Chapter 64: This is definitely a provocation!
Yan Jingyu now did not need to deliberately open his Heavenly Mandate Eyes. With just a slight thought, he could see through everyone’s past.
Just as Qi Mufang had said, the two of them had indeed become his apprentices on the same day, and he had indeed taught them each a secret manual. But in the past he had spied on, in this small house, there had once been two chairs.
From the current furnishings, the two chairs should have been deliberately placed for the apprenticeship ceremony, and were not originally there.
Why would two people becoming the apprentice of the same person need two chairs?
Ever since his resurrection, he had felt that everything around him had become chaotic, as if something was not right.
Unexpectedly, Wen Renying also popped out and said seriously, “Yes, I remember now. It was indeed you who crippled his cultivation.”
Although Yan Jingyu was suspicious, he did not deny it. He patiently helped Ming Zelin up and promised to help him expand his meridians as soon as possible. Ming Zelin was grateful. After confirming that Yan Jingyu was his master and that he was not dreaming, his emotions stabilized a little.
Yan Jingyu then looked at the chessboard by the window. “This game, did I play it with you guys?”
“No.” Qi Mufang said, “You played it with yourself.”
Yan Jingyu silently looked at the lonely piece in the center of the chessboard. There was no need to use the laws of the Heavenly Mandate, but from the current layout of the chessboard, he could deduce all the moves. This piece in the center was by no means his own handiwork.
He frowned, his heart feeling a little empty, but he was not sure where this emptiness came from.
“Master.” Qi Mufang suddenly said, “Recently, the immortal sects have been besieged by the demonic race. That demon lord Chi Yuan has captured countless cultivators and imprisoned them in purgatory for several months. Now, everyone has escaped, but they are all physically and mentally damaged. Some have had their Dao hearts shattered, and some have directly fallen from their realms… Now that you have returned, do you want to lead the immortal sects to seek justice for everyone?”
“Chi Yuan…?” Yan Jingyu said, “He captured many people?”
“That’s right.” Qi Mufang, while speaking, opened his small sound-and-image mirror. The water in the small sound-and-image mirror rippled, as if countless raindrops had fallen into a lake. He directly activated a sound transmission formation inside, and Yan Jingyu immediately heard a cursing voice: “That piece of sh*t Chi Yuan, he made me fall directly to the Cloud-Soaring Realm! I will be at odds with the Demon Realm for the rest of my life!!!”
“Don’t mention it. My senior brother was hit by the lava of purgatory and is still unconscious…”
“My master has already sent a jade slip to Hutian, hoping that Lord Qin can come forward and uphold justice for us. We are still waiting for a response from that side.”
“His best friend has fallen. Lord Qin’s Dao heart is difficult to continue. It’s uncertain how much his realm has fallen. Where would he have the time to care about us?”
“Immortal Lord Dufang has fallen?!”
“Immortal Lord Dufang?”
“Immortal Lord Dufang???”
“Immortal Lord Dufang?!!!”
Countless voices came from the sound transmission formation. Yan Jingyu was also drawn to them. Qi Mufang, while baffled, timely said inside, “Who said Immortal Lord Dufang has fallen? He has already been resurrected and will return to Hutian in a few days!!”
“Immortal Lord Dufang is still alive?!”
“I want to see Immortal Lord Dufang!”
“I also want to see Immortal Lord Dufang!!!”
“The Immortal Lord saved my life. I want to thank the Immortal Lord in person!!”
Yan Jingyu: “I saved…?”
“This time, if it weren’t for Immortal Lord Dufang, I’m afraid we would have already died at the hands of the demon lord of purgatory!!”
“That’s right. Thanks to Immortal Lord Dufang killing Chi Yuan, we were able to escape from purgatory. This eight months of torture, I will never forget it until I die!”
Yan Jingyu looked at Wen Renying. Wen Renying nodded vigorously to show that what everyone was saying was true.
…Wasn’t I under a tree? Yan Jingyu thought. And before I was resurrected, wasn’t I always a waste? How on earth did I kill Chi Yuan, how did I save a million cultivators, and how did I snatch Wen Renying back…
He was completely bewildered and had no choice but to say, “Let’s go back to Hutian first.”
Qi Mufang did have a vehicle, a huge wooden kite. Its wings, when spread out, were large enough to accommodate four or five people.
