Chapter 35 – Like a Dream, Yet Not a Dream, Turning to Emptiness
Rain fell into the youth’s eyes, and gradually, the daze from just waking up vanished. He stared silently at the sky for a long time, feeling that the scene was vaguely familiar… as if it wasn’t the first time he had woken up from a long dream, asking himself in a place of nothingness who he was, while the surroundings were empty, with no one to give him an answer.
It didn’t matter if no one told him.
He turned over and sat up, propping his hands on the stone platform, looking down from his high perch at the sparkling water and light around the Circular Altar.
“Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li, Zhou…” He counted the azure porcelain lamps around the Circular Altar one by one, like a child counting the petals of a flower they’d picked, letting the last one decide the answer to something. “…Yi, Gong, Ning… Chou.”
“Alright.”
He stopped, satisfied.
“My surname is Chou.”
“You still have twenty-six lamps left to count,” someone couldn’t help but point out. A tall, slender figure emerged from the shadows of a pillar in a waterside pavilion not far from the altar. “By that count, your surname should be Huai.”
“I wasn’t planning on going by the number of lamps in the circle,” the youth explained gently. “When you’re counting, you can just stop when you find one you like. Don’t you understand?”
When he was deep in sleep, he was serene and quiet, but the moment he opened his eyes, even in a white robe and speaking earnestly, there was a hint of wickedness about him… If he had really used the method of counting petals as a child to decide whether to do something, he would have surely destroyed the extra petal at the end without batting an eye.
“What a crooked way of thinking,” the person in the shadows chuckled. “Why don’t you ask me who you are?”
That would have been the normal reaction.
“Asking you would be the abnormal thing to do, wouldn’t it?” the youth retorted strangely. “Right now, I don’t remember anything. I don’t even know if I’ve ever beaten you up or offended you. If I ask you who I am, what if you just make up some random name, or even give me the name of some demonic martial world leader? Should I believe you or not?”
“…”
For a moment, the person in the shadows couldn’t tell if he had truly forgotten or not, whether he had entered the array or not. After a while, he went along with the conversation and asked again.
“Your surname is Chou. What about your given name?”
“Chou…”
The youth looked around and saw an azure porcelain lamp swaying, its flame thin and weak.
“Bodeng.”
“My surname is Chou, my given name is Bodeng.”
“Chou Bodeng.”
***
“Just what kind of enemy did Chou Bodeng provoke…”
Lu Jing was a little numb, standing in the middle of Pan Street with his saber, too lazy to even lift a finger.
“To go to such great lengths to kill him… I mean, if you’re going to kill someone, you don’t have to make it so complicated every time, right? Just grab a saber, kick down the door, and start hacking. Or hire a few assassins, squat in a tavern, and when he’s drunk, swoosh, wouldn’t that be better?”
Zuo Yuesheng rolled his eyes. “Lu Shiyi, you’re thinking too simply. If someone kicks down his door with a saber today, do you believe Taiyi will be kicking down their grave door with a saber tomorrow?”
“I believe it…” Lu Jing said listlessly. “So, is Zhou Ziyan crazy? Daring to make a move on the Little Martial Ancestor of Taiyi, isn’t he afraid Taiyi will flatten Ru City?”
“Generally speaking, making things this complicated is for two main reasons,” Monk Budu said, turning his Buddhist beads. “Either the person you want to kill is too strong, and you can’t kill them head-on. Or the person you want to kill has a lot of people around and behind them, and you have to wipe them all out together. Benefactor Chou’s cultivation has just reached the Mind Illumination Stage, so it’s likely the latter.”
“I don’t care what the reason is,” Lu Jing shouted in frustration. “I just want to know what the hell is going on this time!”
He pointed at the perfectly intact Pan Street.
“Can’t you just let us die a quick death?!”
It was no wonder Lu Jing was so agitated.
At first, Lu Jing was a little nervous being surrounded on all sides by the people on Pan Street, but when the fight actually started, he found it was very easy. These people had the strength of ordinary mortals, and even the weakest cultivator, Zuo Yuesheng, could knock down several at once. But then, after they had cleared the entire street and were about to leave, their vision blurred, and their consciousness wavered.
When they came to, they found themselves standing on a Pan Street identical to the first one.
All the people they had just killed were standing there, perfectly fine.
After this happened several times, Lu Jing was on the verge of collapse.
Even the sudden change in Fu City, where the entire city was controlled by puppetry, wasn’t as disgusting as this endless cycle.
