My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion-Chapter 69 - 54 But a Pretense of Indifference

After last night, Chen Yi finally accumulated a hundred and fifty years’ worth of True Qi.

Thinking of giving her a harsh awakening, yet at the moment of truth, Chen Yi hesitated again.

Although one should sleep when it’s time to sleep, there had to be a reason, right? Hence, Chen Yi deliberately left the door unlocked for her. He left an entry pass at home, along with some silver needles and a silver makeup knife. Even the cabinet holding her servitude contract was intentionally left unlocked, just waiting for her to act.

"Tsk... What a beast I am."

Thinking about this, Chen Yi pressed his forehead and cursed himself.

Min Ning’s words had left a mark in Chen Yi’s heart. After doing so many acts of swift vengeance and coercion, he nearly forgot that he still had a trace of conscience. If Min Ning hadn’t pointed it out, Yin Tingxue might have fallen victim last night. Her words exposed the truth, which instead made him waver.

Why was this happening?

Because Chen Yi suddenly realized that perhaps he wasn’t as cruel as he thought... And she, she seemed as fragile as a fleeting flower.

At the Eastern Factory, Chen Yi was troubled again by another matter.

"The Chancellor’s Case..."

Chen Yi rubbed his temples.

Empress Dowager An issued a decree commanding him to investigate the Chancellor’s Case, clearly pushing him into a perilous situation.

As one of the major cases during the former emperor’s forty-six-year reign, the Chancellor’s Case entangled Elder Lin and the Prince Mansion... Unraveling the truth was anything but simple.

Or rather, uncovering the truth wasn’t the hard part; the challenge lay in ensuring the truth could be exposed at all.

Especially since this case involved the Heavenly Family and the late Empress Dowager... the intertwined interests made everything even more chaotic.

"Tch, might as well go all in and leave nothing undone."

Chen Yi slammed the table and made up his mind.

He had no interest in solving the case but had every intention of using the investigation to topple the Lin Party and the Prince Mansion—an aspiration he harbored greatly.

Moreover, the Prince Mansion had likely begun plotting his demise over the incident at Yuxiu Manor.

This time, he could use the Chancellor’s Case to force the Prince Mansion into desperation, luring the snake out of its hole.

"But where should I lure the Prince Mansion to?"

Chen Yi didn’t believe that the Prince Mansion’s trap would only dispatch Huang Liuqing, a single expert. freёnovelkiss.com

If he underestimated the depths of the Prince Mansion and assumed Huang Liuqing alone, that would be folly indeed.

Although Empress Dowager now held court, with the Astronomical Bureau managing the register of experts, those ranked fifth-grade and above in the capital were either under the Heavenly Family’s command or hidden in the streets. But the Prince, as the late emperor’s brother, still had his share of loyal masters. Even if not on par with the Heavenly Family, they undoubtedly ranked as the second-highest power in the capital.

Chen Yi calculated that there would be at least three fifth-grade experts involved, possibly even a fourth-grade one.

To dismantle this trap, he would have to capitalize on external forces.

"Where to lure them and whose power to borrow?"

Chen Yi got up and began pacing.

Suddenly, he recalled the map of demons in the capital given to him by Overseer Wu. His thoughts then shifted to the events of August 30th during the Yellow Dragon Year of Great Yu.

"The Yellow Dragon Year of Great Yu, August 30th...

In the northern capital, a ferocious Jiao appeared.

That night, a Sword Armor descended to slay the Jiao Dragon!"

Chen Yi’s eyes lit up with realization, and he laughed aloud.

The Prince Mansion, you recruit three fifth-grade experts,

Can’t I, then, invite one Yin Sword Mountain Sword Armor, ranked ninth in the Martial Rankings? That’s only fair, isn’t it?

............

The Yin Qi grew heavier and heavier as thick clouds gathered over the skies of Huaisui Village.

Yin Weiyin, gasping for breath, slowly rose from her bed. In the days of conducting the soul-summoning ritual, her heart had never been at ease.

To summon a soul meant to call the spirit of a deceased person back from the ghostly domain of Fengdu, bridging the chasm between life and death. During this process, the soul-summoning array served as the vessel, while the summoner acted as the ferryman.

And as the ferryman, one naturally had one foot stepped into Fengdu itself, straddling the line between life and death—gaining the ability to see both the living and the dead, akin to possessing Yin-Yang eyes.

Clad in her Taoist robe, holding her horsetail whisk, Yin Weiyin stepped outside. The scene before her was already unlike that seen by ordinary mortals. Where others saw lush greenery and blooming fields, a thriving world full of life, Yin Weiyin saw deadly hemlock grass and forsaken otherworldly flowers.

At this moment, her fellow Taoists from the Shangqing Sect were also awakening one by one from the villagers’ homes where they had been lodging. Most of them had pale faces and weary spirits, unable to endure the overlapping realms of Yin and Yang for prolonged periods.

