Iron Bull taucht wieder auf

Kapitel 271

"You're scared too?" Situ Qiu's blank stare sent chills down my spine.

I immediately shook my head: "No, I just want to find out who that girl is?"

"Who is it? You know very well, because I saw you inside too. You're looking for her, aren't you?" Situ Qiu smiled, his eyes narrowed, but the smile couldn't hide the bewilderment on his face. I understood perfectly well that he still had no reasonable explanation for the strange events that had occurred.

"Me? Please tell me the whole truth concisely, don't leave things half-said. You saw her, then she disappeared, and I appeared and searched everywhere for her, right? Right? Where did she go? Did you see a strange underwater world? Or... or a giant glass box or something..."

I was somewhat incoherent because all the strange things that happened at Xunfuyuan were related to Guan Baoling's mysterious disappearance. If they could see Guan Baoling, they would also be able to see the world she went to after her disappearance.

“We couldn’t get into the mirror. Although the handkerchief was still wet, we had indeed accidentally passed through the mirror and touched the basin of water in front of her. But now, as we carefully explored every inch of the mirror, we knew it was real but impossible to reach. When we looked at her in the mirror again, she seemed to sense something and stared at us as she pressed herself against the mirror. Suddenly, she disappeared, and the stone chamber was empty. I was thinking at the time that even the most skilled light-footed kung fu in the world couldn’t match her speed.”

Situ Qiu licked his lips, his smile fading.

Lei Aobai pressed his face against the mirror and began to sob silently. It didn't seem like a pleasant thing for an old man of his age to be crying over a woman.

“Ao Bai fell ill with lovesickness. He really shouldn’t have entered the Mirror Pavilion for that girl. The Bearded Man once read his fortune and said he had a ‘misfortune in one eye,’ but he didn’t know when it would happen. Now we all understand. At that very moment, Ao Bai’s misfortune quietly descended.”

Situ Qiu sighed deeply, looking worriedly at Lei Aobai's retreating figure.

"And then? Did you see me rush in? And then... and then what did you see?" That was just the beginning of the Tower of the Dead and the Undersea Tomb incident. I hope to get more information.

The unexpected turn of events was completely beyond my expectations. When Guan Baoling disappeared, I searched every corner of Xunfu Garden, never imagining that someone would be watching me from behind that bronze mirror.

“I saw you were very anxious, constantly rushing in and out, clearly looking for her. Ao Bai said, ‘I have to go in and find her, I can’t care about anything else, I’m afraid if I delay any longer I’ll miss something that will be a lifelong regret.’ He took a dozen steps back and suddenly rushed towards the mirror, like a mad bull. As a result, he disappeared in the mirror, and I rushed over after him. Neither of us went to the stone chamber where the girl appeared, but instead we were plunged into darkness, stuck in this inexplicable world. Now that he’s seen you, Ao Bai will definitely feel that there is a great hope of seeing that girl again. Brother Feng, I don’t know whether I should thank you or hate you…”

He was right. This distorted relationship between time and space confused my own thoughts. Forgotten details about Guan Baoling resurfaced and became intertwined with my longing for Su Lun.

"Such a sudden collision, and you'll be transported through the world of mirrors?" I stared at Lei Aobai's retreating figure, somewhat bewildered.

Situ Qiu walked towards the mirror and made a "bumping" motion with his body turned to the side: "Yes, that's it, but it's no longer effective. We can come in, but we can't get out. Ao Bai has been trying to rush out, but it hasn't worked."

The only unique feature of this mirror is that it's much larger than ordinary ancient bronze mirrors; in terms of mirror craftsmanship and decorative patterns, it has no other outstanding features. If those two had rushed out again, who knows what the outcome would have been?

"When I entered the mirror, I felt it was quite thick, at least ten paces thick. But in my experience, once the material used to cast the mirror exceeds one foot, the mirror can never achieve a level of brilliance that reflects light perfectly. Brother Feng, do you think it actually has any thickness, or is it just my special feeling?"

Situ Qiushi remained fascinated by mirrors, after all, he was a man who spent his life with mirrors.

"Does that question matter?" I'm more concerned with the difference between the two worlds than with the mirror itself.

