My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion-Chapter 42 - 31: Is it a Stone or a Fairy? (Please Follow)

Chapter 42: Chapter 31: Is it a Stone or a Fairy? (Please Follow)

The scene gradually dissipated.

Chen Yi turned his head and saw Yin Weiyin’s figure and appearance.

The side room remained unchanged, the overflowing fragrance of tea had grown slightly faint, and everything that had just transpired felt so real, yet like a dream.

Yin Weiyin held a teacup, calmly savoring the tea soup.

"It seems you’ve glimpsed what the immortals see?"

The white-robed female crown slowly asked,

"Do you understand the waxing and waning? Do you perceive the cycles of spring and autumn?"

Chen Yi gazed intently at Yin Weiyin without answering, but instead asked:

"Only by transcending emotions can one achieve Three Flowers Gathering at the Top and Five Qi Returning to the Origin?"

Yin Weiyin simply replied:

"This is the method of longevity from Taihua Mountain.

Min Yuechi, I am the Taixu Jade Girl, and today I must choose a Golden Boy to ascend the mountain with me for cultivation."

Chen Yi slowly set down the teacup in his hand and rose from his seat.

Yin Weiyin looked at him incredulously.

This shouldn’t be happening, how could it be? Clearly, she had sensed the change in his state of mind through the illusion.

A person who was on the verge of transcending emotions and freeing himself from the secular world suddenly, for some reason, plunged headlong back into the earthly realm.

"Sever earthly ties, transcend emotions?"

Chen Yi sneered in questioning:

"Immortal Yin, are you cultivating yourself into stone, or into an immortal?!"

Yin Weiyin froze, her body stiffening in a jolt. At first, she felt disdain in her heart, but as the words circled through her mind, an air of astonishment flickered in her gaze.

She recovered herself and intended to argue something,

but Chen Yi interrupted sternly:

"A stone likewise severs earthly ties, likewise transcends emotions, and it too can achieve immortality. In fact, not merely can it—it inherently is ’immortal.’ Even if the entire Great Yu were to perish, the stone would still be here. But a person cultivates endlessly—is it truly to turn oneself into a stone? Into a solemn statue enshrined in a temple?"

"I’ve heard people say the essence of cultivation is to become one with the heavens, but can the heavens truly be unfeeling? The ancients said: ’Heaven desires righteousness and detests unrighteousness; those who align with heaven’s will love universally,’ which shows that the heavens are not devoid of sentiment. Yet you wish to refine yourself into someone void of sentiment?"

"Does someone cultivating seek to become immortal, or to become stone?!"

As his words landed, the white-robed female crown was suddenly struck by shock and anger. Beside her, the two paper maids stirred, and a sinister tension instantly filled the side room.

Min Ming, who had been playing the guqin, watched this spectacle unfold, internally exclaiming in alarm:

How dare he?

Even though his words were satisfying to hear, Min Ming still trembled uncontrollably. Were she in his place, she would never dare to offend such an illustrious figure of the female crown—this was recklessness akin to Wu Zixu meeting his death, blind to the danger.

"Summer insects cannot speak of ice."

Yin Weiyin’s anger turned into laughter. After a moment, her mood returned to calm, and the icy resentment in her eyes melted away like snow, bringing back the same indifferent demeanor, aloof from worldly joys and sorrows. She said placidly:

"You cannot comprehend it now, but I anticipated this long ago. Once upon a time, I too could not comprehend."

Seeing her reaction, Chen Yi clasped his hands in salute and said:

"Immortal Yin, I have overstepped."

Yin Weiyin smiled faintly and replied:

"No offense taken. Despite your sharp words, I will not hold this matter within my heart."

Chen Yi glanced sideways at the distant panel.

[Negative Emotion Bonus from Yin Weiyin: Three Years of True Qi.]

Not holding it within her heart... I almost believed her.

"Heaven desires righteousness and detests unrighteousness; those who align with heaven’s will love universally."

Yin Weiyin lightly cupped the porcelain teacup and took a sip of tea.

"This is but the heterodox rhetoric of the Mohist school. Though it was an eminent philosophy in ancient times, now it is nothing more than a minor sect among the Nine Streams."

Chen Yi furrowed his brows slightly and said nothing further, only responding:

"If there’s no other matter, Immortal Yin, please take your leave. I shall light the lanterns to guide your way."