Yin Weiyin took a deep breath and turned to address the group:

"It’s the final day."

Over two days, they had already reclaimed three spirits. Min He’s form was beginning to take shape. All that remained was the retrieval of the Seven Spirits. The Seven Spirits correspond to human emotions: joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hatred, and lust. During their summoning, the summoners would inevitably be invaded by these emotions, sinking ever deeper into Fengdu, transforming from ferrymen into the drowned—losing their lives entirely in the process.

This final day, therefore, would prove the most perilous. Once the soul-summoning concluded, however, only the seven-day vigil remained, during which no danger was expected.

The crowd collectively took a deep breath, their gazes fixed upon Yin Weiyin. As the lead summoner, skilled in the art of Supreme Forgetfulness, she wouldn’t easily succumb to emotional disturbance, making it likely the final day would pass without incident.

A young Taoist nun, familiar with Yin Weiyin and seeking to lighten the atmosphere, spoke:

"We needn’t worry too much. On this final day, I’m certain no calamity will befall us. Just as the Tang poet Li He once wrote:

’I wield a soul too lost to summon, yet the rooster’s crow shall herald the world’s return to light.’

What’s more, we have Daoist Yin among us—who dares doubt the strength of the Taichua Goddess?"

Upon hearing this, the group’s tense expressions relaxed into faint smiles, voices of agreement rising:

"Indeed! Daoist Yin’s will is steadfast, her mastery of Supreme Forgetfulness unparalleled. Perhaps only Lu Ying, the prodigy who astounded the Qingjiang Dao Assembly, could compare."

"You mean that disciple of the Sword Armor? The one with the ’Dao Heart Like a Crane’?"

"Exactly."

"Her perspectives on Taoist Skill might be unique, but how can she possibly rival Daoist Yin? I dare say it’s like comparing a small trick to a grand miracle."

"Hahaha, regardless, for her age, she’s incredibly gifted. Even Grandmaster Qi once commented on her unmatched talent—one day, she’ll achieve renown far and wide. But what my junior brother said is true; comparing her to the Taichua Goddess is hardly fair!"

The lighthearted discussion lifted the group’s spirits. Only Yin Weiyin felt a swirling turmoil within.

She alone knew that these past days, because of Chen Yi, her Heart Lake was increasingly unsettled.

His constant sneers, malicious provocations, and relentless humiliation of her dignity had left her heart in disarray.

Yin Weiyin drew a deep breath, striving to cast him from her thoughts, before slowly heading toward the graveyard.

Lighting three incense sticks once more, her white robes fluttered amidst the rising veil of smoke.

"Oh soul, return! Back to your rightful place."

As her words fell, a torrential Yin Qi rose beyond expectation. The smoke from the incense darkened, the already dim sky grew heavier, and the heavens seemed poised to collapse and close in.

Yin Weiyin’s heart trembled in that instant.

She first closed her eyes, taking the Seven Stars Steps. Upon reopening them, her surroundings had transformed—a choking darkness on all sides. Twisted hemlock grass and histrionic otherworldly flowers sprawled unmoving, with bones of fallen soldiers littering a desolate battlefield beneath her feet.

"What’s... happening?"

Yin Weiyin murmured in shock.

She had never encountered such circumstances before.

"Could it be... an invasion of the Seven Spirits?"

She muttered softly to herself,

"But I’ve cultivated Supreme Forgetfulness, how could I possibly..."

"Are you truly Supreme Forgetfulness?"

Suddenly, a voice echoed around her.

Yet there was no one in sight!

"Who’s there?"

"You yourself."

"Myself?"

Turning her head abruptly, Yin Weiyin found herself face-to-face with a "shadow of her soul," its pale face and blood-soaked eyes gazing back.

The female crown’s heart jostled violently.

"You are my third spirit, the ’Yin Essence.’ Born of Yin Qi, of the earth, akin to a Yin God. But why have you appeared? Isn’t it said that only the deceased can see... their own Yin Essence..."

As she trailed off, her expression shifted.

"Can one survive having seen their Yin Essence?"

After asking this, her Yin Essence smirked eerily and replied:

"You’re already dead!"

Yin Weiyin’s face went ashen in an instant. Her legs faltered, and she nearly collapsed.

After a long pause, she cried out frantically:

"How could I be dead? How could I be dead? I’m merely summoning souls for others! I have cultivated Supreme Forgetfulness and the Eternal Life Path. How could I possibly be dead?!"

The Yin Essence only grinned wider, its face disturbingly surreal:

"Supreme Forgetfulness, Eternal Life Path... but have you truly achieved Supreme Forgetfulness?"

Yin Weiyin froze in shock, then horror began to creep in.

"You’ve already let worldly matters stir your mortal heart. It is Chen Yi who has made your Heart Lake churn with waves time and again. Your so-called Forgetfulness is nothing but a facade."