Invasion Myth: Starting with the Schoolteacher

Chapter 948 It's good to have an obsession

She wore no elaborate costumes, but still the same scarlet dance dress stained with the dust of battle, yet still as vibrant as blood.

Yu Ji's gaze swept across the table and landed on the ornately decorated sword beside Xiang Yu's bed.

She reached out and grasped the sword hilt.

The sword was heavy, far heavier than the ones she usually used, but she slowly drew it from its sheath with a very steady wrist. The cold light shone like water, illuminating her calm, almost solemn face.

They started dancing.

The sword light began to shift, no longer displaying the fierce power of battlefield combat, but rather a poignant blend of feminine grace and unwavering resolve to die.

The cold light drew arcs in the air, sometimes reflecting Xiang Yu's complex eyes, filled with pain, madness, and an inability to stop it, and sometimes reflecting her own resolute and calm face, as if she had seen through all of fate.

There are no complicated techniques; every movement carries a ritualistic solemnity, a calm acceptance of death.

The sounds of Chu songs outside the tent added to the desolation.

Xu Xuan frowned as he watched; the dance was beautiful, but also utterly unreasonable.

The Chu songs outside the tent belonged to the southern fire element, which resonated with the Chu army. However, the Han army used them in the opposite way, creating a situation of "fire generating earth and thus weakening itself" – a numerological counteraction.

With the balance of power shifting, the hegemon's fate was sealed.

But as Yu Ji danced, the Qi Wang's fortune, which had been drained away by the metal element generating water, suddenly stopped flowing.

Love is still such an absurd thing.

However, this alone is unlikely to allow the Overlord to rise again and break through the encirclement.

With a final spin, Yu Ji stood before the Overlord, slightly out of breath, yet her sword remained firmly in place.

Suddenly, the war drums of the Han army's attack sounded like a death knell, dull yet extremely penetrating, thundering loudly and pressing in from all directions!

"The Han army has already seized the land," Yu Ji's voice was as soft as a sigh, yet it reached Xiang Yu's ears with crystal clarity amidst the deathly silence and the sound of drums, each word distinct, like a final judgment, "The songs of Chu are heard from all sides."

Xiang Yu's double pupils suddenly contracted. With his martial prowess and quick reflexes, he could naturally disarm the sword in an instant.

The muscles in his arm tensed instantly. The arm that had once lifted the Xuzhou Ding with the strength of ten thousand jin was now tightly bound by invisible shackles.

He knew what she was going to do, and he knew even more why she was doing it.

He knew he was powerless to change anything, and that this final farewell was her way of upholding her last dignity and pride, and also her ultimate control over her own destiny.

Therefore, the arm that could uproot mountains could not be lifted even slightly.

He could only watch helplessly as the woman he loved used the last of her strength to give him an extremely gentle and poignant smile.

In a daze, I saw the bright smile of that girl from when I first met her in Wuzhong, so pure it was almost blinding.

"The king's spirit is broken," the words were barely out of her lips when the cold blade of the sword resolutely kissed her slender neck.

A warm, bright red liquid gushed out instantly, staining the sword blade and her scarlet dress.

"How can I live a life as a cheap concubine?"

The last five words fell lightly, accompanied by her body collapsing.

Xiang Yu let out a low roar like a wounded beast, took a step forward, and held the limp Yu Ji tightly in his arms.

Hot tears finally welled up and spilled uncontrollably, landing on his gradually cooling cheeks.

These tears are for the beauty who has passed away in my arms, and also for my own desperate situation, for the overwhelming grief and despair of not being able to protect even my beloved!

The will that had been suppressed by Chu Ge was once again awakened by the blood, and the violent aura had distorted time and space.

Venus reached its zenith in the sky, and although it still could not shake Liu Bang's "Five Planets Gathering in the East Well" omen, it did not change that.
At this moment, the Overlord returns to his peak!

Yu Ji risked her life to do what she wanted to do.

This is the story of Farewell My Concubine!
Xu Xuan's divine sense let out a silent sigh. Even knowing history and witnessing this scene firsthand, he still felt a sense of shock.

According to history, what followed was Xiang Yu's grief, leading eight hundred elite cavalrymen from Jiangdong to break out under cover of night, staging the final, extremely fierce battle of Dongcheng and his suicide at Wujiang.

However, just when Xu Xuan thought the memories would continue to unfold, this world built on obsession suddenly began to rewind!

The scene before him flashed back like shattered glass; gushing blood flowed back into the wound; the falling sword blade rose again; the words of farewell were swallowed back; and his unfocused gaze refocused…

Time seemed to be forcibly reversed by an invisible hand, rapidly regressing to the beginning.

They retreated to the moment when the Chu army had just stumbled onto the battlefield at Gaixia.

And the madness on Yu Ji's face, which had been filled with extreme pain and despair just moments before, receded like the tide.

In an instant, it was replaced by a twisted and obsessive love and worship.

She once again "looked" at the man in her memory, still majestic but destined for defeat, as if all the tragic events before had never happened.

"...No wonder you're still acting like a madman even after all 80,000 battle souls have been exorcised." Xu Xuan muttered to himself, his tone tinged with a sense of bewildered realization.

"So you weren't affected by the resentment of the battle spirits at all, but rather you trapped yourself in this endless, heart-wrenching script?"

"Just keep going back and forth, immersing yourself in the final scene of Farewell My Concubine... Anyone, no, anyone, anyone, would be driven mad!"

This plot is considered top-tier in terms of how cruel it is to the protagonist, even among female-oriented novels.

