Chapter 245: Cut Open

Li Yu felt a moment of dizziness.

He had seen this scene before.

That time was in the imperial palace, after seeing two moons, the Marchioness of Dongyang fell to her death, and the lotus root he brought back turned into Bai Li.

Later, Bai Li told him that the two moons were an illusion, and she was fighting within that illusion.

She said that he had a special constitution, able to remain conscious within illusions, able to see two moons in the sky, able to see her illusory form as a lotus root.

That was why he was able to help her that time, to bring her out of the imperial palace.

So now, was Ah Li fighting again?

As expected, he knew tonight wouldn’t be simple.

It was good that he came.

Ah Li, where was she now?

The world under the two moons was a vast expanse, Li Yu tried to inhale slowly and deeply, searching for a familiar scent.

Bai Li smelled the lingering fragrance around her. She was still sitting in the carriage, the paper on her lap was already torn to shreds, but the incense was still emitting white smoke.

The dream had not yet ended.

Just now, it was all an illusion.

She lowered her head, looking at a small bell tied to her waist.

Because this small bell was stolen from Wang Tong, to avoid being discovered by the people at the Temple of the Holy Ancestor, she always kept it hidden in a sachet when she carried it with her.

At this moment, the sachet had disappeared, and the Three Purities Bell was exposed.

Bai Li pushed her hands forward, and the carriage instantly dissipated. She stood on the ground again, looking up at the full moon hanging in the sky.

It was it again!

Bai Li didn’t look around, there was no need to search for where Xuanyangzi was.

This was still her dream, just invaded and modified by Xuanyangzi.

As long as she broke through this dream, she could wake up.

“How interesting,” she said, “you created the illusion, but your own magical tool reminded me. Is this also the Tao following nature, all beings equal?”

Her gaze fell on the “Zhou Jingyun” standing solemnly in front of her. Anger surged within her. She waved her hands, and the saber Li Chengyuan held earlier appeared in her hand. She fiercely slashed it towards “Zhou Jingyun.”

“To use his appearance to deceive, how shameless!”

Where the saber light passed, “Zhou Jingyun” instantly collapsed, revealing a doorway, behind which was the courtyard of a large residence.

Bai Li recognized it at a glance, this was the Marquis of Dongyang’s Residence.

The night wind swayed, the flowers and trees in the courtyard rustled, the lights flickered, the sound of children’s laughter came from inside, maids were sitting in the courtyard eating fruits, chatting idly, “When will the Marquis’s Heir and the Young Madam come back?” “I don’t know, but the late-night snacks are ready.”

Although she was already awake, seeing this scene, Bai Li, standing at the door, still had the urge to walk in. It was conceivable that if she had followed “Zhou Jingyun” earlier, she would have been led into it and would have been trapped, unable to wake up.

Was this what she most desired in her consciousness now?

Just like how she wanted to go home and be with her father and family before.

Bai Li’s heart flared up again: “An old Taoist, peeking into a woman’s mind, shameless!” With that, she raised her saber to cut down the door.

But as soon as she raised the saber, the Millet Seed Pearl in the sky cast down a light like soft gauze, gentle yet sharp, instantly snatching the illusory saber from her hand and vanishing into the moonlight.

The Millet Seed Pearl wouldn’t attack her, but it would absorb all her obsessions, rendering her unable to do anything.

But she couldn’t do nothing. If she didn’t destroy the dream, she wouldn’t wake up and would be trapped here to death.

Last time, Zhou Jingyun threw her off the building in time, breaking the dream. But this time, Zhou Jingyun wasn’t by her side, and there was an additional layer of her own woven, then tampered with dream. At this moment, everyone was in the illusion, no one could help her, and they might not even be able to.

Only she could break her own dream.

Bai Li stared at the door ahead. The doorway trembled slightly, then suddenly two door panels materialized. With a bang, the door closed, the courtyard, the maids, the tranquil night scene instantly vanished. Bai Li felt her feet empty, and when she looked up again, she was back in the carriage. Had the dream ended?

