Chapter 66
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The overlapping doors closed one after another, and Xu Shuangce stepped forward quickly. He bent down to lift Gong Wei’s body from the ground, cradling him in his arms, and carried him straight into the inner room, placing him on the spacious bed.
Gong Wei was still twitching slightly, his gaze unfocused, with blood seeping from the corners of his mouth. Xu Shuangce probed his spiritual sea, his expression growing slightly grim.
In just that short moment, it seemed like all of Gong Wei’s spiritual energy had been drained away, leaving nothing behind. Xu Shuangce infused a bit of spiritual energy into his forehead with his fingertips, but Gong Wei didn’t react at all. No matter how much power was poured in, it vanished instantly.
There seemed to be a vast void in his spiritual sea, rapidly consuming the energy and even the life force of his body, impossible to fill.
“….Xu Bai…”
Xu Shuangce asked in a low voice, “What happened just now?”
Gong Wei reached out a trembling hand towards him, his eyes open but seeming to be lost in a distant dream. He hoarsely called out, “Xu Bai…”
Xu Shuangce grasped his cold hand tightly and whispered, “I’m here.”
But Gong Wei seemed unsatisfied, and he struggled to prop up his upper body and lean into him, emitting urgent murmurs. Xu Shuangce originally had one arm around him, but now he released the hand that was tightly holding onto him, instead embracing him fully in his arms, whispering softly, “Don’t be afraid, it’s okay now, don’t be afraid…”
In the blink of an eye, he felt a sudden chill in his left chest, followed by a gush of hot blood.
“…” Xu Shuangce suddenly let go of his hand, two words bursting from his clenched teeth, “Gong Wei…”
He held onto Gong Wei’s wrist tightly, preventing those sharp fingertips from probing further, while slowly retreating his upper body.
Gong Wei’s fingertips had already penetrated into the flesh of his left chest, leaving a large bloodstain on the outer robe of Cangyang Sect Master. The blood crisscrossed on the fair to transparent back of his hand, dripping onto the bedding.
Despite the close proximity, Gong Wei couldn’t reach his target, emitting an impatient whimper, pushing harder forward. He was no longer fully conscious, only Xu Shuangce’s blood could provide intense stimulation, keeping his gaze fixed, completely ignoring his own hoarse and hot breath.
The enchanting mantra reverberated repeatedly in the chaotic primordial spirit, drowning out all senses—this state was unsustainable, even the gods were powerless.
Only one path remained: to kill Xu.
Only one path remained: to kill Xu—
Xu Shuangce’s voice contained spiritual power, like a revelation, “Gong Wei!”
With a crisp cracking sound, Gong Wei actually forcibly broke his own wrist bone that had been held tightly!
Xu Shuangce’s mind and spirit shook, releasing his grip like lightning. Gong Wei immediately stumbled off the bed, like a controlled puppet, pouncing directly at him. His gaze, fixed and unyielding, focused only on the bloodstain on Xu Shuangce’s chest, every move aimed directly at the heart, passing dozens of exchanges in an instant!
Gong Wei had no spiritual energy left, and his body had weakened to the extreme, yet there was a ruthless fierceness in his attacks, as if he were on the brink of desperation, refusing to die or relent. Xu Shuangce didn’t directly oppose him, instead blocking and retreating, step by step, until he was forced against the inner room’s whalebone screen door with a thunderous crash, and Gong Wei’s bloodied fingertips were almost at his eyes—
Xu Shuangce’s back was against the wall.
If he dodged, Gong Wei would inevitably lose control, and forcibly restraining him would risk injuring himself.
In the nick of time, Xu Shuangce planted his feet firmly, seizing Gong Wei’s fingertips that were pressing towards the door at the peak moment, using powerful flexibility to neutralize their sharpness. With a crisp snap, he reset Gong Wei’s dislocated wrist, then grabbed him around the waist!
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Gong Wei, due to inertia, leaned forward, full of murderous intent, yet suddenly, in the depths of his eyes, he saw the finely wound hair strand on Xu Shuangce’s middle finger.
