My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion-Chapter 685 - 448: The So-called Chivalry (3-in-1 Additional Release)_3

Nie Zheng.

He too wore dark robes, his tall figure silent, moving straight ahead like a black streak of lightning. At his waist, no scabbard — only the ominous gleam of the sword caught in the eye's reflection.

Chen Yi said nothing either,

The two brushed past each other...

A streak of blood erupted into the sky, a savage gash tore through Chen Yi from his left shoulder to his right side. Blood and flesh splattered, pain digging into his core.

Nie Zheng, however, felt no pain at all.

Scorching fresh blood gushed forth, a raw cleft split open his chest, connecting his heart and ribs.

Chen Yi sealed his bleeding with a precise acupuncture point.

The famed chivalrous hero of past and present lay felled by his hand—a rush of indescribable pleasure surged forth. Chen Yi exhaled a deep, heavy breath, confused by the inexplicable satisfaction that coursed through him.

This wasn't how it should feel...

For a fleeting moment, he thought of the muddy Jianghu in Shantong City, suddenly overwhelmed by an impulse to annihilate it all into dust.

"One more left…"

......

An hour later.

Chen Yi lifted his gaze slightly and saw someone waiting for him.

That person leaned lazily against the stone wall, with a nonchalant air, his lanky frame strikingly relaxed. When he saw Chen Yi approaching from afar, he began playing the zhu and singing alone.

When ten zhang separated them, Chen Yi stopped in his tracks and spoke up:

"Are you Jing Ke?"

Jing Ke revealed a wide smile toward Chen Yi, nodded, and replied:

"That's me."

"The leader of the Four Great Heroes?"

"A reputation too grand for me to bear."

Chen Yi hesitated briefly, seeing that dialogue was possible, then asked again:

"Why are you all here?"

Though Jing Ke appeared thin and frail, his eyes were sharp and alert. Pointing at Chen Yi, he said:

"Because of you."

"Me?"

Jing Ke plucked the strings of the zhu, and an ear-piercing note burst forth.

Chen Yi's eardrums buzzed violently. He could still hear Jing Ke continuing:

"We are but illusions summoned by Master Xuanming."

"Illusions... What does that have to do with me?"

"Of course it's related." Jing Ke paused for a moment and said, "Because you wish to kill us, we appear here. We are merely manifestations of your inner state."

Chen Yi furrowed his brows.

To desire their deaths, those heroes—and they appear before him?

Jing Ke continued, "You harbor a deep doubt toward chivalry..."

Chen Yi felt a tug in his heart, though he did not fully believe it. His blade remained raised before him.

Jing Ke seemed uninterested in further explaining. He cast aside the five-stringed zhu and drew his sword, advancing forward.

As his chest was pierced by the blade, he laughed aloud and called out to himself: "The king abandons his sword!"

With that, his head tilted—and his life extinguished.

Chen Yi lowered his gaze, eyes narrowing. Looking further ahead, faint streaks of light shimmered amidst the darkness; it seemed he had reached the deepest part.

......

A brightness unlike any other.

Radiant light danced, filtering through the passage to envelop Chen Yi. Half of his body drenched in blood, he strode forward wielding his knife, a chilling aura of violence emanating from him. The landscape opened up, vast and flat—yet barren, a desolation steeped in silence.

Someone stood opposite him.

Chen Yi raised his eyes slightly, the searing brightness rushing toward him, blinding and beyond comprehension.

The figure burned with an intense radiance, bathed in blood like himself. Yet he shone as if the sky after a storm.

Chen Yi's gaze remained still as water, clearing the blood from his blade. He advanced in measured steps,

To kill or not to kill?

He hesitated inexplicably.

But the figure strode forward, sword level and aimed directly at him.

Then kill!

Suddenly, a burst of blinding white light arose and swept through as the figure blitzed in to strike.

The sword's edge roared its descent, as though to demolish everything in its path. Chen Yi's body exuded a tide of dark matter that collided with the white light, sizzling like water meeting fire.

Chen Yi twisted his body and slashed his blade at a cunning angle, scraping against the sword's edge.

Bang!

The figure's sword abruptly tilted upward; blade and sword clashed with the resonance of metal, and the massive impact hurled both apart.

As they retreated, Chen Yi summoned his inner energy to direct his weapon. Hou Kang Sword unsheathed instantly, thrusting straight ahead.