Bai Li looked at the scattered paper on her lap, the smoke dispersing from the incense burner, and footsteps sounded outside the carriage.

“General Bai!”

Bai Li froze.

“Hurry, your wife is about to give birth—”

With these words, Bai Li abruptly lifted the carriage curtain and saw a familiar back, a tall figure jumping off a horse.

“Father—” A young girl rushed out, crying hysterically, “Mother is dying—”

Mother is dying.

Bai Li jumped out of the carriage. Perhaps the movement was too sudden, the sachet on her waist fell, and the Three Purities Bell rolled to the ground. The gentle moonlight brushed over it, and the bell instantly vanished.

Mother.

Bai Li looked at the staggering figure of the man ahead, the young girl covering her face and weeping, and the small courtyard ahead, becoming clearer and clearer. A woman rushed out from the courtyard.

The woman raised her hands, covered in blood, her expression panicked: “General Bai, Madam insists on saving the child—”

Saving the child? Don’t save the child, don’t save her, let her die, let her die—

Bai Li cried out, lifting her foot to run towards them, but a hand abruptly grabbed her.

Bai Li swayed and stopped in place. It was a hand reaching out from her own chest, and in the next moment, someone emerged from within her body.

“Are you crazy?” The figure pressed close to her, gripping her hand, standing beside her, “That’s fake!”

Bai Li looked at her: “Fake, aren’t you fake too?”

As she spoke, the clear features of the woman beside her suddenly blurred, as if erased.

“You’re truly ungrateful!” Her voice was filled with anger, “If I hadn’t stopped you, let you run over there, it would have been good for me! You’d be trapped in an endless sleep, and this body would be mine!”

Bai Li didn’t speak, looking again at the small courtyard ahead. Her father and the young girl had already gone inside, and a woman’s pained cries came from the courtyard.

Was that her mother crying?

It hurt so much.

“I—” she murmured, “I’ll just take a look.”

She had never seen her mother, and it was difficult to even weave her into her dreams. When she was a child, she would occasionally see her mother’s figure when she entered the dreams of her family members, but whether out of fear or sadness, she always fled in panic, or disappeared before she could get close to her mother.

Now her family was dead, she would never see their dreams again, and she would never see any trace of her mother again.

✿✿✿

Xuanyangzi was indeed more powerful than her, able to weave even the dreams she couldn’t.

How vicious.

How tempting.

“Forget it,” the shadow beside her said, “Considering you slashed Li Chengyuan for me tonight, avenging me, I’ll help you.”

As the voice fell, the space beside her suddenly emptied. Bai Li instinctively looked and saw the shadow, which had always clung to her, leap up, both hands gripping a long saber.

The same saber she had conjured earlier, then absorbed by the Millet Seed Pearl.

As the saber appeared, the Millet Seed Pearl’s gentle light swept over, but this time it couldn’t roll the saber away. Instead, it was cut apart by the saber light.

The saber light continued, and the saber grew larger and larger, occupying half the night sky.

The figure, with both hands gripping the saber, fiercely slashed down towards the Millet Seed Pearl in the sky.

The Millet Seed Pearl burst forth with a blinding light, the night sky seemed to be torn apart, countless stars tumbling down.

The silent world suddenly shook. Li Yu instinctively steadied himself and looked up, seeing the moon in the sky crack open, its light bursting forth, dazzling.

He instinctively wanted to close his eyes, but then he thought that with the light so bright, he should be able to see where Bai Li was more clearly. He immediately forced his eyes open and looked around. Before he could see clearly, a loud laughter rang out in the sky.

“Xuanyangzi! You rely on this magical tool! Just you wait!”

“I, Jiang Mian’er, slashed Li Chengyuan today, and I’ll slash you next!”

Jiang, Mian’er… Li Yu froze, looking up again.

