VAP - Chapter 94
Chapter 94: Flawless Cold Bone, The Peerless Sword Venerable (18)
Since the decision had been made, the sooner, the better.
In Wushuang Hall, two bodies sat cross-legged on the cloud stone couch, facing each other, both without consciousness.
Yun Yijiu had fallen into a deep sleep, just as she had so often done over the past several thousand years. This state would reduce the aggression of her sea of consciousness to its lowest level.
As for Yue Du, she was no longer in her own shell.
This was the first time Yue Du had left her body in the Qianhong small world. It didn't feel bad, just a little strange.
A stream of silver-blue data hovered in the air for a moment before flowing into Yun Yijiu's sea of consciousness through the point between her brows.
The moment Yue Du entered the sea of consciousness, the data stream took on her form. She landed softly before the temple and looked around.
Her first reaction was—just as I thought.
Just like in the mental spaces of her previous two hosts, the most conspicuous feature in Yun Yijiu's sea of consciousness was the temple complex.
The scenery, however, was different. The temple was situated on a solitary peak that pierced the heavens, covered in snow that never melted. A sea of clouds churned and swirled around the mountainside.
In the distance, there seemed to be other mountains—all of them steep, independent peaks shaped like sharp swords. They were spaced far apart, and Yue Du had no intention of investigating them.
Honestly, who would build a temple in a place like this? Generally, a scene like an ink wash painting should have a solitary pavilion or a small monastery.
...So this temple complex really must be an inherent part of the host's true self.
Yue Du closed her eyes, casting aside her miscellaneous thoughts.
She had business to attend to.
There was no obvious imagery here representing the subconscious layer. Yue Du tried to sense it; it wasn't in the mountains, nor in the temple, and the distant peaks didn't seem right either.
Then the only thing left was...
She looked down at the sea of clouds swirling at the mountainside.
Looks like I have to jump off a cliff, Yue Du thought, her face expressionless.
She sighed, raised her hand, and extended a chain constructed from data from her fingertips. It wrapped several times around one of the temple's white pillars, securing itself firmly.
Then, she leaped.
Passing through the sea of clouds was like crossing the barrier between small worlds. It brought a subtle sense of fluctuation and the disorienting feeling of opening one's eyes to a completely different world, easily leaving one at a loss.
Yue Du was already used to this sensation, but the current situation still made her subconsciously raise her guard.
Before her was a void of black, like the color of her host's pupils. It almost made Yue Du think she had sunk into her host's eyes, a place where nothing existed.
She tugged on the data chain and, unsurprisingly, found that the other end had been severed at some point.
"Tsk."
Yue Du retracted the remaining part and surveyed her surroundings.
Her system training had mentioned that the subconscious layers of most ordinary beings were chaotic and disordered.
They were filled with all sorts of useful and useless thoughts and memories, like catkins or bubbles, drifting and circulating in an infinite space.
But there were also a few—a very small number of ordinary people and beings with extraordinary power who could enter their mental spaces at will—whose subconscious layers would spontaneously construct a world of their own, with fragments of memory hidden within.
No matter how bizarre, it was ultimately still a projection of reality, with rules to follow.
The problem was, what rules could possibly be followed here?
A total void. There was nothing, let alone memory fragments!
Yue Du remained vigilant where she stood for a while, then tentatively took a step forward. Nothing happened.
She would have to take it one step at a time.
Her cautious exploration continued for an unknown length of time. Just as Yue Du was beginning to suspect she had come to the wrong place, or that Yun Yijiu's subconscious was truly this empty, a faint light appeared ahead.
A hazy gray light emerged silently, like a ghost, then gradually expanded, constructing a corner of a pure black hall before Yue Du's cautious eyes.
It was an architectural style Yue Du had never seen before, a coexistence of lightness and grandeur, an interweaving of the sacred and the uncanny. It was likely not something humans could build.
Why call it a corner?
Because it truly was just a corner, seemingly a section cut from a massive structure, extending out from the deep, dark void. Its edges gradually faded, fragmented yet complete.
Yue Du silently took a small step back.
How eerie.
Was this really the depths of a sea of consciousness, and not the set of some dark, mystical-themed movie?
...Then again, it was unlikely any special effects could achieve this result.
Yue Du took a deep breath and resolutely walked toward that corner.
It was worth noting that there was no door, only an eave, a long, opaque window, and somber, dark walls.
