Invasion Myth: Starting with the Schoolteacher

Chapter 848 Sorry

In dreams, the six realms of existence are clearly present; upon waking, however, all is empty and the vast universe is gone.

Amidst the interplay of Buddhist chanting and the spiritual light of Taoist mantras, a world existing between reality and illusion is taking shape.

On the lotus platform in the Purple Bamboo Grove, magical artifacts and rituals formed an intricate array, opening up the gaps in the vast world and creating a virtual realm.

At the heart of this dream world are two intertwined beams of light.

A beam as bright as the moon, pure and serene.

A chaotic and obscure path, yet it conceals hidden sparks.

Bai Suzhen's spiritual light infused the causal framework of "entering the love tribulation" and "breaking the love tribulation" into it.

The technique is precise and restrained; each rune has been refined through a thousand years of cultivation to ensure that the dream unfolds as planned.

Meanwhile, on Xu Xuan's side... what floated out of his mind were countless fragmented pieces of love stories.

There are tales of talented scholars and beautiful women, legends of chivalrous couples, and even a few romantic stories clearly from foreign lands. These fragments joyfully blend into the dream world, like uncontrollable variables.

Even now, it is still under Bai Suzhen's control, knowing that this is the corrective power inherent in dreams.

Only by working together can we both perish.

The two beams of light finally fell into the formed world, and with each layer of seals, their memories began to slip away like sand through an hourglass.

The calamity of Dongting Yunmeng was covered by a wave pattern; the battle between the Yin and Yang Dharma Kings was transformed into ink paintings and vanished; the treasure hunt in the Dragon Palace, the three battles against Changmei, the sword snatching at the foot of Qinxi Mountain, the second battle against Changmei, Daci returning to his hometown, the three wonders of hell, Happy New Year... Every thrilling past event was sealed by a different mark.

The last thing to fade away was the image of cleaning up bloodstains in the quaint courtyard.

While Bai Lian's divine soul was indeed transcendent, her realm ultimately did not reach its ultimate state.

Those memories were not completely erased, but rather temporarily concealed by layers of mysterious restrictions.

Like draping the scorching sun of cause and effect with a veil, leaving only a faint red thread connecting them, neither letting it completely fall silent nor allowing it to disturb the dream.

This is the "Slaying Calamity" method meticulously designed by Bai Suzhen.

Only by making Xu Xuan truly "forget" himself can he be completely immersed in the tribulation of love; and only by thoroughly experiencing the tribulation of love can he sever it in the most perfect way.

As the last restriction fell, Xu Xuan's spiritual light was shrouded in thick fog, making it almost impossible to discern its original form.

However... her own white aura, though shrouded in the same thin veil, remained completely undiminished in its radiance.

"sorry."

A subtle ripple arose from the depths of the spiritual light, vanishing in an instant.

Ruoxu, who was protecting the outside world, remained focused on maintaining the formation and was completely unaware of what was happening.

Bai Suzhen continued with the second phase of the plan.

She didn't truly seal away her memories; instead, she condensed all the key memories into a white jade hairpin and quietly placed it in her hair. Touching the hairpin would instantly restore her consciousness.

Because the true core of this Tribulation-Slaying Formation has never been oneself.

If someone could see through the essence of the formation and reverse the ritual seven times, they would be surprised to find that Xu Xuan's spiritual light sat in the main position, while Bai Suzhen's figure had already retreated to the auxiliary star position.

"The thread of love remains, but the affection is gone."

Before entering the battle, Bai Suzhen understood that there was only a tribulation imposed by Heaven between her and Xu Xuan, and no love whatsoever.

Therefore, the real key to breaking the calamity lies in guiding the clueless Xu Xuan to make the choice of "severing ties" in his dream.

This is a method of deceiving Heaven!

Those complicated Buddhist scriptures and Taoist formulas are nothing but a smokescreen;
The so-called memory seal was used on Xu Xuan almost entirely.
Even Ruoxu, the protector, was caught in the trap; his role was simply to ensure that Xu Xuan "obediently entered the tribulation."

She has used every means at her disposal to overcome this tribulation and has paid the corresponding price.

Each precious spiritual object in the ritual was silently nourishing Xu Xuan's foundation. This ordeal would at least lay the foundation for him to become a wandering immortal, and his future achievements would be limitless.

I hope... it will be successful.

If Xu Xuan were still lucid, he would surely have sighed the same way as Zhang Wuji's mother: the more beautiful a woman is, the more likely she is to deceive people.

However, Bai Suzhen did not realize that after losing three years of memories, the man's spiritual light suddenly fell into a mysterious state: seemingly existing yet not existing, seemingly extinguished yet not extinguished.

Like a dying ember in the darkness, its surface is dark and lifeless, but its interior contains astonishing heat.

Just at the very last moment before the formation was about to close.

"Shh!"

A ray of light shone in the void at the last moment.

The story... begins.

Five hundred years ago, at the end of a dynasty, the court was corrupt and the emperor was incompetent and tyrannical, obsessed with seeking immortality and immortality.

The Imperial Preceptor, Taiyin Zhenjun, possessed evil arts and used coercion and enticement to lure people into capturing snakes so that he could practice his magic and regain the emperor's trust.

At the same time, demons and monsters wreaked havoc on the world, and signs of national demise such as regional warlordism, frequent wars, and other calamities appeared one after another.

In a mountain village in Yongzhou.

The young man awoke with a start from his sleep.

"The bed board is so hard, did I fall on the floor?"

