Chapter 55 The Ignorance Within Her Heart

As the Nether Spirit spoke more and more, Yin Weiying’s face turned increasingly pale. She shook her head in denial, desperately trying to tear herself away from this nightmare.

"No, no, I didn't!"

The Nether Spirit merely laughed incessantly, as if mocking her ignorance, or perhaps lamenting her tragic fate.

In the distance, the sound of footsteps echoed.

Yin Weiying turned her head to see two figures, one black and one white, with long tongues lolling from their mouths, wearing tall hats and holding soul-detaining chains, slowly approaching.

It was impermanent ghosts of black and white. The Daoist nun's hands and feet trembled uncontrollably as she realized she had unknowingly been invaded by her seven physical souls, plunging deep into the ghostly realm of Fengdu with no way out!

The footsteps of the black and white ghosts grew closer and closer. Before long, her name would be inscribed in the Book of Life and Death.

Panicking, Yin Weiying fled into the distance.

She ran without stopping, abandoning all dignity and pride, sprinting wildly along the muddy path. She had no idea how many withered bones she crushed underfoot along the way. Finally, after escaping that ancient battlefield and stumbling into a forest overgrown with heart-break grass, she looked back and saw no trace of the black and white ghosts, allowing her to heave a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, Yin Weiying felt a sharp pain in her ankle. Looking down, she saw that her shoes were worn through, a stone had wedged inside, and her ankle was bleeding.

"My name is not yet in the Book of Life and Death; there is still a chance of salvation. As long as I return to the state of Supreme Oblivion..."

Yin Weiying chanted scriptures and incantations,

"Understand the meaning and forget the words, attain the Dao and forget all emotions; love and hate have their bounds, life and death are but a single crossing..."

She walked and chanted all the way, yet she could never truly calm her mind. Eerie winds howled around her, and when she heard the sound of flowing water, goosebumps rose across her skin. Fearing that the black and white ghosts had returned, she opened her eyes abruptly.

Before her lay a secluded lake, its shores bordered by crimson Manjusaka flowers, red as blood.

Regaining her composure, Yin Weiying looked into the distance and saw a one-armed woman meditating in the middle of the lake.

"Who? Who are you?"

Yin Weiying blurted out subconsciously. A moment later, she calmed herself and asked respectfully,

"May I ask the Dao title of the True Person?"

The one-armed woman slowly opened a single eye.

She did not speak, yet her voice resounded directly in Yin Weiying's ears.

"Tongxuan."

Hearing this Dao title and observing her one-armed appearance, Yin Weiying instantly realized who she was, and gasped in astonishment:

"You are... Zhou Yitang, the Sword Armored, whose sword intent penetrates the metaphysical and can sever the six worldly dusts of the mortal realm?"

Zhou Yitang, the Sword Armored, ranked ninth on the martial arts roster. Jianghu rumors said her grand-master had bestowed upon her the praise: "Sword intent penetrates the metaphysical, capable of shattering eight hundred winds of the mortal realm." But Yin Weiying knew the truth—it was not "shattering eight hundred winds of the mortal realm," but rather "clearing the six worldly dusts of the mortal realm." People in the pugilistic world simply found the original phrasing insufficiently imposing and corrupted it through repeated retelling.

Common mortals could never understand that the latter phrase was infinitely superior to the former.

Amidst her thoughts, Yin Weiying felt that pair of clear eyes fix upon her, sending a chill straight to her heart.

"This junior pays her respects to True Person Tongxuan."

She bowed repeatedly.

"Many call me the Sword Armored, even those on the mountains. You, however, possess a measure of clarity and wisdom."

The one-armed woman sat upon the lake without sinking in the slightest.

"Speak your business."

Hearing this, Yin Weiying immediately recounted how she had fallen deep into the realm of Fengdu, and then asked:

"May I ask the True Person how this junior can... leave this place?"

The one-armed woman replied indifferently,

"Haven't you known all along?"

"What... do you mean Supreme Oblivion? I beg the True Person to dispel my confusion..."