Yan Jingyu stood at the front of the wooden kite. Behind him was Qi Mufang, with a righteous and awe-inspiring yet undeniably excited expression, and also Ming Zelin, who was tightly holding onto the corner of Qi Mufang’s clothes, his face full of relief and also filled with excitement.
“Immortal, Immortal Lord Dufang…”
During the flight, a passing cultivator suddenly came over to greet them, his excitement overflowing. “It really is Immortal Lord Dufang! Immortal Lord, I have a word…”
Yan Jingyu cast his gaze at him, but the other suddenly became dazed, the words he wanted to say as if they were stuck by something.
Yan Jingyu’s expression was gentle. “Hmm?”
“…Someone asked me to tell you something.” The other scratched his head. “But I forgot what it was.”
He also seemed a little embarrassed. Qi Mufang said good-naturedly, “I know. You just want to say hello to my master. I understand you.”
The cultivator could only nod, but still seemed to have some unresolved doubts. Yan Jingyu smiled faintly, flipped his palm down, and the wooden kite quickly moved away from the other.
The wooden kite sped through the air. The closer they got to Hutian, the more cultivators they encountered. Almost everyone could be seen with a weary face, as if they had endured endless torture.
But the moment they saw Yan Jingyu, they would all exclaim in excitement, “Immortal Lord Dufang!”
“Immortal Lord, please stay! I have a word…”
“Someone asked me to tell Immortal Lord Dufang…”
It was as if Yan Jingyu were their savior. As long as he appeared, he could immediately and completely free them from the sea of suffering.
But when they came all the way to Yan Jingyu, the words they were about to blurt out suddenly turned into a deep confusion. “I, what did I want to say to the Immortal Lord…”
Similar words were spoken one after another, one person, two people, three people, four people… Even if Yan Jingyu were any more foolish, he would have realized that some mysterious and unpredictable change must have happened to this world.
He couldn’t help but speak up. “Who is that person?”
No one could answer.
They were like cattle waiting to be slaughtered, filled with water, longing to obtain some kind of impatient relief from Yan Jingyu. But at the last moment, it was as if they were stuck by something. Their instincts were urging them to rush towards Yan Jingyu, but their brains had restrained them in an instant, making them unable to understand why they were doing this.
Their bodies were filled with longing, but their minds were restricted.
They looked even more conflicted and pained.
“I really have something to tell the Immortal Lord. I’m definitely not being unreasonable!”
There were also some persistent people who were scratching their heads in front of Yan Jingyu. He had clearly been tormented by this matter for a long time and had to tell Yan Jingyu this sentence himself no matter what. However, no matter what, he couldn’t remember what he was supposed to say.
Seeing the other’s Dao heart making cracking sounds, Yan Jingyu timely acted and helped stabilize the other’s mind. The other thanked him profusely. Before he left, he was still in great pain and kept saying that he would definitely remember.
Wen Renying and Qi Mufang were also a little strange. Qi Mufang even asked several cultivators in the sound transmission formation. Everyone unanimously said that they did indeed have something to tell Immortal Lord Dufang. He was also a little confused at first, but then he was very open-minded. “You have returned to your peak and returned to Hutian. Everyone must have many things they want to say to you. That person is just an excuse for them to strike up a conversation.”
Wen Renying also agreed very much.
Yan Jingyu did not say much.
He discovered that the entire world was trying hard to be self-consistent, as if it wanted to maintain a stable operation. But there was a force that made them unable to be stable.
The explanation Qi Mufang gave could be said to be plausible at a glance, but no matter how you listened to it, it always had a feeling of being a forced explanation. But he had not discovered the problem.
In this world, most people could be self-consistent, but there were also some people with deep obsessions who were troubled by this matter…
An existence had disappeared.
When this thought popped up, Yan Jingyu’s heart sank slightly.
He always felt that he had not killed Chi Yuan. Chi Yuan was long dead, dead more than a hundred years ago. And at that time, his cultivation had been destroyed, and he was trying hard to cultivate.
His cultivation was destroyed because his family was annihilated. His family was annihilated because his core was broken. His core was broken because he had once had a battle with someone…
His heart suddenly felt as if it had been fiercely grabbed by something.
He said reflexively, “Who was the one who fought me over the Endless Sea back then?”
The three people beside him all seemed to want to say something at the same time, but before the name could come out, they all turned to a daze.
