ATEG Chapter 56

He saw Taiyin once again.

This time, the dream was different from before. Li Chi could very clearly perceive that he was now within a dreamscape, participating in this memory as the deity from the owner’s past.

When he had last dreamed of Taiyin, although their views had differed, they were still friends on good terms. But now, Li Chi could clearly see the displeasure on Taiyin’s face.

“The masses have long dwelt in confusion, their hearts dry and barren. Using the invisible drought as a catalyst, unnatural and unreasonable oddities will emerge. You understand fate and destiny—can you not see this?” He heard himself ask.

“If fate’s energy is chaotic, let it be chaotic; if karma breaks, let it break! Whether you intervene or not, the world continues to turn. We are born as sacred deities—why must we entangle ourselves in this again? How the mortal world operates, what business is it of yours?” There was anger in Taiyin’s eyes.

“Born as gods…” Li Chi heard his own words, but suddenly a great fog rose between heaven and earth, and these words were instantly swallowed by the mist.

The vast fog, both karma and destiny, covered the world in a deathly white.

Heaven and earth fell silent. Li Chi could only see an expanse of boundless white, yet this whiteness was chaotic and desolate.

He wasn’t certain how long he remained in this white mist—perhaps an instant, perhaps since ancient times until now, or perhaps there was no difference between the two.

…The Great Yang blazes bright, Xuanming reigns over yin…

A hazy, ethereal song arose from somewhere unknown, its melody ancient and vast.

Li Chi listened quietly in the fog. This was a sacrificial hymn.

The prayer leaders continued singing the hymn. Li Chi remembered this sacrificial song.

In the previous dream triggered by the Dream-Eating Tapir’s aura, he had heard the same sacrificial hymn.

As the hymn was chanted, the surrounding dense fog gradually dissipated.

Li Chi lowered his gaze. The forms of the sacrificial practitioners gradually emerged from the mist, their chanting ethereal and dreamlike.

…Xuanming’s netherworld, clarifying karma…

He saw an altar with a fire burning before it, where someone scattered incense into the flames.

Li Chi caught the drifting fragrance, and the mist dispersed a bit more.

He saw numerous sacrificial practitioners dressed in similar garments, arranged in orderly fashion around the altar. From the prayer leader near the altar whose clothing could be clearly distinguished, they extended to distant worshippers of whom only their heads could be seen. Each practitioner bowed toward the central altar, like the rise and fall of ocean waves.

After three prostrations, the hymn ceased.

The lead prayer leader stepped forward and solemnly called out: “We entreat the god—to descend!”

Li Chi lowered his gaze toward the center of the altar. It was empty—a divine seat reserved for him.

This was what a deity should do. This was what he had arranged.

So he descended, and a magnificent, imperial radiance fell upon the center of the altar.

The leader smiled with joy and proclaimed:

“We announce to the divine: The Xuanqing Sect is established!”

Li Chi: ……

Li Chi suddenly awoke. He sat up cross-legged on the couch, his clear eyes rarely showing some bewilderment.

He reviewed the circumstances of this dream.

The force behind the Dream-Eating Tapir was the Xuanqing Sect. The Xuanqing Sect was established by the owner of this body, so…

So “I” wasn’t a good person?!

….

Sunlight streamed into the room. A leaf was swept toward the window by the wind, but just as it was about to enter the room, a breeze suddenly arose between the window frames and swept the leaf back outside.

Li Chi sat upright on the couch. On the surface, he appeared as solemn and sacred as usual, but only from those slightly vacant eyes could one discern a trace of his inner shock.

The Xuanqing Sect… the name sounded quite righteous, but they acted furtively and secretively, and were connected to the Dream-Eating Tapir that had slaughtered half a county’s population. No matter how one looked at it, they were no proper sect.

But why would the Xuanqing Sect worship him?

Li Chi fell into confusion.

Since transmigrating, he had always thought the owner was simply an unfortunate righteous deity. After all, the aura remaining from the owner was pure and clear, and the divine power he himself cultivated according to his understanding was also gentle and bright.

But the evil deeds of the Xuanqing Sect were very real, and both of his dreams had been triggered by the Xuanqing Sect.

Could it be… that the owner had been severely injured because of this?

Was he really… not a good person?

Li Chi was still bewildered when suddenly his divine consciousness stirred. He sensed that Ding Qin, bringing Wangyue and Shuoyue, was climbing up the mountain.

Li Chi took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his complicated emotions for now, preparing to handle Wangyue’s matter.

Before entering the dream, when he had looked along the karmic threads toward Wangyue and Shuoyue, he had discovered some rather interesting things…

…..

When Wangyue saw Ding Qin, she felt great relief, and undisguisable exhaustion showed in her expression.

She was truly too weary.

There was a blood gu planted by Daoist Feiying in Shuoyue’s body. Wangyue had expended considerable effort to extract and destroy the blood gu without harming Shuoyue. And because she worried that Daoist Feiying would track Shuoyue’s whereabouts, she had not dared to rest along the entire journey.

