreciated Yin Tingxue.
His Little Fox was indeed better, knowing how to touch people’s hearts, always having her little schemes, wanting to manipulate him, but in the end, the Little Fox was the best.
Though Xiao Yin would often claim she was content being the second wife, only wanting to be the second favorite, Chen Yi sometimes pondered if she was too cunning, given his own tendency to grow fond of new and tire of the old. The first favorite could continually change, while the second, being her, remained the constant, always holding a place in his heart.
Perhaps unintentionally, even if it was unintentional, she was indeed a clever Little Fox, evoking both affection and heartache.
Chen Yi did not like this feeling of heartache.
Thus, when seeing her again,
he decided to tease her thoroughly.
With this thought, his mind eased significantly, finding comfort like thirst alleviated by mere thought of plums.
Following the path up the mountain, he finally arrived at the grand plaza of the mountain gate. Gaoliang Mountain’s scenery remained as empty as ever, and enveloped in the World of Ignorance, it felt especially eerily unusual.
"Where is Gongsun Guan?"
Chen Yi couldn’t help but murmur, entering the great hall alone, only to be met by walls of everlasting lights, even the enigmatic white-robed Divine Sect Hierarch was nowhere to be seen this time.
While deep in thought, he suddenly heard a faint rustle, like robes brushed by inadvertently.
Someone on the beam?
Chen Yi struck one of the lanterns with a single hand, swiftly turning around, as sparks flew, a petite figure emerged like rising from the darkness, Chen Yi’s brows furrowed, momentarily doubtful, and then he saw an equally startled face.
Her face flickered and dimmed in the lantern light.
Chen Yi stiffened suddenly, staring at the familiar face, so shocked he couldn’t move.
The next instant, he suddenly realized something,
The heart’s desire fulfilled...
Did I just think about Yin Tingxue and make her come here?
In the World of Ignorance, heart’s desires naturally come true, yet summoning Yin Tingxue from thousands of miles away left Chen Yi dumbfounded and at a loss, though this place was dangerous, seeing the familiar, sweet face still softened his heart slightly.
"Little Fox..."
Before he could finish speaking.
A streak of flame flickered in the dimness, as a sword shot out from the darkness, aimed straight at Chen Yi’s face.
Chen Yi was utterly stunned, in that unguarded instant, only staring straight at the girl approaching ever closer, wishing to utter the last unspoken word,
yet saw her slightly immature eyes showing a cold...
intent to kill.
......
She was his enemy.
She was his Daoist companion.
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