Wen Renying said with hesitation, “It was Chi Yuan, right?”
Qi Mufang immediately said, “That’s right, it was Chi Yuan.”
Ming Zelin also nodded. “Yes, yes, it was Chi Yuan.”
…Someone had given an answer, and the surroundings were all in agreement. Yan Jingyu’s gaze swept over their faces, his expression gradually becoming grave. The wooden kite sped up again and soon landed in front of a familiar stone tablet.
Yan Jingyu’s hand stroked the stone tablet with the three large characters “Yaoguang Valley” carved on it. He walked in step by step. In a daze, he seemed to see again the corpses of his clan members all over the mountain. But unlike last time, there were also countless yellow paper money in the sky.
He looked up at the sky. The rules guided him through time and space. He saw the overwhelming dark clouds, and also the space that had been forcefully torn open. He was held by someone and walked out.
His figure had traveled for more than a year. The sea of people blocking this place, with their heads raised, were trying hard to see the person beside him clearly.
But soon, he discovered that there was only him there.
“Little A-Yu, what are you thinking?”
“That day here, was it Chi Yuan who gave me the demonic energy?”
Qi Mufang immediately said, “That’s right. At that time, your soul-lamp had just been lit, and it was swallowed by Chi Yuan’s demonic energy. You almost perished. That Chi Yuan just couldn’t stand to see you do well!”
“…” Yan Jingyu did not raise any more questions.
He continued forward, carefully reviewing what had happened at that time in his mind. He remembered very clearly that he had knelt down in front of that person and begged that person to give him strength. This kind of thing had a great impact on him, and he would definitely not remember it wrongly.
That person was not Chi Yuan. Chi Yuan was long dead, and he was definitely not killed by him.
Someone had disappeared. That person had once had a great battle with him over the Endless Sea and had shattered his core with a single palm. He saw from his memory his injured appearance, and also saw himself trying hard to crawl towards his sword, laughing so hard he was constantly pounding the ground. But he could not see that person.
It was as if he had once had a fight with a ball of air.
Pushing further back, he remembered that he was sitting on the roof, his eyebrows and eyes smiling, his expression provocative. But in his line of sight, there were only a few demonic subordinates with their eyes watching their noses and their noses watching their hearts, and also Yu Qiuye on the side, with a look of schadenfreude all over his face.
It was as if he were provoking the air.
And also, he was eating well, but the dining table was suddenly overturned by someone. He jumped onto the windowsill, his hands on his hips as he argued with someone, and then suddenly spun and fled. When he turned his face, in his memory, there was actually only a ball of air chasing him.
The memory pushed back to the very beginning. He remembered that he was sitting lazily on a weathered stone, his lips curled in a sneer. “What, Chi Yuan doesn’t give you enough to eat? The dignified head disciple of the Demon Lord actually has to make a living by scavenging?”
The Demon Lord’s head disciple—!
Yan Jingyu suddenly turned his face and looked at the two people behind him.
Qi Mufang and Ming Zelin both stopped their steps at the same time, holding their breath slightly.
“The Demon Lord’s head disciple…” Yan Jingyu said, “Chi Yuan’s apprentice, who is it?”
Both their faces were blank, until Wen Renying spoke. “Chi Yuan, Chi Yuan has no apprentice.”
Yan Jingyu looked at him. Wen Renying sat on the open jade slip, his expression dazed. “I was snatched away by Chi Yuan for so many years. I never remember him having an apprentice.”
Yan Jingyu’s eyelashes twitched slightly. Before he could speak again, a voice suddenly came to his ears. “Jingyu…”
He turned around and saw a woman with a thin figure, her expression a little pleasantly surprised, a little dazed, and also a little flustered and vaguely uneasy.
Yan Jingyu remembered again, outside the long corridor on the cliff, the scene of himself being whipped out. He couldn’t help but smile. “Mm, it’s me.”
Ling Dannan’s expression was complicated, with a hint of sadness in her eyes, and also some disbelief. She slowly looked Yan Jingyu up and down and murmured, “You’ve recovered your cultivation…”
“Mm.” Yan Jingyu spun around in front of him, his smile widening. “It seems I encountered some kind of opportunity. I had recovered when I woke up.”
A mist of water appeared in Ling Dannan’s eyes. She pursed her lips and restrained herself for a long time before she nodded with a smile. “It’s good that you’ve recovered… You, since you’re back, do you want to go see Zhongyou… he, is not doing well.”
