Chapter 13
Shoutout to ethanldf for the commission!
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
In his past life, Gong Wei had called out “Xu Bai” many times. It was a solemn name, drawn out slowly from between his pristine teeth, with a hint of casualness and ill intent. Ying Kai had criticized him for being disrespectful, suggesting that even if he didn’t address Xu Shuangce as “Sect Master Xu,” he should at least call him “Senior Xu.” However, Gong Wei always smiled and agreed face-to-face but acted contrary behind their backs. Over time, Ying Kai stopped bothering to correct him.
Xu Shuangce, on the other hand, couldn’t care less about what Gong Wei called him. Whatever he was called, it always seemed to carry a hint of mischief. There was only one time when Gong Wei took it too far. He snuck up behind Xu Shuangce and suddenly shouted, “General Bai!”—that was shortly after Xu Shuangce returned from the Thousand Mirror Realm to the mortal world. Gong Wei later realized that if he hadn’t escaped quickly that time, he might have ended up losing his head to Xu Shuangce’s rage.
In any case, Gong Wei wouldn’t have misheard it. The ghost cultivator’s call of “Xu Bai” was undoubtedly reminiscent of his past self, and he knew Xu Shuangce wouldn’t have misheard it either.
“…”
With his back turned to the others, Xu Shuangce’s expression was hidden. Time seemed to stretch endlessly, every second feeling like an eternity. After an unknown period, he let out a cold laugh.
—The laughter was so deep that it was impossible to discern the underlying emotion.
Without hesitation, he forcefully extracted the “heart” from the ghost cultivator’s chest!
The action was not only cruel and swift, but Gong Wei couldn’t help but feel a pang in his own heart, followed by widened eyes.
In Xu Shuangce’s hand was a piece of bronze fragment, about half the size of a palm, covered with inscriptions unseen in the world. At a glance, Gong Wei recognized what it was.
The Thousand Mirror Realm!
The ghost cultivator suddenly arched backward. Though it had no face, it seemed to convey extreme pain. Then, its entire body uncontrollably transformed into red smoke, and the glass chains used to bind it poured down like a torrent.
The large mass of smoke gathered in mid-air into a vague humanoid figure, then rushed into the fragment of the Thousand Mirror Realm in Xu Shuangce’s hand with such force that it shook the entire building, causing debris to fall around!
Gong Wei dodged the falling debris and suddenly realized what was happening. He exclaimed, “Be careful—”
Before he could reach out to snatch the bronze piece from Xu Shuangce’s hand, he saw the verdigris surface shimmering brightly after devouring the ghost cultivator, transforming into a perfectly clear mirror. In its reflection were Xu Shuangce’s eyes.
Mirror technique!
Nobody in the world was more proficient in illusion techniques than Gong Wei. He immediately turned and ran outside, grabbing Meng Yunfei with one hand and Yuchi Xiao with the other, wishing they had eight legs between them. However, the mirror technique left behind by the ghost cultivator activated extremely quickly. Gong Wei hadn’t even run a few steps with the two burdens when he felt a tremendous force pulling him back. He stumbled, as if falling off a cliff—
At the same time, Xu Shuangce closed his eyes and then opened them again.
The surroundings seemed like overturned paint buckets, with light and shadows shifting. It felt as if he was plummeting downwards, as the mirror technique rapidly constructed a vast and entirely new illusionary world.
“Wishing to recreate my most feared memory?” Xu Shuangce murmured softly.
He stared at the fragment of the Thousand Mirror Realm in his hand, a hint of icy mockery appearing in his eyes. “But I no longer have any fear.”
As the last word fell, a whirlwind rose up. The mist enveloped the surroundings like an undispellable poison fog, then suddenly cleared!
The surrounding scenery had completely changed. Beneath his feet was a fertile and soft land, with a deep and peaceful valley in the distance. Smoke rose lazily from the backyard.
—This was a secluded paradise village.
Splash!
Gong Wei landed on the ground with a thud, as if he had fallen from an eight-hundred-foot cliff. He was lucky not to have passed out from the pain.
After a while, he gasped for air, rubbing his buttocks that felt as if they had split into eight parts, and slowly got up, surveying his surroundings. In the distance, there were continuous green mountains, and a clear stream wound through the valley. Peach blossoms bloomed along the riverbank, and the sounds of chickens and dogs could be heard. On either side of the ridges were picturesque villages, like scenes from a Chinese ink painting.
He vaguely felt that this scene was somewhat familiar. After taking a few steps, he suddenly felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
This was the village where “General Bai” had recuperated twenty years ago in the Thousand Mirror Realm!
This was Xu Shuangce’s memory!
Mirror techniques create different illusions for each person. In theory, one should see their own greatest fears and pains, but Xu Shuangce’s primordial spirit is too powerful. Neither he nor Yuchi Xiao or Meng Yunfei can resist. They were probably all pulled into the same conscious world.
“….”
