Chapter 815: Flower Not Flower, Mist Not Mist
"I survived, and I lived on this ship for a very long time, only to die in the end?"
Qin Mu felt utterly lost, a powerful sense of fatalism washing over him.
He hadn't believed the words of the little figure in the lantern at first, but ever since he set foot on this ship, a series of bizarre and unfathomable events had left him no choice but to believe.
Didn't this mean that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't escape the fate of ultimately dying on this ship?
No matter how he struggled, he couldn't break free from this vessel. No matter how he deduced or calculated, he wouldn't be able to unravel Ling Tianzun's divine ability until his death?
Dragon Tamer Lord's Dao heart shattered, and he collapsed to the ground, dragon eyes brimming with tears as he muttered, "How do we leave this damned place? Heaven and earth may change, but the constant remains unchanged. The constant that remains unchanged is thirty-six—what does that mean?"
He shuddered, sinking into great terror. "Isn't that the words of that mad, senile old dragon? Why am I repeating his words? Could it be that I really am him?"
Qin Mu glanced at him, furrowed his brow, and forced a smile. "Then, is this our first time boarding the ship? Why don't we have memories of the previous times?"
The little figure in the lantern said, "In each great cycle of this ship, there are thirty-six temporal resets, appearing in different eras. After thirty-six resets, it returns to the starting point—the moment the mist erupted. Those who board the ship during this time won't retain memories of the past. They simply board again and again, die again and again, and then board once more."
The Village Chief suddenly asked, "Then how is it that you possess memories of the great cycle?"
The little figure in the lantern replied, "I'm not entirely sure either."
Qin Mu's heart stirred. "That wailing old dragon seems to have memories of the great cycle too, but he's gone mad. What's his story? Who is he really?"
The little figure in the lantern said, "He is Long Bo. Like me, he didn't become ethereal when the mist erupted."
Hearing this, Dragon Tamer Lord couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "So it wasn't me..."
The Village Chief suddenly hit on a key point. "On this ship, besides you and Long Bo, who else hasn't become ethereal?"
The little figure in the lantern paused briefly and didn't answer.
The Village Chief narrowed his eyes and glanced at Qin Mu.
Qin Mu also narrowed his eyes. Within his gluttony pouch, the sword pellet quietly rose, and the Carefree Sword flew out from it, its hilt pointing toward the Village Chief.
The Village Chief's fingertip released primal energy, which coiled around the hilt of the Carefree Sword. He smiled and said, "Heaven and earth may change, but the constant remains unchanged is thirty-six. The constant that remains unchanged won't change with temporal resets. This ship undergoes thirty-six temporal resets in one great cycle. Perhaps this constant isn't a number, but the people on the ship. In other words, there are thirty-six people who won't be reset or become ethereal."
Qin Mu said, "Based on this deduction, each time the ghost ship travels, one person survives. The first reset was during the mist eruption, and Long Bo survived. Long Bo was the first observer. He couldn't accept it, so he went mad. Every time he sees someone else, he says the constant that remains unchanged is thirty-six. The constant isn't a number; it refers to the thirty-six people who won't be reset or changed. Since Long Bo survived the first reset, how did you survive?"
The Village Chief held the sword in his hand and said somberly, "The ghost ship docks in various eras thirty-six times. Each era has different boarders, and only one survives each time. Lin Xiao, during which boarding did you come aboard this ship?"
Qin Mu said, "When we boarded, you saw me take out the military tally and came to us on your own. You sat in the lantern, easily earning our trust so we wouldn't suspect you. Since we knew nothing about this ship and needed your guidance, we never doubted you. We trusted you completely—it's the simplest and most effective tactic, commonly known as 'darkness under the lamp.' Darkness under the lamp can fool most people, but it can't fool old hands."
The Village Chief held the Carefree Sword behind his back, while his other hand formed a sword seal in front of his chest.
According to conventional swordsmanship, the sword should be in front and the sword seal behind, hidden from view to make the technique more unpredictable. But he did the opposite.
