Chapter 2704 The Mad City Lord's Love-Hate Relationship 26
A brief and nauseating feeling of weightlessness and dizziness.
Jin Chen quickly looked around, his brows furrowing. Before him was no longer the eerie and mysterious ghost city pavilion, but a mountain range shrouded in mist and full of spiritual energy.
A mountain breeze caressed my face, and the faint cry of cranes could be heard in the distance. At the top of the mountain, with its upturned eaves, stood the Guadao Gate.
"Senior brother!" Chu Jiushan's incredulous voice came from beside him, "We...we're back? We've left Ghost City?"
Jin Chen looked up at the familiar sect, which seemed so real that it felt eerie.
Moreover, the timeline seems incorrect.
He turned to Chu Jiushan, who was so excited he seemed at a loss for what to do, and asked, "Did you hear anything before you entered the altar?"
Chu Jiushan tried hard to recall, his brows furrowed. "It seems... I vaguely heard a voice asking me questions... asking where I wanted to go? Or what I wanted? I can't remember... My mind was a little foggy at the time, and when I opened my eyes, I was here."
A look of confusion crossed his face. "Senior brother, do you mean... this isn't real?"
Jin Chen also heard the question, and when the question was asked, the answer that came to mind belonged to the original owner of the body.
Like Chu Jiushan, he probably wants to return to the sect, to go back to before all the changes happened, to go back to five years ago.
But is this really five years ago?
Just then, a clear, gentle voice, tinged with a hint of indulgence, came from the path behind them.
"Xiao Chen, Xiao Shan! You two sneaked down the mountain to play again? Your uncle has been looking everywhere for you!"
Chu Jiushan trembled violently and turned around abruptly.
Upon seeing who it was, he froze, his pupils reflecting that handsome, familiar face. Tears welled up in his eyes, and his voice choked and trembled: "Junior...Junior Uncle..."
Jin Chen's heart stirred, and his gaze fell on the young man.
Yes, five years ago, this junior uncle who treated them like his own brother, as well as a teacher and friend, had not yet perished in that tragic event.
At that time, the Guadao Sect had not yet fallen apart and was still an enviable place of quiet cultivation among the Xuanmen (Taoist) sects.
Jin Chen stepped forward, blocking Chu Jiushan who was about to pounce. He looked calmly at Yun Qingzi, his voice revealing neither joy nor anger: "Junior Uncle, what year is it tonight?"
Yun Qingzi was taken aback by his question, then chuckled and reached out to ruffle Jin Chen's hair, but Jin Chen subtly avoided her.
He didn't mind and laughed, "Xiao Chen, have you gone crazy from playing around on the mountain? You've even forgotten the year? Today is naturally the twelfth year of Yun Shi."
The twelfth year of the history of Yun.
It's today, not five years ago.
Jin Chen's eyes flickered slightly; this illusion was a mixture of memory and reality.
Jin Chen turned to look at Chu Jiushan, who had already quickly wiped his face with his sleeve, put on an excessively bright smile, and ran to his junior uncle's side, affectionately grabbing his arm and shaking it, "Junior Uncle! We know we were wrong! We'll go back now, we'll go back now! I miss the osmanthus cakes on the mountain so much!"
Yun Qingzi smiled and nodded, then turned to lead the way.
Chu Jiushan took a couple of steps, then suddenly remembered something, turned around to look at Jin Chen who was standing still, quickly ran back, leaned close to Jin Chen's ear, and whispered.
"Senior brother, I know! I know this must be the work of that nightmare ghost! It's an illusion! But... but since we're here, that ghost must be hiding in the sect too! We have to go in to find it and break this illusion!"
"Don't worry, I won't be fooled! I know that Junior Uncle has already..."
He spoke with great conviction, but his slightly reddened eyes betrayed a different story.
Jin Chen raised his hand and tapped his head, a warning tinged with nonchalance, "You'd better be."
-
Several days passed quietly in the illusion.
The morning bells and evening drums in the mountains remain unchanged, and the disciples' sword practice and chanting are just as vivid as I remember.
Chu Jiushan initially swore that he would never indulge in such false peace, but perhaps the feeling of returning to the past was too wonderful. Gradually, he stopped actively seeking out Jin Chen to discuss how to break the illusion. Instead, he acted as if he had truly returned to the past, following his junior uncle around all day, either going to the villages at the foot of the mountain to "capture" some insignificant little spirits or squatting in the divination hall to perform fortune-telling in a seemingly serious manner.
Seeing this, Jin Chen simply stopped interfering and let him do as he pleased.
Jin Chen secretly explored the entire illusion and, as he had expected, the Nightmare Ghost's abilities, though strange, were not without limitations.
Within the illusory sect it constructs, every blade of grass and every tree is lifelike. However, once one tries to step outside the sect's boundaries, the surroundings become shrouded in mist, the scenery becomes blurred and distorted, and beyond that lies nothingness.
That day, Jin Chen was about to venture deeper into the mist when he heard a commotion coming from the direction of the sect's main courtyard.
Many disciples gathered together, whispering and discussing amongst themselves.
"Have you heard? Junior Uncle brought back a young man from outside!"
"Who is this person? Could it be that Junior Uncle is going to take on a new disciple?"
"Unlike... that boy looks... tsk tsk, he's too devilishly handsome! Dressed in red, his eyes are incredibly alluring!"
"This doesn't seem like a legitimate method. Could it be... that Junior Uncle found this furnace somewhere?"
"Shh! Watch your words! Junior Uncle is not that kind of person!"
Jin Chen didn't want to pay attention to these idle gossips. He walked past the courtyard gate from a distance, casually glancing at the center of the crowd, when his gaze met someone's.
A young man dressed in crimson robes stood beside Yun Qingzi.
The young man was not yet tall enough, but he already possessed unparalleled elegance. His black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, making his face exquisite and otherworldly. Who else could it be but Yin Chaosheng?
At this moment, however, he had shed the gloomy and violent aura of the Ghost City Lord, and truly resembled a naive and innocent young spirit who possessed a fatal attraction.
Jinchen: "..."
He remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he found it amusing.
They're quite playful, managing to sneak in like this.
He walked straight toward the crowd.
When the disciples saw him, they all respectfully made way for him and called out in unison, "Senior Brother."
Jin Chen walked up to Yin Chaosheng, stopped, and looked him up and down with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
The young Yin Chaosheng, who looked like a teenager, had lost his usual cold and deep demeanor and gained a bit more liveliness and cunning. When he saw Jin Chen coming over, he was not afraid at all. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, and the corners of his lips curved into a pure and innocent smile. His voice was clear and melodious, with just the right amount of timidity.
"Senior brother... are you also going to take me as your furnace cauldron?" As she finished speaking, a faint blush appeared on her ears.
Jin Chen raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing?"
Yin Chaosheng became even more shy, lowered his head, and whispered, "A furnace cauldron... I am a furnace cauldron, that's what everyone says about me..."
He raised his wet eyes, his strangely beautiful pupils gazing at Jin Chen with a watery look, as if he had been greatly wronged.
Jin Chen glanced lightly at the gossiping disciples around him. His gaze was indifferent but carried an invisible pressure, instantly silencing the most enthusiastic disciples and causing them to lower their heads.
He took Yin Chaosheng's slightly cool wrist and said calmly, "Come with me."