Yin Weiyin swept her sleeve lightly, making the tea table and the tea upon it vanish entirely. Without knowing where they had gone, Chen Yi watched silently. He noticed Min Ming’s astonished expression from the side.

This was a unique technique of the mountain people, one he had seen before. The tea set didn’t vanish into thin air but was stored within the "Square Land." But Min Ming wouldn’t know these details.

Walking Yin Weiyin out of Baihua Building, Chen Yi lit the lantern and led her ahead, casting light upon her path. Raising his head, he realized the sky had already grown dark.

The sky was dark—exceptionally dark.

At some unknown point, for some unknown reason, the previously dusky heavens had suddenly blackened entirely, faint threads of ominous yin energy beginning to spread.

A sinister wind rose, adding an extra chill to the already cold autumn night.

Yin Weiyin sensed something amiss, furrowing her brows as she muttered:

"Such heavy ominous energy... This shouldn’t be, isn’t it not yet Demon Extermination Day?"

Hearing the white-robed female crown’s words, Chen Yi raised his eyebrows as well.

When Demon Extermination Day arrives, the nighttime Capital City will transform into the World of Darkness, where the divide between the living and the dead becomes indistinct, and malevolent spirits roam everywhere.

The previously bustling streets nearby had now grown eerily silent, even the painting boats along the river in the distance looking vague and indistinct.

Chen Yi’s heart tightened in unease.

What’s going on... This shouldn’t be happening. Demon Extermination Day is three days away—is it possible it’s... come early? Has the plot changed again?

Experienced in facing unexpected twists in the plot, Chen Yi had long learned not to rely entirely on past knowledge, so he now heightened his vigilance.

From afar, faint noises of commotion reached his ears.

An old Taoist sat beneath a banyan tree, running a fortune-telling and charm-selling stall while loudly proclaiming:

"Ask for an auspicious charm, buy some good luck, gain a share of fortune."

A throng of common folk crowded around, their heads jostling together amid the lively chaos.

Chen Yi’s eyes caught sight of Min Ning curiously observing the stall with her knife in hand.

"Hurry up and buy, don’t block the way!"

"Hey, if you’re not buying, I will—don’t get in the way of making money."

"Taoist, give me a charm to cure illnesses, I’ll brew it into a decoction for my poor child."

...

People scrambled to give the Taoist copper coins, elbowing and jostling one another. Min Ning, holding her blade, finally managed to extricate herself from the crowd.

Spotting Chen Yi, she quickly walked toward him, but upon seeing the female crown behind him, she froze.

The white-robed female crown glanced at her briefly, first with surprise, then with a puzzled gaze. Looking to Chen Yi nearby, her expression seemed hesitant.

Chen Yi intuitively remarked:

"Brother Zunming, have you been waiting long?"

The brief exchange of eyes made Min Ning immediately understand, and she replied:

"Yue Chi, has the matter at Baihua Building been resolved?"

Chen Yi slightly nodded and motioned toward Yin Weiyin,

"It’s been settled. This is... Immortal Yin."

Then he introduced Min Ning to Yin Weiyin:

"Immortal Yin, this is... West Factory Thousand Households and Acting Eastern Factory Overseer, Chen Yi, Chen Zunming."

At the mention of the last few words, Yin Weiyin glanced at Min Ning before shaking her head and sighing lightly:

"Such profound affinity with the Dao... What a pity, what a pity."

Min Ning found this behavior odd, unable to decipher its meaning.

"Taoist, don’t leave, don’t leave—sell one more charm, please, just one more charm!"

"Taoist, have mercy, bless us with a few more charms."

At the stall, the Taoist was packing up to leave, his copper coin bag already filled to the brim. Bowing to the crowd apologetically, he said:

"I am but a humble cultivator with limited mana and energy. That concludes today’s offerings..."

An elderly woman rushed forward, clutching the Taoist’s leg, desperately pleading:

"Please, show some compassion. My child is bedridden and can’t rise. Our entire household depends on him, and without his earnings, our hopes lie solely in obtaining your charm."

The Taoist hesitated momentarily before sighing deeply and taking out a charm from his robes:

"I have one last reserve charm, drawn with my own heart’s blood. I’ll give it to you—if you’re willing to pay three times the price..."

Yin Weiyin’s willow-like brows furrowed sharply as she swiftly raised her Peach Wood Sword to interrupt:

"Wretch! Extorting money meant to save lives! This Daoist is present—show your true form at once!"