Chapter 523: Heavenfate Dao Soul (part 1)
The Captain hesitated. Xu Qing frowned.
Their experiments had confirmed that the phoenix-like palace complex with its nine buildings would crumble when they moved away from them, and then be restored as they got closer. The transformation occurred based on the behavior of whoever came to explore the place. And if they got close enough, even stranger things would happen. They would enter a bizarre, distorted state of reality in which time passed without them realizing it.
“Little Ah Qing,” the Captain said, “remember how you said the place seemed familiar? Was that a really strong feeling?”
Xu Qing nodded. “Very strong.”
“In that case, do you think it’s possible that, during the three days that passed, we actually went in and explored the place? Maybe more than once? I have a similar feeling, but it’s not very strong. So maybe I stayed on the perimeter while you went further inside. That would explain why you have such a strong feeling.”
Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. “If you’re right, then had we not received that notification from the command sword, we wouldn’t have realized time was passing. In which case, the next thing that would have happened would be me thinking to use the severed hand as a protection. And I would have asked you to throw me over the wall. Apparently that method works. Once inside the wall, I would step out of the hand and explore the palace complex.”
With that, Xu Qing looked over at the hand hoping to find evidence to prove his theory. Unfortunately, the regenerative properties of the hand were so impressive that it looked exactly as it always had. That said, upon looking very closely, it was possible to find evidence of newly regrown flesh.
The Captain’s eyes glittered. “So, you have explored the place a few times. Except, you don’t remember what happened inside.... Little Junior Brother, think carefully. Are you able to remember even the slightest thing?”
Xu Qing closed his eyes and searched his memories. Unfortunately, he couldn’t remember anything at all. His recollection of the events with the palace complex seemed to make perfect sense, without any discrepancies in the timeline. He frowned. This was indeed very much like his early experience with D-132, although there were some differences.
D-132 had two levels of reality, a superficial one, and a deeper one. Because of the effects of destiny aura, there was balance between the two, leaving most ordinary people to only be able to see the superficial reality. That said, the deeper reality still existed at all times, and its influence still existed. People just didn’t notice it. That was why other guards had died because of the misfortune in D-132. There were also other people who, for a variety of different reasons, woke up and saw past the superficial reality. But when they left D-132, they would forget everything. Because of that cycle, Xu Qing would wake up every day, and then forget everything every day. However, that led to a subconscious cyclical sensation.
In contrast, the phoenix-like temple complex didn’t have a superficial and deeper reality. It only had one level of reality that was part of the endless cycle.
After analyzing the situation for a time, Xu Qing decided to activate his taboo poison core, his Ghost Emperor mountain, his heavenly dao, and the power of D-132, all at the same time. In the blink of an eye, he rose to a higher level of existence.
As winds screamed in the area, the Captain looked over. This was the Captain’s first time seeing Xu Qing in such a state. Eyes shining, he smacked his lips.
Xu Qing ignored the Captain. As he continued to power up, he looked over at the palace complex. Everything seemed normal. But then Xu Qing’s jaw nearly dropped. Tapping into his god body, he forced the golden threads within him to stir. Then his eyes glittered with golden light as he looked more closely at the temple complex.
This time, he saw something different. The nine palaces were clearly still there. But they seemed blurry. And they were covered by a shimmering layer of violet, a light that seemed illusory, and gave off the sensation of existing somewhere between reality and falsehood. What was more, it contained a sense of flowing time. The sensation was difficult to describe.
A moment later, Xu Qing retracted all his powers. Sighing, he turned to the Captain and shook his head.
“I can’t remember.”
The Captain sighed.
“Although,” Xu Qing suddenly added, “I think I have a way to get that little violet bottle.”
The Captain’s eyes narrowed.
Xu Qing waved his right hand, causing the stone lion and head to fly out of his D-132 heavenly palace. The head was a quick learner, so the moment it appeared, it plastered a fawning expression onto its face.
“Greetings, my most great, esteemed, paramount, and exalted jailer!”
The stone lion had no head, and thus couldn’t speak, but it wagged its tail vigorously and put its chest on the ground like a dog.
The Captain had seen the head before, but not the stone lion, so his eyes glittered as he examined it.
“Is this another friend of yours, little Junior Brother? I remember seeing the head before, and was very intrigued. As for this stone lion, I’d say it looks amazing. It smells a lot like a cloud troll, though. Also... these two friends of yours are very fantastic. Not only do they have destiny aura, but also, they’ve been cursed. And those two powers exist in a perfect state of balance.
“For a curse to exist in a state of balance with destiny seems to indicate that the curse is from a god.... Little Junior Brother, have you ever heard of the idiom a ghost helping a tiger ? In that idiom, the ghost is none other than a tiger-assisting ghost. According to the stories, if a tiger kills someone, they’ll become a special kind of ghost that stays by the tiger’s side forever. These two friends of yours are basically tiger-assisting ghosts!” [1]
When the stone lion heard that, it shivered. The head’s eyes went wide, and it looked suspiciously at the Captain. This was the second time the two had encountered someone who could quickly see how unique they were.
