Chapter 92: Guarding Heaven's Pass pt. 13

Luo Xu replied, “It’s too late, the river is gone.”

“That’s bad,” Ming Zhuo’s body abruptly sank, plummeting down in mid-air, “Without the Water of Illumination, I can’t borrow spiritual power.”

As if in response to those very words, the silk blindfold and the pipa robes disappeared. He could no longer maintain the visage of the Moon God and became “Ruyi Lang” once more.

“The Water of Illumination was originally a flaw in the array. Since the river is gone now, that means Lin Changming repaired it when we were using Examine Sins. Let’s talk about the matter of borrowing spiritual power,” Luo Xu didn't wait for Ming Zhuo to fall to the ground—he reached out his arms and seized him, “Let’s leave first!”

Hōng——!

The surroundings were still the same as they were before using Examine Sins, with Fire Fish embers swirling everywhere and Hellfire blazing all around. Lin Changming stood not far away, holding his sword, and as soon as he saw them, he stepped forward in pursuit.

“He’s really persistent,” Ming Zhuo pressed down on Luo Xu’s shoulder, pointing in a direction, “Head to the River God’s temple, there’s still Water of Illumination there!”

Luo Xu’s feet barely touched the ground as he leapt over the fire and ran towards the River God’s temple. He asked, “Why is there still Water of Illumination in the temple?”

“It was left by that boy,” Ming Zhuo explained, “When you first entered the temple, the boy mentioned that he had prepared the Water of Illumination to prevent us from touching each other, but we were too busy escaping to care about that bowl of water. So I suppose it’s still in the temple.”

That boy attendant was a part of the array. As long as he acknowledged that the bowl of water he fetched was the Water of Illumination, then it was the Water of Illumination, regardless of whether Lin Changming turned it into dumplings, buns, or incense sticks. It would always be the Water of Illumination; this was the law of the illusion, an established fact recognised by the people within the array that couldn’t be altered.

Although Lin Changming was the one who set up the array, he couldn’t directly erase the “fact” by ignoring the illusion’s laws. So he chose to repair the flaw by burning the Light River with fire. In his view, without the river, Ming Zhuo and Luo Xu wouldn’t be able to get the Water of Illumination, and without the Water of Illumination, Ming Zhuo couldn’t use the loophole of “Ruyi Lang can touch mortals who have drunk the Water of Illumination” to borrow spiritual power. However, this loophole still existed after all.

Luo Xu climbed the steps and looked back to see Lin Changming in hot pursuit, so he kicked over a nearby bridal sedan chair. The sedan chair rolled, toppling the surrounding wedding procession and blocking Lin Changming’s path.

Lin Changming called out to him, “Shifu!”

“Still calling me Shifu,” Luo Xu flicked his robe, “If you were so deep into the act, why didn’t you return to North Heron Mountain with Jiang Linzhai when you parted ways back then?”

“Shifu, it was you who said,” Lin Changming replied, “as long as the River God is not eliminated, you will never return to North Heron Mountain.”

He remained immersed in his memories, repeatedly acting out this one-man play. Luo Xu, losing patience, stopped talking and turned to enter the River God’s temple with Ming Zhuo.

Several silver lamps floated inside the temple, resembling fireflies. Ming Zhuo caught one to light the way. After a few steps, his gaze suddenly fixed on a certain spot: “Jian Yi’s body was originally placed here.”

The place where Jian Yi's body should have been was now an ordinary desk with brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. This temple, though extraordinary from the outside, had an interior layout quite similar to the real world. What was strange was the arrangement of objects, which was very different from what they saw during Examine Sins, suggesting that Lin Changming had deliberately erased the evidence of Jian Yi's presence here when he reactivated the Nightmare Sealing Array.

“He didn’t fix this flaw earlier or later, but chose to fix it now,” Ming Zhuo said, “probably to interrupt Examine Sins and stop us from seeing more.”

“There were only the two of them left in the Nightmare Sealing Array back then. There must be something about how to break the array in the next part of Jiang Linzhai's story.” Luo Xu pushed aside the silver lamps that were flying around erratically and continued forward. “Lin Changming painstakingly set up this trap to lure us in. Naturally, he doesn’t want us to find the way out so easily.”