Gong Wei’s temples throbbed visibly. After a while, he rolled up his sleeves, placed one hand on his hip and the other on his forehead, and let out a long sigh, the taste in his heart indescribable.
Throughout Xu Shuangce’s life, he had faced natural disasters, quelled wars, eradicated demonic realms, and even descended into h*ll to cleanse the innocent ghosts in the twelve mansions of the underworld. Yet, his most fearful memory was not facing the calamities of the end of the world alone, nor the countless hungry ghosts in the Yellow Springs, but rather the seemingly calm and peaceful little mountain village before him.
He stayed here as a mortal for half a year, spending his days and nights with the kind “farmer’s daughter” who had rescued him from the battlefield. He healed his injuries, and then set off back to the capital to treat his blinded eyes. Before leaving, he left behind a gold ring as a token of their love, asking her to marry him when he returned to this village.
The “farmer’s daughter” found it particularly novel and interesting and didn’t take it seriously, smiling and agreeing. Never did she imagine that a year later, the fully restored General Bai would actually fulfill his promise, returning to the village with a full retinue to marry her. He requested to spend the rest of their lives together, growing old together, never to part, for eternity.
There seemed to be no reason to stop this perfect wedding, and indeed, it proceeded as planned. But General Bai didn’t anticipate the tragedy that unfolded during the ceremony. The bride died on the spot, without even lifting the veil.
The illusion collapsed at that moment.
The grief and rage awakened the long-dormant true soul of “General Bai” and broke through the maximum spiritual power limit that the Thousand Mirror Realm could contain. Gong Wei, who caused the trouble, didn’t even have time to intervene. The entire world constructed by the illusion collapsed, and with the body of the “bride” turned to dust; the Nine Thunder Tribulations descended, forcibly tearing Xu Shuangce’s soul out of the illusion and back into his real body.
And then the next thing he did was to pick up No Way Out, ascend from Cangyang Sect, and smash the gate of the Immortal Alliance’s Guanghua Palace—
“Gong Wei!”
“You killed my wife. Today, I’ll take your life, Gong Wei—!”
The roar still echoed in his ears. Gong Wei blinked his eyes, unable to help but tremble, suddenly feeling the cold wind on the hillside.
But since he was already here, shedding tears in the wind for three thousand feet wouldn’t change anything. Without finding a way to break the illusion, he couldn’t get out—illusions were constructed based on the subconscious of the host, and any dangerous and bizarre situations could occur. Especially for Xu Shuangce, an immortal who had experienced countless life and death situations, who knew what he had in his mind. Perhaps a volcano of h*llfire would erupt in the sky and millions of fierce ghosts would tear apart the entire world.
Gong Wei subconsciously looked up and was horrified to find that a crack had indeed torn open in the high sky, pitch-black and growing larger. Then, something fell from it—
Thud!
Thud!
Two familiar figures, one after the other, fell onto the hillside, raising a high cloud of dust.
Gong Wei: “…”
Well, everyone’s here now, ready to face the music.
Gong Wei straightened his sleeves, hands behind his back, and gracefully jumped down the steep and extremely steep hillside, hopping along the protruding rocks and shrubs like a nimble fox until he reached the bottom of the slope. He saw Yuchi Xiao struggling to get up from the ground, holding his lower back in pain. His posture was exactly the same as Gong Wei’s just now. “My… my back…”
Meng Yunfei also gritted his teeth, holding his lower back, and coughed, asking, “Where is this place?”
… You two have no shame. Clearly, you both fell in the same spot as me, isn’t it better to be honest with each other?
Gong Wei looked helplessly at the two of them, about to call out that he was here, when Yuchi Xiao unintentionally turned his head and his gaze met Gong Wei’s, causing him to visibly pause.
Then, his expression changed dramatically, and he grabbed Meng Yunfei, taking a few steps back, drawing his sword with a resounding clang!
“?”
Gong Wei hadn’t figured out what was going on yet, but Yuchi Xiao looked like he was facing a great enemy, incredulously saying, “L… Law Flower Immortal!”
“…”
Gong Wei blinked a couple of times, slowly looking down, finally realizing something was amiss.
Xiang Xiaoyuan was still young, short in stature, and slender. But now, his line of sight was slightly higher than usual, and his hands, revealed below his sleeves, were longer and more slender, with a skin tone that was almost transparent and not quite like a real person’s cold whiteness.
His attire had also changed at some point. His outer robe was vermilion red, lined with snow satin, embroidered with maple leaves in gold thread, and his waistband was embroidered with crane patterns, adorned with two bright little gold coins.
A mirror reflects a person’s truest appearance, and the soul cannot disguise itself in the illusion. So in Xu Shuangce’s illusion, he reverted to his past life as Law Flower Immortal.
So he became Law Flower Immortal in Xu Shuangce’s illusion.
Want to show your support? Come donate at Paypal or Ko-fi to show your appreciation! :)
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
Thank You for the chapter ❤٩(•౪•٩)