Yan Jingyu nodded and walked inside.
They hadn’t seen each other for over a hundred years. It seemed that there wasn’t much to say between them anymore.
Ling Dannan followed behind him, looking at his fluttering white clothes. As he crossed the winding long corridor on the cliff, he was slightly blown by the wind from both sides, his expression a little dazed.
…Yan Jingyu.
This was the young master of the Yan Clan whom she had looked up to since she was a child. Back then, she was just the daughter of an elder of the Yan Clan’s guest elders. At that time, she had always followed behind the other. She had enjoyed all the glory by his side, but at the last moment, she had not been able to pull him up…
She had even failed to recognize him several times.
Clearly, this was the best. He would always walk in front of her, and she could always see him. She suddenly hoped that this road could be a little longer, a little longer.
She wanted to look at him like this for a lifetime, just like when she was a child, without thinking about anything, always happy.
A person silently landed beside her, the horsetail whisk at his waist floating back. Ling Dannan turned her head to look. It was Zeng Huacai, who had arrived at some point. He was still as quiet and wooden as usual, but he was still subconsciously looking at the figure in front of him.
Yan Jingyu was always faster than them, whether it was in his studies, or in his cultivation, or even in his mind, he was always one step ahead of them.
Yan Jingyu realized something, tilted his head slightly, but did not completely turn his gaze over. Instead, he quickly turned to the front again.
This time, he suddenly stopped his steps.
He saw a man in black in front of him, sitting on the railing of the long corridor, his arms crossed, his expression cold and with a hint of hatred.
But the moment he cast his gaze over, the person disappeared lightly.
As if it were just his own illusion.
Yan Jingyu’s eyelashes flickered, and he looked again.
The wind blew from above the cliff, making everyone’s clothes rustle. But Yan Jingyu remembered that the person’s clothes were flat and smooth, as if he and he were not in the same space…
Or perhaps, it really was just his own illusion.
No one behind him was urging him. Yan Jingyu reacted for a moment, pointed ahead, and said, “Did you guys see a person in front?”
A chorus of shaking heads.
Yan Jingyu let out a breath, silently recited a calming incantation for a while, and walked down the long corridor with big steps.
At this time, it was early summer. The Yan estate was full of carved corridors and painted buildings, and the scattered cloud towers were hidden in a patch of green. Yan Jingyu turned past a green forest where birds were chirping and came all the way to the small courtyard where he had lived before.
Under the sturdy begonia tree, several wine jars were thrown. The fragrance of the Nine Heavens Immortal was mixed with the fresh fragrance of the white begonias. It was an experience he had not had for many years.
His silver hair was covered with a few withered leaves. Qin Zhongyou’s wine jar in one hand was tilted, and wine was still gurgling out. Yan Jingyu slowly walked over. The moment he bent down to pick up the wine jar, he suddenly saw a black corner of clothes in front of him. He suddenly looked up and saw that in the black sleeve, a slender hand was holding a crimson sword, which was fiercely stabbing into Qin Zhongyou’s chest.
Yan Jingyu’s pupils widened. He suddenly looked up, and the illusion around him disappeared again. His expression was astonished. He immediately reached out to touch the place where Qin Zhongyou had been stabbed.
…No wound.
But this movement woke Qin Zhongyou up. He raised his hand and pushed Yan Jingyu’s hand away, his voice low and hoarse. “Go away.”
“…” Yan Jingyu barely came back to his senses, looked at his old friend, and said in an annoyed tone, “If you’re going to drink, then drink. Don’t waste so much. If the wine immortal sees it, he’ll strike you dead with a bolt of lightning.”
Qin Zhongyou was quiet for a moment, then suddenly looked up and grabbed his wrist. Yan Jingyu’s gaze met his open eyes, looking at the shriveled and pale eyeballs in his eye sockets, his expression stunned.
“Jingyu…” His two eyes could not focus. He just stared blankly at Yan Jingyu. “Am I dreaming again? I always dream when I drink too much… Jingyu, I’m sorry, Jingyu… I was wrong, Jingyu. I know you won’t forgive me… I know…”
Yan Jingyu grabbed his wrist, his face stiff. “What about your cultivation?”