Around him, countless sword lights flowed, forming a sword diagram that enveloped the surroundings, trapping the lantern and the little figure within it.
Qin Mu had never seen this swordsmanship before. The Village Chief had once taught him the Nine Forms of the Sword Diagram, but this current technique was a new sword diagram the Village Chief had created after becoming a god. His sword Dao had reached a whole new level.
"And we are old hands."
Qin Mu smiled. "We from the Village of the Crippled never intend to harm anyone, but when dealing with others, we always keep an extra eye open! So, Lin Xiao, are you the one who sent Jue Wuchen onto the ship?"
The little figure in the lantern stood up from the threshold, looked at the flowing sword lights outside, then shifted his gaze to the Village Chief's hand, which was forming a sword seal in front of his chest.
"Why does the Commander say that?" he asked softly.
"After the Heavenly Emperor died, the Empress had to deal with Jue Wuchen to prevent her deeds from being exposed. However, both Jue Wuchen and her own physical body were still useful to her and had to be preserved for future needs. To both dispose of Jue Wuchen and her own body while keeping them intact, the best place was this ghost ship."
Qin Mu smiled. "She must be a big shot now and shouldn't handle this personally. So she needed a trusted confidant, someone reliable, to do it for her. This person brought Jue Wuchen's physical body onto the ghost ship, opened the Empress's coffin, and placed Jue Wuchen inside. But this person couldn't leave the ghost ship either; he must still be on board. To guard this secret, he needs to ensure that no one who boards can ever leave."
The Village Chief said, "He must be the most active person on this ship. Whenever new people come aboard, he's the first to jump out, leading them to their deaths or trapping them here forever to keep him company."
"The first to jump out, finding me through the military tally, was you," Qin Mu said.
The little figure in the lantern sighed. "Such a clever person, yet with such a stupid mount. It was because I saw this foolish dragon that I underestimated you. You're foolish too."
He said coldly, "When you started to suspect, you should have struck at me instead of talking. If you had ambushed me, you might have had a chance to survive. But now, death is your only option."
At that moment, light suddenly burst forth again. Qin Mu and the others were blinded, unable to see anything!
The ghost ship was undergoing another temporal reset!
"You're right—I brought Jue Wuchen onto this ship and buried her with the Empress. I also opened the Empress's coffin. But what you don't know is that those who board this ship go through temporal reset after temporal reset, their physical bodies and primordial spirits gradually becoming ethereal, turning into nothingness."
In the blinding light, the Village Chief's sword diagram erupted. This was the sword Dao he had realized after becoming a god. As the old Sword God of Yankang, he had advanced further in the sword Dao, and he was also Yankang's first true god of the sword Dao!
His swordsmanship might not match Qin Mu's, but in terms of the sheer power of the sword Dao, even the Yankang National Teacher fell short!
In the light, the power of the sword Dao exploded, and even amidst the glare, the phenomenon of the twelfth form of the sword diagram was clearly visible.
It was like a heavenly jade seal, the sword diagram forming a seal, the seal like the heavens, the sword light like the celestial Dao and principles, crisscrossing with heavenly might, enveloping the lantern and weaving through it!
Within the lantern, the little sun erupted violently, its solar power pouring out freely, melting the sword light and burning a large hole through the sword diagram.
"Yankang Sword God, I'm not your match. In fact, my power is beyond your imagination!"
The lantern shot into the distance, and the little figure's voice came from afar, laughing. "But in this place, the stronger you are, the faster you become ethereal! When I brought Jue Wuchen here, I realized this. I immediately killed my companions who came with me and then slashed my own cultivation! The sun in my lantern is the cultivation I cut away. Heh, if you want to survive, you need to do the same—kill the others who boarded with you and slash your own cultivation. Otherwise, you'll become ethereal too..."
The light vanished.
The Village Chief sheathed his sword and handed the hilt back to Qin Mu. His billowing robes settled down.
Qin Mu didn't take the sword. He said in a low voice, "Village Chief, Lin Xiao's words are probably not true. He might be setting another trap to make us fight to the death with the other strong ones."