Yue Du tried pushing the window lattice and opened a crack without much effort. She peered through the gap to observe the situation inside and her eyes widened.
Unlike the outside, the light in the room, though not bright, was sufficient to see the furnishings.
And Yun Yijiu was sitting on a tall, black throne in the center, her eyes closed and her face turned slightly to one side, as if in a deep sleep.
There was only one person and one throne here, nothing else.
Was this Yun Yijiu's true conscious self?
Yue Du did not let down her guard. She watched the other's every move as she slowly pushed the window open, ready to flee at a moment's notice.
Although Yun Yijiu had said that everything of hers was open to her, this place looked extremely unsafe. It was better to be careful.
The person on the throne remained motionless, so Yue Du slipped quietly into the room through the window. However, the moment her feet touched the floor, the window behind her closed on its own with a low creak.
The next moment, Yun Yijiu opened her eyes.
Yue Du's first move was to discreetly put her hands behind her back and try to pull the window open, but the window that had been so easy to push just now was now as if it had been welded shut, completely unresponsive.
"..." Yue Du was speechless.
She had the ominous feeling of having fallen into a trap.
Yun Yijiu didn't move, merely watching her quietly.
Yue Du highly doubted whether she was conscious and could only soften her voice, speaking gently, "Ah Jiu? Ah Jiu, are you all right?"
"Come here," Yun Yijiu said, not answering the question.
Yue Du's vision blurred. She felt an invisible force give her a gentle push from behind, and when her sight cleared again, she was already standing before Yun Yijiu.
Before she could speak, Yun Yijiu gave a light smile. "You've come."
Yue Du asked, "You knew I would come?"
"Yes, didn't we discuss it before?"
Hearing this, Yue Du breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the host was lucid and aware of the current situation.
"This place is—"
A cool finger rested on her lips, interrupting what she was about to say.
"Ask not, seek not." Yun Yijiu lowered her gaze. "If you know too much, you won't be able to leave."
Wisps of a dangerous aura rose. Yue Du's eyelashes trembled, and she quickly changed the subject. "To make a long story short, I was originally looking for memory fragments, but since your conscious self is here, you should remember."
Yun Yijiu said, "I do indeed know what happened. Everything she has forgotten in the depths of her sea of consciousness, I remember."
"Then..."
"But I don't feel like talking about it right now."
"Why?"
Yun Yijiu stood up and tapped her own lower lip. "I require payment."
Yue Du: "..."
Yun Yijiu said calmly, "I'm joking."
You don't look like you're joking at all!
As it turned out, Yun Yijiu was joking, because if she truly wanted payment, she could have easily taken it herself.
After a moment, Yun Yijiu released her, tidied a stray lock of her hair, and said in a low voice, "Heart-Tracing Pool, Seven-Foot Green. Just investigate based on these."
Yue Du said, "You might as well just tell me the details directly."
"There are no more details. What I know may not be as much as what you'll find out."
This Ah Jiu's attitude was strange, but she was definitely Ah Jiu.
Yue Du took her words to heart. "Then I'll be going." She couldn't help but ask, "The things that happen in the depths of the sea of consciousness... you won't remember them after you leave here, will you?"
Yun Yijiu didn't answer. "You should go back."
Behind her, where the edge of the void had been, it suddenly began to advance, swallowing the pure black floor bit by bit.
Yue Du grabbed Yun Yijiu's arm. "Behind you—"
"That's why you should go. Be careful not to get near that side."
Seeing Yue Du hadn't moved, Yun Yijiu paused and said thoughtfully, "Or would you like to pay a little more?"
No, thank you.
Yue Du turned, but before she could say goodbye, her vision abruptly went dark.
When she opened her eyes again, she was already on the solitary peak above the sea of clouds. Her data chain was still wrapped around the temple pillar before her, its end smoothly severed as if by some object, swaying gently in the wind.
Yue Du retracted the bit of data and looked down at the sea of clouds again, truly not knowing how to react.
The Yun Yijiu in the subconscious seemed more willful than her real-world self. She didn't know if the subconscious had amplified her emotions, or if this was how the woman always thought but simply didn't show it.
"Forget it, I should go back first." Business was more important.
—Heart-Tracing Pool, Seven-Foot Green.
She had never heard of either term, but since Ah Jiu said she could find them, there must be clues to follow.
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