Chapter 1099: Chapter 603: The Truth of the World (Double-Length, Part 2)

"Yes, I issued the order." Ah Qing confirmed.

Very strange.

She was talking about attacking Shi Qingjun’s hometown right in front of her, and the key point was that, no matter how you looked at it, it seemed like a provocation, yet it was a very peaceful conversation. Anyway, they were no longer enemies; everything was just past misunderstandings, so Ah Qing had no taboos at all.

"Right, I don’t know why I gave that kind of order." Ah Qing’s Liu Mei brows furrowed slightly. "So, when I came back to myself, I canceled the operation."

"...Mm."

Shi Qingjun nodded.

Obviously, Ah Qing’s head hadn’t gone bad. Unlike the matter of the First Seat, Ah Qing had personally taken part in this order, so her experience of it must be clearer.

"What did it feel like to you?" Shi Qingjun asked.

"I don’t know, very eerie." Ah Qing tapped twice near her own temple. "I couldn’t find a reason to send troops, but for some reason... all the specific details of the decision, the deployment of the cultivators, the Magical Artifacts to break Chaoyun’s Array... every detail, the whole process of issuing instructions, I remember it all clearly."

Not only that, even the excitement she’d felt at the thought that, after breaking Chaoyun, she’d be able to confront Shi Qingjun face to face was vivid in her mind.

"Understand now?" Seeing Shi Qingjun lost in thought, Ah Qing shook her head. "That’s why I say, my memory... is unreliable."

Like moon in water, flowers in a mirror.

Once someone starts to suspect that even their memories from one second ago might be fake, life becomes full of danger and unease. And it was precisely in that emptiness that, as soon as she thought of Young Master Xu, her heart would instantly be filled with warmth and An Xin.

The most crucial thing was that, because this warmth truly existed, she never even considered doubting whether her memories of Young Master Xu might also be fake—because as long as that warmth was real, nothing else mattered.

That feeling of something like salvation, those who haven’t experienced it simply can’t understand.

Thinking of this, Ah Qing bent forward slightly toward the direction of the banquet table, and it was as if a cloud of pink glow rose across her face, as though she had stolen all the red clouds from the sky, dyeing herself into a pitiably charming sight.

"The First Seat, the order..." Shi Qingjun completely ignored how Ah Qing, halfway through talking business, had sunk into a springtime daydream like some hopeless case.

As much as she hated to admit it, she really did find the Ah Qing at the medical clinic a bit annoying with how easily she slid into springtime moods.

Brows knit, she pondered.

Shi Qingjun seemed to understand what Ah Qing was trying to say.

"Ahem..."

Ah Qing realized she had lost her composure a bit. She couldn’t help it; as soon as she thought of Xu Chang’an watching her, she would inevitably sink into a rosy atmosphere. Truly embarrassing.

She lightly cleared her throat and forcibly steered the topic back to the main issue. "Shi Qingjun, if my brain isn’t broken, under what circumstances would I make such detailed arrangements and then prepare to go to all-out war with you?"

"Your brain isn’t broken?" Looking at the blush that had yet to fade from Ah Qing’s face, Shi Qingjun suddenly felt an indescribable sense of helplessness.

Right now, she very much wanted to say, is it possible that your brain might already be broken...

The sudden distraction in the middle of serious business had also affected Shi Qingjun somewhat. After taking a deep breath, she looked out the window and said softly, "With how cautious you are, you wouldn’t do that unless victory was certain."

"Then what would it take to be certain of victory?" Ah Qing asked.

"Two people." Shi Qingjun answered.

"Exactly." Ah Qing sighed.

"Mm."

Shi Qingjun understood.

If Ah Qing wanted to make a move on her, it absolutely couldn’t be done with just one person. Which meant the greatest, and indeed the only, possibility was that she had found a second Qiankun Realm to hold the line for her.

A third Qiankun Realm?

Shi Qingjun had considered this. In her mind, the most promising candidate was Zhu Tongjun.

That’s right, not Li Zhibai.

In her eyes, while Li Zhibai did have half a foot in the Qiankun Realm, that was pretty much his limit. In comparison, Zhu Tongjun was the one with true talent.

If that were the case, then on the Demon Sect’s side, opposite Zhu Tongjun in position... they would naturally have someone filling a similar role.

The Demon Sect’s First Seat, the one who seemed to have never existed.

He’d stepped into Qiankun?