"It should be true." The Village Chief raised his hand and looked at his skin. His physical form had already faded considerably.
Qin Mu's heart trembled.
The Village Chief sighed. "The stronger you are, the faster you become ethereal. So the first to go ethereal should be the Supreme Emperor's corpse that Feng Qiuyun carried on his back. Then it'll be Ancestral Dragon King, Feng Qiuyun, Red Ming Divine Son, Luo Wushuang, and the attendants of Autumn Bright Prince. After that, it'll be me and Dragon Tamer Lord. This ship and Ling Tianzun's divine ability should have come to life, targeting those who pose the greatest threat. The greater the threat, the faster they turn to nothingness. Let's return to the hall where the Empress's coffin is stored and see for ourselves!"
With a heavy heart, Qin Mu and the other two immediately headed back to the hall.
In the hall, eight dragons surrounded the Empress's coffin, but the imperial corpse from the Supreme Emperor's coffin had vanished, leaving only an empty coffin!
In the mural, Feng Qiuyun's figure had also grown dimmer, though the Earth Mother Kunyuan Sword remained normal.
"I've already started to become ethereal. The other boarders are probably beginning to as well."
The Village Chief said, "Mu'er, there's a very powerful force hidden in your brow. You need to seal it away, or you'll become ethereal too! Only by being weak enough to pose no threat to this ship can you survive! I'm an old hand—trust me!"
Qin Mu took out a willow leaf and sealed his third eye on his brow. He said, "Village Chief, you should slash your cultivation too..."
"No need!"
The Village Chief shook his head and smiled. "If I slash my cultivation, who will protect you? Besides, only one person can survive each cycle. I need to keep my cultivation. I must ensure that the one who survives is you."
Qin Mu's mind went blank.
The Village Chief patted him on the shoulder and smiled. "Lin Xiao, now that we've exposed him, he'll probably tell the others and make us turn on each other. To avoid becoming ethereal, they'll come after us. If I slash my cultivation, you won't escape death. You're the smartest one in our village. If you become the final survivor, you might be able to unravel this ship's bizarre divine ability and save us from becoming ethereal. Dragon Tamer Lord."
He turned to look at Dragon Tamer Lord and said flatly, "You need to remember too: becoming ethereal isn't scary. As long as your master is still alive, he can save you and me! Don't even think about betraying him, or I'll take your life first! The simplest way for you to survive is to make sure your master doesn't die! After I become ethereal, it'll be your turn to protect your master with all your might. Understand?"
Dragon Tamer Lord straightened up, clasped his fists, and bowed. "Understood! Dragon Tamer Lord will follow the master to the death!"
The Village Chief walked forward and said in a low voice, "Let's continue exploring this ship. We need to find more clues before we become ethereal!"
They moved forward, passing through the training grounds and arriving at the barracks—a series of large and small palaces where the Imperial Guard lived.
The Imperial Guard were the most powerful gods and demons of the Dragon Han era, so their accommodations were naturally luxurious.
The Village Chief led them straight to the most magnificent main hall, which should have been Wei Suifeng's residence.
As the Left General of the Imperial Guard, Wei Suifeng held the highest rank and would logically live in the most opulent place.
On the pillars in front of the hall, someone had inscribed a few lines of poetry in divine script. The handwriting was elegant, as if written by a woman.
Qin Mu read it aloud softly: "Flower not flower, mist not mist. Comes at midnight, leaves at dawn. Comes like a spring dream, brief and fleeting; leaves like morning clouds, nowhere to be found."¹
"This poem—doesn't it describe the mist crossing?" Qin Mu was stunned.
Comes at midnight, leaves at dawn. The Yong River crossing was the same—the crossing only lasted half a day. Crossing at night, returning by day; crossing by day, returning at night.
"This handwriting... it was left by Ling Tianzun! She came to this ship! The mystery of her divine ability lies in this poem!"
¹: Bai Juyi's poem, "Flower Not Flower."