Chapter 90: Guarding Heaven's Pass pt. 11

Lin Changming fell silent for a moment, about to reply, when suddenly, the sound of suona echoed through the street. Following the sound, he saw a wedding procession making its way through the crowd.

The wedding party pushed through the throng of bodies and stopped in front of them. A round-faced woman with a cheerful demeanour shouted, "Jiang Lang-jun, everything is ready! We're waiting for you to get on the bridal sedan!"

Jiang Linzhai took the veil handed to him by the woman and lifted the sedan curtain. Lin Changming, seeing that he was about to get on the bridal sedan, couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Shifu, aren't you supposed to be going to seal the heavens?"

Jiang Linzhai replied, "The River God is forcibly marrying a mortal here. I'm going to investigate by borrowing this bridal sedan."

Lin Changming's mind raced, and suddenly he understood why he always found himself standing on the street corner as soon as he entered the formation, and why Jiang Linzhai was becoming more lucid as he walked further. It was because everything happening in this formation was happening in reverse!

If the death of the disciples was the ending, then the River God's wedding now was the beginning. The sequence of events should be like this: that day, Jiang Linzhai brought his disciples into the city and heard about the River God forcibly marrying a mortal here. He then disguised himself as the bride and boarded the bridal sedan alone, heading to the temple to kill the god. But this was actually a trap set by the River God. Its purpose was to lure Jiang Linqian away from his disciples. After they separated, the River God used puppets to kill the disciples, causing Jiang Linqian to fall into madness.

As for why everything was reversed in the formation, it was Jiang Linqian's subconscious remembering that once he boarded the bridal sedan, his disciples would be killed one by one. Therefore, he entrusted Lin Changming, who played the role of the eldest disciple "Jian Yi," to take the younger disciples away first.

But why reverse it at all? Wouldn't it be simpler to change the outcome and start from the beginning?

While Lin Changming pondered this, the pouring rain gradually turned into drifting paper money. The cheerful woman thought Lin Changming was obstructing them and used a cloth to slap his face, saying, "Don't delay! Today is the River God's big day for marrying a new bride. If we miss the auspicious time, we'll all be in trouble. Jiang Lang-jun, hurry up and get on the sedan!"

Jiang Linzhai was already under the sedan curtain when Lin Changming said, "Wait..."

Countless hands reached out around him, pulling him back. The bustling crowd suddenly turned into wedding processions, one after another, all squeezing towards the direction of the River God's temple. Waves of red surged like a tide, splashing against the long steps of the temple, while the cheerful women covered their faces, giggling and tossing paper money around.

Lin Changming drifted in the sea of red, trying to catch up with the sedans, but there were too many, and he couldn't find which one belonged to Jiang Linzhai. Soon, the world changed again—

First, the steps leading to the River God's temple seemed to multiply endlessly. The temple was clearly ahead, but people couldn't reach the end. Then, more and more sedans appeared, like blood-sucking horseflies, densely packed on the steps, blocking the path.

Lin Changming used the Thousand Gold Brush to lift one sedan curtain after another, calling out, "Shifu!"

The sedans were all empty. Lin Changming searched frantically among them. As he walked, he suddenly felt the ground beneath him was damp. Looking down, he saw it was covered with red paper scraps.

Where did the red paper scraps come from?

The wedding procession crowded around the sedans, everyone laughing. The musicians played thunderingly, and the cheerful women laughed louder. Their wide mouths, wrinkled eyes, and the scattered paper money intertwined and created a chaotic scene.

Lin Changming looked around, not understanding what they were laughing about. The suona music made him anxious. He grabbed one of the cheerful women and asked, "Where did they take the bride?"