She felt a sudden wave of dazed confusion. Of course she knew she had to rely on Supreme Oblivion, but... no matter how much she chanted, it was utterly useless.

Just as her question fell, the figure of the one-armed woman instantly turned ethereal, transforming into a glowing butterfly that fluttered into the depths of the forest.

Seeing this, Yin Weiying felt a jolt of alarm. Panicking, she chased after the glowing butterfly and rushed into the woods.

The forest was gloomy and eerie, littered everywhere with heart-break grass. Looking around, Yin Weiying saw gravestones half-buried in the soil everywhere. Chasing the butterfly, she ran continuously until she suddenly heard someone crying. Snapping out of her trance, she found herself standing in a dead and silent graveyard.

Yin Weiying took a deep breath. She could no longer see the glowing butterfly; she only saw gravestones standing grimly like broken swords, the tombs overgrown with orchids, shrouded in a death-like silence.

Carefully, she approached the gravestone before her and looked closely.

Yin Weiying's heartbeat nearly stopped. Inscribed coldly upon the stone were the words: *The Grave of Yin Weiying, Beloved Wife of Chen Yizhi!*

Panicking, she retreated a few steps and hurried to check another gravestone, which read: *The Grave of Yin Chengzhi, Prince Jing, Father of Chen Yizhi's Wife.*

Frenzied, Yin Weiying looked at yet another gravestone, which bore the inscription of Chen Yizhi's wife's mother. Turning to another, it was Chen Yizhi's wife's master. A wave of dizziness washed over her, draining the color from her face as she collapsed to the ground, her hands and feet turning icy cold.

This entire graveyard belonged to the household and family of Prince Jing's Estate!

And every single gravestone was connected to Chen Yizhi...

Overwhelmed by panic and dread, Yin Weiying looked at the scene before her, feeling as though that commander of the Western Depot had led her straight into the jaws of death.

Struggling, she chanted the incantation of Supreme Oblivion, then looked at the orchids growing upon the tombs. Dewdrops rested on the petals, emitting an eerie purple hue that seemed to draw one's mind into a hypnotic trance.

Yet the longer she stared, the paler Yin Weiying's face became.

Those orchids were blooming like smiling faces—blooming continuously and smiling continuously. The dewdrops resembled tears, making the orchids appear to both cry and laugh at the same time.

Hastily, Yin Weiying closed her eyes.

"It's fine... it's fake, it's all fake..."

When her heart finally calmed slightly, she slowly opened her eyes once more, only to freeze, her pupils contracting violently.

Those clusters of orchids were slowly transforming into faces, and every single face was Chen Yizhi. He stared straight at Yin Weiying, crying and laughing all at once.

With a scream, Yin Weiying turned and bolted in blind panic. She felt a powerful force behind her constantly tugging at her, trying to drag her back into the graveyard, bury her beneath the soil, and pin her forever under a gravestone.

She ran endlessly, her feet bleeding continuously. The dense forest was shrouded in a bizarre silence, and then she saw the glowing butterfly once more, flitting up and down like a firefly, as if pointing the way to her only lifeline.

Chasing the glowing butterfly, Yin Weiying sprinted like a madwoman. She pursued it relentlessly until the butterfly slowly came to a halt.

She reached out a hand, attempting to catch the glowing butterfly.

Just as the butterfly landed on her palm, Yin Weiying widened her eyes in shock.

That glowing butterfly... had abruptly transformed into Chen Yizhi's face as well!

He was smiling at her, laughing without stop!

Seized by sudden terror and panic, Yin Weiying retreated, only to find that she had stepped into empty air. Behind her was a bottomless abyss, and she plummeted downward.

When she opened her eyes again, she found the scenery had shifted once more.

She was in a magnificent hall, with lanterns every three paces and tables and chairs made of sandalwood. In a daze, she felt as though she had returned home to Prince Jing's Estate, and unconsciously, Yin Weiying's heart settled just a bit.

Suddenly, the sounds of slaughter echoed from outside.

