Chapter 72
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Inside the room, there was a clatter as Xu Shuangce and Ying Kai simultaneously emerged from the illusion, their souls shaken, and they both stumbled, knocking over chairs.
“Huff… huff…”
It was unclear whose breath was more rapid. After a while, Ying Kai finally managed to support himself against the round table, exhausted as he stood up straight. “Now you understand why Gong Wei wanted to kill you, don’t you?”
Xu Shuangce’s head throbbed painfully as scenes from the real world on the Ascension Immortal Platform flashed through his mind. The brilliant path to the heavens, the terrifying thunderstorms, the blood-stained killer in crimson… All the images eventually vanished, freezing in those despairing blood-red eyes.
Subconsciously, he asked, “…..Why?”
Ying Kai, still pressing against the chair, picked it up from the ground with his left hand, sat down on the other side of the round table, and sighed heavily before saying gravely, “Sixteen years ago, we made a huge mistake in the real world.”
“Since the God of the Northern Wall was exiled as a mortal, the Heavenly Gate has never opened to the mortal world again. For thousands of years, generation after generation of masters have worked hard to reach the Immortalization Realm, but instead of ascension, they faced death. Over time, fewer and fewer people embarked on the path of cultivation, while doubts, fears, and anxieties grew heavier. All these factors combined led us to make a profoundly rebellious attempt against the heavens.”
“We foolishly attempted to construct the Path to Heaven with mortal power and open the gate to ascension.”
“But what we didn’t know was that the Heavenly Gate had been closed for a reason all these thousands of years, because your karmic obstacles had never been cleared. Once the Heavenly Gate opened, you would ascend again and then revert to the Evil God of the Northern Wall who had destroyed the world thousands of years ago. The consequences would be unimaginable.”
“So, six months before opening the Heavenly Gate, Gong Wei suddenly appeared in the Immortal Alliance, wanting to prevent mortals from foolishly testing the will of the heavens…” Ying Kai sighed, “But he failed because everyone in the Immortal Alliance regarded him as a freak and a heretic.”
Xu Shuangce pressed his temples with one hand, his mind roaring. “…In the end, he could only fight his way up to the Ascension Immortal Platform.”
Ying Kai nodded. “If he could kill only you before the completion of the Path to Heaven, then the tragedy on the Ascension Immortal Platform could have been avoided. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it in time. So, on the brink of death, he paused time in the real world, pulled all the souls of the world’s cultivators into the illusion, then reversed time back to the beginning of the Taiyi era, twenty-eight years ago.”
In the real world, Gong Wei had only spent a short half-year in the Immortal Alliance, suspected, opposed, and rejected by everyone, loving the Cangyang Sect Master but mercilessly pierced by his sword. So in the illusion, he brought everyone back twenty-eight years, where all his regrets were completely compensated: accepted by the Immortal Alliance, loved by the people, and became the best friend of Yuchi Rui, who had hurt him the most on the Ascension Immortal Platform. Before the collapse of the illusion, he even received a response from Xu Shuangce, whom he liked the most.
Although it was just a beautiful dream before his death.
There was a moment of silence in the room. Ying Kai whispered softly, “Yes, on the Ascension Immortal Platform, he didn’t lie. He really… liked people.”
Xu Shuangce closed his eyes.
“As for ‘Butterfly dies and the dream is born,’ it should be the legendary third great illusion that has never appeared in the real world.” Ying Kai took a deep breath and abruptly changed the subject. “This illusion must have a great weakening effect on the Lord of the Realm himself, causing Gong Wei to forget everything in the illusion, becoming a weak child. And the first place he appeared in the illusion was the Cangyang Sect’s Peach Blossom Forest, because his only purpose in coming here was to kill you; he had to get close to you first.”
At this point, Ying Kai paused, turning to look at Xu Shuangce. “If you were killed by him in this illusion, then you would have died in the real world too. Fortunately, you didn’t die.”
“…”
Xu Shuangce was about to say something when he suddenly realized that something was wrong and looked up at Ying Kai.
Die in the real world?
Ying Kai, lost in thought, didn’t notice Xu Shuangce’s subtle reaction. “When the illusion ran until the twenty-eighth year of the Taiyi era, just like in reality, Gong Wei ascended the Ascension Immortal Platform again to try to kill you, but once again failed—No Way Out automatically protected its master and killed him on the spot. So, in the two ceremonies on the Ascension Immortal Platform in reality and illusion, you killed him twice.”