That strand of hair, finally unable to withstand the fighting spirit, silently slipped off, floating gently to the ground.
“…”
Gong Wei, as if waking from a dream, the dazed pupils finally showing a hint of clarity, struggled free from Xu Shuangce’s grasp, took a few steps back, then collapsed to his knees on the ground in a daze.
Just as Xu Shuangce was about to step forward, he saw Gong Wei tremblingly wave his hand, indicating him not to come closer, then closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down, saying, “Go… quickly.”
Xu Shuangce didn’t move. “Gong Wei?”
“Go, I won’t be able to control myself soon.” Gong Wei dug his hand into the jade floor tiles, blood streaming from his fingers, his voice trembling with a hint of bloodlust, “I don’t want to kill you, but that… that voice…”
Xu Shuangce didn’t leave, but instead approached, kneeling half-bent beside him. He forcibly grabbed the hand Gong Wei had used to support himself on the ground, gently brushing over the numerous cuts and scratches, causing them to heal naturally, leaving only faint scars.
He held Gong Wei’s cold, trembling hand in his own palm, so that most of Gong Wei’s body weight leaned against him involuntarily, supporting him steadily. “Who told you to kill me?”
Gong Wei shook his head weakly, breathing heavily, then suddenly whispered, “Xu Bai, I’m not human.”
He had said something similar in bed the other day, but it had been more of a petulant complaint, unlike now, so calm and clear.
He said, “I am a strand of ‘thought’ between heaven and earth, born for a certain purpose. Whatever the heavens and the earth want me to do, I must do. If they want me to kill you, then I must kill you. Do you still remember the year when I was born in the peach blossom forest of Cangyang Mountain? If it wasn’t for Ying Kai who picked me up back then, but you instead, perhaps you would have died long ago.”
With just these words, Gong Wei struggled to control his senses several times, his whole body tense, almost about to strike at Xu Shuangce’s heart, which was so close, but he forcibly suppressed himself.
“Sixteen years ago, on the Ascension Immortal Platform, I knew it was difficult to succeed in my heart. You are too strong and too sharp. But my soul and spirit have been urging me all along, as have the heavens and all things. I had no choice… I had to do it against my better judgment, just like now.”
Gong Wei closed his eyes and shook his head, saying, “If you still hated me like you did in our past life, at least when I acted, I would feel a little less sad.”
“…” Xu Shuangce hoarsely asked, “What about after I die? What will you do?”
Gong Wei fell silent for a moment and said, “I don’t know, maybe I’ll return to the heavens and the earth.”
It was as if a steel needle pierced Xu Shuangce’s heart.
Gong Wei seemed to have nothing to do with being sad. He was always so charming and cunning, easygoing, and everyone around him liked him.
But the likes from others brought Gong Wei joy, liveliness, and festivity. Only the “like” from Xu Shuangce would bring him helplessness and sadness.
At that moment, Xu Shuangce even had an impulse to just let him go ahead and act. The two of them leaning against each other in the blood pool, turning into ashes in the world, would be better than hurting each other and ending up heartbroken and disappointed as they were now.
But the words that Du Kaixun had said in the depths of Tianmen Pass were like a taut bowstring, tightly gripping his mind, making him dare not let go and lose the last bit of reason.
“Gong Wei,” Xu Shuangce stared at his pale profile and finally asked the question, “Have you ever thought that this heaven and earth are just an illusion you created yourself?”
Gong Wei’s gaze scattered, as if it took him some effort to understand what Xu Shuangce was saying. “…Illusion?”
“It’s impossible. Why would I create such an illusion? There’s no way such a large illusion could exist in this world.” Gong Wei’s cold and profound profile was soaked in sweat, his lips trembling incessantly in the shadows, looking somewhat neurotic. “The pupil technique is limited by the range of vision, and the mirror technique is limited by the range of light. Unless it’s… unless it’s…”
Suddenly, Xu Shuangce had a premonition. Gong Wei’s entire body tensed to the limit, even trembling violently. He muttered incoherently, “Unless… unless it’s a dream.”
