My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion-Chapter 666 - 439: I Am Not Myself (Two in One)_2
All along the way, Yin Weiyin occasionally glanced at Min Ning.
Previously, she viewed Lu Ying, that Immortal, as her great rival, only because she feared Chen Yi's heart might be swayed. As for Min Ning and others, she rarely concerned herself with them, for once she became immortal, none would be a threat.
However, unexpectedly, Min Ning's martial arts prowess had soared at an incredible speed!
Not only rising swiftly but Min Ning also harbored the notion of marrying Chen Yi, Blessings of Infinite Heavenly Venerable, a woman marrying a man, what nonsensical words are these?
Isn't this akin to forcing a marriage, making Chen Yi marry into her Min family?
If it truly came to that, it would be better for Chen Yi to choose another Immortal…
The group traveled for more than half a day, ascending from the foothills to midway up the mountain. The Sword Pool was drawing nearer, but as dusk appeared, they had to stop and rest, lighting a campfire among the three.
The jagged firelight danced, the dense forest was not as eerie as the previous night, surprising everyone greatly, as Min Ning leaned against a rock, tearing out some dried meat.
"Would you like some?" Min Ning extended it towards Lu Ying.
Lu Ying hesitated for a moment, not wanting to refuse the offer, so she accepted a piece.
Min Ning then turned to Yin Weiyin, impatiently asking, "Do you want some?"
Despite the words, the dried meat was only extended half an arm's length.
Yin Weiyin replied, "I have been fasting."
Min Ning retracted the dried meat and ate it with some liquor.
Taoists could fast, but martial artists could not, as food greatly nourished them; however, martial artists who had tempered their bodies could fully digest food, reaching a state of not sweating or expelling impurities after consumption, so regardless of being a martial artist or a Taoist, once slightly accomplished in their travels, they did not require excretion.
The three sat around the campfire, and though their relations were strained, none could resist loneliness, especially as they weren't sworn enemies.
Min Ning then began inquiring about Chen Yi from Lu Ying, with whom her relationship was relatively good.
Yin Weiyin enjoyed the leisure and peace.
"He told me a story previously from The Return of the Condor Heroes, it was fascinating. He said he read it from a martial arts book, but I thought… maybe he made it up himself," Lu Ying mentioned incidentally.
Min Ning was very curious and asked, "Could you tell it to me?"
After some hesitation, Lu Ying started narrating, without much guard: tales of Xiaolongnu, Yang Guo, and Yin Zhiping flowed eloquently, and Min Ning listened, engrossed, dismissing the romantic aspects, but marveling at techniques like the Nine Swords of Dugu and the Heavenly Gang Beidou Formation.
But Lu Ying told more about the romance, as those were her most vivid memories.
Yin Weiyin, enjoying leisure, paid it no mind at first, merely listening casually,
but gradually felt uneasy.
When Chen Yi had come, he used the alias Young Master Long, wasn't that Xiaolongnu?
That Taoist Yin Zhiping... wasn't that referring to herself?!
Yin Weiyin felt slightly vexed.
If Yin Zhiping is supposedly her, then her encounters with Chen Yi are but fleeting?
It shouldn't be; he was quite fond of her… Yin Weiyin calmed herself, finding it odd.
Could it be…
that Lu Ying had altered the story's events?
Recalling Lu Ying's ill-concealed restlessness of late, Yin Weiyin silently cursed the woman for her cunning schemes.
What should she do then? If speaking frankly breaks her illusions, with this Secret Realm fraught with peril, Lu Ying might act rashly in anger, but if she skirts around the issue, she risks exposing her hand to Min Ning's sarcastic scorn.
After much deliberation, Yin Weiyin's eyes brightened slightly, a small stratagem surfacing in her mind.
The night was exceptionally deep that night.
Lu Ying, parched in throat, finally finished narrating where Chen Yi left off, growing drowsy.
"Go to sleep, I'll take the first watch," Min Ning said.
Lu Ying nodded, pressing into the tent.
When she had left, Min Ning sensed persistent gazes without needing to turn back to know who it was.
Amused inwardly, she secretly transmitted, "Yin Weiyin, why do you keep looking at me?"
The female crown averted her gaze, nonchalantly replying, "Buddhas perceive myriad worms in a bowl of water."
Min Ning sneered, "I thought you meant to quarrel with me over him. Why such limited vision?"
Yin Weiyin did not answer immediately.
Min Ning slowly said, "You and I are different. You see his talent and long to ascend with him, as for me, on the martial path, whether with him or without him, it is just the icing on the cake."
Yin Weiyin replied, "Am I not the same?"
Min Ning nodded, saying, "I believe you, then when I marry him, don't follow us into the door."