Ying Kai seemed unsure of what to say next and shook his head. “Fortunately, the Lord of the Realm himself is immortal, so the next body, ‘Xiang Xiaoyuan,’ came into being. Do you remember when ‘Xiang Xiaoyuan’ was young and foolish, often following everyone around? That was his instinct as a vessel searching for souls. Until ‘Xiang Xiaoyuan’ turned sixteen, everyone thought he had gone mad because of a broken engagement, but in fact, it was only when Gong Wei’s soul cultivation was complete, returning to his own body and merging with ‘Xiang Xiaoyuan,’ finally becoming the person we see today.”
The timeline from the real world to the illusion finally unfolded until this moment. Ying Kai sighed deeply and turned to Xu Shuangce. “Now do you understand why he wanted to kill you?”
Xu Shuangce sat there, motionless, staring at Ying Kai, a dreadful intuition slowly emerging from his mind.
Frowning, Ying Kai said, “Shuangce?”
“…” Several breaths passed before Xu Shuangce let out a soft “ah.”
Ying Kai thought his slow reaction was due to his profound shock, so he emphasized his tone and asked again, “Both of us are responsible for the situation today. Now that the butterfly dies and the dream is born is about to collapse, what do you plan to do?”
Xu Shuangce closed and then reopened his eyes, gazing at Ying Kai across the round table as if meeting this friend for the first time today.
He finally sensed what was wrong from their conversation earlier.
The terrifying truth was slowly emerging from the dense fog, but because it was too subversive, too difficult to accept, he didn’t know how to react for a moment.
After a while, he regained his composure and asked, “What do you suggest we do?”
Ying Kai, believing Xu Shuangce’s delay was due to his intense shock, pondered for a moment before saying, “Shuangce, we must return to the real world.”
“…”
Xu Shuangce’s face showed no signs of unease. Finally, as if nothing had happened, he murmured, “Yes, one day we must return.”
Ying Kai nodded in agreement, then changed the subject, “But we can’t sit here and let the world collapse—while ordinary illusions would naturally return to reality after collapsing, the butterfly dies and the dream is born is different. After it collapses, it may severely damage the souls of everyone and even bury all their souls here.”
Xu Shuangce once again asked, “Then what do you suggest we do?”
Ying Kai looked into his eyes and finally uttered his ultimate purpose, word by word, “Unseal the Forbidden Hall, Shuangce. Let me see Gong Wei once.”
Here it comes.
Under the table, Xu Shuangce’s fingers tightened instantly.
“I’ll go persuade him to lift the Dream of Dying as a Butterfly illusion. This way, everyone can smoothly leave the illusion, and everyone will survive. Can I?”
There was no sound in the air except for their breathing.
Xu Shuangce averted his gaze, his face showing a hint of hesitation, “But the No Way Out Sword is still lodged in Gong Wei’s heart. As soon as we return to the real world, he will die.”
Ying Kai said, “Have you forgotten? He is a Mirror Immortal; he won’t truly die but will return to the realm of heaven and earth temporarily. Perhaps tens of thousands of years later, he will be born again from the will of heaven, descending to this mortal world. But by then, you and I will be long gone.”
Xu Shuangce seemed moved, then added, “Aren’t you afraid that I will try to open the Heavenly Gate again and cause another disaster upon ascension?”
Ying Kai asked in return, “Do you think I would let you do that?”
…
“The Path to Heaven on the Ascension Immortal Platform in the real world has been destroyed. Would I sit back and let you build another one?”
Under Ying Kai’s gaze, Xu Shuangce lowered his eyes. From his appearance, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. After a while, he calmly said, “You’ve forgotten; there’s actually another option.”
Ying Kai looked at him in confusion.
“You can take advantage of the fact that the illusion hasn’t collapsed yet and let Gong Wei kill me immediately. This way, my soul will scatter, and the trouble will be over.”
The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Ying Kai’s fingers tightened on the table, and the tendons on the back of his hand stood out distinctly.
Every moment was quiet to the point of being frightening. Xu Shuangce’s gaze was lowered, but the corner of his eye was closely watching every reaction from Ying Kai. It took a while before he heard him speak, his voice slightly trembling, “No, I won’t do that.”
“You are my only brother, you were before, and you will be in the future, even though you’ve forgotten many things.” Ying Kai took a deep breath. “Whatever happens in the future, I hope we never have to meet on the battlefield.”
This was a completely unexpected answer for Xu Shuangce, leaving him momentarily stunned.
