Chapter 73#
The mirage collapsed, and the void poured in, threatening to swallow the phantom “An Wuxue.”
The An Wuxue of the past, unaware of the future, still looked at Xie Zhefeng tenderly, his eyes filled with a moist smile.
Xie Zhefeng’s pain intensified.
He would rather the current Senior Brother look at him coldly than endure this irrevocable tenderness from the past.
Don’t look at me like that.
I am not worthy.
Had someone crushed his divine soul? Why did it hurt so much?
It felt as though his entire body was aching, his divine soul was in pain, and his chest was stuffed with something, making it hard to breathe. His throat felt as if it were being squeezed, leaving him choked.
His bones and blood were frozen; he wanted to say something but couldn’t, wanted to do something but couldn’t move an inch.
The time within the illusion, however, was unwilling to wait for him.
This area was at the edge of the First City, backing onto the Black Sea. When the collapse occurred, it was the first place to be swallowed by the void.
In an instant, the An Wuxue before him began to dissipate.
“Whine!” Kun Kun’s claws tugged at An Wuxue’s sleeve.
Xie Zhefeng snapped back to reality and hurriedly reached out, instinctively wanting to grab the other.
He wanted to tell his Senior Brother how much of a bastard he had been; he wanted to tell him he wasn’t worthy.
He also wanted to tell him that a thousand years ago, on the shore of the Black Sea, his Senior Brother had sat here for days, but in the end, he never came.
But he couldn’t catch him.
“An Wuxue” had already dissolved into the void.
That was an irrevocable bubble, a past that Xie Zhefeng had clearly possessed but failed to keep.
Xie Zhefeng’s extended hand froze in the air, finally clenching into a fist.
Two Life and Death Gates appeared before him.
This trial had been broken by Xie Zhefeng, albeit by chance.
Pei Qian hurried forward. “Immortal Venerable, I was hiding in the barrier just now and didn’t see or hear a thing!”
Spiritual energy rippled for a moment, and An Wuxue and Jiang Qing appeared beside Xie Zhefeng.
Pei Qian quickly shut his mouth.
An Wuxue, who had just been transported over, looked confused.
Everything had happened too suddenly, and the scene at the edge of the First City had vanished too completely. An Wuxue only saw Kun Kun rushing to him with a whine, and Xie Zhefeng looking despairing.
Traces of water still clung to the hem of Xie Zhefeng’s robes; he had clearly walked into the Black Sea just now without using spiritual energy.
Jiang Qing was also confused. “Little Pei, how did you and Fellow Daoist Xie break this illusion? Su Xue and I had only just started looking for City Lord Shangguan and hadn’t even determined the exact point in time before the illusion collapsed.”
He sighed. “I was originally hoping to see if I could find my benefactor, whom I’ve never met.”
Pei Qian had woes he couldn’t express.
Fortunately, Xie Zhefeng didn’t lose his reason. In the blink of an eye, he restored his incarnation’s appearance, turned around, and looked fixedly at An Wuxue as he explained, “It’s nothing. I just accidentally startled someone within the array.”
He didn’t say who that person was.
Nor would he ask about the dual cultivation again—he already knew what he needed to know.
Xie Zhefeng didn’t even dare to let An Wuxue know what had just happened.
He said, “Pei Qian and I just confirmed the timeline. At this time, Shangguan Liaoliao should be out inspecting the other cities of North Abyss and isn’t in the First City. We wouldn’t have found her anyway.”
His tone was steady, and he used all his strength to suppress the bitterness in his heart.
An Wuxue’s gaze shifted slightly, as if he had noticed something strange about him.
But An Wuxue was only puzzled for an instant before his expression returned to its usual indifference.
Xie Zhefeng let out a sigh of relief, the bitterness in his heart deepening—all his Senior Brother cared about was the mysteries of the Guan Ye Array and the safety of the First City.
The tender and affectionate gaze from a thousand years ago had been buried in the torrent of time, becoming a delusion he could never reclaim.
An Wuxue said, “If we can’t find City Lord Shangguan, it’s just as well that the trial was broken early. Fellow Daoist Pei, calculate which of these two gates might be linked to City Lord Shangguan’s karma.”
Feeling that his luck was a bit off, Pei Qian hurriedly said, “Didn’t I just calculate an illusion where the City Lord wasn’t present? Why don’t we let Mr. Jiang try? He’s also skilled in the way of karma.”
