My enemies became my companions

Chapter 649 The Land of Light and Candlelight (Bonus Chapter Combination of Three Chapters)

A fierce wind swept through, billowing smoke and dust, making the entire Dragon Tail City seem to be pressed down low. The smoke and dust clung together in a hazy gray as it passed by, only to be suddenly illuminated by a burst of light.

Wherever it passed, darkness vanished, and for a time, half the city was as bright as day.

"You killed my master before, and now you come to kill me?!"

The Emperor's voice squeezed out from beneath the mask, hoarse and distorted, filled with resentment and madness.
"Our path is clearly the righteous one; what she seeks is a purity that transcends life and death! You hypocritical protectors, why do you obstruct her?!"

Why are you so stubbornly persistent in your delusions?

Gongsun Guan stood at the center of the halo, his voice calm yet penetrating to the very soul.
“The Venerable One is the Lord of Great Light, but your master says that darkness and light are one, that light is wisdom and darkness is ignorance, and that light and darkness are separate in the three realms. I debated with her back then and we had no disagreement, but she insisted that there is a time between the middle realm and the later realm, and that humans have the opportunity to replace the gods. How can this not be blasphemy against the Venerable One?”

"Shut up! You hypocrite!"

The emperor roared sternly.

"Are you truly unaware of the reason, or are you feigning madness? Clearly, you are the one who intends to blaspheme the Venerable One!"

Gongsun Guan sighed softly, then raised his hand, and the halo rippled outwards. The vast darkness trembled slightly at first, then shattered layer by layer like glass.

The Supreme Saint abruptly withdrew his power, his dark figure trembling violently before the halo, enduring immense pain. Beneath the mask, amidst extreme hatred and madness, a trace of indescribable confusion and exhaustion flashed by.

Immediately, that confusion was replaced by a resolute determination to perish together with everything.

"Since this turbid world cannot contain our path, and since even you want to hinder me from pursuing my master..." The Supreme Sage's voice lowered, carrying a chilling calm, "Then let us perish together."

He suddenly spread his arms wide, adopting a sacrificial posture, and looked up at the sky.

When Yin and Yang unite, all sounds cease.

A curse, as if from the depths of hell, exploded from his throat.

An aura of emptiness, like that of the primordial chaos, erupted instantly from the Supreme Saint's body, tearing his black robes to shreds and revealing his withered form. On his body, jet-black patterns, shimmering with an eerie light, suddenly lit up, slithering and spreading wildly like living snakes.

His body swelled violently, and countless fine cracks appeared on his skin. The cracks were not filled with flesh and blood, but with endless darkness.

"Commander! That is..." Yang Chongwei, who was being helped up, turned pale with shock, and the soldiers were even more ashen-faced.

Chen Yi's pupils suddenly contracted in the distance. He wanted to retreat, but his body suddenly became still.

For the first time, a subtle ripple crossed Gongsun Guan's calm face, a sigh that seemed to be expected. He maintained the light barrier, neither retreating nor dodging.

boom.

The Supreme Saint's body, like a sac filled with ink, suddenly burst open.

There was no loud noise, only a dull, suffocating feeling, as if the whole world had been covered up.

The endless darkness, like water bursting its banks, swept across hundreds of feet in an instant at an unimaginable speed, extinguishing light, silencing sound, and freezing the air wherever it passed.

The puppet general's massive body was the first to be engulfed by the darkness, its crimson eyes flashing and then disappearing. Next came Yang Chongwei and the terrified soldiers, their figures like candlelight falling into a cold pool, vanishing into the boundless darkness before they could even utter a cry.

Chen Yi felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, and his five senses became hazy for a moment. He tried to support the sword intent world, but the sword intent itself was swallowed up. Before losing consciousness, he tried his best to stand in front of Qin Qingluo.

Then all five senses were lost, as if falling into an abyss of eternal nothingness.

