Having left Wangjiang City, Jiang Wang secluded himself in the wilderness until daybreak.

The Judicial Office indeed dispatched men to hunt him down, making quite a show. But as long as the capital, Zhuang Du, didn’t send reinforcements, it wouldn’t be considered a serious matter.

Jiang Wang could thus set his mind at ease.

Consort Song had once saved him, which was why he had agreed to his father’s remarriage. Consort Song was the birth mother of Jiang An’an, and that alone was enough for Jiang Wang to forgive many things.

By forcing Lin Zhengli to his death, he dissipated the resentment of the past. He didn’t know if Consort Song could rest in peace beneath the nine springs, but he had promised An’an to get her justice, and now he could finally consider it fulfilled.

Even though Jiang An’an might not fully understand why her mother could never write her letters again.

In the Lin family’s territory, Jiang Wang also admitted that he had indeed underestimated Lin Zhengren. Even with overwhelming power, he had still allowed Lin Zhengren to find a chance to escape.

Reviewing the entire process, there were gains and losses.

Lin Zhengren was the kind of person who could seize any tiny opportunity. Jiang Wang warned himself that if he faced Lin Zhengren again in the future, he couldn’t afford even the slightest bit of underestimation.

Jiang Wang was never a flawless person; he made mistakes, he was careless, but he never lacked self-reflection. He grew through repeated setbacks.

After confirming that Du Ruohui hadn’t been alarmed, Jiang Wang didn’t consider returning to Wangjiang City. He knew that a person like Lin Zhengren wouldn’t give him another chance, and would surely hide inside the State Academy, not daring to take a single step out.

He could only say that he’d find an opportunity in the future.

Moreover, although Lin Zhengren was cautious, patient, and had a frightening disposition, he ultimately lacked strength. As long as Jiang Wang maintained his cultivation speed, the gap in strength would eventually widen to a point where he could crush any scheming.

More importantly, during this trip to Wangjiang City, Jiang Wang had concealed his identity the entire time, and he expected that no one would know who he was. Even if Lin Zhengren wanted to seek revenge in the future, he would probably only be able to target Zhang Linchuan.

Returning to the outskirts of Maple Forest City, Xiang Qian was still fast asleep beneath the Soul Monument. A phantom sword shadow flickered intermittently, and Jiang Wang knew that it was Xiang Qian’s natal flying sword, protecting its master on its own.

This was a refinement of his Dao heart, and when he woke up, his path might be decided.

Jiang Wang didn’t disturb him. He found a place not far away to sit down, stared blankly at Maple Forest City for a while, then closed his eyes and entered the Illusionary Realm of Emptiness.

Having obtained the Decaying Wood Technique, he now needed to accumulate more merits to deduce it. Therefore, in the upcoming Sword Discussion Stage matches, he would hold nothing back, except for his divine abilities.

Time is sometimes the least noteworthy thing.

Because you simply can’t remember it clearly.

There are no sunrises or sunsets; you can’t see the starry sky above.

Everywhere is filled with mist, cold and gloomy mist.

Nether mist shrouds the mortal world, and the gaps between Yin and Yang are filled with helpless corpses.

Ling He couldn’t remember how many days he had lived in this obscure world. He only remembered how many people he had buried.

He had to remember, because no one else could.

Before…

Time here is impossible to pinpoint, only a vague concept. A while ago, a long time ago…

So “before” should be a while ago.

At that time, he was eating.

Everyone in Maple Forest City was dead, and there was still plenty of food left, but most of it was inedible due to the Nether Mist’s influence.

Ling He had a way. As long as he controlled the Xuanhuang Qi within his body, carefully cleansed the food, it would return to its original state.

But he didn’t really need to eat now.

He just wanted to maintain his life as a “person” in this world.

Eating proved he was alive.

Proved that someone was still alive in Maple Forest City.

Sometimes life is futile, but some people still live futilely.

Ling He was eating when suddenly, a strange sense of familiarity arose.

He didn’t know where the feeling came from, but he felt a warmth in his heart, as if he was being comforted.

He put down his chopsticks and involuntarily walked towards the direction in the dark,

Out of the room, out of the small courtyard, out of Flying Horse Lane…

The small courtyard in Flying Horse Lane was one of his two homes now. The other home was near the City Lord’s Mansion, the house where Old Yao had always lived.

He didn’t need a house, not even a bed. The houses in the dead domain seemed to have no meaning.

But Ling He just felt…

A house must have someone living in it, or it would lose its human touch.

He didn’t want the homes of Old San and Old Yao to be so desolate.

Even though they…were all dead.

So he lived back and forth between the two houses, cooking, doing laundry, sweeping, “living normally”.

That feeling of being comforted was nostalgic.

But not long after leaving Flying Horse Lane, the feeling disappeared.

Ling He stood there, feeling a sense of emptiness and loss.

Then he turned back and continued “living”.

Cooking, doing laundry, sweeping, chanting scriptures for salvation, collecting corpses, annotating scriptures.

He was always doing these things over and over again. He didn’t need meaning; the meaning lay in the things themselves.

But today, that sudden sense of familiarity appeared again.

At this time, Ling He had just dug a deep pit, and a pair of husband and wife who had died embracing each other were placed in the grave by him.

The emotional impulse urged Ling He to find it quickly, and he also longed for that feeling in his heart – human emotions were rare in this dead world caught between the gaps of Yin and Yang.

But he still seriously and sincerely chanted the scriptures of salvation, and then personally buried the tomb for the couple.

Things must have a beginning and an end; this was his necessary persistence.

After completing the entire burial ceremony, he let himself go, heading towards the feeling in his heart, towards the direction in the dark.

This region has no direction.

Although following the old city pattern, it seemed possible to connect the former directions. But Ling He deeply understood that the directions in this world were chaotic, without east, west, south, or north.

But the feeling of intimacy in his heart, that warm feeling that belonged to humans, was like a beacon in the vast universe. No direction was needed; it was the direction.

This time, the feeling lasted for a long time.

Ling He kept walking and walking, all the way to the end of this region.

He had known for a long time that this region had an end. The scope of this region was the previous scope of Maple Forest City.

But the so-called end, the so-called boundary, was not as simple as a wall or a barrier.

If it was a wall, Ling He would have broken it long ago. If it was a mountain range, Ling He would have dug through it sooner or later. But it was just a “boundary”.

Existing simultaneously in reality and illusion, it was a rule like the meridians of heaven and earth.

Impossible to cross, impossible to traverse.

Now, Ling He was at the end of this region, at the end of a certain chaotic direction.

He felt that he was very close to that intimacy.

But he couldn’t get closer.

This was the limit.

What was the reason for that feeling?

Was it a call?

Or a blessing?

Was there someone who wanted to pull this region back to the mortal world?

Ling He couldn’t judge.

But he really missed this feeling that belonged to “people”.

Hope, expectation, fantasy.

In this dead land, in this human ruin abandoned by the mortal world, how precious these words were!

Ling He quietly sat down, leaning against that stubborn boundary between reality and illusion, and gently closed his eyes.

This was the first good sleep he had had since this region had fallen.