The cheerful woman moved her handkerchief aside, revealing crimson lips. She giggled, "The bride—"

Everyone around joined in the laughter, raising their voices in a sing-song manner, saying together, "The bride—"

Surrounding everyone, they followed suit, giggling. They raised their voices and sang out theatrically together, "The bride, ya—"

Without warning, everyone's heads simultaneously dropped to the ground. Lin Changming, caught off guard, was sprayed in the face with blood from his severed neck by the excited matchmaker. Wiping it off, he realised it wasn't blood but red paper shreds which resembled blood. The heads, like overturned watermelons from a cart, careened down the steps.

When Lin Changming regained his senses, he found himself the only one still panting on the long stairs. The rest lay scattered on the ground like torn red paper people.

At that moment, someone said, "Why haven't you left yet?"

Lin Changming turned around and saw Jiang Linzhai standing on the steps. Jiang Linzhai had drastically changed; now dressed in clean moon-white robes, he looked as if he had just entered the city, without a speck of blood.

Caught off guard by this sudden change, Lin Changming's face still smeared with red paper shreds, after a brief silence, he managed to say, "I... don't know the way out, Shifu."

Jiang Linzhai leaned casually on his sword, observing Lin Changming for a moment as if accustomed to this, "Your habit of not being able to tell directions since entering the city hasn't changed, ne."

Enduring the humiliation, Lin Changming nodded, "The commotion caused by the River God's wedding filled the streets with people; I couldn't find my way anymore. Shifu, did you see the River God in the temple?"

Jiang Linzhai replied, "I did."

Lin Changming casually wiped off the red paper shreds from his face and asked, seeming nonchalant, "What does It look like?"

Jiang Linzhai answered, "Deities only have a few appearances."

Lin Changming said, "Did you kill Him?"

Jiang Linzhai thought for a while and then replied succinctly, "Killed."

Paper money from heaven fluttered around. Lin Changming glanced at the River God's temple towering at the end of the steps, stable as four mountains, its interior brightly lit, its exact nature unknown.

Jiang Linzhai descended the steps, while Lin Changming remained in place, unmoving. "Are you still going to seal the heavens?" he asked.

After slaying a fallen god, sealing the heavens was necessary to prevent resentment and fallen qi from leaking out, which could easily affect other deities. This was wisdom gleaned from the experiences of Tongshen throughout history, known to all clans and sects.

Stepping over a headless corpse, Jiang Linzhai replied nonchalantly, "No rush at the moment."

Lin Changming suggested, "If you're tired now, can I go up and seal it for you?"

Jiang Linzhai stepped on another corpse, its body limp, causing a splash of red paper shreds under his foot. Without bothering to step around, he continued to walk down with shallow steps. "Aren't you the one who can't find the way? I'll escort you there first."

"What do you mean, 'there'?" Lin Changming asked.

"To your Si-Di's place. I'll ask him to evacuate the people near the canal," Jiang Linzhai replied.

Without saying anything in return, Lin Changming prepared his talisman and dashed up the stairs. Just as the wind rose behind him, Jiang Linzhai reached out to grab his collar. Lin Changming shouted, "Order!"

Dodging swiftly, Lin Changming evaded Jiang Linzhai's grasp. "What are you doing?" Jiang Linzhai asked.

Without looking back, Lin Changming replied, "I'm sealing the heavens!"

Using his own willpower, he shortened the distance of the long stairs and swiftly ascended. Jiang Linzhai was close behind. Lin Changming, disregarding decorum, used "Order" again and slipped past Jiang Linzhai.

Lin Changming frowned as Lin Changming spoke rapidly, dodging his advances. "I told you to leave, and you still won't listen?"

"Leave? What's the point? This is a dead end!" Lin Changming retorted swiftly amidst his evasions. "I didn't understand why you insisted on reversing the sequence of events before, but now I do. It's because these events were destined from the beginning! Whether you get on that bridal sedan or not, once you entered this city, the fate of your disciples was sealed!"

The paper money was suddenly scattered by the wind, the sky darkening. Jiang Linzhai gripped his sword tightly, his expression grim. "You're not Jian Yi."

