My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion-Chapter 92 - 77: The Empress Dowager’s Disappearance (Please Follow)

Chapter 92: Chapter 77: The Empress Dowager’s Disappearance (Please Follow)

Chen Yi panted heavily.

He survived.

Yes, survived—Chen Yi felt that he had truly survived.

From start to finish, except for the last instant, You Xu’s blade had been pressing down on him.

But it was Chen Yi who lived, and You Xu who died.

Before the fight, You Xu had said, "One never knows which blade will be the last," and indeed, his words became prophecy. He likely never imagined, even in his dying moments, that he would fall to the blade hidden behind the use of True Qi. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

You Xu, who had regained his Fourth Rank status, was imposing. Perceiving he could not defeat him head-on, Chen Yi deliberately concealed his killing blow until the very last instant, when You Xu was poised for victory yet faintly careless—that’s when Chen Yi took his life.

You Xu died, unjustly so. He was clearly about to win, and it wasn’t as if he played his game poorly. He lost merely to a transcendent move from Chen Yi, akin to a celestial strike.

But dead was dead.

Some martial artists fight to determine victory.

Others fight to see who survives.

Standing last proved only that Chen Yi was better suited to live.

"It’s time to leave... Back to the Eastern Factory."

Chen Yi sheathed his blade, murmuring to himself.

After a moment’s thought, he picked up You Xu’s Ring Head Knife.

Lowering his head, he noticed the inscription on the blade: "Lu Wang sharpened his blade and took his shot upon meeting Zhou Wen."

This single line seemed to encapsulate the latter half of You Xu’s life after the massacre of the White Willow Sect.

In the days of old, perhaps there had been a carefree wanderer who traveled far and wide, ignorant of his limitations and utterly unrestrained.

A hero violates prohibitions with his martial arts.

But after the White Willow Sect’s annihilation, the carefree wanderer died, and the savvy You Xu lived—surviving by selling his services and hoping for a chance like "meeting Zhou Wen and taking his shot." Yet ultimately, all of it ended in nothing more than one handful of earth beneath the bamboo sea of Grand Reality Temple.

Chen Yi spoke quietly:

"It’s no more than learning martial and literary arts, all to serve the Emperor’s throne."

After pondering for a moment, Chen Yi abandoned the Ring Head Knife and strode decisively out of the bamboo forest.

...............

Lin Yan’s expression twisted into rage.

This assault on the Grand Reality Temple had been nearly an outright defeat.

The higher-ranking fifth-grade experts in the Lin household had either been sent to rituals and ceremonies or dispatched to deal with the mobilized Xique Pavilion spies; none were capable of overpowering the well-equipped forces of the West Factory.

The second half of the Spring and Autumn Register had all but lost its path toward recovery.

"At least... at least the first half is authentic. Burning the first half still leaves us with people we can use."

Lin Yan muttered grimly.

Then, turning his head, he asked:

"What’s the situation with the rituals and ceremonies?"

Before the spy could reply, the celestial signs began to shift dramatically in the far-off sky!

Layer upon layer of seven-hued clouds abruptly appeared. Faint cries of immortal cranes resonated in the heavens, and an aura of profound hues permeated the capital.

Lin Yan’s eyes lit up.

No reply from the spy was necessary; he already knew the answer.

"Father, you’re about to ascend to immortality!"

Lin Yan’s lips trembled as he muttered near-frantically.

The rotating clouds in the sky seemed to sing praises, half the heavens appearing to exult. Illusory manifestations of the Golden Body Dharma flickered between visibility and invisibility.

"Quickly, summon the Forbidden Army’s Western Camp and surround the Imperial Palace!"

Lin Yan roared.

"Today, let that demoness perish inside the palace!"

The spy stood up and set off to convey the message, but just then, another spy rushed in.

Lin Yan recognized him as the one he had dispatched to scout the situation within the Imperial Palace.

Originally thinking this task was a suicide mission, Lin Yan hadn’t expected the spy to return completely unscathed.

Such decay in the palace defenses... It seemed the demoness truly had reached the end of her days.

"I never imagined a dragon amongst men hiding within our Lin household. You managed to come back alive."

Lin Yan remarked with faint praise.

The spy, hearing Lin Yan’s words, did not show any joy but instead began to tremble slightly.

"Speak—what did you find?" Lin Yan frowned and questioned.

"Reporting to Master Lin... The young Emperor sits in the Dragon Throne within the Golden Luan Hall... Flanked only by two Imperial Guards and three or four palace maids."