“Benefactor Lu, please calm down,” Monk Budu chanted “Amitabha” a few times. “We have entered an illusionary killing array. ‘Illusion’ is the interplay of real and unreal, and it’s all about ‘attacking the heart.’ No matter what illusions the master of the formation shows you, it’s all to disturb your mind, to shake your spiritual foundation, and finally, when you are exhausted, to launch an unexpected real attack. Therefore, you must not become agitated, nor can you let your guard down!”
“Then what do we do?” Lu Jing was getting anxious. “We can’t be trapped here forever, can we?”
They still had to go save Chou Bodeng.
…Although, maybe Chou Bodeng would come and save them first.
“Every formation must have an eye, and illusion arrays are no exception,” Zuo Yuesheng said. “Break the eye, and we can get out.”
“Easier said than done,” Monk Budu said. “Unfortunately, this illusion array is not ordinary. City Diviner Zhou used water patterns and firelight to set up the formation. Both water and light are constantly flowing and changing, so the formation’s eye changes with them. I’m afraid it will be very difficult to find.”
“No matter how hard it is to find, there must be a pattern…”
Zuo Yuesheng’s head was splitting.
“Have… have you guys not felt that there’s something wrong with this street?” Ye Cang, who hadn’t said much, suddenly spoke up.
“Everything about this street is wrong!” Zuo Yuesheng shot back.
“No,” Ye Cang said, looking at the sides of the street, his tone a little uncertain. “Haven’t you noticed that the things being sold at this night market are very strange?”
“Huh?”
The others looked at him, bewildered.
Ye Cang took a few steps towards a pearl flower stall. After so many cycles, they had figured out a pattern. There was a safe interval between each reset and when the people of Ru City would grow Life Scales and attack.
“There are no snack stalls.”
“Huh?” the others were still bewildered. “Snack stalls? What are those?”
“…”
Ye Cang once again realized that these people, including even the usually reliable Lou Jiang, were all pampered individuals who had never had to worry about food or drink. Although they liked to run around and have fun, they had no idea what the most ordinary, common life was like.
“Snack stalls sell food.”
Ye Cang struggled to describe it to them.
“During the morning market, they usually sell fruits, pastries, and brewed tea. At the night market, they sell more things, like elephant water rice, stewed meat, dried meat, buns with chicken skin, minced chicken, spicy melons, plum ginger, fine noodle vegetarian skewers… They’re usually placed in boxes, portion by portion. This kind of thing is called ‘assorted snacks,’ and it’s very cheap. You can buy a large portion for fifteen copper coins.” Ye Cang tried hard to remember. “No matter what festival it is, as long as there’s a gathering, there will be these things. But I didn’t go out yesterday, so I don’t know if the illusion array is the reason for this…”
Zuo Yuesheng thought back. “We didn’t see any of those when we were at the night market yesterday. The only place selling food was the tavern… Young Master Chou even complained that the food was terrible. I remember he didn’t touch the roasted chicken or duck, and he only ate two pieces of fruit from a large platter after picking through it.”
“How much did you spend on the wine and food?” Lou Jiang realized something and pressed.
“I didn’t pay. I was counting the cages at the time, I didn’t… didn’t hear.”
Zuo Yuesheng coughed dryly.
Lou Jiang understood.
Nine times out of ten, this iron-fisted Young Pavilion Master Zuo was too stingy to pay, so the moment he entered the tavern, he hid in his seat to let the money-is-no-object Chou Bodeng and Lu Jing foot the bill.
“Fifty-one taels of silver.”
Lu Jing answered. The reason he remembered so clearly was because all his guards had died in Fu City, and this was the first time Young Master Lu had ever paid for anything himself…
He was also someone who was always surrounded by a large entourage when he went out.
“Fifty-one taels… of silver?” Ye Cang’s cheek twitched. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.
“Damn it!” Zuo Yuesheng jumped up and turned to walk towards the tavern. “What kind of rip-off joint is this? Let’s go, let’s go, I’m going to smash it!”
“What… what’s wrong?” Lu Jing was completely bewildered.
“Young Master Lu,” Ye Cang explained listlessly, “half a kilogram of roasted wine usually costs sixteen copper coins, and even the most expensive is only one or two taels. Half a kilogram of chicken is about fourteen or fifteen copper coins, and a platter of fruit and pastries is about six or seven copper coins… For you to spend fifty-one taels of silver on one meal, you’ve been ripped off so badly that… that calling you a sucker would be an insult to suckers.”
“Not necessarily,” Lou Jiang said in a low voice. “Now that you mention it, I remember something else.”
“What is it?”