Qin Zhongyou smiled. “I dissipated it myself. I want to know how helpless you were when you were a mortal. He was right. I am a deaf and blind fool… I am not worthy of being a lord. I am not worthy of ascending to immortality. I can’t even protect the person I care about most, and I can’t even recognize him. What do I need so much cultivation for…”
His hand kept holding Yan Jingyu’s arm, carefully stroking it upwards. Yan Jingyu suddenly saw that sword again, fiercely stabbing towards the other’s neck.
He pressed Qin Zhongyou’s hand down and turned his face to look at the quiet courtyard.
No one, clearly no one.
With his own cultivation, if a ghost were to cause trouble, he shouldn’t be unable to feel the other. But he clearly felt no aura, and even with the Heavenly Mandate, he couldn’t explore the other. But, he could see it with his naked eye.
What thing… who on earth was that?
He hated himself so much, and also hated Qin Zhongyou so much. Could it be… that it was the blank person he had been fighting with for many years?
“Jingyu…” Qin Zhongyou’s voice brought him back to his senses. Yan Jingyu came back to his senses. “You said ‘he’ just now. Who is he?”
“He…” Qin Zhongyou smiled. “He is the Lord of the Demon Realm. He is your fated enemy. He told me you were dead… told me I would never see you again… he said you had already returned to the ruins. He said that before you died, you swore to sever ties with Hutian and never return to the valley… he said you hated me…”
Yan Jingyu said slowly, “Who is he?”
“You don’t remember him…” Qin Zhongyou murmured, “He is, our greatest enemy.”
“Who is it?” Yan Jingyu said, “What’s his name? Did he do your eyes?!”
“He is, he is…” Qin Zhongyou was in a daze for a while. “My eyes, I crippled them myself. He was right. Since I will never see you in this life, I might as well cripple my own eyes…”
“You madman!” Yan Jingyu wished he could slap him to death. He looked up, his gaze constantly sweeping around, and then grabbed Qin Zhongyou again. “Who is he? What’s his name? Tell me.”
At this moment, his mood was extremely agitated, not just because of Qin Zhongyou’s foolish actions, but also because of the person who had made everyone around him a mess, whose eyes seemed to want to kill him, but who always appeared before him like a flash in the pan.
He was desperate to know who he was, to understand what on earth was going on.
But Qin Zhongyou reacted for a long time before he murmured, “His name is, Chi Yuan…”
“Nonsense!” Yan Jingyu pursed his lips tightly and suddenly shouted outside, “Zeng Huacai!!”
Zeng Huacai quickly walked in. Yan Jingyu’s breathing was ragged. “Take him away. When he sobers up and calms down, let him come to find me.”
He threw Qin Zhongyou to the other. Zeng Huacai said subconsciously, “All these years, he has been living here.”
“I’m back. This place is my place.” Yan Jingyu’s gaze swept around, and he said mercilessly, “Send him back to the Qin family.”
Zeng Huacai looked at his angry and annoyed expression. Remembering the previous matter, he felt guilty in his heart and could only say, “Then, I’ll take him back to my place first.”
“His eyes…” Yan Jingyu turned back, paused for a moment, and said, “When he wakes up, tell him I’m fine. Please get an immortal physician to treat his injuries properly.”
“Then you…”
Yan Jingyu pursed his lips slightly, suddenly looked up at the sky, his voice cold and filled with majesty. “I want to ascend to immortality.”
He knew very well that his current status was not enough. To find out everything, he could only ascend to immortality.
That person who was full of hatred for him, full of killing intent for Qin Zhongyou, who had guided Qi Mufang to become his apprentice, who had destroyed Ming Zelin’s cultivation, who had imprisoned a million cultivators for eight months, who had forced countless people’s Dao hearts to shatter, who had caused countless immortal sect great powers to fall from their realms, and who had forcefully planted an obsession in the hearts of the crowd, and had even euphemistically called it “bringing him a message”… that was definitely a provocation!
…Fated enemy, he has made the whole world a mess. He must have done it on purpose!
He just wants to see if I have the ability to find him. He is repeatedly provoking me in front of me. He crippled someone else but pushed the blame onto him. He clearly did it himself but pushed the long-dead Chi Yuan out to take the blame. He even dared to assassinate Qin Zhongyou in front of me…
He took a deep breath, turned his face to look at the surprised and joyful Zeng Huacai, and said, “During this time, don’t let anyone disturb me.”
