My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion-Chapter 70 - 55 The Ignorance in Her Heart

The more the phantom spoke, the paler Yin Weiyin’s face became. She shook her head in denial, wanting to escape from it.

"No, no, I didn’t!"

The phantom only laughed incessantly, as if mocking her ignorance, or lamenting her fate.

In the distance, the sound of footsteps came in succession.

Yin Weiyin turned her head and saw two figures, one black and one white, tongues hanging long from their mouths, wearing tall hats, holding soul-reaping chains as they slowly approached.

It was Black and White Impermanence. The female Taoist shivered uncontrollably, realizing that she had unknowingly been invaded by the Seven Spirits, sinking deep into the ghost realm of Fengdu, unable to extricate herself!

The footsteps of Black and White Impermanence drew nearer and nearer; soon, her name would appear in the Book of Life and Death.

Yin Weiyin stumbled and fled desperately into the distance.

She ran and ran, disregarding dignity and shame, sprinting along the muddy path, crushing countless brittle bones underfoot, until she broke out of that ancient battlefield and plunged into a forest thick with Heartbreak Grass. Looking back, Black and White Impermanence was nowhere to be seen, and only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through her ankle. Only then did she realize her shoes had been worn through, stones embedded in the soles, her ankles now bleeding.

"My name isn’t in the Book of Life and Death yet. There’s still a chance, as long as I return to the Supreme Forget Love Technique..."

Yin Weiyin began chanting sutras under her breath,

"To attain fulfillment and forget words, to attain the Dao and forget emotions; love and hate have their bounds, life and death are but one cycle..."

She walked and chanted, but could not quiet her mind. The chilling wind howled around her, and she heard the sound of flowing water. A shiver ran down her spine; she thought Black and White Impermanence had returned. Her eyes snapped open abruptly.

Before her lay a dark, shadowy lake, its banks lined with flowers of the other shore, as red as blood.

Yin Weiyin steadied herself, her gaze shifting to the center of the lake, where a one-armed woman sat in meditation.

"Who? Who are you?"

Yin Weiyin called out instinctively. A moment later, collecting herself, she asked respectfully,

"May I ask the honorable Taoist’s title?"

The one-armed woman opened one of her eyes ever so slightly.

She did not speak, yet her voice echoed in Yin Weiyin’s ears.

"Tongxuan."

Hearing the name, Yin Weiyin’s eyes darted to the woman’s missing arm. In a flash, she realized who she was and blurted out in shock,

"You are... Zhou Yitang, Zhou Jianjia—the one of whom it is said, ’The sword cleaves the dust of the mortal world, bearing the intent of Tongxuan’?"

Sword Armor Zhou Yitang, ranked ninth on the martial rankings. The Jianghu spoke of her master, who had gifted the words, "The sword cleaves the intent of Tongxuan, capable of shattering eight hundred winds of mortal strife." But Yin Weiyin knew it was not "shattering eight hundred winds of mortal strife" but rather "purging the six subtle burdens of humanity." The Jianghu folks, discontent with the original phrase’s grandeur, simply twisted the tale.

Those of the mundane world could not comprehend; the latter phrase surpassed the former by unfathomable heights.

Amid her thoughts, Yin Weiyin noticed those clear eyes were fixed upon her, sending a biting chill through her chest.

"Junior greets Master Tongxuan."

She bowed repeatedly.

"Most call me Sword Armor, even those from the mountains. Yet you possess some clarity of thought."

The one-armed woman sat atop the lake without sinking,

"If you have questions, ask them."

Yin Weiyin wasted no time recounting her plight in Fengdu. Then she asked,

"Honored Master, may I ask... how can I escape this place?"

The one-armed woman replied flatly,

"You already know the answer, don’t you?"

"What... Do you mean the Supreme Forget Love Technique? Please, Master, grant me enlightenment..."

A wave of bewilderment washed over her. Of course, she knew the answer was in the Supreme Forget Love Technique, but... despite her endless chants, nothing worked.

No sooner had she uttered the question than the one-armed woman’s figure turned ethereal, dissolving into a light butterfly that drifted into the depths of the forest.

Seeing this, Yin Weiyin was taken aback. Panicked, she chased after the butterfly, running into the woods.

The forest was dark and eerie, everywhere choked with Heartbreak Grass. Gravestones dotted the ground, half-buried in mud. She pursued the butterfly, running further and further, until a distant sobbing broke her trance. She snapped back to reality and found herself in a desolate graveyard.

Yin Weiyin breathed heavily. The butterfly was nowhere in sight, only gravestones standing like broken swords, tombs overgrown with orchids, exuding a dead silence so oppressive it seemed to seep into her bones.

She approached a nearby gravestone cautiously for a closer look.

Her heart almost stopped. The engraving on the cold stone read: "Chen Yi’s deceased wife, resting place of Yin Weiyin."

She stumbled back in panic, turning to examine another gravestone. It read: "Chen Yi’s father-in-law, resting place of King Yin Cheng."

Frantic, she moved to yet another, which read: "Chen Yi’s mother-in-law." Another: "Chen Yi’s wife’s master." Her blood drained, her body trembling with fright, overcome by an icy chill.

This cemetery... belonged to the entire household of the Prince Mansion!

And every gravestone... was connected to Chen Yi...

Yin Weiyin was gripped by uncontrollable fear. The scene before her seemed to declare that the West Factory Thousand Households... had dragged her into the realm of death.

