Truth and Illusion

Li Huowang stared blankly ahead. Jiang Yingzi and Danyangzi were still there, far away.

One was a three-headed, malformed flesh monster wreathed in immortal wisps. The other was a naked young girl, mutilated—one arm, one leg, her entire body covered in vicious scars.

They stood there, watching him with eyes full of hatred and amusement.

They looked so real. So real that Li Huowang couldn't tell if they were living people or illusions.

He lifted his right foot, trembling, and tried to step toward them. But he quickly realized he couldn't.

Every step he took, they both slid backward by the same amount.

It wasn't that they were moving. It was that they were supposed to be this far away from him. Always.

“Little friend? Xuan Yang, little friend?”

The voice from the cave called several times before Li Huowang snapped out of it.

A voice came from one of the cavern’s openings. Li Huowang remembered it. That square-faced man, Shen Benyou. There was a complicated emotion in his tone now. “Little friend, you look awful.”

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” Li Huowang answered automatically.

But he stopped mid-sentence.

He realized his mistake immediately. How could he say he was fine? His problems were far bigger than that.

It wasn’t just the distant Danyangzi and Jiang Yingzi. It was what he was now. Before he understood that, no one could guarantee that there wouldn't be more of them. One more. Or several more.

“Little friend, are you alright? Is it not natural for a Heart-Element to be unable to distinguish truth from illusion?”

“Since you survived to your coming-of-age, you should be used to this by now. Why are you so shaken?”

Li Huowang swallowed with difficulty. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to steady his mind.

He thought for a long time. Only after he had勉强 processed the information did he speak again. “Elder, I heard that Jingxin Shifu’s son once came here too. He was also a Heart-Element. Can you tell me—did he have the same symptoms?”

There was a long pause before Shen Benyou’s voice returned.

“Hard to say. Heart-Elements are usually raving madmen. I only heard that he called himself a boat.”

Before Li Huowang could ask again, a rough voice came from another dark hole in the wall.

“I know of this. That man would wake up in the middle of the night, screaming that the Three Pure Ones were watching him. Not long after, he was completely insane.”

“The Three Pure Ones?” Li Huowang’s question was quickly answered by Shou San, who was nearby.

“Look at it and do not see it—call it Yi. Listen to it and do not hear it—call it Xi. Grasp at it and do not catch it—call it Wei.”

“Yi, Xi, Wei. One divides into three; three unite as one. That is the Three Pure Ones.”

“Taoists of various schools in the south all worship the Three Pure Ones. I have only heard of them, never seen them. Nor have I ever heard that the Three Pure Ones would watch anyone.”

Li Huowang struggled to make sense of it. The other man’s symptoms didn’t seem to match his own.

Then Shen Benyou spoke again from his cave.

“That man came here on his own. But Jingxin Shifu of Anci Nunnery always believed that we drove him mad. It caused some conflict between us—a truly undeserved calamity.”

“Little friend, you have seen us these past days. Have we broken any of the rules? Under heaven, with the sky round and the earth square, breaking the rules is a grave sin.”

Li Huowang was no longer paying attention to what came after. His head was buzzing. Everything was a tangled mess.

“Then… for my condition… is there a cure?”

“Heh. Little friend, you jest. If we had a cure, wouldn’t we use it ourselves?”

“A Heart-Element is a Life-Confining Fate. No method can solve it. No one can solve it. If anyone ever claims they have a way to treat it, little friend, you must be wary. Nine times out of ten, they mean to harm you.”

“You must know this yourself, don’t you? In many people’s eyes, a Heart-Element is a prized treasure. Many seek them out for alchemy, for medicine, or for other cultivation methods to boost their own power.”

Hearing this, Li Huowang realized how alien his own body was to him.

The name ‘Heart-Element’ contained too much.

He stood there, thinking for a long time. First, he looked up at the two figures in the distance. Then he looked at the silent Ao-Jing Sect members around him.

At least Danyangzi won’t be assimilating me anymore. That should be a good thing, right? A bitter smile touched his thoughts as he tried to comfort himself.

Then, Li Huowang cupped his hands and bowed toward the karst cave before him. “Six elders, thank you for your guidance. Fate willing, we shall meet again.”

With that, he reached out and patted Mantou, who had followed him, then turned back the way he came, with Danyangzi and Jiang Yingzi following.

When he returned to the dead town in a daze, he stopped and stared at the two of them. Both illusions began to speak at the same time.

“Child, I have truly become an immortal. If you continue to help your master perfect his practice, I will let bygones be bygones.”

“Why don’t you just die! Why are you still alive?! You murderous demon!!”

But no matter what they said or how close they seemed, they never made any real contact with Li Huowang.

“Heh… at least it’s livelier now. I’m not alone anymore.”

Li Huowang didn’t know whether this was better or worse than before.

All he knew was that, good or bad, he had to keep going.

He picked up the longsword still stuck in the dirt and began digging graves again. Burying the other bones in the town.

Jiang Yingzi dragged her broken body over to him, her voice screaming with boundless hatred in his ear. “Do you think that burying them makes it all better?! You killed them!”

“If you really want to atone, you should kill yourself!! Otherwise, everything you do is pointless!!”

“Li Huowang, why don’t you just die?! Stop pretending to be a good person! Die, damn you!!”

Li Huowang kept his lips pressed tightly together, silent. In the midst of Jiang Yingzi’s piercing curses, he continued digging one hole after another.

Inside the Ao-Jing Sect’s cavern, Shen Benyou’s voice came from the cave once more. “Shou San, Tou Qi. You may all disperse. If this person comes again, stop him at the mountain gate. Our debts are settled. There is no further connection.”

“Yes, Elder Shen Benyou.” The scorched-black Shou San gave a respectful bow and led the other Ao-Jing Sect members away from the elder’s meditation ground.

Soon, the whole place fell silent. Only the wall with its six cave openings remained.

Suddenly, a sharp female voice broke the stillness.

“Hehe… that Heart-Element actually believed it. He believed everything~! San-tiao, your trick really works!”

The voice seemed to flip a switch. The entire wall, riddled with countless dark holes, seemed to come alive in an instant.

Sharp snickers. Rough, wild laughter. Mocking chuckles. All kinds of delighted laughter poured out from the caves, filling the cavern.

Today’s third chapter. The next two will be later.