Shuoyue’s condition was terrible. In these six hundred years, her cultivation had barely advanced an inch. Before escaping, she had been tortured and threatened by Daoist Feiying. After seeing Wangyue, she had only said “Run quickly” before collapsing unconscious.

Wangyue hated Daoist Feiying so much her teeth ached, but she knew Daoist Feiying’s cultivation was profound and beyond her ability to handle. Although Daoist Feiying seemed to have gotten into some trouble recently, Wangyue wasn’t certain of the exact situation. What if Feiying escaped the trouble and turned to track down Shuoyue?

Fortunately, they hadn’t encountered any problems along the way. Only after seeing Ding Qin did Wangyue relax. 

Ding Qin was the divine messenger of that deity. Her arrival here represented that High God Li Chi already knew, and there would be no more trouble ahead.

“What’s wrong?” Shuoyue asked alertly through divine thought.

She had been taking medicine Wangyue gave her to rest and recuperate, sleeping groggily, but suddenly felt Wangyue stop in her dream and woke with a start.

“It’s nothing, keep sleeping. We’re safe now.” Wangyue affectionately stroked the black rabbit in her arms, gentle power flowing into Shuoyue’s body to help relax her tense nerves.

What had Shuoyue endured during these six hundred-plus years to become so acutely vigilant?

But Shuoyue couldn’t fall back asleep. She had actually recovered fairly well already. Her injuries hadn’t been severe to begin with. Daoist Feiying wanted to use her and wouldn’t damage her power. Her wounds were partly from Feiying’s earlier coercive methods, but more came from the spiritual consciousness damage caused by her own mental burdens accumulated over the years.

After seeing Wangyue safe and finally escaping Daoist Feiying, Shuoyue’s mental burdens were resolved. Moreover, Wangyue was skilled in medicine and pharmacology, carefully treating her throughout the journey. Now she had no real problems.

While quietly listening to the conversation between Wangyue and Ding Qin, Shuoyue inquired about the situation through divine consciousness.

After seeing Wangyue, her spirit had relaxed and she’d fainted. During the subsequent journey, she’d spent most of the time recuperating in sleep and hadn’t had time to communicate thoroughly with Wangyue.

So Wangyue explained everything through divine consciousness. Shuoyue listened quietly without saying a word.

She could tell that Wangyue already deeply trusted and was grateful to that deity, but Shuoyue couldn’t simply trust Wangyue’s judgment.

Shuoyue was very clear about her own situation. Without Wangyue coming to receive her, she might not have been able to escape far at all, nor would she have had the ability to resolve the blood gu in her body. Without that deity’s guidance, Wangyue wouldn’t have known she was still alive, much less come to receive her.

Shuoyue was equally grateful to the deity who had guided Wangyue, but her gratitude was tinged with doubt.

During these six hundred years, Feiying had left an indelible mark on her. She couldn’t easily trust anyone anymore, couldn’t view the world with goodwill as she had in the past.

If not for being born as twins with Wangyue, their hearts connected, if not for her ability to vaguely sense Wangyue’s feelings, she wasn’t even sure she could immediately trust Wangyue.

She always instinctively speculated about any behavior with the greatest malice.

If not for this, she couldn’t have endured six hundred years under Feiying’s control.

Wangyue’s nature was too gentle. With just a little help, she could easily become trusting. But Shuoyue couldn’t trust him so easily. The Daoist Feiying who had controlled her for six hundred years—hadn’t he also saved her life from the snake demon at the very beginning?

Shuoyue carefully sensed the deity’s aura clinging to Ding Qin. It was a very pure, very clear aura, obviously that of a righteous god who cultivated properly. Yet Shuoyue felt uneasy because of this aura.

If there were no problem, why would that deity dispatch his divine messenger to intercept them before they entered Shuigu Town?

But there was nothing she could do now. She should patiently wait, observe, and endure, just as she had done under Daoist Feiying—hide all her doubts and unease…

Shuoyue lay quietly in Wangyue’s embrace. She said nothing as they entered the mountain forest together.

The forest was very quiet, with rustling wind sounds and soft warm light and shadow floating beneath the canopy.

Shuoyue sensed the increasingly abundant spiritual essence and gentle vitality. This should have made her feel peace and tranquility, but her heart grew increasingly fearful, increasingly desperate to flee. Even the wind seemed intent on killing her, even the shadows appeared menacing.

These emotions weren’t right!

Shuoyue had already realized something was wrong, but the fear of unknown origin suddenly erupted. Before she could react, her mind was overwhelmed by the excessively intense terror. Unable to control herself, she jumped from Wangyue’s embrace and fled madly down the mountain!

“Shuoyue!” Wangyue didn’t know what had happened. Her heart seized with panic, and she turned to chase after her.

The deity’s voice suddenly rang through the forest:

“Since you’ve come, why be in such a hurry to leave?”