"Of course it's important. If we can figure out the origin of the mirror, wouldn't all the confusion be resolved?" He remained confident, but I didn't think searching for the origins of this Tang Dynasty mirror had any real significance. Guan Baoling had indeed disappeared, but she had long since returned to the real world, and her fate was significantly different from that of the two people before me.

"Brother Feng, only you can save Ao Bai. Can you take him to that girl?"

Hearing Situ Qiu's words, I couldn't help but laugh: "What? Go find her?"

Putting aside the tycoon's immense affection for Guan Baoling and her idol status among boys worldwide, even if I could bring Lei Aobai to see her without any hindrance, how could she possibly be interested in a Tang Dynasty assassin? That's simply impossible.

“Yes, I know it seems utterly absurd, but if Ao Bai doesn’t see her, he’ll regret it for the rest of his life. I’m his senior brother, and if I can do something that’s good for Ao Bai, of course I’ll do my best.” Situ Qiu’s expression was very serious, but I couldn’t help him.

My emotional entanglement with Guan Baoling is over. Now, I only care about Su Lun and have no intention of seeing her again. Besides, if I were to bring these two Tang Dynasty masters into the real world of 2007, wouldn't they cause a catastrophe?

"It seems the only solution is to break this mirror? I've said it hundreds of times: disassemble the mirror inch by inch, analyze its components one by one, and then everything will be clear." The great god Tu Liehan always appears at the most opportune moment, resolving my predicament while subtly expressing his thoughts.

Breaking the mirror was a last resort, but Lei Aobai suddenly became excited: "Yes, break it! Maybe we can get back to the Mirror Washing Pavilion in one step. Senior brother, this is the last time I'm begging you. If I continue to comprehend it, I'm going crazy!"

With their martial arts skills, smashing the bronze mirror with a heavy blow would be an easy task.

"Wind, guess what's outside the mirror?" the great god Tu Liehan chuckled mischievously.

"Is it the outer wall of your spacecraft? Is it?" Actually, I had guessed this a long time ago, I just needed his confirmation.

"Yes, you could say it's the outer wall, or you could say it's a sealed air exchange vent. Breaking it will only get you cool air, but I don't think it has any other practical significance. Their sudden intrusion was actually caused by the spacecraft accidentally hitting something during its movement, which caused a slight change in the shape of the inner wall of the 'ley line,' thus including the mirror. So, the most likely scenario you'll see is that the mirror shatters, and then the two of them fall deep into the ley line, quickly decay, and become dust inside the planet."

The great god Tu Liehan made a "disappearance" gesture and made a "pop" sound, as if he had just blown up a cheap balloon.

I nodded. "You're absolutely right. I can't think of a better ending. Alright, I'll lead them out through the broken wall entrance of the small building we came in through. As for the Dragon Control Array, I'll find a way to stop Alpha and give you a chance to break out of the 'ley lines.' However, if you're harboring some unspeakable secret, you probably know what I'll do."

Actually, I already had a plan in mind. If Alpha and the Great God Tu Liehan clashed, I would side with Alpha. The reason is that the six-armed monster, the Illusion Demon, is imprisoned by Alpha. He might accumulate energy and wipe out the enemy in one fell swoop, completely eliminating the greatest threat to this planet. Conversely, the Great God Tu Liehan is terrified of the Illusion Demon's arrival and has almost no power to fight back. Even if others try their best to support him, it will be useless.

Part Three: Mirror Illusion, Chapter Three

Reverse Evolution of Life

"I believe you—" The great god Tu Liehan smiled meaningfully, as if he had seen through all my thoughts.

Our four shadows were reflected in the mirror. Situ Qiu sighed repeatedly, but there was nothing he could do. Their bodies had entered the modern world of 2007, but their minds remained stuck in the era of assassins in Lingyan Pavilion, forever out of place with others. This was the most painful thing.

"Can we begin now?" The great god Tu Liehan gestured for him to proceed.

"How did the battle go in the empty courtyard?" My thoughts jumped out of the strange interlude about the old man grinding mirrors and the swordsman. No matter how bizarre it was, it was all history, and it was all in the past. Now, Guan Baoling had returned to Hong Kong Island with the tycoon, and those recurring nightmares of disappearances she had experienced had finally come to a complete end. I no longer needed to worry about her all the time.