The figure had no choice but to dodge, but the evasion was insufficient. His arm shattered instantly, the sword tumbling from his grasp.

As Chen Yi steadied himself, the figure surged forward instead of retreating, drawing a blade with a single hand and slashing a pale streak across Chen Yi's abdomen.

Blood sprayed like ink.

Chen Yi gritted through the agonizing pain, countering with a slanted slash.

The figure's hand released the knife sharply; the blade severed three fingers. At this moment, a three-foot-long sword flew mid-air. The half-severed palm forcefully pushed it forward!

Chen Yi was compelled to retract his strike, driving his blade in a direct thrust.

Dust and smoke billowed.

Suddenly, a resonant chime reverberated across the space, shaking bodies to the brink of collapse.

As the hum faded.

Both their pupils contracted simultaneously.

But it was too late... The blade and sword seemed to have pierced each other's chests...

Chen Yi and Min Ning froze where they stood,

A dull pain tingling from their hearts,

Only to find mere deadwood in their hands...

Both were momentarily stunned, almost shouting in unison:

"Why is it you?!"

In the next moment, realizing the similarity in their voices, both halted again. In the end, it was Min Ning who broke into laughter first.

Her hearty, resonant laughter echoed within the cavern, and Chen Yi, infected by it, smirked faintly a few times.

The two turned to survey this vast chamber, welcomed by an uncommon tranquility. Master Xuanming's ancient aura lingered, revealing before them a bronze bell covered in cloud motifs and engraved scriptures. At its peak, four words were inscribed: "明心见性" (Enlightenment of Inner Self).

Beyond that, the space held almost nothing else.

Only walls marked by countless sword scars.

"It seems this bell was playing tricks?" Min Ning tossed away the branch, raising an eyebrow, and said, "明心见性… It must mean seeing one's inner self?"

Chen Yi nodded faintly.

After a moment, he lowered his gaze, swinging the branch lightly as he revisited the events that had unfolded.

The blood of heroes splattered, their corpses amassed in piles, staining him from head to toe. The indescribable pleasure had radiated from the tip of his blade to the core of his chest... Yet, why did this bring him such satisfaction?

As if sharing the thought, Min Ning suddenly asked, "What... did you see?"

"You go first," Chen Yi replied after a pause.

They're nothing but manifestations of my inner state... Jing Ke's words echoed in his mind. Could it be that he loathed chivalry so much as to slay the revered Four Great Heroes? His eyes reflected a tangle of emotions. At the end, he had even clashed blades with Min Ning as if locked in mortal conflict.

Compared to Chen Yi's oppressive turmoil, Min Ning spoke with playful ease:

"Xia Jie, Zhao Gao, Qin Hui, An Lushan."

Facing her directly, Chen Yi responded, "All villains."

"And you?"

"Zhu Zhi, Yu Rang, Nie Zheng, and Jing Ke," Chen Yi said, "All heroes."

A sudden silence overtook Min Ning.

Once they had reveled in wine and camaraderie, deflecting each other's questions and concealing inner changes. But now, with not a drop of alcohol touched, blades drawn, some truths could no longer be buried under the pretense of drunkenness.

"What have you gone through?" she asked.

"I don't know," Chen Yi murmured. "How did you figure it out?"

"You're far less carefree than before," Min Ning mused. "Mired in mud…"

Chen Yi nodded faintly.

He understood the nature of his transformation. In a single instant, all things made clear sense to him.

"Because of you all… I've grown softer than before, able to listen to more voices, and even take too many of those voices to heart." Chen Yi smiled faintly and added, "Do you remember calling me a great hero? Since leaving the capital... I've walked the path of chivalry and justice, but arriving at Shantong City revealed to me a sea of chaos."

Min Ning listened patiently.

"I observed those 'heroes.' Without exception, they possessed immense mastery of martial arts, yet they carried shallow, unbridled passion. Worse yet, some wore masks of righteousness while doing untold wrong. Then I saw the spies, cunning and scheming, yet dying for their confidants with honor. Even the Lonely Smoke Sword, hunted by countless enemies, had more purity in his nature. Looking again at those who speak incessantly of 'chivalry,' the hypocrisy is unbearable..."

Chen Yi's gaze extended softly, his voice lowering: "So I began to wonder..."

Min Ning asked, "You wonder what?"

"If chivalry is no more than the question of honor and shame,"

Chen Yi articulated each word as if etched in stone:

"Honor me, I shall live. Dishonor me, I shall die."