Jiang Qing said, “You’re too modest. Perhaps neither of the gates would have led to the City Lord last time. The fact that you chose a Life Gate was already no small feat.”
He glanced over and pointed to the right. “This one.”
This time, there was no need for Xie Zhefeng to push him; Pei Qian was only too eager to leave and stepped into the gate first.
Jiang Qing followed, but neither An Wuxue nor Xie Zhefeng moved.
In the blink of an eye, only An Wuxue and Xie Zhefeng remained in the void, along with Kun Kun perched on Xie Zhefeng’s shoulder.
An Wuxue finally asked, “What’s wrong with the Immortal Venerable?”
Xie Zhefeng was startled.
The Senior Brother from a thousand years ago, who would speak to him gently, had just vanished, yet he didn’t dare show any sign of it. For a moment, he was somewhat incoherent. “I…”
Fortunately, An Wuxue’s thoughts were elsewhere. “Is it a relapse of your inner demons?”
Xie Zhefeng was currently deathly pale, his eyes were deep and dark, and his expression was sorrowful. His voice was also hoarse, truly making it seem as if his inner demons had just flared up.
Knowing that An Wuxue cared about the situation in North Abyss, he went along with it. “Yes, but the episode wasn’t severe. I’m fine now… it won’t affect our progress in breaking the array.”
An Wuxue said no more and turned to step into the next gate.
Xie Zhefeng watched An Wuxue’s departing back desolately until he was the only one left in the void.
He closed his eyes slightly and focused his mind.
In the far distance.
On Falling Moon Peak, above the Buried Frost Sea.
A light breeze blew past. The disciple guarding the gate, who had been dozing, was startled awake by the cool air.
The disciple hurriedly looked around, checking left and right, but saw no visitors.
“…Why did it feel like someone just passed by? Was I dreaming?” The disciple stood back in his place, puzzled.
No one noticed that at the center of the Frost Sea, in the middle of the pine forest, Immortal Venerable Chu Han’s original body and the Chu Han sword had vanished without a trace.
Within the Guan Ye Array.
An Wuxue stepped out of the gate and once again stood beneath the North Abyss Sword of an unknown number of years ago.
In this new illusion, the North Abyss Sword Array was complete, and the North Abyss Sword stood tall. The sounds of a prosperous and peaceful world reached his ears; this was likely sometime in the thousand years between his death and his awakening in Su Xue’s body.
He silently observed his surroundings and waited a moment for Xie Zhefeng to be the last to appear.
An Wuxue frowned slightly. Before he could ask, Xie Zhefeng explained on his own, “My internal injuries are temporarily mended. To prevent any complications, I have summoned my natal sword back to me.”
With Pei Qian and Jiang Qing nearby, his words were vague, but An Wuxue understood.
Xie Zhefeng had previously traveled using an incarnation because he feared his inner demons would spiral out of control and his Long-Life Immortal spiritual energy would harm those around him. Now that his inner demons had subsided, he could call back his original body and the Chu Han sword and have them wait outside North Abyss.
An Wuxue nodded. “That’s for the best.”
He was about to ask Pei Qian about the situation in this illusion, but he noticed that Pei Qian’s face didn’t look very good either. He seemed dazed and somewhat unwell.
“Fellow Daoist Pei? What’s wrong?”
“Hmm? Oh…” Pei Qian snapped out of it and waved his hand. “I’m just a bit… never mind. Something is bothering me, but don’t worry about it. I was trapped in this array for too long before; after going through several Life and Death Gates, I’m a bit disoriented. Let Mr. Jiang check the situation instead.”
Hearing this, An Wuxue didn’t press further.
Since entering the array, he had felt that Pei Qian was exceptionally familiar with it. The Shangguan Liaoliao in the illusion had even mentioned “Pei Qian of the Qu family,” and Jiang Qing had earlier mentioned that the array was created hundreds of years ago by a genius from the Qu family…
The two realms and the four seas were vast; everyone had their own karma. He had seen much and was himself entangled in karma from which he couldn’t escape, so he understood.
Xie Zhefeng looked dejected, Pei Qian appeared unwell, and Jiang Qing, who had recently been hunted and was still recovering from serious injuries, didn’t say much.
Though there were four of them, the atmosphere was incredibly silent.
No one spoke. In the silence, Jiang Qing carefully spread out his divine sense to investigate before speaking. “It’s a Death Gate.”