He continued to sink, as if sinking into a cold, dead, deep sea. His consciousness was enveloped by boundless darkness and silence. Countless bizarre dream scenes flashed through his mind: the spinning dice in the gambling house, the light in Wu Meng's murky eyes, the envoy's unwillingness, Qin Qingluo's cold eyebrows and eyes... Finally, the image settled on Gongsun Guan's deep gaze... Then, all the images were swallowed by darkness.

As the darkness completely dissipated, night fell on the horizon.
Only a soft golden halo remains.

Gongsun Guan stood calmly, and the all-consuming darkness was silently dissolved when it touched the halo of light, unable to penetrate even a little.

He was like a solitary lamp in a boundless sea of ​​ink.

He hovered silently in the night sky, his pure white robes spotless, his gaze slowly sweeping over the city of Dragon Tail.

Chen Yi has disappeared.

Qin Qingluo has disappeared.

Yang Chongwei has disappeared.

The Imperial Guards soldiers have disappeared.

The official puppet has also disappeared.

As far as the eye could see, there was only Dragon Tail City. The entire city fell silent, and no one dared to breathe loudly in the streets and alleys.

On Gongsun Guan's gentle and refined face, there was no trace of worry. Instead, a faint smile slowly appeared.

That smile seemed to contain a hint of understanding, a hint of expectation, and even... a hint of barely perceptible relief.

"Excellent, excellent."

A barely audible whisper dissipated into the boundless silence.

Just then, Gongsun Guan glanced to the side, and out of the corner of his eye, a faint light suddenly pierced the silent night.

It didn't come from Gongsun Guan's aura, but from something higher and farther away... beyond the heavens.

A shooting star, trailing a long, thin tail of light, streaked diagonally across the deep night sky.

September 5th, the sixth year of Huanglong

A star fell in Nanwei, its light stretching for three thousand miles.

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

Southern Xinjiang, Gaoliang Mountain.

Although the mountains here are not particularly spectacular, they possess a unique and beautiful atmosphere. At dawn, a thin mist, like gauze, swirls among the verdant forests. Streams murmur, birds sing softly, and the air is filled with the fragrance of grass and trees. The spiritual energy is abundant, far surpassing that of ordinary famous mountains and rivers.

The goddess of Mount Taihua, Yin Weiying, dressed in an elegant blue robe, stood on a smooth rock atop the mountain, her robes fluttering gently.

“This place is rich in spiritual energy, with magnificent mountains and rivers, and the Daoist rhythm of heaven and earth flows faintly... It is truly a blessed land for secluded cultivation, resembling the remnants of an ancient grotto-heaven.” She murmured to herself, her eyes clear as a spring. “If a Daoist partner cultivates here, it is not difficult to advance one’s cultivation by a thousand miles a day... Chen Yi, why haven’t you come yet?”

It's true that Gaoliang Mountain treated them as honored guests, but being far from home, they couldn't help but feel uneasy. Moreover, Chen Yi had been gone for quite some time and hadn't returned, nor had he sent back any news. Furthermore, the Holy Maiden Zhu E had only met them once before and hadn't come back, leaving them alone here.

Yin Weiying lowered her eyes slightly. Although she knew that Chen Yi did not treat her as his first wife for the time being, the matter of the two of them cultivating together had to be put on the agenda and could not be delayed any longer. Otherwise, how could she and Lin Wanguan, two women, cultivate together?

Thinking of this, not-so-distant memories surfaced, and her heart skipped a beat for no reason.
My thoughts raced, and I became distracted, recalling the incident of the tigers, big and small, surrounding the Red Dragon on Dragon Tiger Mountain...

She silently recited the Supreme Method of Forgetting Emotions to calm her mind.

In conclusion, there are methods to replenish yin by absorbing yang energy, and there are methods to replenish yang by absorbing yin energy, but there is no method to replenish yin by absorbing yin energy.

