Chapter 188 [Alien] Retreat Again
A year has passed in a flash.
Zhu Yingyan watched over the lamp that appeared in the mirror every day. The lamp oil had dried up, the wick had dried up, and the light was flickering.
The elders felt the same as he did. Seeing that the situation was not good, they immediately used magic to bless the lamps. However, their magic could not power the lamps at all. It was just a waste of effort.
"Valley Master!"
【The lights are out, and no one returns.】
Everyone was shocked by this scene.
“Valley Master——!”
Before the shouts had even finished, Zhu Yingyan had already raised his hand to stop them. His fingertips hovered half an inch above the mirror, his phalanges pale and almost transparent, as if drained of all warmth. The last red glow of the lamp trembled, and finally, with a puff, it dissipated into a wisp of smoke.
The mirror darkened.
It was not pitch black, but a color that was even emptier than pitch black—as if even the “lightlessness” itself had been taken away, leaving only a thin shell that reflected the distorted images of everyone.
Zhu Yingyan's pupils suddenly contracted because he saw something moving inside the shell.
Then the mirror spit out Mu Chi and Hua Jin. With a "crack", the mirror shattered and disappeared, leaving only the mirror in the middle, which suddenly pierced Mu Chi's chest.
"Valley Master!" Everyone stepped forward.
"I brought him back..." Mu Chi was exhausted and powerless, his eyes were empty and lifeless, and he looked like he had experienced a catastrophe.
Mu Chi's voice sounded like it had been rubbed with gravel and frothed with blood. The mirror on his chest had sunk into his flesh, leaving only a silvery edge exposed, but no blood seeped out - as if the mirror had always been a part of him, and was now simply returning to its original place.
Zhu Yingyan half-knelt, his fingertips trembling, but he didn't dare touch the mirror. He saw that what was reflected in the mirror was not Mu Chi's heart, but a broken soul lamp wick, charred and curled, as if someone had snuffed it out.
He looked at it for a long time, and finally, before Mu Chi could speak, the lens disappeared.
"I'm going into seclusion..." Mu Chi pushed Hua Jin to Zhu Yingyan, his voice trembling, "Keep an eye on him. I won't see anyone during this period of seclusion."
"Retreat? Are you injured??"
No one knows what kind of pain Mu Chi has experienced. His once proud and high self-esteem has now fallen heavily to the ground.
After hearing what Zhu Yingyan said, the others also gathered around.
"Valley Master, the elixir I made a few days ago will help you recover from your injuries." Elder Linglong handed over the medicine.
"Give it to Xiao Jin. I'm not seriously injured." He didn't have any obvious injuries. "A few days of recuperation is enough. I just feel that my cultivation has reached a bottleneck and needs a breakthrough, so I want to go into seclusion. If there is any major event in the valley, Zhu Yingyan will take over my position as Valley Master."
Mu Chi finished speaking, then turned around without looking at anyone else. He staggered forward, taking each step as if treading on a knife edge. With each step, the lens on his chest would lightly collide with his bones, making a very light and crisp "ding" sound, like a countdown.
When he returned to Xishan, he didn't even have the energy to set up the barrier.
The wind in Xishan was colder than in previous years. It seemed like ice chips seeping out from the ground, blowing across Mu Chi's back inch by inch.
He sat down leaning against the stone wall, his fingertips touching the mirror on his chest that had long been "returned to its place" - it was no longer cold, but instead exuded a warm, dull pain, as if someone had embedded a piece of red-hot iron core into his ribs.
When Hua Jin woke up, it was already three days later. He vaguely remembered that he had risked his life to find the truth for his master, but in the end, he was outskilled and let Zuo Qianqian succeed.
He lay on the bed, organizing his thoughts, and then realized that he had returned to the disciple room of Yinyou Valley. He sat up suddenly, felt a headache, and fell backwards staggeringly.
Then he struggled to get up, and the door was pushed open.
Ye Musi, who had originally pushed the door open happily, immediately calmed down when he saw Hua Jin sitting up.
"Brother, you're awake."
"What time is it?"
"It's noon," Ye Musi put the lunch box on the table, "I'll bring you food..."
"Have you been taking care of me these days?"
Ye Musi nodded.
"Where's the Master?"
"Master is in seclusion."
Retreat? Are you injured?
Hua Jin was puzzled. Didn't he send Mu Chi away? How could he be injured?
"Why are you in seclusion?"
"Master said that my cultivation has reached a bottleneck again, so I went into seclusion to break through." Ye Musi answered honestly, but his mind had already flown away.
"When did I come back?"
"Three days ago."
Hua Jin saw that Ye Musi wanted to leave, and knew that he couldn't get anything out of him, so he let him go.
So he went to the Elder Hall to ask, but the Elder Hall's explanation was so vague that he couldn't even understand it. The Elder Hall was unwilling to tell him, and Zhu Yingyan even told him not to disturb Mu Chi's retreat, as Mu Chi didn't want to see anyone.
Hua Jin walked out of the Elders' Hall, wondering whether Mu Chi didn't want to see people or didn't want to see him?
It was because he mistakenly trusted Zuo Qianqian, which almost damaged his reputation, or it was because he betrayed and stood on the enemy side of Mu Chi, which harmed so many people.
He must be very angry, so he doesn't want to see him.
As he walked, he heard his disciples talking about something, but they immediately shut up when they saw him.
"Hello, senior brother." They wanted to keep him as soon as possible, but Hua Jin would never give them a chance.
"Stop, what did you just say?" Hua Jin asked, "Is this the Dingmao Year?"