Yin Weiying whipped her head around to see a figure covered in blood, holding a embroidered spring knife in one hand and dragging her father, Prince Jing, with the other, as if fighting his way through. He looked like a demon god, while Prince Jing was nothing more than a lamb awaiting slaughter.

With a startled gasp of horror, Yin Weiying watched as Chen Yizhi smiled grimly, thrusting his blade into Prince Jing's abdomen so that his intestines spilled out like a snake, before ruthlessly severing her father's head.

Outside the doors, blood flowed like a river, strewn with the corpses of everyone in Prince Jing's Estate.

Her Nether Spirit suddenly appeared, laughing eerily right behind her:

"Look, not only did he steal your cultivation partner, but he also slaughtered every last member of Prince Jing's Estate. Yet you... you are utterly powerless."

Her hair standing on end, Yin Weiying looked at the scene before her as enormous waves churned in the lake of her mind, threatening to shatter it completely.

"And you even helped him summon his soul, aiding an evildoer, ensuring that sooner or later, he will destroy your own family."

The Nether Spirit burst into wild, unceasing laughter.

Cold sweat drenched Yin Weiying as she stammered,

"No, no! It's all fake."

Yet the Nether Spirit's words pierced straight into her heart:

"You say it's all fake, but have you ever wondered why you are seeing such a vision?"

Gasping for breath, Yin Weiying stared at the sea of blood before her and trembled,

"Because, because... I..."

Deep down, she sensed the truth, yet she was unable to voice it, finally reduced to asking why.

"Why, why on earth... I don't know, I don't know."

"Foolish child, why have you not yet attained enlightenment!"

Hearing the Nether Spirit's stern shout, the Prince Jing's daughter stiffened.

"Because you are terrified! You are afraid of him!"

"Soul-summoning, soul-summoning—summon your soul back to the Great Dao!"

I am... afraid of him...

Yin Weiying froze in utter shock.

So it turned out that I am afraid of him!

Just as Yin Tingxue had become Chen Yizhi's inner blindness, she realized that at some point unknown to herself, Chen Yizhi had also become the inner blindness in her own heart!

As those words revealed the truth, an indescribable sense of sudden enlightenment flooded her heart, and her nearly shattered heart-lake abruptly calmed down.

Yin Weiying quietly watched her father's dying cries. Then, the scenery shifted: another Chen Yizhi dragged her father in and killed him all over again. Her father cried out in agony once more, and then yet another Chen Yizhi dragged her father in...

She simply stood there, quietly watching Chen Yizhi slaughter the entirety of Prince Jing's Estate over and over again,

Once, twice, hundreds, thousands of times!

Hundreds and thousands of Chen Yizhis slaughtering hundreds and thousands of Prince Jing's Estates...

At first, her state of mind still rippled with waves, but gradually she grew numb, and eventually, she transcended that numbness to become entirely accustomed to it—just like spring passing and autumn arriving, cycle after cycle, while her gaze grew steadily pure and detached.

"Understand the meaning and forget the words, attain the Dao and forget all emotions; love and hate have their bounds, life and death are but a single crossing..."

Yin Weiying muttered to herself.

With these words, a glimmer of her past clarity returned to her eyes. Amidst the boundless sea of blood, she seemed unstained like a lotus rising from the mud. Within the gurgling sound of pouring blood, the strains of the *Guangling San* zither melody resounded.

Yin Weiying stood in the sea of blood, yet remained utterly spotless.

Daoist verses slowly floated up within her heart-lake:

*Who does not fear the single crossing of life and death?*
*Love and hate both naturally have their bounds.*
*To become an immortal, one must forget the self;*
*If the heart does not die, the Dao has no gate.*

In an instant, the white-clad Daoist nun appeared as though she had forgotten herself, ethereal and unbound like an ascending immortal.

As if a day and night had passed, the crow of a rooster rang out in the distant sky.

With that single crow, daylight broke abruptly, and every single manifestation of Chen Yizhi turned into ashes!