?
Yin Weiyin stood still briefly, bit her lip hard, glaring fiercely at Min Ning, but finding the posture unbecoming, shifted her gaze aside, snorted softly,
"Not everything in the world is as one wishes."
Quarreling should be avoided… As the words faded, Yin Weiyin gathered her emotions, for now was no time for distractions.
She divined a hexagram and, upon confirming Lu Ying had fallen asleep, slowly asked, "That story… what did you think of it?"
Min Ning paused in curiosity, then continued, "It was full of twists and turns, not bad."
Yin Weiyin said, "Did you ever consider that story might imply something?"
"…What do you mean?" Hints in fiction stories were commonplace, writers loved playing such games, Min Ning furrowed her brow slightly.
Yin Weiyin hinted, "He once took the alias Young Master Long."
Min Ning pondered briefly, then suddenly enlightened, "I'm Yang Guo?"
Yin Weiyin fell silent.
After a while, she reminded, "Yang Guo became a one-armed man later."
With words spoken to this extent, how could Min Ning not comprehend? Wasn't Zhou Yitang also one-armed?
"Are you saying…" Min Ning pointed at herself, saying, "They're the couple, and I'm the… Condor?"
The night breeze stirred.
Yin Weiyin suppressed the laughter at the corner of her mouth.
Min Ning furrowed her brow deeply, recalling how Lu Ying referred to the Divine Condor as "Brother Condor," and weren't she and him comrades?
Just then, Yin Weiyin said slowly, "However, what she said differed slightly from what I heard."
Min Ning queried in confusion, "You mean?"
"After all, she is that woman's disciple."
Yin Weiyin stopped there, unable to press further,
as saying more would be fabricating lies.
Min Ning furrowed her brow tighter, and watching her, Yin Weiyin knew she succeeded. Next was to tell Lu Ying another tale, letting the two battle while she remained on the sidelines.
Thinking of this, Yin Weiyin rubbed her eyes,
Why did she feel sleepy too?
The pitch-black sky was dark enough to cause drowsiness, and Yin Weiyin's eyelids grew heavy,
"I'll sleep for a while; keep a good watch."
Yin Weiyin promptly got up, squeezing into the tent, and saw Lu Ying's peacefully breathing face.
Sleeping soundly indeed, I wonder what your relationship with Min Ning will be upon waking, Yin Weiyin pondered silently, her mind wandering, suddenly realizing it was so pathetic that she must resort to such schemes to maintain her position as the primary lady.
Yin Weiyin lowered her eyes slightly,
If only she had attained the Nascent Soul Realm…
Back then, within the underworld, under the chaotic reversing heavens, she ascended to the Nascent Soul Realm, with one sword, countless demons and ghosts were instantly obliterated, how majestic that was, with no need for subtle, covert maneuvers stretching vast distances.
Little tricksters would kneel and dare not stand, and if they stood, they wouldn't dare kneel.
Yin Weiyin finally shook her head, casting those fantasies aside.
......
In the mountains, the eerie wind swirled, swirling past the clustered woods, where it chilled to the bone.
Amidst the dense forest, a massive fissure cleaved the mountain, quite abrupt, with towering rock walls on both sides, pressing a sense of terror upon one.
Scattered and wild Sword Intent lingered in this valley, countless caves hollowed out in the rock walls, no longer remembered whether the slash that cleaved the mountain was from Loulan Sword Emperor or Wu Buxu.
A vague voice echoed: "For hundreds of years, someone has finally come up the mountain…"
"Only two Core Formation youngsters and a martial artist, has Chongyang Temple fallen so… how lamentable, how lamentable." Another voice responded.
"What choice do we have but to remain here as we can't grasp the tail of ascension, watching Chongyang Temple decline."
Raspy voices hummed within the woods, though the branches and leaves remained motionless, and the speakers unseen.
The jumbled and disordered voices mingled, making the wind chillier.
At this moment, a voice that seemed to lead spoke:
"No matter who they are, they cannot be allowed onto the mountain; leave no room for underestimation. A lion uses full strength to hunt a rabbit."
Silence ensued, these ghosts harbored various thoughts.
Suddenly, their leader in life's voice coldly stated:
"Don't blame me for posing as a grandmaster. If awakening that person, causing rage in Sword Intent, the Sword Pool collapses, who will bear the responsibility for privately opening the Heavenly Gate?"
Everyone remained silent, but this time in solemn agreement.
After a while, someone spoke up, asking:
"Grandmaster Tang, do we follow the old rules and kill them in their dreams this time?"
"It hasn't changed in hundreds of years." The Chongyang Temple Grandmaster paused and said, "Let them see the underworld, allow their defenses to falter, and die in their dreams."