――A dream.
As soon as the word was spoken, Gong Wei fell silent, staring motionlessly ahead like a lifeless ice sculpture.
“The butterfly dies and the dream is born, the dream has an end.” The curse-like verses echoed round and round from the depths of the soul, like the tolling of a bell, getting louder and louder until it was deafening. “Dream births death, dream death births life—”
Kill Xu Shuangce.
He must kill Xu Shuangce—
Xu Shuangce keenly felt something. “Gong Wei?”
As soon as he spoke, Gong Wei suddenly broke free from his palm, once again controlled by the boiling killing intent in his instinct, and even disregarded his own weak body. “Bai Tai Shou!”
A cold sword aura shot out from the inner room, held in Gong Wei’s palm, ringing out as it unsheathed, coming down with a slash.
But Xu Shuangce moved faster, summoning forth No Way Out, using the sword and scabbard to firmly block the blade of Bai Tai Shou. Without using any spiritual power, relying solely on swordsmanship, he swiftly countered Gong Wei with over a dozen moves, lightning-fast, before prying at the hilt of Bai Tai Shou!
Clang!
Gong Wei lost his grip on the sword, and Xu Shuangce threw No Way Out, sending Bai Tai Shou flying. The two swords whirled and fell several zhang away.
Then he hoisted Gong Wei up, quickly stepping into the inner room, throwing him onto the bed, one hand pressing down to stop him from struggling, the other three fingers together, forcing blood out of his fingertips, swiftly inscribing talismans on Gong Wei’s wrists, ankles, and both sides of the bedposts. The restraint talismans made of blood erupted with immense power almost immediately, as if they were alive, encircling Gong Wei and locking him onto the bed, making him unable to move.
“Xu…” Gong Wei trembled frantically, his mind sometimes clear and sometimes blurry. “Xu Bai….”
Xu Shuangce reached out to touch his forehead, wanting to infuse spiritual energy, but Gong Wei forcefully turned his head away, saying, “Why don’t you just kill me, Xu Bai. I really can’t bring myself to do it. You might as well kill me…”
Xu Shuangce pressed him down firmly, his forehead against Gong Wei’s sweaty one, “It’s okay, don’t be afraid.”
Gong Wei hoarsely said, “It’s like I’m in a nightmare, and no matter what, I can’t wake up…”
“Don’t be afraid.” Xu Shuangce remained unmoved, saying softly, “There will be a way.”
Gong Wei’s slender body kept trembling, but Xu Shuangce held him tightly. After who knows how long, the spasms and struggles finally ceased, and Gong Wei fell into an exhausted sleep.
Exhaling a breath, Xu Shuangce suddenly looked up.
A loud, dull noise came from outside the hall: a thunderous roar—
He raised his head abruptly.
A massive collapsing sound echoed through the sky:
Boom!!
“Sect Master!” Wen Xiuyang hurried in from outside, his voice unusually changed: “The sky above Cangyang Mountain has collapsed!”
The doors of the hall burst open, and Xu Shuangce strode out, flying straight up into the sky on his sword.
In the north of Cangyang Mountain, the sky resembled a cracked eggshell, with a huge black hole collapsing. The opening was about a hundred feet square, and it seemed bottomless, with an extremely cold wind blowing from within, sweeping towards the earth.
“What’s happened to Junior Brother?!” “Junior Sister! Little Junior Sister!” “Quick, come and save them!”
From the ground in the distance, chaos reigned throughout various places in Cangyang Sect. Several young outer disciples were blown by the wind from the black hole and couldn’t even cry out before they turned into fluttering petals of crimson.
The older disciples who rushed to save them were caught off guard by the chilling wind but found themselves still standing in shock. Before they could celebrate their survival, more exclamations came from all directions—more young disciples burst into clusters of peach blossoms, countless crimson peach blossoms flashing with faint spiritual light, swirling into the sky amidst the wind, sucked into the black hole high above and disappeared without a trace.