Yin Weiying calmed his mind, slightly tilting his eyes. He said, "It's one thing that Chen Yi is nowhere to be seen, but the fact that even that annoying Crown Prince Ruoshu is nowhere to be seen is bound to cause worry."

Although the divination results for the two individuals were considered stable, it was unclear whether they had been disturbed.

Could it be that the fierce-looking female prince has caught him?
Thinking of Chen Yi's tendency to risk everything, Yin Weiying's worries deepened.

In any case, it's impossible that they forgot she was here.

Just then, as if sensing something, she suddenly looked up at the sky in the northeast direction.

A streak of exceptionally bright light, like lightning tearing through the night, streaked across the sky at an incredible speed, hurtling toward the horizon.

The light was so intense that it illuminated the dark sky as if it were daytime.
"The Land of Light and Candlelight?!"

Yin Weiying's beautiful eyes widened in surprise. Having read extensively, she immediately recalled the ancient records about this rare celestial phenomenon: stars fall like rain, some as large as urns, others as small as cups, their light illuminating the four fields and lighting up the earth as if it were daytime. This is called "light illuminating the earth," a sign of a violent change in the energy of heaven and earth, which may contain great misfortune or great fortune.

Yin Weiying looked up at the sky but did not move. Zhou Yitang's warning was still ringing in her ears. It was not her good fortune, and she did not need to be moved.

However, the halo grew stronger and stronger as she looked closer. The meteor's trajectory was bizarre, and what shocked her even more was that the meteor, trailing a long tail of light, seemed to move at an incredible speed just before it swept across the sky above her head…

It suddenly slowed down?

It was as if I was being pulled by an invisible force.

The light was no longer dazzling, but instead became soft and gentle, like flowing moonlight. The core of the meteor seemed to be wrapped in an indescribable light, containing ancient Taoist charm...

"Touch it."

Yin Weiying was startled and tried to find the source of the sound, but could not.

She gazed at the halo of light, a tremor running through her heart. As if by instinct, she vaguely sensed that within that light, countless subtle and profound voices were calling out and whispering, as if traversing the endless river of time and space.

As if guided by a ghost, Yin Weiying stretched out her fair, jade-like hand and gently reached towards the slowly flowing, soft light, attempting to touch the core of the meteor...

Just as her fingertips were about to touch that warm light,
hum!
Without warning, the seemingly gentle light suddenly burst forth with unimaginable brilliance, like the rising sun, dazzling and unbearable to behold.

A blinding white light instantly engulfed Yin Weiying's astonished vision, engulfed her arms, engulfed her entire body, engulfed the boulder beneath her feet, the surrounding trees, and the mountains and rivers before her...

In her perception, the entire world was nothing but a pure, vast, and boundless expanse of white, which then turned dark.

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

Chen Yi drew his sword and wandered around, feeling lost for a moment.

The scene before me resembled the streets and alleys of Dragon Tail City, with walls, corners, and roof tiles intersecting, yet there was no one in sight.

Everywhere he looked was a deep, quiet silence. Even though Chen Yi's martial arts level was not low and he could see in all directions, he could not find the slightest movement.

Faced with such a dramatic change, Chen Yi suspected that it was caused by some kind of formation or some kind of illusion.

"Where am I, old man?"

Chen Yi asked quietly, but there was not a ripple in the air, and the old saintess did not answer as always.

All around was silent, eerily quiet. Chen Yi didn't want to play any more riddles with her. He reached out and grabbed at Fang Di, trying to get the truth out of her, even if he had to interrogate her severely.

His hand reached into the square, paused slightly after a moment,
The old saintess is gone? Chen Yi's pupils contracted slightly.

Everything else in the square was still there, except for that old geezer, who had vanished without a trace, along with the cauldron.

Chen Yi had always been used to the old saintess playing the role of "the old man with the ring" in the square, and never expected such a situation to occur.

"This has never happened before..."