The first was Xu Qing. The second was this person. [2]
He called the Fiendish Xu ‘little Junior Brother.’ That means they’re fellow disciples! Anyone who has such a close relationship with the Fiendish Xu must also be a freakish hellion! The terrified head thought back to when Xu Qing recently summoned it, stomped it, and then put it away after it recovered. In that brief moment, the head’s attention had been focused on the terrifying Xu Qing, so it hadn’t paid much attention to the other two individuals present. But now, it looked over and examined the Captain closely.
The moment it did, its eyes nearly exploded, and it screamed, “Mouths. Infinite mouths! Chains! Chains from the Nine Serenities.... Sealing marks. Unending seals! Dear lord! What am I looking at? The bones of gods? Innumerable bones of gods!”
All of a sudden, the head exploded.
Xu Qing looked at the Captain. The Captain looked back innocently.
The stone lion shivered, even more terrified than before.
Shortly after, the head was back to normal. Trembling, it inclined itself into a bow, looking incomparably obedient. It didn’t dare to look at the Captain or Xu Qing, and was inwardly howling in grief. After all, it was just now realizing that, back when Xu Qing summoned it recently, there had been a third person present.
Xu Qing had quickly whisked it back into D-132. But even back in D-132, it had trembled fearfully for a long time. That group of three people was just too terrifying, so much so that the head was too scared to use any of its powers.
All three of them are completely terrifying!
Xu Qing’s curiosity was piqued. Though he knew the Captain had a lot of secrets, the head’s reaction was really pushing the boundaries of melodrama. Now wasn’t the time to delve into the details, though, so he just looked coldly at the head.
“I want the two of you to go get that violet bottle. If you do well, I’ll consider reducing your sentence.”
“Oh great and wonderful jailer, the reality is we don’t care if our sentence is reduced or not. As long as we—”
Before the head could finish speaking, the stone lion planted its forepaws onto the ground, then burst into motion toward the temple complex. Seeing that, the head instantly got nervous and started rolling along after the stone lion. After picking up some speed, it flew into the air and landed on the lion’s neck. Together, they dashed toward the area beyond the wall of flesh.
Xu Qing watched carefully, as did the Captain.
“You think they can do it?” the Captain asked.
“They’re prisoners from D-132. Considering how long they were in that cell block, they should be able to do it.” Xu Qing went on to explain a bit about how D-132 worked.
The Captain’s eyes glittered. “I had no idea the Corrections Division had such an amazing location!”
The Captain noted the look in Xu Qing’s eyes, and realized how much he missed life in the Corrections Division. That made the Captain think about Palace Lord Kong, and how nice things had once been. Sighing inwardly, he clasped Xu Qing’s shoulder then pointed toward the temple complex.
“Very impressive!”
The stone lion, carrying the head, shot toward the wall of flesh and then leaped over it. Because of their unique nature, the warding spells weren’t effective at all against them.
As Xu Qing watched, the stone lion landed in the courtyard and started circling around as if searching for something. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the violet bottle was very close, they didn’t seem capable of finding it.
Xu Qing frowned slightly.
Then things changed. Apparently at the urging of the head, the two of them backed away from each other, then rushed toward each other, slammed into each other, and exploded. They were quickly resurrected. Trembling in excitement, they flew a short distance away, then killed each other again. That cycle continued to play out, getting them closer and closer to the violet bottle.
The Captain chuckled. “Those two are actually pretty smart! Whenever they’re resurrected, the interaction between the destiny aura and the curse gives them a brief moment in which they can see their surroundings clearly.”
Xu Qing nodded.
As the two of them watched, the head and the stone lion died a good dozen times or so. Eventually, they reached the violet bottle. Without the slightest hesitation, the head stuffed the bottle into its mouth, then flew back to the stone lion. As they fled, the area of decomposition reached the remnants of the statue, which started blurring, and eventually crumbled into dust. At the same time, the wall of flesh extended to cover the entire complex.
During the process, the stone lion and the head managed to race back to Xu Qing. The head released the violet bottle, then continued to jabber fawning words. However, Xu Qing just waved his hand and sucked them back into D-132.
The Captain squatted and picked up the bottle. The moment he touched it, he shivered visibly. He recovered a moment later, and then looked at Xu Qing with an expression of complete incredulity.
“This is... a timescape bottle!”
1. I’ve directly translated the entire passage regarding ghosts and tigers. The idiom the Captain cites, a ghost helping a tiger , is not usually translated into English that way, primarily because the character for “ghost” is not the general one for ghost, but rather, that of the “tiger-assisting ghost.” Such ghosts, which were mentioned previously inchapter 241 , are “the ghost of someone who was killed by a tiger, yet helps the tiger to devour others.” Usually, the idiom in question is translated in ways such as: playing the jackal to the tiger; helping a rascal commit villainy; abetting an evildoer. ?
2. Don’t forget that, as initially revealed inchapter 412 , Xu Qing figured out the secret of D-132 on his second day there. ?