Chapter 63: Concealing Oneself While Embracing the Dao |
“You’re my older brother?”
“I don’t have any brother!” Faced with Li Shun’s nonsensical words, Jiang Chongguang nearly burst out laughing in anger.
With a flash of golden light, a pair of massive war hammers appeared in his hands. “Today, I’ll settle this karma once and for all.”
Before his words had even faded, Jiang Chongguang vanished from where he stood. In the next instant, a piercing explosion tore through the air.
Carrying a violent killing intent, the twin hammers descended like Mount Tai collapsing, smashing straight toward Li Shun’s face.
“A gentleman is no mere tool!”
“A hundred calamities shall not touch my body!”
At the razor’s edge between life and death, the Taixu Brush in Li Shun’s hand flicked forward. With strokes that danced like dragons and serpents, lines of radiant golden characters were instantly inscribed in midair.
Jiang Chongguang suddenly felt his arms go weak. Though the twin steel hammers had not vanished, their weight seemed to have been cut in half!
Bang!
A deafening clash of metal rang out. Li Shun was sent flying like a kite with its string cut, violently blasted away.
“He’s still not dead…” Jiang Chongguang muttered in surprise.
He was about to press the attack when, before he could close the distance, more characters came surging toward him.
“Mind unfocused, sight unseeing, hearing unheard!”
In an instant, Jiang Chongguang felt as if he had fallen into a dense fog.
It was as though a thick barrier separated him from the real world. For a moment, he could not distinguish east from west, north from south. Even the sounds reaching his ears became distorted.
“Chongguang… you’re still as reckless as ever.”
“Have you forgotten what happened when we were young? Think carefully!”
Li Shun’s faint sigh pierced through the mist, striking directly into his mind.
“You…” Jiang Chongguang’s gaze flickered, his killing intent surging even stronger.
Crimson flames erupted from his body, and the surrounding mist and illusions were instantly burned away.
His eyes, sharp as a hawk’s, locked onto Li Shun in the distance.
“Die!”
Just as he was about to strike, the figure before him suddenly overlapped with a scene buried deep within his memories.
“Hm? This is…”
Jiang Chongguang hesitated, uncertainty flashing across his face.
As he narrowed his eyes and tried to recall, more and more memories surged forth.
It seemed… he really did have an older brother.
In their childhood, they had spent every day together, cultivating side by side under their uncle’s guidance.
Later, when the Great Qian officials came to capture them, they were separated and lost contact.
…
Jiang Chongguang hesitated at once.
“Chongguang, perhaps you don’t know this, but my breakthrough opportunity is you as well. For two people to be each other’s key to breaking through… how could there be such a coincidence in this world? I’d say this is heaven’s arrangement, allowing us brothers to reunite!” Li Shun’s voice rang out again, earnest and sincere.
Hearing this explanation, the doubts in Jiang Chongguang’s heart only deepened. “Earlier, I already found it strange. Why would my breakthrough key be this mere laborer? If that’s the case…”
“Could he really be my long-lost elder brother?”
Jiang Chongguang felt his head swell with pain. Something about it felt wrong, yet he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what.
“If only Sushu were here.”
The thought arose involuntarily in his mind.
Half a year ago, he and Han Sushu had arrived near Imperial Mausoleum Commandary. Ever since, they had been trying every possible method to infiltrate it.
However, the Imperial Mausoleum existed as a self-contained world, heavily guarded, with Blood-Armored Guards watching over it day and night.
They had never been able to find a way inside.
Later, by sheer chance, Han Sushu discovered a method to slip into Imperial Mausoleum Commandary without alerting the Blood-Armored Guards. Only then did the two of them successfully enter.
Even so, they could only conceal their presence for a limited time and could not remain for long. Imperial Mausoleum County was a world unto itself, with all things within governed beneath the so-called “Heaven of the Imperial Mausoleum.”
Once the concealment divine ability known as “Body Embracing Dao” expired, outsiders like them would instantly be exposed to its gaze.
As a result, they could only adopt guerrilla tactics. Each time they entered, they would plunder what they could before retreating just before their concealment wore off.
Through repeated infiltrations, Han Sushu gradually mapped out the internal layout of Imperial Mausoleum Commandary. No longer were they randomly teleported upon entry. They could now choose specific locations.
Everything should have gone smoothly.
Yet for some unknown reason, during one of their recent infiltrations, Han Sushu suddenly vanished without a trace.
From that moment on, they were separated.
Jiang Chongguang had entered and exited multiple times since, trying to find any sign of him.
But he had found nothing.
This time, upon infiltrating once more, his heart suddenly stirred. At last, he sensed the location of his breakthrough opportunity at the Gate of Heaven.
In a moment of impulsiveness, he descended without hesitation.
Who would have thought he would encounter his long-lost brother here?
Temporarily restraining his killing intent, Jiang Chongguang stepped toward Li Shun and examined him carefully.
“These features… there’s not the slightest resemblance,” he thought, his suspicion deepening further.
Just as he was still wavering, a series of heavy footsteps echoed from the distance. It seemed the constables of Dongshan Town had noticed something amiss and were rushing over.
The constables themselves were nothing to fear. The real concern was attracting the attention of the Blood-Armored Guards.
Before he could think further, Jiang Chongguang grabbed Li Shun in one swift motion. With a few bounding leaps, his figure vanished into the distance.
Only then did the constables of Dongshan Town arrive, belated as ever.
Leading them personally was Fang Xun. Finding nothing, Fang Xun’s expression revealed neither anger nor joy.
His gaze swept across the courtyard, now reduced to ruins, before shifting toward the neighboring house.
“Li Qing isn’t here…”
“No wonder he didn’t come to save me in time.”
“Was he summoned away by Lao Wei?”
“No matter. Since I’m within the Second Reflection, my life is not in danger. This is a good opportunity to extract more information from that Jiang Chongguang.”
“From the brief exchange just now, this kid may possess brute strength, but his realm is the same as mine, merely the Mortal Physique stage. And his mind is not particularly deep. His resistance to the Heavenly Being Codex is quite weak.”
…
At this very moment, Jiang Chongguang was carrying Li Shun at full speed. Before long, they arrived within a mountain gorge. With practiced ease, he pulled aside the tangled vines covering the cliff face and slipped into a hidden cave.
The entrance was extremely narrow, barely wide enough for a single person.
Yet as they ventured deeper, the passage gradually widened.
After traveling for some time, the space suddenly opened up. The two had entered a massive cavern.
The interior resembled a grand hall. Aside from the entrance they had come through, dozens of other openings dotted the surrounding cliff walls, seemingly leading to unknown locations.
Jiang Chongguang tossed Li Shun to the ground, his face as cold as frost.
“I ask. You answer.”
“If you can’t…”
“You die.”
With a heavy thud, he slammed two massive warhammers down in front of Li Shun.
“Our parents. What are their names?”
“……”
Silence was the only reply.
Li Shun inwardly shook his head.
“This is the flaw of the Heavenly Being Codex. It can fabricate a past out of nothing, but if the other party is a complete stranger, even the slightest verification will expose the inconsistencies.”
“I knew it!” Jiang Chongguang slapped his forehead, his face twisting with anger at having been deceived.
“You dare impersonate my elder brother? You’re courting death!”
Enraged, Jiang Chongguang raised his warhammer, ready to smash Li Shun on the spot.