Chen Yi composed himself, quickly adapting to the situation. After a moment's recollection, he murmured:

"I can't be the only one here."

If I remember correctly, a dark cloud rolled in like smoke, first engulfing him, then Qin Qingluo whom he was protecting, while Yang Chongwei and the others were swallowed up along with it.

The most urgent task was to find Qin Qingluo. As soon as the thought crossed Chen Yi's mind, he drew his sword and sped through the streets and alleys. Before long, he bumped into a tall figure, which was none other than Qin Qingluo.

Chen Yi stopped in his tracks, and the Queen stopped almost simultaneously. They exchanged a glance, both wary and hesitant.

Trapped in this strange and eerie place, who knows if the people before me are real or fake? Is it a dream or an illusion?
The two stood several feet apart, silently gazing at each other in the eerily quiet street.

The Queen was still wearing that black python robe, but now it was covered with some dust. She was not holding the Purple Lightning Spear in her hand, but rather it was hanging about a foot to her side with the tip slightly lowered. Her phoenix eyes were slightly narrowed, and her sharp gaze, like a tangible blade, swept over Chen Yi from head to toe, with scrutiny and undisguised wariness.

Chen Yi's mind raced as he gripped the Kang Sword tightly. The blade was icy cold and felt real to the touch. He carefully examined Qin Qingluo. Her figure, aura, and lingering arrogance, even the subtle folds in her python robe, all matched his memory.

"Your Highness?" Chen Yi spoke first, his voice not loud, but exceptionally clear in the absolute silence.

Qin Qingluo didn't respond. She shifted her gaze from Chen Yi's face and cautiously scanned her surroundings. The streets were deserted, the familiar building outlines were starkly silent. The wind blew without a sound, and there seemed to be lights in the distance, but they remained still. Time seemed to have stood still here.

After a long while, she asked in confusion, "Chen Yi?"

Chen Yi nodded slightly, then asked in return, "Are you serious?"

Qin Qingluo scoffed upon hearing this, "Could it be that I am an imposter?"

Such a tone must be true of Qin Qingluo. Chen Yi immediately replied, "I know, I was just asking."

"how about you?"

"I really mean it too."

Chen Yi sheathed his sword. To convince Qin Qingluo, he deliberately glanced at her full figure. She was eight feet tall, truly towering into the clouds, so he inadvertently glanced at her too much.

Qin Qinglu frowned and said, "I truly believe you."

Chen Yi reluctantly withdrew his gaze, momentarily reminiscing about the less-than-human period of his past. Back then, with old grudges and new resentments between him and Qin Qingluo still lingering, he treated her like a wild and untamed horse, showing her little mercy, even frequently patting, slapping, or whipping her towering breasts...

After his thoughts subsided slightly, Chen Yi also began to believe that it was true.

She has always been very confident in her own lustful nature.

"This place is strange." After a moment, Qin Qingluo spoke coldly, "Have you seen anyone else? Yang Chongwei? Soldiers? Or... that iron lump?"

"No." Chen Yi shook his head and replied, "I only remember a pitch-black darkness sweeping over me, and all my senses were lost. When I came to my senses, I was already here. Was it the same for you, Your Highness?"

"Hmm, it seems we're all trapped." Qin Qinglu nodded slightly, her voice carrying a hint of imperceptible gravity. She pointed to a frozen light in the distance. "This place seems normal, yet it's all like lifeless objects. Even the light and shadow are frozen, devoid of any vitality."

Chen Yi looked in the direction she pointed, and sure enough, the light seemed to be frozen in the air, without flickering at all.

He tried to mobilize his internal energy, which flowed freely, but when he tried to probe the wall beside him with a trace of sword intent, it felt like a mud ox sinking into the sea. The wall seemed to be just a phantom shadow, or a bottomless abyss, completely swallowing his perception.

Chen Yi's gaze turned serious. Although he had expected it, the strangeness here still far exceeded his previous imagination.