Ming Zhuo said, “There’s another possibility.”

“What is it?” Luo Xu asked.

Holding the silver lamp, Ming Zhuo's crescent forehead mark was half-hidden in the dim light. He seemed hesitant and, after a moment of silence, said, “Have you heard of divine language?”

Tongshen learn divine language during their enlightenment, but what they learn is not the true divine language. The true divine language is the language of the deities.

“I’ve heard it.” Luo Xu paused slightly, “Occasionally there are deities who sing in the Heavenly Sea. It sounds like, ‘wūwū,’ the very likeness of wind blowing.”

“All gods speak like this—resembling wind or waves,” Ming Zhuo said, “if you seriously start to consider it, gods and spirits are much the same. Both are spirits of nature, with the ancient gods being only a little more special as they were transformed from the body of the Jiao Mother and are stronger and more humane than others. But, what I want to say is this: even the Sun and Moon twin gods, who are highly respected amongst the ancient gods, seldom speak in human language.”

Luo Xu’s thoughts turned to Ming Zhuo.

"I've been too tactful," Ming Zhuo said as he lifted the silver lamp to illuminate his own face. "Let me tell you directly then: Hui Mang speaks no more than five sentences of human speech. A minor deity of a small town like the River God, is unexpectedly more attuned to human nature than the Twin Gods of Sun and Moon. Not only is he adept at disguise, but he also manipulates human emotions—these are traits only humans possess."

Luo Xu responded, "You think he's pretending to be human."

"Exactly. I believe he's pretending to be human. Although I don't know how he managed to create such a realistic parasitic scenario, he certainly isn't using fine thread insects," Ming Zhuo said. "Fine thread insects can parasitise, but they cannot manipulate puppets."

The art of puppetry originated from the Hugui Clan and was not related to the deities of the Six Prefectures. As a nature spirit, how could the River God possibly practice puppetry without deliberate teaching?

"Jiang Linzhai's five disciples were young, but they were all formidable talents of North Heron Mountain," Luo Xu said. "To use puppets to kill several of them in one go would require a master among masters."

"There were anomalies from the beginning," Ming Zhuo said. "From the heavy rain flooding the roads, Jiang Linzhai's last-minute change of route, to the Jizi devouring people and no support from the Mings, none of these incidents seem like coincidences. Moreover, the Mings have always been domineering, not allowing others to meddle in their territory, yet that time they made an exception and insisted Jiang Linzhai go to this small town. I suspect Jiang Linzhai sensed something was amiss, hence his cold detachment during the refugees' exodus."

Since entering Guangzhou, Jiang Linzhai had been making choices—whether to save or not, to go or not—all decisions were made in an instant. He had sent multiple messages to the Mings, knowing there was something suspicious.

"Killing is as easy as nodding," Luo Xu recalled the constant rain during the sin investigation. "From this perspective, this 'River God' lured Jiang Linzhai into this small town not to kill him, but to drive him insane."

"That's the part I can't figure out," Ming Zhuo said. "Why drive him insane?"

As they spoke, the two had reached the end of the main hall. The light of the silver lamps dimmed, and Ming Zhuo raised his hand to release the lamp. Luo Xu pushed open the back door, which creaked open, and as they stepped forward, they found themselves standing still in the same spot.

Behind the door was still the main hall, countless main halls connected to each other, extending to where they could not see.

"Lin Changming has severed the path with his thoughts," Luo Xu heard footsteps and gripped Ming Zhuo's wrist. "He knows we're looking for the Water of Illumination."

"Without spiritual power," Ming Zhuo said, "neither of us can overpower him."

The footsteps outside hastened, and Lin Changming had already chased them into the main hall. His sword slanted down as he shouted, "Shifu!"

This one shout of 'Shifu' echoed several times over, as Lin Changming stepped into the main hall, countless reflections of him appeared in each chamber. One became two, two became four until every main hall seemed to have its own Lin Changming!

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