Ying Kai was not accustomed to showing strong emotions. After wiping his face, he stood up without looking at Xu Shuangce, gave a brief smile, and said, “Let’s go. Let me meet Gong Wei.”
Xu Shuangce also stood up, wanting to say something but couldn’t. “…Ying Kai…”
Ying Kai, burdened with the responsibility of Mountain Ocean Order, tightly gripped No Way Out in his hand as he walked past the round table towards the door, his back to Xu Shuangce. “I don’t know when this illusion will completely collapse. I must personally see Gong Wei as soon as possible. Speaking of which, when did you build the Forbidden Hall? How could you think of…”
“Ying Kai,” Xu Shuangce finally interrupted him, his voice strained. “I won’t open the Forbidden Hall for you to kill the Realm Master.”
Ying Kai’s hand hung by the door, frozen. The room fell into a terrifying silence. Xu Shuangce closed his eyes, and once again, the sound from many years ago in the corner of the hidden library resounded in his ears, Gong Wei leaning over the table, his voice ringing like silver bells through the air:
“—–Is it Zhou dreaming of the butterfly, or the butterfly dreaming of Zhou?”
“The Realm Mater cannot die in the dream unless under one circumstance – if the Realm Master’s physical body left in reality dies, the dream collapses, and everyone dragged into the dream will perish along with it.”
“With everything burnt to ashes, this is perhaps the most terrifying aspect of dreamcraft, isn’t it?”
….
The faint fragrance of peach blossoms gradually faded away in the void, like a fleeting and hasty dream.
Xu Shuangce and Ying Kai stood back to back in the hall, several yards apart, neither making a move.
“Most of what you just said is true, but you falsified only one crucial point—those who are killed by the Lord of the Realm in ‘butterfly dies and the dream is born’ do not truly perish in reality,” Xu Shuangce’s voice was slow and deep. “On the contrary, being killed by the Realm Master is the only safe way to leave the dream. The slain can wake up from the dream and return to reality; this is dying in the dream to live.”
“However, for those who remain in the dream, they will perish along with its collapse; this is living in the dream to die.”
“So, Gong Wei has always wanted to kill me, actually to expel me from the dream and return alive to reality. Then, at the moment when the dream collapses, he will lead everyone to their deaths…”
Xu Shuangce turned around and looked at Ying Kai’s steadfast figure. “Because everyone once tried to stop him from killing you on the Ascension Immortal Platform in the real world.”
Ying Kai’s figure was both familiar and unfamiliar. After a long time, he slowly lowered the hand reaching for the door and sighed silently.
“You said you had forgotten your past, didn’t you?” he asked, his interest waning. “But it turns out you still remember the true meaning of The butterfly dies and the dream is born?”
Xu Shuangce did not answer the question. “Since earlier, I’ve been thinking about one thing: when did I start believing that I was God of the Northern Wall?”
“…”
“The first time I thought of myself as God of the Northern Wall was when I saw that figure in black, wielding a silver sword, breaking through the Heavenly Gate during the Battle of Annihilation and recklessly slashing at the souls of the Xuanjing River. I empathized with his anger, but in reality, his anger was at the destruction of the Annihilation Army, while mine was at the Mirror Immortal being injured for helping the Xuanjing River deflect the Heavenly Tribulation. The two were completely different things.”
“The second time I deepened this impression was when I heard from Liu Xuzhi about the legend of The Ghost Crown Prince Welcomes His Bride at Yanchuntai. God of the Northern Wall was arrogant, cruel, and ruthless. But rumors often have inaccuracies, because regardless of a god’s true character, people will only remember him as cruel and ruthless, with no other evaluation.”
“What finally solidified this belief was my severe killing karma, equivalent to that of God of the Northern Wall.”
Xu Shuangce looked at Ying Kai, his tone slightly unsteady:
“So, can you tell me now why your killing karma transferred to me, God of the Northern Wall?”
An invisible boulder smashed into the air, causing a wave of thousands of feet, as if it took tens of thousands of years before the suffocating silence returned.
Ying Kai finally turned back, looking calmly at him. “You’ve already forgotten, Eastern Heaven.”
“When I was banished to the mortal realm, you told Gong Wei that you wanted to give up your godhood to exchange fates with me, to help me resolve the unerasable killing karma and hatred toward humanity.”
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Wow! Plot twist!
God, this must have been a doozy to translate. As a reader, I can barely keep up. I can’t even imagine being the translator. Kudos to you, Lazy Girl! (─‿‿─)♡