He felt he had learned military strategy and witnessed historical scenes firsthand, so this "immersive journey of spiritual memory" was about to end. Spending time with a paranoid person trapped in a vicious cycle was simply inefficient.

So, he cleared his "divine thoughts" and, facing the core of [Yu Ji] who was preparing to "start" again, posed a question that struck at the very core:

"Do you want to meet the real Overlord?"

Om-!
As if a pause button had been pressed, the entire loop of memories suddenly stopped!
[Yu Ji] Her blood-red eyes, which had been fixed on Xiang Yu's figure, suddenly turned and stared intently at Xu Xuan!
His gaze was filled with astonishment, madness, and a deep, suppressed longing that he dared not even dare to touch.

Xu Xuan didn't give her time to react, continuing to transmit information using his divine sense, even with a slightly chanting tone:

"To live, be a hero; to die, a ghost of valor. Even now, I think of Xiang Yu, who refused to cross the Yangtze River."

"Given his personality, even if he dies, would he be content with an ordinary, unknown reincarnation? If he hadn't chosen to enter the cycle of reincarnation, he would surely still raise his banner and become king in the underworld, vying for supremacy!"

"Don't you...want to go and see for yourself? To see how powerful he is down there now?"

The crimson shadow rippled violently, but the impulse lasted only a moment before being overwhelmed by deeper confusion and preconceived notions.

She remained hesitant, even somewhat resistant to understanding the concept.

Xu Xuan pondered for a moment and immediately realized the problem—he had been making assumptions!

Both Yu Ji and Xiang Yu were natives of Chu.

The mythological concepts inherent in the Chu region are completely different from the reincarnation system that emerged after the introduction of Buddhism in later generations.

In the traditional beliefs of the Chu people, death was governed by the deity Da Siming, who controlled human life, death, and longevity. After death, people would return to the underworld.

Death often signifies an eternal silence rather than a new beginning.

For her, the concept of "fighting for supremacy in the underworld" may be very unfamiliar or even difficult to understand.

She is fixated on the cycle of memories from her previous life because, in her understanding, there is no better place to go after death; only the splendor and tragedy of her life are eternal.

"Tsk, cultural differences are such a hassle..."

Xu Xuan muttered to himself, "It seems I need to find a way to express this that she can understand."

Instead of mentioning the concept of the underworld and reincarnation, we will delve into a core issue that may resonate more with the other party—sacrifice and existence.

"Enough of that, let's not talk about the underworld." His tone, transmitted through his divine sense, became more practical. "Do you know that countless dynasties have come and gone in the world, and human emperors have issued decrees banning many irregular sacrifices and destroying countless folk temples."

He deliberately softened his tone, with a hint of regret: "Perhaps... the ancestral hall of your man who was once so strong is now dilapidated, covered in cobwebs and dust, and no one remembers to offer a stick of incense or pour a cup of wine anymore."

Xu Xuan is indeed someone who "knows how to persuade people" in some ways.

They deliberately poke at the sore spots.

This statement is similar in meaning to "You didn't want to, madam," only it is more elegant.

In any era, whether the incense of ancestral worship continues for deceased heroes or relatives signifies whether they are still remembered and whether they still "exist" in the world in some form.

This is undoubtedly of paramount importance to a soul burdened with deep-seated obsessions.

As for how to maintain this incense offering...

Xu Xuan's mind started working. Couldn't his Bao'an Hall be of some help?

Whether it's exploring historical sites or rebuilding ancestral halls, there's a lot of room for maneuver.

After rejecting this highly tempting suggestion that was more in line with the other party's understanding, Xu Xuan's divine sense no longer lingered, and he suddenly broke away from Yu Ji's chaotic and obsessive divine memories, returning to the outside reality.

call--

At this moment, the poppy plant that was suppressed on the ground by the golden Buddha light of the Five Finger Mountain also underwent a dramatic change!

She was by nature a decisive and strong-willed person. In her previous life, she could have committed suicide without hesitation. Now, stimulated by the "hope" given by Xu Xuan, she made the same decisive decision.

The distorted, chaotic energy was forcibly stripped away, leaving only her own extremely negative aura.

This pure demonic power completely merged with the demonic body that had cultivated for hundreds of years, and it fiercely rushed towards the final hurdle of transformation!
In an instant, from this place as the center, the Yin energy and the faint aura of war within a hundred miles seemed to be drawn together by an invisible force, flowing wildly and pouring into that poppy flower.

A demonic aura surged into the sky!

Under the suppression of the Buddha's light, the red light flickered violently and eventually condensed into a form.

A woman dressed in a bright red dress, as vivid as blood, appeared. She was tall and straight, and her eyes and brows possessed both unparalleled charm and a fierce and valiant spirit.

A flowing red ribbon was tied around his neck, cleverly concealing some kind of mark, and he gripped a long sword that gleamed coldly in his hand.

The murderous aura emanating from his body was exceptionally violent, more condensed and dangerous than his previous chaotic state!
He raised his head, and his blood-red eyes were no longer crazed, but filled with a cold determination and a kind of obsession with a new goal.

Above their heads, the rolling thunder that was bound to descend due to the transformation of the demon began to brew.

Not all demons receive this treatment, but Yu Meiren does.

Those who can cross the river will truly take form. Those who cannot will vanish like smoke.

Of course, this was no threat to her, as Yu Ji could transform into a human and possess a divine weapon.

A long sword appeared in his palm.

Xu Xuan nodded in satisfaction. The new employee is quite something, bringing his own office supplies.

(End of this chapter)