The two fell into a brief silence again.

"The most urgent task is to ascertain the true situation of this place and find a way out," Qin Qingluo spoke first, breaking the silence. She wasn't discussing it, but stating a decision. "Shall we split up to investigate, or act together?"

Chen Yi's eyes flickered, and he said, "Of course we should travel together. I suspect this is some kind of illusion."

"Alright. Stay close, don't drag me down." After saying that, she said no more, holding the Purple Lightning Spear, and strode towards the direction she had just pointed, into the depths of the long street where the lights were frozen. Her steps were steady, and her aura remained the same, as if she were walking in her own palace, rather than in this strange and desolate place.

Chen Yi gripped his longsword and followed closely behind.

The sound of their footsteps was particularly abrupt in this deathly silent world. Each step seemed to strike a taut heartstring as they walked through the deserted streets and alleys, their sharp eyes scanning every corner.

The frozen lights, the still signs, the half-open doors... everything retains the appearance of Dragon Tail City, but has lost all its vitality, like a huge and realistic painting.

Chen Yi tried to push open a half-closed shop door. The door opened silently, revealing a complete set of tables, chairs, and benches inside. There was even a cup of tea on the counter, its surface smooth as a mirror without the slightest ripple.

He reached out and gently touched the cup's rim with his finger; it was cold and hard, as if he were touching not tea, but a piece of solidified amber.

"It's like... time... has stopped? It really seems to have stopped," Chen Yi said in a low voice.

Qin Qinglu did not respond. Her gaze was drawn to something at the corner of the alley ahead. There, several broken armor plates were scattered, the style of which was exactly what the Imperial Guards wore.

The leaves were stained with dark red blood, which looked particularly glaring in the stagnant light.

The two quickly stepped forward. They saw the few pieces of armor scattered on the ground, and a broken standard-issue longsword beside them. Apart from that, there was nothing else.

Chen Yi crouched down, picked up a blood-stained piece of armor, its skin cold and heavy, feeling incredibly real. He looked up at Qin Qingluo: "It's from the Imperial Guards, Yang Chongwei and the others..."

Qin Qingluo's face was gloomy as he stared at the wreckage on the ground. He asked, "Where did they go? And where are the puppet generals?"

Chen Yi picked up the nail plate, casually tried it out, made a hand gesture for divination, and sure enough, there was no reaction, so he shook his head.

He discarded the blood-stained nail plate, stood up, and scanned the depths of the long street. "When divination is disturbed, no matter what, you will get a vague result, or the opposite result. But I can't get any divination at all. This place... is like a quagmire."

Qin Qingluo was silent for a moment, then realized that Chen Yi was right. She stopped looking at the wreckage on the ground, raised the tip of her gun slightly, and said, "Let's go and find a way out as soon as possible."

The two continued onward, their footsteps echoing in the deathly silence, making the surrounding emptiness and eeriness even more pronounced. They passed through several frozen streets and alleys before stopping in front of a relatively intact two-story restaurant.

The restaurant's doors were half-open, revealing a faint, not-quite-solid firelight, unlike anywhere else, and... a barely audible sound of breathing.

Chen Yi and Qin Qingluo exchanged a glance, both seeing the wariness and probing in each other's eyes.

Qin Qingluo gestured for Chen Yi to wait a moment, then stepped forward with her gun. The tip of the Purple Lightning Spear silently pried open the half-closed door, revealing the scene inside.

The lobby was a mess, with tables and chairs overturned and cups and plates shattered. In a corner, a bonfire was burning silently, the flames leaping but eerily without making any crackling sounds.

In the firelight, the two figures stood out conspicuously.

A burly man with a half-shattered mask was leaning against a pillar, his chest heaving violently, his clothes stained with large patches of dark blood, clearly indicating that he was seriously injured.

