The True and the False

The wooden cabin was not large, appearing to be only the size of a classroom, but the entire cabin wall was circular, like the burrow of an insect or ant colony.

Moreover, this irregular wall was also covered in various reliefs. As countless tiny wooden figures on the carvings moved to the edge of the wall, pointing at Li Huowang, the entire cabin surged like a living creature.

It was within this bizarre cabin that Li Huowang finally saw the so-called Heart-Pan of Yin-Yang Doumu in its true form.

The man sat upright on a brown wooden armchair, his upper body bare. On his face, he wore a bronze mask similar to the one at the entrance of the Sitian Jian. The only difference was that this mask had a blue face and fangs, making it look extremely terrifying.

The man was as gaunt as a rake, but his belly was extraordinarily large. On his swollen stomach was painted a yin-yang taiji fish that writhed and spread steadily outward.

The five chains from the Heart-Elements' necks were wound around his left arm. It was clear that he was the one who had just spoken. He had no legs; or rather, his lower body seemed to have completely fused with the brown wooden armchair.

Li Huowang stared at him, opening his mouth to question him, but the other party seemed to have no intention of saying anything more.

After seeing Li Huowang enter, the man tugged hard with his left hand, the one wrapped in chains. The sound of clattering chains rang out as the five Heart-Elements outside were yanked inward, hurtling towards Li Huowang's back.

As the five Heart-Elements opened their mouths in unison, speaking something, the wooden slats on the floor instantly rose up, stabbing toward him.

"Is there no end to this?!" Li Huowang roared, gripping his spine-sword tightly. Ignoring the Heart-Elements closing in from behind, he charged straight at the masked man before him.

Just as Li Huowang swung his sword at him, his ears, which should have been deaf, suddenly heard a sound. The voice came from beneath the mask.

"Attained the Dao at the Heavenly Terrace. Perfected at Gezao. Within the Golden Que of the Jade Capital, ranked among the Supreme Ultimate. Great compassion, great vow. Great sage, great kindness. Supreme Jade Capital, Inner Minister of Celestial Mechanisms. Jade Void Purple Spirit, Universal Transformation, Mysterious Stillness. The Constant Dao, the Surging Echo..."

It wasn't just the masked man chanting. The five Heart-Elements behind Li Huowang chanted the same words.

As they chanted, Li Huowang and the hallucination beside him flickered slightly. Something, invisible to anyone in the mortal world, left his body.

The next moment, the rift from Li Huowang's slash swept across the man's face. But the rift, which had always been effective against the histories of two eras, did not cut the man in two. Instead, it dissipated lightly like a gentle breeze.

"How could it have no effect on him?! Could the bastard in front of me be a Dragon Vein as well?"

As Li Huowang gritted his teeth in frustration, Peng Longteng's towering form instantly appeared beside him. She grabbed him and hurled him forward.

As Li Huowang, trailing afterimages, crashed into the masked man, the Purple-Tasseled Sword in his hand, along with the Copper Coin Sword entangled by Li Sui's tentacles, plunged into the man's bulging belly.

But what no one expected was that both swords, along with Li Huowang's body, passed cleanly through the man's form and reached the other side of the rattan chair.

Stunned beyond belief, Li Huowang paused for a single breath, then raised his weapon again and struck at the man.

Although the swords had indeed entered the man's body, they left not a single wound, nor did they even cut through the wooden chair beneath him.

"This is wrong!!" Li Huowang raised his weapon and drove it deep into his own thigh.

The razor-sharp Purple-Tasseled Sword easily pierced through Li Huowang's thigh and emerged from the other side. But not only did Li Huowang feel no pain, there wasn't even any blood on the blade.

Li Huowang understood. The problem wasn't the man being a Dragon Vein or anything else. The problem was with himself.

Proof of this was that, since a moment ago, this Heart-Pan of Doumu hadn't looked at him again, as if he simply didn't exist.

"What in the...?" Stunned, Li Huowang raised his hand to touch his own head, but his hand passed straight through it.

At this moment, Li Huowang felt like a bodiless wraith. He couldn't touch anything, couldn't grasp anything, not even himself.

"What's happening?" Just as Li Huowang was frozen in bewilderment, a familiar voice sounded in his ear. "You've become the fake one! Think of something, quick! I'll hold off Doumu for now!"

At that moment, the top of the entire cabin slowly opened. The Heart-Pan of Doumu, leading the five Heart-Elements, bowed and performed rituals to the starry sky above.

"Neither being nor non-being, this is called true emptiness. Manifesting a divine trace in the dusty world, guarding the holy chariot in Jambudvipa. Great compassion, great vow. Great sage, great kindness. The Holy Virtue and Boundless Light Golden Venerable. The Great Sage Molizhitian. The Perfect and Bright, Doumu, the Heavenly Lord!!"

The specks of starlight were swallowed by surging darkness, as if something was about to emerge.

"Neither being nor non-being... I've become a fake? I'm the fake one now?" Li Huowang looked down at his own body, at a complete loss for what to do.

No matter what he did now, he couldn't affect reality at all. It seemed this confrontation was already lost.

"No! No! There's still a way! That bastard is a Heart-Pan, so he can borrow Doumu's True-False Heavenly Way. As Ji Zai's Heart-Pan, I can borrow his Way too!"

"Bewilderment... Bewilderment... FUCK!! How the hell do I use this thing?!" Li Huowang clenched his fists and roared in fury.

Li Huowang, badly injured all over, was in an extremely difficult situation. He had overestimated himself. With just a boning knife, he couldn't contend with Xu Shou's armed thugs and guard dogs, especially since they had guns!

BANG! A wooden frame in front of Li Huowang exploded into splinters, forcing him to shrink further into his corner.

"Woof woof woof!" The barking started again. As soon as he heard it, the image of five Bull Terriers appeared in his mind.

These dogs were fighting dogs. When they bit someone, they felt no pain themselves. Against such creatures, his boning knife was truly useless.

From their earlier encounter on the deck, he had managed to kill one, but only at the cost of his left arm. He never expected them to come after him again.

As the sound of footsteps and barking drew closer, a fierce unwillingness blazed in Li Huowang's eyes. "Is this how it ends? No way!! I need a proper weapon! Something strong enough to finish them off!"

Fortunately, Li Huowang had prepared for this. If things went south, he would use his insurance.

Without hesitation, he pulled a medicine bottle from his chest, twisted off the cap, tipped his head back, and poured all the red capsules inside into his mouth.

He opened his mouth, chewed a few times with effort, and swallowed the contents. As he did, Li Huowang felt the surroundings begin to change. The smooth white paint of the cruise ship gradually faded into the yellowish-brown wood grain of wooden planks.

And Li Huowang, who had been racking his brain on how to use the unique Heavenly Way of Bewilderment, was astonished to find that his hand could once again touch his own head without passing through it.