It really wasn’t impossible. With certain demonic methods, you could indeed reach the Qiankun Realm for a short time—just like those off-path cultivators from the dark era who fell to her hand; after temporarily ascending to Qiankun, they all eventually fell back down.

However, even if it was only a temporary Qiankun Realm, that was still enough to qualify him to serve as Ah Qing’s support.

This was the fact laid bare before her after she’d carefully teased out every strand—the Demon Sect had definitely produced a second Qiankun Realm, but for some unknown reason, he had vanished without a trace from the world, and from the memory of this Qiankun Realm, Ah Qing.

What kind of immense power would it take to do such a thing?

"What a pity you never paid any attention to the Holy Sect, or else... you too would have noticed that strange hollowness." Ah Qing sighed. "A second Qiankun Realm—this really is something I never considered."

"..." Shi Qingjun did not respond, but fell into thought.

Ah Qing would not lie.

And she had indeed followed Ah Qing’s train of thought. Not long ago, there must have briefly appeared a third Qiankun Realm—this wasn’t conjecture. The moment Shi Qingjun became aware of it, she was certain of its reality. This was definitely not some baseless suspicion.

Ah Qing’s memory had indeed malfunctioned.

In that case, there were quite a few secrets hidden in this matter, and it definitely warranted her serious attention—if even the memories of a Qiankun Realm were unreliable, how much reality was left in this world?

"So, what do you think? The information I’ve given you is pretty important, right?" Ah Qing said with a bright smile, the dimples at the corners of her mouth carrying a maiden’s touch of secret delight beneath their allure.

"Mm." Shi Qingjun responded. The news was too shocking; she would need to think it through carefully.

When she looked up, she suddenly saw the open and cheerful smile on Ah Qing’s face and was slightly stunned.

She’s smiling?

What is she smiling about?

Ah Qing had always been a cautious woman. Now that her memories might have been tampered with, she could still smile?

Shi Qingjun was sure that if she herself discovered a ’gap’ in her memory, she definitely wouldn’t be in such a lighthearted mood.

"What are you smiling at?" So Shi Qingjun asked.

"Why should I tell—" Ah Qing reflexively snapped back, but quickly blinked.

No, that wasn’t right.

Now it was her turn to grant every request; her turn to act as Shi Qingjun’s "older sister." As an older sister... of course she should be open and magnanimous.

"Forget it, telling you won’t hurt." There was a smile on Ah Qing’s lips that Shi Qingjun couldn’t read, but she was already used to Ah Qing’s mercurial moods, so she calmed herself and listened.

"Put simply, in this world, what is it that can affect my memory for no reason, and make a Qiankun Realm disappear from the world without leaving the slightest trace behind?" Ah Qing asked.

"The Heavenly Dao." Shi Qingjun answered without even thinking.

"Wrong. It’s Dao Rhyme—the rule-runes beneath the Heavenly Dao."

"Dao Rhyme?"

"Mm, Dao Rhyme."

Ah Qing bit down slightly on her teeth. "More precisely, a Dao Rhyme Cage."

What a coincidence.

She had nearly been obliterated by Dao Rhyme herself. With that personal experience, she had reason to suspect that their nameless Qiankun Realm had died the same way.

Thinking of this, even Ah Qing felt a twinge of fear.

If it weren’t for Young Master Xu, wouldn’t she have vanished from the world as well?

"You mean, it was Dao Rhyme that altered your memory?" Shi Qingjun frowned.

Something was off.

Admittedly, if one wanted to change Ah Qing’s memories without a sound, only something related to the Heavenly Dao could manage it. But the problem lay precisely there.

"Dao Rhyme is the law of the Heavenly Dao; all creation lies within it." Shi Qingjun’s gaze was extremely serious. "If it really were those, it would be impossible to leave flaws that you or I could detect."

If the Heavenly Dao truly stood behind this, could the two of them—"mortals" who had yet to achieve Ascension, no matter that they were Qiankun Realm—possibly resist?

Even if the Heavenly Dao really had erased something, when all things under heaven are It, and move within Its rules, how could It have left behind such a crude method that amounted to carving out a chunk of memory and crudely erasing the other party’s existence? 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

When Shi Qingjun finished speaking, she saw Ah Qing’s smile grow even brighter.

Clearly, Ah Qing had thought of this as well.

"I understand all that too, but... as for what comes after, I’m not going to tell you."