"This is bad. The number of poisonous insects has increased more than tenfold since the start of the battle. The enemy has gained the upper hand, and their formation isn't the 'Heaven and Earth Spinning Dragon Control Formation,' but rather has a wide variety of variations. Even with a thousand variations, there might not be a way out. Feng, unless you eliminate all the poisonous insects, breaking out of the 'ley lines' is just wishful thinking. You know, Sahan and the others' 'Saturnian mutation' process isn't complete. When energy is extremely scarce, they are still Earthlings. This time, you have to save everyone's lives, not just mine. Please."

The plight of the great god Tu Liehan was evident on his face. Perhaps when he was flying from distant Saturn to Earth, he never expected that he would one day fall into such a state.

"Wind, killing is also a form of saving lives. That's all I can say. The real crisis lies in the illusion demons that intend to destroy the Earth, not in Alpha and I's struggle for that world. If the skin is gone, where will the hair attach? Don't you think so?" After saying this, he truly fell silent.

With the "Azure Blood Night-Shining Toad," eliminating poisonous insects is not difficult; the most challenging aspect is controlling the situation afterward.

Between Alpha and the god Tulihan, who is the true friend of Earthlings? Who will selflessly and wholeheartedly consider the well-being of Earthlings? I cannot tell for the time being, which is the main reason why I have been pondering this question for so long.

"The sky is dark, the stars shift and the constellations turn; the earth is gloomy, my heart is filled with a hundred knots; the wind howls, a hundred steps in an instant; the clouds are hazy, a thousand sails cannot be rolled up—" Lei Aobai suddenly began to chant, his voice growing louder and louder, and his back, shoulders, and arms visibly swelled. Clearly, he was gathering all his internal energy, preparing to unleash a powerful punch.

"What good will it do us to break the bronze mirror?" I asked in a low voice.

The Great God Tu Liehan immediately chimed in: "Actually, I also really want to see the world outside the mirror. These two madmen have told me their experiences tens of thousands of times, but in fact, apart from them, I have never encountered the same strange things. Can you believe that we are now standing inside a mirror? In other words, the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an, Lingyan Pavilion, and Xijing Tower where they live are real, while you, me, the flying machine, Sahan, Youlian, and others are illusory and do not exist. Is this argument valid?"

"But why do you feel confused?" I noticed his hesitation. As long as you are a "human", your inner thoughts will inevitably be revealed in your outward body language, and he was no exception. As he spoke, he kept touching his chin and staring at the mirror.

"Heh, am I confused? Have I ever been confused?" He laughed self-deprecatingly.

The thickness of the bronze mirror was immeasurable, but logically speaking, Lei Aobai's full-force attack would have shattered the mirror into at least a dozen pieces, causing it to collapse in a chaotic mess.

"Brother Feng, should I stop him?" Situ Qiu turned around and looked at me with a mixture of pleading and concern.

I smiled calmly: "That depends on the truthfulness of the story you've told. A broken mirror is tantamount to cutting off all escape routes. Aren't you afraid?"

“Afraid? Am I afraid…? Aren’t I afraid…” He smiled bitterly, looking down at his hands. “I’ve been silent for too long. If I were to go back to that era when assassins were rampant, I’m afraid I would feel a little out of place.”

His hands were clean, and his skin was smooth. He must have spent so much time in the Saturn spacecraft world that his once rough skin had shed, leaving only new skin. With nothing to do all day, he naturally took excellent care of it. Assassins are like tigers; if kept in captivity for too long, their wildness fades, and they can no longer be the king of beasts they once were.

“I’m about to begin—” Lei Aobai turned around, his face flushed red, his chest bulging like a ball.

The Great God Tu Liehan nodded first: "Alright, I hope you can create a brand new world with your palm strike." Whether the mirror shatters or not has nothing to do with his own interests, so he is naturally happy to watch the show.

I nodded silently, not wanting to say anything more. Only Situ Qiu was patting his forehead in confusion, repeatedly muttering to himself, "Open it? Don't open it? Should I break it? Should I not...?"

"No destruction, no construction; destruction precedes construction; great destruction leads to great construction; destruction to the very end—" As Lei Aobai swung his palms, a series of mesmerizing lights and shadows appeared in mid-air. With a loud "boom," his palms struck the center of the mirror, followed by a "buzzing" echo that made my heart beat more than three times faster.