Xu Xuan, his back aching, was jolted awake from his sleep. At his age, he still preferred a soft mattress, so even though his finances weren't great, he gritted his teeth and bought one…one…

Huh? Hiss? Holy crap?

Dim light, shrouded in dust, floated before my eyes.

A few thin rays of sunlight pierced through the thatched roof, and cracks in the earthen walls snaked like snakes, seeping out a cold, damp air.

Dried herbs were piled up in the corner, the bitterness of angelica mixed with the sourness of dried tangerine peel. A crooked cypress wood table stood diagonally in the center of the room, its cracks inlaid with dark brown medicinal stains, and a three-legged stool leaned to the side.

The earthenware jar on the stove was cracked, and some black dregs of medicine were still stuck to the bottom. A chipped mortar lay overturned in the ashes, with astragalus powder remaining in the grinding trough.

"I am..."

He looked down at his coarse cloth clothes and touched his face—the touch was both strange and familiar.

A terrifying realization suddenly struck him. "I've traveled through time?!"

Lying down again, opening my eyes again, and trying to restart the system is such a cringeworthy act.

So when I opened my eyes again, I was certain of one thing: I... might really have transmigrated.

Xu Xuan was not opposed to time travel itself.

In his previous life, he was just an ordinary person with a stubborn streak. His teachers at school always said he was a rock with sharp edges and corners.

He had no illustrious family background, nor a childhood that needed repair.

Perhaps one has lofty ambitions in childhood, but with growth and the tempering of time, one eventually becomes ordinary.

Then, an accident happened; he died while rescuing someone...

Having the opportunity to reopen a second time naturally feels like a bonus.

After the initial panic subsided, I incidentally received the memories.

Memory is short.

A village where snake catchers make a living, and a young boy named Ah Xuan... This story... feels so familiar.

He staggered to the window and suddenly pushed open the mottled wooden window.

"Fuck..."

The sight before him left him completely stunned.

The entire village looks like it grew out of a cliff!

Clusters of wooden houses, like bird nests, are suspended between cliffs and connected by crisscrossing suspension bridges.

When the mountain wind sweeps by, the suspension bridges sway gently, the wooden planks creak and groan, and the whole village ripples slightly in the mist.

In late autumn, maple leaves dye the entire valley red, with layers of crimson, golden orange, and ochre brown, creating a fiery wave when the wind blows.

Smoke curls up from the thatched roofs, mingling with the thin mist in the mountains, blurring the splendor of the maple forest.

It makes everything seem even more illusory, like a colorful dream.

Everything before him was so surreal that he wondered if he was having a bizarre dream.

On the dilapidated wooden door, a crooked sign reading "Bao'an Hall" hangs; next to it is a faded human meridian chart, the ink smudged and blurred; leaning against the corner are several oil-paper umbrellas with deformed frames, their surfaces crudely painted with lotus flowers...

Even more outrageous is that it also has the standard features of the main character.

"Woof! Woof!"

A chubby little yellow dog wagged its tail and came over. The dog's name was Dudou.

Xu Xuan: "...What a shameless name. Were young people in ancient times so unrestrained?"

And why does this name sound so familiar?

He crouched down and rubbed the dog's head, trying to recall something from his memory. But just as he concentrated, everything suddenly went black, and he almost collapsed.

"Gululu——"

My stomach growled in protest.

"...Alright, let's fill our stomachs first."

Back inside, they rummaged through drawers and cupboards, eventually finding only a small handful of yellowish brown rice at the bottom of the rice jar, and half a dried radish in the corner of the stove.

Great, much better than starting with only one bowl.

After struggling for ages, I finally managed to get a fire going and cooked a pot of culinary disaster that was hard to tell if it was porridge or burnt food.

With his eyes closed, he forced himself to drink the bowl of sticky stuff.

To be honest, it tasted pretty bad.

Xu Xuan was rubbing his bloated stomach when he suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside the door.

A naked child came running over, pattering against the doorframe and peering out, shouting:

"Brother Xuan! People from the city have come to collect snakes! The village chief wants you to go there right away!"

Xu Xuan was taken aback: "If you're going to collect snakes, why are you asking me for help..."

Halfway through the sentence, a memory suddenly flooded back. That's right, this village pays its taxes by catching snakes!

The imperial court levied taxes in two seasons: summer taxes were paid before June, in the form of money, silk, or goods; autumn taxes were paid before November, mainly in the form of grain.

But this poor mountain village couldn't grow much grain at all, and the villagers had been catching snakes to pay taxes for generations.

Xu Xuan... was one of only two literate people in the village, and he was responsible for counting and keeping accounts.

"Tsk, I can't refuse..."

With a sigh, she could only bite the bullet and follow the child out. She tried to process her memories while acting as if nothing was wrong.

only……

"Brother Xuan, why are you walking so slowly today? You usually run past in no time!"

Xu Xuan said calmly, "My legs are a little sore today."

To be honest, my legs are feeling weak right now, and I'm incredibly panicked.

"Hey kid...can't you look down there?!" he roared inwardly.

The gaps between the wooden planks of this suspension bridge are wide enough to let a person through, and the rattan ropes are worn shiny, looking like they might break at any moment. When the mountain wind blows, the whole bridge sways like a swing...

Below is a bottomless abyss!
That guy Ah Xuan was some kind of parkour expert, he was really wild.

However, it's clear that there's more than one such test.

We had just crossed a few dilapidated suspension bridges and hadn't even had a chance to relax when someone shouted, "Ah Xuan, help me catch the snake. I don't know why there's a hole in the basket."

(End of this chapter)