“When we entered the city, we passed through several of the main commercial streets, and I didn’t see a single food shop… But at the time, the sight of the roaming Ru fish was so magnificent, and my eyes were filled with scarlet gauze and red silk, so I just assumed that Ru City’s main industries were cloth and silk workshops and didn’t pay much attention. Thinking back now, it is indeed very strange.” Lou Jiang paused, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
The reason he hadn’t paid much attention wasn’t just because he thought Ru City was famous for its scarlet gauze.
It was also because his cultivation had already passed the Soul-Fixing Stage, and he had long since practiced Grain Abstinence. Although he didn’t usually put on the airs of a cultivator, he would often forget that mortals were different from cultivators.
Mortals needed to eat three meals a day.
Clothing, food, shelter, and transportation. For mortals, food was the most important.
He composed himself and asked Lu Jing again, “Did you see anyone arguing with the owner or the assistants at the tavern yesterday because the prices were too high?”
Lu Jing shook his head, complaining, “If there had been, I wouldn’t have been that stupid, okay?”
“That’s it.” Lou Jiang looked around, a chill slowly crawling up his back. “The food prices are ridiculously high, yet the customers in the shop have no objections. There’s only one possibility—”
“There’s not much food left in this city!”
As he spoke, the people on the street once again grew Life Scales, and the street cries started up again.
“Combs and hairpins for sale! Combs and hairpins for sale!… Made by Old Granny Hu herself!”
“Freshly picked little flower branches, lifelike flowers made from silk and wax!”
“…Any difficulties, folks!”
“…”
The familiar market songs sang of a hundred different things, the familiar rise and fall of the voices soft and gentle. A hundred different states of life, yet the one thing missing was the firewood, rice, oil, and salt most essential for a flesh-and-blood creature to survive.
Zuo Yuesheng took a step back, and when he was next to Monk Budu, he suddenly turned and brought his saber down on the monk’s head!
Clang—
Monk Budu pressed his palms together, catching Zuo Yuesheng’s saber between them, his hands glowing like gold.
The moment Zuo Yuesheng struck, Lu Jing took a step forward, blocking Monk Budu’s escape route from behind. Ye Cang and Lou Jiang were a beat slower, but they quickly moved to his left and right, pressing their blades firmly against Monk Budu’s neck.
“What is the meaning of this, benefactors?” Monk Budu’s face was filled with alarm. “Don’t fight amongst yourselves, don’t fight amongst yourselves!”
“Bald donkey! Stop playing dumb!” Zuo Yuesheng pressed his saber down hard. “Before we even came to Ru City, you kept saying we would encounter a calamity of bloodshed. You’re so familiar with Ru City, it’s not like your first time here at all. And yesterday in the tavern, you said, ‘it’s a rare occasion to encounter this Ru City night market’… Damn you, you’re a bald donkey full of lies! I think you’re the mole Zhou Ziyan planted among us!”
“We can talk about this, we can talk about this! This poor monk is indeed here in Ru City for the first time!”
Lou Jiang’s face was cold as he pressed his sword in a little further.
“Aiyo, aiyo! This poor monk has been wronged! A monk does not tell lies. This poor monk has been telling the truth all along, it’s just that you didn’t believe it!” Monk Budu sighed. “Have you benefactors forgotten what this poor monk sang when we first met?”
“Silly, silly, silly, crazy, crazy, crazy, seems false yet is true, a hidden Kui Dragon…” Lu Jing recalled.
“Go, go, go, roam, roam, roam,” Monk Budu continued, “like a dream, yet not a dream—”
He suddenly released his hands and flung his Buddhist beads upwards.
A golden light flared, and a blazing sun rose in the gray street.
“Turning to emptiness!”
***
“What is that?” Chou Bodeng, dressed in white, sat on the highest tier of the altar and looked into the distance, noticing a faint glimmer of sunlight in the direction of the western city streets. “Sunrise in the east, rain in the west?”
“No Golden Crow would land on the ground.”
“Have you been hiding in the shadows all this time because you’re too ugly?” Chou Bodeng asked out of the blue. “Such a spirit of not wanting to pollute the world’s eyes is commendable, but you can come out. I just won’t look at you.”
The person in the shadows was silent for a moment, then sighed and stepped out from behind the pillar. “Don’t worry. Although my looks are not the best, they’re not so bad as to pollute your eyes.”
Chou Bodeng turned his head.
A person stood in the pavilion.
The water patterns reflected on his face gave him a kind of lofty coldness and nobility. He was definitely not bad-looking; even saying his looks were “not the best” was being modest. He was the kind of person who, even if he took off his fine clothes and walked into the market to drink with craftsmen, would still make people feel he was very distant. His clothes were like snow, untouched by the mortal world.
“You really haven’t changed a bit.”
He said.