Tu Liehan, the Great God, grunted and fell backward, landing five steps away. Lei Aobai, who was in the first place, was suddenly thrown backward, crashing into Situ Qiushi in mid-air. Then the two of them fell to the ground, rolling seven or eight times before coming to rest at my feet.

For a moment, I lost my hearing. I could only feel the sound waves reflected from the mirror like the raging waves of the ocean, surging and turbulent, as if they were about to throw the four of us straight out.

After my hearing returned, the first thing I did was leap to the mirror to check the spot where Lei Aobai had struck me. The bronze mirror was intact, with only two shallow palm prints remaining, but those marks disappeared after I wiped them with my sleeve.

Situ Qiu stood up unsteadily, walked to my side, and stared blankly ahead.

The force of the blow exceeded three hundred kilograms, and it was applied to an area the size of a palm. Even a bluestone slab more than a foot thick should have shattered at the touch, but the bronze mirror remained unmoved, firmly separating the two worlds.

Situ Qiu pressed his ear close to the mirror, listening intently, and suddenly his face came to life: "Brother Feng, listen, listen, there's music." He looked like parched seedlings suddenly receiving sweet rain, his whole body filled with eager energy, wishing he could squeeze a crack in his body and squeeze straight into the mirror.

"It's the sound of guqin, hundreds of guqin playing together. In Chang'an, only the imperial music academy can produce such a grand spectacle. I heard it! It's the 'Sword Dancer's Battle Formation Music,' often used to welcome state guests. The last time I heard it was when the emperor welcomed the King of Xishatuo, Qielishamoufan. Brother Feng, I didn't lie to you, there really is a real world over there—" He was overjoyed, his palms pressed against the mirror, his entire face distorted from being so close to the mirror.

"Tang music" represents the golden age of ancient music, with instruments and scores reaching a high level of perfection. Thousands of pieces were created, including qin (a seven-stringed zither), drum scores, and ensemble suites. "The Dance of the Swordswoman Breaking the Enemy's Formation" originated from the "Dance of the Palace Swordswoman" during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui. Revised and polished by renowned musicians, it incorporated a spirit of bravery, sweeping away the previous decadent music and becoming a masterpiece of "Tang music." It is typically played by a combination of the guqin, pipa, qiang flute, dongxiao (a vertical bamboo flute), and wuxun (a type of ancient Chinese wind instrument), embodying the supreme power and domineering presence of an emperor.

When I was in university, I had some knowledge of ancient Chinese musical instruments, which is one of the reasons why I hit it off with Gu Qingcheng, who was an expert in the art of the zither.

"Really? Let me hear it, let me hear it—" Lei Aobai struggled to his feet, his arms hanging limply at his sides, and he took a few unsteady steps forward, almost falling.

I helped him up and pointed to his shoulders. I found that both of his arms were severely dislocated and bruised, and he had also suffered serious internal injuries. His blood and qi were churning and reversed, and he would probably not recover for a long time.

"I'm fine... let me hear... hear..." With my help, he leaped towards the mirror, his forehead hitting it hard with a thud. He then turned his head urgently and brought his left ear close to the mirror.

There might be a voice in the mirror, or it might just be Situ Qiushi's "auditory hallucination." In any case, there are thousands of possibilities for one thing, depending on the choices we make.

Although the great god Tu Liehan had fallen in a disheveled manner, he was not injured and stood behind me again. With his wisdom, he certainly wouldn't blindly bend down to listen like Situ Qiushi and Lei Aobai.

He gazed at me in the mirror: "Feng, I have a strange feeling, as if there is another you in that mirror, staring intently at me."

I smiled slightly: "Yes, I was indeed looking at you."

The great god Tu Liehan sighed, “No, what I mean is that he is looking at me, at another person who looks exactly like you, not you yourself. I had this feeling before when I was traversing the ‘Cold-Calling Bird Constellation’ in ‘Etheric Zone Thirty-Three’, only there was a slight difference between the two. Now, I see a ‘you’, but back then I saw myself.”

His words were obscure and difficult to understand, but I read many extremely unfamiliar things in his eyes.

“He is right here.” The Great God Tu Liehan walked to the lower right corner of the mirror and pressed his index finger on the mirror.