"Of course, I'm not Jian Yi," Lin Changming replied, his speech quickening. "You wished for me to be Jian Yi, that's why you regarded me as Jian Yi. I had thought Jian Yi was one of your deceased disciples, but then I realised something. If Jian Yi had died, you wouldn't have entrusted your other disciples to him before the bridal sedan. There should have been relics of his on the streets where you wandered."

Jiang Linzhai drew the Wuyou Sword. Lin Changming hastened his words, "You've been driven mad by the River God. According to common sense, once we entered this formation, you should have gone to kill the god and seal the heavens. Only by killing it could you alter the fate of your disciples. But you didn't. You knew the god was hiding in the River God's temple, yet you stubbornly mistook others for the River God. Why? Not because you've gone completely mad, but because you dare not enter this River God's temple and face that god!"

The Wuyou Sword stabbed towards Lin Changming's heart. He threw out an empty talisman, conjuring a water shield to block the strike. He had retreated to the temple gates, wielding the Thousand Gold Brush, and continued, "Did Jian Yi lead you into the city? Did Jian Yi come with you to kill the god? Did you only realise in the end that Jian Yi was the River God‽"

These three questions echoed loudly, causing the Wuyou Sword to abruptly halt before Lin Changming's chest. He breathed lightly, sweat pouring down his face. Stepping back once, then again, he stumbled into the temple.

"I once read in a secret scroll," Lin Changming slowed his tone, "that there's a type of deity whose original form resembles a tiny thread-like parasite. Because they are ugly and small in size, they often parasitise on spirits, and many people, not knowing the truth, end up worshipping these possessed spirits as the deity itself." He paused briefly, watching the smoke rise from the nearby cauldron, the incense burning faster amidst the fluttering paper money.

Lin Changming continued gently, mindful of their deep master-disciple bond as he wiped the blood from his neck, "On my way here, I gathered information about this city. The Tongshen who escaped told me that they didn't notice the corruption of the River God. I guess it's not because the River God is good at disguising itself, but because what people see isn't actually its true form. Since it can parasitise on spirits, it likely can do the same with humans. So, when you all entered the city, you fell into its trap. It parasitised on Jian Yi, killed the other disciples, and you, out of respect for your master-disciple relationship, you couldn't bring yourself to act. The situation worsened repeatedly, eventually leading to what I see in you now."

The smoke from the incense in the nearby cauldron billowed up, the joss sticks burning faster amidst the swirling paper money.

Lin Changming knew how deeply their bond ran. Carefully using the Thousand Gold Brush, he gently moved aside the Wuyou Sword, offering reassurance, "I understand. Anyone would struggle with such a situation. But killing the god and sealing the heavens is imminent. We must find Jian Yi and then..."

"You think you're clever?" Jiang Linzhai interrupted sharply.

Lin Changming turned his head and saw Jian Yi lying in the temple. The young man had died long ago.

Jian Yi lay on the altar where the River God had once been worshipped, dressed neatly with closed eyes, a peaceful expression on his face. There was no blood on him except for a sword wound on his neck. Lin Changming recognised that wound too well; he had been tormented by the same wound all along.

Jiang Linzhai's moon-white robe fluttered in the wind as he lifted the curtain over his eyes, his expression unreadable. The paper money floated past him as he stared into the empty sky, seeming both lucid and distraught, "The rain has stopped."

As if in response to his words, the rain that had filled the city stopped once again.

Things were not entirely as Lin Changming had speculated; he didn't fully understand Jiang Linzhai. Jiang Linzhai was the most ruthless of them all. That day, Jiang Linzhai had already made his choice.

The Author Has Something to Say

Tomorrow I should be able to finish the Heaven’s Guard Pass, my ten my ten (walking back and forth and mumbling)

Happy New Year to everyone, thank you for reading OvO

The Translator has Something to Say

Haha, no. This arc has 20 parts… BUT Luo Xu and Ming Zhuo will be back really soon.