She muttered the Supreme Forget Love Technique desperately, then turned her gaze toward the orchids on the graves. Their dew glimmered with a faint violet light, enchanting like a siren song.

But the longer she looked, the more she paled.

The orchids, blooming brightly, seemed to transform into grinning faces, blooming and laughing ceaselessly with dew that appeared to both cry and weep. The orchids, simultaneously laughing and crying.

Yin Weiyin hurriedly shut her eyes:

"It’s fine... It’s all fake..."

When her racing heart calmed slightly, she opened her eyes again but froze instantly, pupils shrinking.

The orchids began to shift, turning into countless faces, and every single face was Chen Yi’s, staring at her, crying and laughing.

With a sharp scream, Yin Weiyin fled heedlessly, feeling as though a force behind her was persistently pulling her back, dragging her into a grave, burying her beneath the soil, pressing her into eternal death beneath a tombstone.

She ran, bloody-footed, through the thick woods steeped in unnerving silence, until she spotted the light butterfly once more. It fluttered like a firefly, rising and falling, seemingly pointing to the only path of escape.

Yin Weiyin chased after the butterfly with wild desperation, pursuing endlessly, relentlessly, until the butterfly finally slowed and stopped.

She reached out her hand, attempting to grasp the light butterfly.

In the instant the butterfly settled on her palm, Yin Weiyin’s eyes widened abruptly.

The light butterfly... turned into Chen Yi’s face!

He smiled at her, laughing endlessly!

Horrified beyond measure, Yin Weiyin stumbled back, only to realize she was on the edge of an endless abyss and, with no footing, plummeted into the void.

When she opened her eyes again, the scene had changed once more.

A grand hall, sandalwood tables and chairs, lanterns every three steps. She found herself back in the Prince Mansion, her home. Subconsciously, a faint sense of relief washed over her.

Suddenly, the sound of slaughter erupted outside.

Yin Weiyin whipped around, only to see a blood-drenched man, one hand gripping the Brocade Spring Blade, the other dragging her father, King Yin Cheng, as if carving a path of carnage into the hall. He looked like a ghostly deity, while King Yin Cheng was as helpless as a lamb. freeweɓnøvel.com

A chill surged through her spine. Chen Yi gave a sinister smile and plunged the blade into her father’s abdomen, from which intestines spilled like serpents. Then, sawing downward, he severed King Yin Cheng’s head from his shoulders.

Outside the door, bodies piled high in blood. The entire household of the Prince Mansion lay slaughtered.

Her phantom now appeared behind her, laughing chillingly:

"Look. Not only did he take your partner, but he has annihilated the entire Yin family. And yet... you are still powerless against him."

Yin Weiyin shivered, her Heart Lake roiling tumultuously, on the brink of collapse.

"You even helped summon his spirit, aiding the tyrant in his reign of terror, ensuring he would one day destroy your lineage."

The phantom burst into insane laughter.

Yin Weiyin broke into a cold sweat, muttering:

"No, no! It’s all fake."

But the phantom’s words pierced her heart,

"You claim it’s fake, but have you considered why you see such visions?"

Gasping for air, Yin Weiyin stared at the bloody carnage before her, answering shakily:

"Because, because... I..."

Some glimmer of understanding flickered within her, yet she could not articulate it, and in the end could only question why,

"Why, why... I don’t know. I don’t understand."

"Foolish child, still unaware!"

The phantom’s voice thundered,

"Because you are afraid! You fear him!"

"Summon your soul, summon it back to the great path!"

I am... afraid of him...

Yin Weiyin stood frozen in shock.

So I fear him!

Just as Yin Tingxue had become Chen Yi’s ignorance, without realizing it, Chen Yi had also become the veil of ignorance in her heart!

The revelation struck her with the weight of a thousand mountains. The shards of her broken Heart Lake seemed to still, rippling into profound calmness.

Yin Weiyin watched, unflinching, as her father’s anguished cries repeated before her again, and again the scene reformed—another Chen Yi dragged her father inside, another death, another lament, and so on.

She watched unmovingly as Chen Yi massacred the entire Yin family,

Once, twice, hundreds and thousands of times!

Hundreds and thousands of Chen Yis slaughtered hundreds and thousands of Yin families...

At first, swells of emotion rose within her heart, gradually subsiding into numbness, and then detaching from numbness, evolving into acceptance, as though one season followed another, and yet another spring had arrived. Her gaze grew increasingly serene and detached.

"To attain fulfillment and forget words, to attain the Dao and forget emotions; love and hate have their bounds, life and death are but one cycle..."

Yin Weiyin murmured softly.

With those words, a spark of clarity flickered in her eyes, her silhouette radiating as she stood amidst the blood sea, untouched by even a speck of dust. As the blood flowed ceaselessly, the sound of a guqin playing "Guangling San" echoed through its waves.

Yin Weiyin stood amidst the blood sea, unsullied.

Quiet Taoist verses emerged from within her Heart Lake,

"Who can face life and death without fear? Love and hate each hold their place."

"To ascend as a celestial requires the loss of self; without shedding the ego, the Dao remains closed."

In an instant, the white-robed female Taoist seemed to transcend, her form ethereal, gliding as though on the verge of immortality.

As if a single night had passed, the distant sky rang with the cry of a rooster.

The rooster’s call shattered the darkness, daylight dawning abruptly—every Chen Yi disintegrated into ash!