Those disciples thought that it was their gossip that made the senior brother unhappy, but it turned out not to be the case, which scared them a lot.
"Yes, yes."
"Isn't it the year of Bingyin?"
"Brother, that was last year. It's been a year since you and the Valley Master went to visit relatives in the human world. Could it be that you don't remember the year?"
Hua Jin waved his hand and let them go.
A year had already passed. What had happened in that year? What had happened to the Heart-Illuminating Formation? He had no recollection of it.
He looked towards the western mountains, thought for a moment, and then flew up on his sword without hesitation.
He wanted to know what had happened. Was Mu Chi really in seclusion because of what Ye Musi said? He didn't believe it.
Mu Chi didn't like to talk about anything, and I'm afraid those people in the Elder Hall didn't know that he was enduring like this...
He only hoped that his guess was wrong, but a person woke up inexplicably a year later, and the things that happened before the dream seemed like a thing of the past. Anyone would find it strange and suspicious.
Xishan is the same as usual, with not much change.
He walked deeper and came to Mu Chi's residence, but was blocked by the barrier.
When did Master's barrier even block me...
"Master?"
Mu Chi in the house heard the noise and opened his eyes.
"Now that you're awake, start practicing. There's no need to come to Xishan every day."
"Let me take a look at you," Hua Jin shouted from outside, "You are injured, aren't you?"
Seeing that the person inside didn't answer, he became anxious and slapped the barrier.
"Master, are you speaking?"
"No, go away."
Hua Jin was certain that something must have happened to Mu Chi. He was trying to bear it all on his own. It was clearly his fault, so why should he bear it for him? Didn't the master hate him?
He knelt outside the barrier, his head hit and bleeding. The blood flowed down his forehead into his eyelashes, like a hot thin line, dyeing his vision scarlet.
"Master..." His voice was hoarse, but every word was clear, "If you don't open the door, I will kneel until the snow melts on the western hills." The wind seeped out from the barrier, like countless tiny ice needles, piercing into his knees and into his bone marrow.
Three days later, Hua Jin's lips were whiter than the remaining snow on the mountaintop, but his back was still straight.
His disciples took turns trying to persuade him, but he remained unmoved. Zhu Yingyan stood at a distance, his fingertips forming hand seals and releasing them several times, but he ultimately failed to break the barrier—Mu Chi had set it himself, and no one could break it. He also didn't take Hua Jin with him, as he was also worried about Mu Chi's safety. If Mu Chi could relent, perhaps he could actually break the barrier.
At dawn on the fourth day, a black snow suddenly fell on the west mountain.
Snowflakes are not condensation, but tiny mirror fragments that melt into mercury-like droplets when they fall to the ground.
The barrier made a crackling sound as if it could not bear the weight, as if something had torn a hole in it from the inside.
Hua Jin swallowed and crawled forward. His frosty hand reached out to the man in white. He looked up and saw the man's cold gaze. He waved his hand and pushed him into the snow pile.
The snow was icy cold, but not as chilling as that push. Hua Jin sank face-first into the mirror-like snow. The black snow, stained with blood, transformed into thin, shining silver lines that snaked down his forehead.
He coughed, and blood foam splashed on the snow like red plum blossoms.
“Master…”
"If you see anyone, get out of here."
Hua Jin opened his mouth. He had never heard Mu Chi tell him to get lost...
Then he closed his eyes and knelt in the snow for four days without any food. His body was exhausted and he passed out.
When he woke up, he was in a room on the west hill. This was not his room. There was food and medicine on the small table beside the bed, as well as a note, but it did not specify who left it.
The note read: Go down the mountain after dinner and do not disobey orders.
He recognized the handwriting as Mu Chi's at first glance. After dinner, he had no intention of leaving the mountain, so he went to Mu Chi's room. The room he was in was very far away from Mu Chi's room, one on one side of the mountain and the other on the other, making it impossible for him to see the situation in Mu Chi's room.
The barrier outside Mu Chi's house had been removed. Hua Jin's hand, which was about to knock on the door, stopped in mid-air. After thinking for a moment, he pushed the door open and walked in.
Mu Chi sat on the small platform in the middle, like a piece of bamboo thinned by wind and snow, which could be broken by the next gust of wind at any time.
He still wore his plain white undershirt, half-open, revealing his jagged collarbone. The bluish-gray veins beneath his skin shone like dark rivers beneath the ice. The outer robe draped over his shoulders had long since fallen to his waist, piling up in a thin layer of snow, revealing the sharp outline of his shoulder blades, like two wings about to fold but unable to.
His hair, so black it reflected no light, draped across the countertop like a pool of solidified ink. Tiny ice crystals formed at the ends of his hair, which occasionally fell and hit the wooden counter, making a small, crisp sound. A few wet strands of hair clung to the sides of his face, making his complexion appear even paler, almost transparent. One could see the pale blue veins pulsing slowly beneath his skin.
His lips were extremely pale, almost grayish white, but there was a tiny crack at the corner, covered with a dark red scab. When he spoke, the crack would open slightly, oozing a trace of blood, but he seemed to feel no pain and didn't even bother to lick it with the tip of his tongue.
His fingers rested on his knees, their knuckles so thin they nearly pierced his skin, the edges of his nails tinged with an unnatural purple. His palms, facing upward, were etched with tiny shards of ice in the lines, as if someone had grasped a shattered mirror and forced it into his flesh. Whenever his breathing quickened, the shards of ice trembled slightly, making a faint clicking sound.
The most terrifying thing is his almost imperceptible aura.
Hua Jin was also a little breathless at this time.
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