“However, when I extended my divine sense slightly beyond the sword array, the mortal streets and houses looked very familiar. But it’s not from the time I began my cultivation in North Abyss; it should be earlier—five or six hundred years ago.”
Five or six hundred years ago, the Immortal Calamity had long since ended, and peace reigned in both realms. Xie Zhefeng would have still been in seclusion, and with nothing happening in the four seas, North Abyss would have been calm.
Shangguan Liaoliao would likely have been stationed in the First City.
An Wuxue said, “Although there were no demon cultivators in North Abyss five or six hundred years ago, let’s still split into two groups. It’ll be faster to find her that way.”
“Seni—”
Xie Zhefeng almost let the word slip.
He quickly stopped himself, gave Jiang Qing a cold look, and then said, “At this point in time, Jiang Qing wasn’t in North Abyss yet, whereas I’m more familiar with the North Abyss of that era. Su Xue and Jiang Qing are unfamiliar with the North Abyss of that time; searching together would only lead to half the results for twice the effort.”
This made sense, and An Wuxue fell into thought.
Actually, his desire to separate himself from Xie Zhefeng wasn’t because he truly cared about spending a little more or less time with him. Since he had agreed to let the man stay to investigate the North Abyss crisis, why would he be fussy about such a small matter?
The main reason he wanted to go with Jiang Qing was that he didn’t trust Pei Qian and Jiang Qing. Regardless of everything, both were North Abyss natives. As long as they were Tribulation-Transcending cultivators from North Abyss, they could be related to the person behind the crisis. It was more appropriate for him and Xie Zhefeng to each keep an eye on one of them.
As he was considering this, Jiang Qing, thinking he was making things difficult, said, “Su Xue, I’ve been with you the whole time. Fellow Daoist Xie is your sect mate, after all; he’ll be worried if you’re separated. It wouldn’t be good if harmony between you two was damaged because of me. Let Little Pei and me be together this time.”
His words clearly aligned with Xie Zhefeng’s wishes, but Xie Zhefeng’s expression darkened regardless. He completely ignored Jiang Qing’s words and looked only at An Wuxue, speaking as if in consultation, “I will do whatever Su Xue wants.”
Pei Qian spoke up at the right time. “Everyone, this is a Death Gate, not a Life Gate. If we take a single wrong step or alert those within the illusion, the Death Gate could manifest ten thousand types of killing intent. If that happens, forget finding City Lord Shangguan; even breaking out of the Death Gate would be quite troublesome.”
“The Guan Ye Array is ever-changing. If we miss this illusion, there’s no telling how many Life and Death Gates we’ll have to go through before reaching another point in time where we’re likely to find City Lord Shangguan. Until we find her this time, let’s act with caution and stay together.”
—Half an hour later.
The four of them each changed into ordinary cultivators’ attire and suppressed their visible cultivation to the Great Success stage, which wasn’t particularly eye-catching in the First City. They then slipped out of the North Abyss Sword Array and entered the illusion.
Several centuries after the end of the Immortal Calamity, North Abyss, which had preserved its legacy well, had quickly regained its vitality. The First City was especially prosperous.
As An Wuxue and the others walked among the crowd of mortals, they even saw a play being performed on a stage by the main street. Mortals were acting out a story from Shangguan Liaoliao’s youth, about how she had righteously executed her kin and assisted Nan He in hunting down the North Abyss Immortal Lord.
Pei Qian led them into a tea house with extreme familiarity. Somehow, after spending fifteen minutes there cracking melon seeds and eating peanuts and chatting with several unfamiliar cultivators, he scampered back to them, tossing a peanut in his hand. He said, “There’s a bit of a problem. I roughly know the exact point in time—it’s five hundred and twenty years ago. I was still in the First City at this time; I’d better not run into my past self.”
An Wuxue raised an eyebrow. “But that’s also good news, isn’t it?”
If the past Pei Qian was here, it meant this period of time was definitely in his memory.
Sure enough, Pei Qian nodded. “I’ve recalled that City Lord Shangguan was indeed in the First City at this time. Furthermore, she seems to have been visiting the Qu family during this period. As long as we don’t alert the killing intent of the Death Gate, the probability of being able to kill the City Lord in this illusion is quite high!”
After speaking, he looked strange. “To think that plotting a murder of the City Lord loudly in the First City would be one of the few pieces of serious business I have to do in my life?”
Jiang Qing: “Fellow Daoist Xie has set up a sound-insulating barrier. You can be as loud as you want.”
An Wuxue: “…”