His only remaining eye was bloodshot, staring intently at the doorway, his hand gripping a broken, dark bone flute tightly, as if facing a formidable enemy.

He was one of the masked men who escorted Wumeng out of the palace, and he was also caught up in this place and seriously injured.

Not far from him, Elder Wumeng's gaunt figure huddled in another corner, oblivious to the two people who had burst in, the heavily injured masked man, and everything around him. His eyes were closed, his hands clasped in front of his chest, his lips moving silently and rapidly, chanting incantations, his withered face showing only piety.

He wasn't praying to gods or Buddhas, but rather repeatedly chanting obscure syllables, completely immersed in his own world, unresponsive to the outside world.

When the masked man saw Qin Qingluo and Chen Yi appear at the doorway, a fierce look of terror and disbelief flashed in his single eye. He struggled to stand up, but the movement aggravated his wound. He groaned and slumped back against the pillar, his breathing becoming even more rapid.

He stared intently at Chen Yi, his voice hoarse and cracked, filled with extreme suspicion and fear: "It's you... Chen Yi?" Then he saw the python robe, and how could he not realize what it meant? His eyes widened in fury as he said, "Just as I thought, you're in cahoots, you're in cahoots!"

Chen Yi stepped in, his gaze sweeping over the heavily injured masked man and the seemingly insane Wu Meng, before finally settling back on the masked man.

He raised an eyebrow, not answering immediately, but instead looking around with interest at the silently burning campfire and the messy hall. "An illusion?"

The masked man stopped speaking, paused for a moment, and asked in confusion, "What illusion?"

"This place is an illusion, isn't it?" Chen Yi's lips curled into a smile as he stated with absolute certainty, "Otherwise, how could it be like this?"

"How dare you! This place was created by my Holy Maiden! How could it be an illusion? I think you are the illusion itself!"

Chen Yi caught a detail in his heated words.

Chen Yi did not get angry, but instead asked, "And what about you?"

The masked man paused for a moment at the question, instinctively shaking his head in denial: "Me? Of course I..."

"Yes!" Chen Yi interrupted him abruptly, his voice resolute, "You are an illusion!"

The air seemed to freeze the moment those three words were uttered.

The masked man's eyes widened in anger, his face filled with astonishment and absurdity, as if he had heard the most ridiculous joke in the world. He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to angrily rebuke Chen Yi for talking nonsense.

However, in the next second——

His entire body, along with his tattered clothes, the broken bone flute, and even the bloodstains beneath him, seemed to have burst like a bubble, melting away silently and without warning...

In an instant, it vanished like smoke.

Only the pillar he had just leaned against remained, and the ground... completely clean, as if no one had ever existed.

The whole process was incredibly fast. From the moment Chen Yi said, "You are an illusion," to the moment the masked man completely disappeared, it only took a breath or two.

There were no screams, no struggles, only the campfire still flickering silently, illuminating the empty corner.

It doesn't dissipate or vanish; rather, it's like ink dripping into still water, its edges rapidly blurring and fading. The entire form becomes transparent and thin at a speed visible to the naked eye, eventually turning into wisps of faint, deathly black smoke that rise gently and then completely dissolve in mid-air.

Qin Qingluo's hand holding the gun tightened instantly. Her phoenix eyes were sharp as an eagle's as she stared intently at the spot where the masked man had disappeared. Then she abruptly turned to Chen Yi, her eyes filled with shock.

Elder Wumeng, still engrossed in chanting obscure syllables in the corner, seemed oblivious to the strange scene unfolding around him.

Chen Yi stood there, looking at the spot where the masked man had disappeared. The playful expression on his face vanished, replaced by a deep solemnity and contemplation.

He slowly raised his hand, looked at his palm, and then looked up at Qin Qingluo.

"Your Highness..." Chen Yi's voice lowered, becoming slightly hoarse, "It seems... in this godforsaken place, as long as you believe the other person is fake, it seems... it can become real?"

(End of this chapter)