Lin Yan listened, furrowing his brows with every word, muttering:

"That demoness has gone mad, leaving the young Emperor so carelessly guarded... Then, did you find out the demoness’s location?"

"Re-reporting to Master Lin..."

The spy stammered in terror:

"The Empress Dowager is not in the Imperial Palace at all!"

Lin Yan’s eyes widened.

In the entire coup attempt, the Empress Dowager’s presence was of utmost importance, with the young Emperor being secondary. If the Empress Dowager escaped the capital and sought refuge with a Vassal King to raise an army for loyalist forces, not only would the capital become indefensible, but all of Great Yu would be plunged into chaos.

With Lin Yan’s father achieving ascension through karmic virtue, the Lin household needed dominance over the dragon vein of Great Yu to suppress the nameless old woman who had lost her own dragon vein. Then they could force the Empress Dowager to abdicate and restore governance. This was Lin Yan’s entire plan.

"That demoness has lost her mind, abandoning even the dragon vein’s suppression."

Lin Yan’s eyes reddened as he gnashed his teeth and demanded:

"Where is she?!"

...............

"Spring Thin Temple?"

Chen Yi stared dumbfounded at Wu Qingsheng before him.

"Why would Her Majesty the Empress Dowager go to Spring Thin Temple?"

It was well known that the late Empress Dowager had passed away in Spring Thin Temple. To the current Empress Dowager, it held the same significance as Luofeng Slope to Phoenix Hatchlings. Even in the court documents, the term "Spring Thin Temple" was deliberately avoided.

Beyond matters of taboo, Spring Thin Temple wasn’t a desirable destination.

Located in the outskirts of the capital, it lay along an area nearly devoid of human presence, its roads uncompromisingly straight. Riding swiftly, one could reach Spring Thin Temple from the capital within half an hour.

"I can’t fathom it either. However, the intelligence I received from Xique spies conveyed the directive—Her Majesty has Sword Armor accompanying her, and her safety is assured."

The exhausted Wu Qingsheng provided the explanation.

"Even then, she shouldn’t go to Spring Thin Temple... Doing so lets the capital fall squarely into the Lin faction’s hands! If the Emperor is captured by the Lin Party, then what can be done?"

Chen Yi asked repeatedly, growing anxious.

He originally intended to act after the Heavenly Family and Lin faction wore each other down; only then would he seize complete control of the situation. The Empress Dowager leaving the Imperial Palace for Spring Thin Temple disrupted his plans yet again.

Logically, remaining in the palace with no drastic changes should have been the Dowager’s strongest move.

"This baffles me as well... But I’ve heard a certain secret before."

Director Wu hesitated before continuing.

"What secret?"

"After the former Empress Dowager’s demise, her corpse was never moved to the imperial tombs—instead, she was buried at Spring Thin Temple... Monks there recite scriptures day and night for her soul’s transcendence."

Director Wu spoke uneasily. Given his position, revealing such things was unquestionably treasonous. Yet, with the current urgency, he could no longer afford to consider the consequences.

"Transcendence for the late Empress Dowager’s soul?"

Chen Yi sensed something irregular.

If the former Dowager had passed peacefully, what need would there be for transcendence?

At that moment, Min Ning spoke up, as if recalling something:

"I... My grandfather once yelled while entering the capital that the late Emperor had severed three corpses to achieve immortality..."

The mention caused Chen Yi to momentarily grasp a tenuous connection.

The former Dowager had died shortly after the Prime Minister’s case wrapped up, while the late Emperor severed three corpses—a coincidence like this couldn’t be unrelated...

Suddenly, Chen Yi entertained a chilling thought.

Could it be... that the late Emperor intentionally caused his own mother’s death,

all for the purpose of severing three corpses to ascend?

But what relation could this possibly have to the Empress Dowager’s journey to Spring Thin Temple?

——————————————————

My results are poor, and even the editor is urging me to abandon this—let’s see if I can hit 900 follow-ups this week. If not, I really might have to give up on this book. I don’t want to; I love each of the female protagonists in this story. Whether it’s Yin Tingxue’s sorrow, Zhou Yitang’s persistence, Min Ning’s heroism, and so on... I deeply want to continue writing about them. But without follow-ups, there’s no recommendations, and the book will truly be finished!!! (tears)

The novel is now officially launched—I’m here begging for subscriptions, full subscriptions!!!