I paused for a moment: "Where? But my image is clearly not there—" The place he was pointing to was half a meter away from my shadow horizontally and at least a meter away vertically.

"That's another version of you? And it's not something you see, but something you feel, just a feeling." The Great God Tu Liehan stepped back.

I looked closely at the spot he pointed to, but all I could see was his shadow.

“This is a strange mirror, isn’t it?” He patted my shoulder. “I’ve always had a worry that I can’t express to others. Come with me, I’ll show you some information.”

This giant mirror drove almost everyone crazy, at least in terms of their sense of time and space, leaving them extremely disoriented. One moment they were in the capital of the Tang Dynasty, the next they were in Hokkaido, Japan, moving back and forth in an instant, making it impossible to make sense of their surroundings.

"What information?" I knew that what he was about to show me was definitely something extraordinary.

"Yes—" He only said one word, and Lei Aobai shouted "Ah!" He slapped his palms on the mirror, his face contorted with a mixture of joy and sorrow, his features twisting and turning in a terrifying way.

Without pausing, I strode to his side, reached out and patted his Baihui acupoint to calm him down, and then dragged him away from the mirror.

“I heard it… a voice, a voice I’ve been waiting for for so long, senior brother, I heard it… I really heard it…” He struggled to twist his shoulders, as if trying to raise his hands, but his dislocated arms wouldn’t obey him at all.

"Senior, calm down. What did you hear?" I leaned close to his right ear and raised my voice to ask.

Hallucinations and auditory hallucinations can both put a person in a deep state of mental confusion. If the confusion persists for more than two hours, it can almost certainly turn a normal person into an idiot. I hope he can wake up quickly so that I can leave with the great god Tu Liehan in peace.

Lei Aobai's eyes were filled with tears, and two more teardrops hung down from the corners of his eyes, falling in a soft patter.

"That's the old lady selling tofu at the crossroads calling out 'Tofu!'... Yes, I heard it clearly, that's the sentence, in the Sanshuihe dialect of northern Shaanxi, her voice dry and rough, clearly someone who's never been a street vendor before, haha, it's her... 'Tofu Beauty and the Miser' Ji San Niang, my senior brother's old flame, haha, haha..." His throat choked, he couldn't catch his breath, and his body slumped down.

The Great God Tu Liehan didn't understand and asked with a cold laugh, "What?"

He was a high-tech astronaut from Saturn, with no experience in the underworld, so he couldn't possibly piece together Lei Aobai's words into a meticulously planned assassination. But I knew that sentence must have been the attack signal that he and his fellow disciples used to assassinate Li Shimin that day.

The name Ji San Niang appeared in unofficial historical accounts related to the "Xuanwu Gate Incident." As a close confidante of Crown Prince Li Jiancheng, she fought fiercely against Li Shimin's armored guards, dying from a thousand arrow wounds. She was a skilled martial artist from the Jianghu (江湖, the martial arts world) who had been recruited into the government, and was most proficient in three martial arts techniques: "Xuan Tie Sang Men Jian" (玄铁丧门剑), "Hei Xing Sang Men Ding" (黑星丧门钉), and "Chuan Gu Sang Men Shui" (穿肠丧门水). When I saw the deeds of Situ Qiu Shi and Lei Ao Bai in the information on the surgical knife, I also came across her name.

So, the overall plot is quite clear: Situ Qiu and Lei Aobai are responsible for the assassination, the seven hundred assassins are divided into groups to ambush, and Ji Sanniang, whom they trust the most, becomes the first choice to "keep watch, cover the formation, and provide support".

However, once the events took a bizarre and inexplicable turn, the assassination attempt would have become a fabricated story. Otherwise, given the group's killing ability, they would have had at least a 90% chance of succeeding, and there would have been no prosperous era under Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin.

“It’s her, it’s her, it’s… her…” Situ Qiu’s expression was even more complicated, with joy and longing, as well as sorrow and pain, mixed with the melancholy of “wanting but not being able to, tossing and turning in bed.”

I took a deep breath and instinctively asked, "What? Really?"

In fact, given my experience and upbringing, I should absolutely not ask such a shallow question, but this change came too strangely, and my mind couldn't process it at all in an instant.