“Sect Master!” Wen Xiuyang flew over on his sword, his expression panicked but trying to suppress it: “The thirty-six True Immortals have formed a formation, and their spiritual power is abundant. They can assist the Sect Master in repairing the sky at any time!”
But Xu Shuangce interrupted him, “How can mortals repair the sky?”
Wen Xiuyang was at a loss for words.
Xu Shuangce stood with his hands behind his back on No Way Out Sword, his eyes dark, looking at the small disciples turning into petals and flying away one after another in the distance, suddenly asking, “These people who disappeared are all under sixteen, aren’t they?”
Wen Xiuyang was puzzled, “Disciple… I don’t have much contact with the outer sect, but I did see a few along the way just now, indeed all described as young, should not be over sixteen…”
Xu Shuangce murmured, “As expected.”
As expected what?
Before Wen Xiuyang could react, he saw Xu Shuangce turn and leave, completely ignoring the deep black hole in the sky above his head, flying straight down to the ground, stepping across the threshold of the forbidden hall.
Wen Xiuyang was stunned, “Sect Master?!”
Xu Shuangce went straight through the outer room and into the inner room. Gong Wei was still sleeping on the bed, his brow furrowed with apparent pain even in his unconsciousness. Xu Shuangce pressed two fingers on his brow and spirit sea, swiftly infusing vast and pure spiritual power, like a surging tide that continued unabated, rushing straight into his primordial spirit!
For any other sect master, they wouldn’t be able to withstand such a massive consumption of energy, but Xu Shuangce didn’t stop at all. At first, it was like a mud cow into the sea, no matter how much spiritual power was infused, it disappeared instantly; after a full stick of incense time, Gong Wei’s pale lips finally showed a hint of blood, and there was finally a slight ripple of spiritual power gathering in his spirit sea.
“Repaired… It’s repaired!”
“The sky’s repaired!”
…
The shouts echoed outside the hall. Under everyone’s gaze, the black hole in the sky began to “heal” on its own, finally disappearing, and the eerie and deadly cold wind gradually subsided.
Some were still in shock, some were crying tears of joy, and some were still searching for their disappeared disciples… Xu Shuangce finally withdrew his consciousness, exhaustedly swept his sleeve, and the twelve gates suddenly closed, restoring the emptiness and tranquility inside the sleeping chamber.
On the spacious bed, Gong Wei seemed to have temporarily escaped from the nightmare, breathing steadily and lightly, his long eyelashes as black as crow feathers.
Xu Shuangce gazed at him, and the hoarse voice from the abyss sounded in his ears:
“This vast illusion has begun to break free from control. No one knows how much longer it can operate, but the magical power sustaining it is gradually being depleted…”
After it’s depleted, what will happen?
The sky collapses, the earth cracks, and everyone returns to the present world in the torrent of destruction?
Will time, frozen in the present world, begin to flow again, and Gong Wei on the Ascension Immortal Platform be pierced by his sword in despair?
“You won’t die.” Xu Shuangce stared at Gong Wei’s calm profile and said softly, “If you die, I will break through the realms of ghosts, overturn h*ll, traverse the boundless heavens and depths of the underworld… just to bring you back.”
He leaned down and kissed his cold, white forehead, recalling Gong Wei’s words once again—Eye technique is limited by sight, mirror technique is limited by light and shadow, unless…
Unless it’s a dream.
Memories flashed through his mind, gradually becoming clearer. Xu Shuangce tightened the sharp corners of his brows.
Years ago, when the Grand Elder of the Punishment Hall and the Sect Master of Cangyang faced each other, there was indeed a conversation about “dreams” between them. But that was too long ago, and hidden as their feelings were, no one else knew about it for many years.
“—–Do you know, Xu Bai,” in the corner of the Cangyang Sect’s library at dusk, Grand Elder Gong’s lips gently touched his ear, smiling softly, “If I see a butterfly during the day, I will surely dream of you at night.”
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