The blinding light dissipated, leaving behind shattered beads flying all over the sky. Among them, a figure slowly fell, still gripping a saber in her hand.

The figure landed on the ground, the cracked Millet Seed Pearl falling behind her, erupting in flames.

Li Yu looked at the figure standing in front of him. The familiar scent was strong in his nose, and her face was clearly visible in the glow of the crimson flames.

Half of her face was the Ah Li he knew.

The other half, he was also familiar with.

Empress Jiang.

The world shook, his vision collapsed, and Li Yu fell to his knees with a thud, feeling people running around him, horses neighing, a cacophony of sounds.

Zhou Jingyun crossed through the chaotic crowd and horses, spotting Jiang Yun at a glance.

“How is it?” He rushed over and asked, “Is Ah Li alright?”

Jiang Yun’s expression was somewhat uneasy: “Young Lady Bai hasn’t moved, I didn’t dare disturb her.”

Zhou Jingyun lifted the carriage curtain and saw Bai Li leaning back in the carriage, her eyes closed, as if asleep.

“Ah Li,” he called softly.

Bai Li didn’t respond.

“Marquis’s Heir,” Jiang Yun asked in a low voice beside him, “What happened? Did something really happen to Li Chengyuan?”

Zhou Jingyun nodded: “He’s dead.” After saying that, he lifted his robe and entered the carriage, “Let’s go.”

Carriages from more than one family began to move away, and people rushed out of the large residence with hurried steps.

“Aren’t you staying to help?”

“Help with what? Zhang Ze stayed behind, who would dare go near?”

“I never thought Li Chengyuan would actually die, and by his own hand.”

“Coming here was worth it.”

“Marquis Zhou’s mouth is truly terrifying. At the banquet, he said he would come back to eat at Grand General Li’s banquet, and sure enough, here he is.”

“Sigh—”

“Ah—”

The two people discussing were walking hurriedly when they suddenly tripped and almost fell to the ground.

“Who is it?”

They looked over and, by the flickering light of a horse lantern, saw a figure kneeling beside a carriage, dressed in the clothes of a Li family servant. His hat was askew, his face buried in his arms, the smell of alcohol emanating from him, as if he had gotten drunk and collapsed there.

Some servants would take advantage of banquets at home to sneak drinks.

One of them kicked him irritably: “You little servant, get inside quickly, look at the mess your house is in.”

The servant seemed to be awakened by the kick. He held his hat and got up, stumbling away. The others didn’t pay him any mind, each getting into their carriages and speeding off.

Li Yu weaved through the carriages and horses, his face pale beneath his lowered hat.

What did he just see?

Was he dreaming?

Where was his Ah Li?

Where was his Ah Li?

His Ah Li wasn’t Ah Li!

At the Temple of the Holy Ancestor, Wang Tong, who was dozing off against the altar, suddenly heard a clear ringing. He jolted awake and saw a Three Purities Bell rolling on the ground.

Was he dreaming?

Wang Tong couldn’t help but rub his eyes. Where did the bell come from? He looked up and saw Xuanyangzi standing in front of the altar, holding the Primordial Chaos Orb in his hand.

“Ancestor?” He stood up straight, “You can’t sleep again? Why—”

Before he could finish speaking, he saw the Primordial Chaos Orb in Xuanyangzi’s hand shatter, falling to the ground like sand.

Wang Tong was startled. Was this real? What was going on? Was he really not dreaming? How did the Primordial Chaos Orb shatter!

“Ancestor, I told you the temple is old and needs repairs.” He exclaimed, “My grandfather has money—”

Xuanyangzi smiled and clapped his hands, brushing away the remaining dust.

“No need to repair.” He shook his head, “The new will become old, and the old was once new, it’s all the same.”

After saying that, he turned and looked out of the hall. The night sky at the beginning of the month was pitch black.

“You all insist on making such a fuss, why bother?”