Xie Bai knew about the northern fringes of Gaolan Mountain boundary, but he had never been there before. It was said that this place was the most desolate of lands. As beautiful as it might be, but the atmosphere of death hung heavy. Apart from the perennial guardian at the entrance, Aoyin, not a single demon had dared to trespass in eight hundred years. And even if they did, they would surely end up in a fight with Aoyin. No one would come looking for trouble just for the sake of it.

But the two figures who hadn't even appeared through the dark clouds were evidently different from ordinary demons. They rushed past with almost lightning speed. By the time Aoyin was alarmed and rushed out, only poor Xie Bai was left behind. And for them, the immense force at the entrance seemed nonexistent. In Xie Bai's eyes, they crashed straight through without even a pause.

Until he too crashed into this domain, the swirling black clouds, like a giant dragon, dispersed in an instant, momentarily blocking out the sunlight. Xie Bai felt a moment of darkness before a figure in wide robes and large sleeves plummeted from the rolling black clouds, abruptly halting just less than half a meter away from him.

The Icebound Man!

Xie Bai's breath hitched. When he saw the face so close, the fingers holding the cat spasmed as if in a cramp—

He hadn't been mistaken when he glimpsed it on the Tianshan Mountains! The face before him, from the brows to the lips, was incredibly familiar. It wasn't even remotely like Yin Wushu; it was Yin Wushu!

Absolutely no difference, identical in every way!

His dark eyes stared at Xie Bai for a moment, revealing a smile completely different from Yin Wushu's, full of demonic charm, and said, "Long time no see. The last time we met face to face was—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Xie Bai felt a bright light cutting through with a strong wind. The man abruptly stopped speaking and blinked before shrinking back into the black clouds.

In just the blink of an eye, the scattered black clouds turned into smoke, blending into the cold air, gradually thinning until they disappeared.

Xie Bai realized that Yin Wushu was already standing in front of him, less than three steps away, blocking him with his back, facing the person tens of meters away in a stalemate.

Instantly, the entire frozen plain fell silent, unnaturally quiet, as if even the wind had suddenly ceased to exist, leaving not a trace. The two confronting figures stood with relaxed postures, hands hanging by their sides, yet there was an oppressive atmosphere as if swords were drawn and bows were bent.

Xie Bai looked past Yin Wushu's shoulder at the person opposite, still unsure how to react.

Two people with the same face stood facing each other, one in a shirt and coat with short, neat hair, exuding a sense of calmness all over; the other in wide robes and long hair reaching the ground, with a faintly indifferent smile at the corners of his mouth, as if light and shadow, fundamentally the same but opposites on the surface, giving a strange and surreal feeling.

The person who had caused him unrest and suffering for so long, and the one who had raised him and protected him for over a hundred years, were actually identical...

Though Xie Bai was somewhat prepared, at this moment, he still felt an inexplicable sense of absurdity.

He suddenly understood that perhaps Yin Wushu's previous words, "There's yang and yin, neither good nor evil," might not only refer to those independent and different entities.

He even momentarily dared not determine whether this Icebound Man was the "yin" corresponding to Yin Wushu's "yang," or if yin and yang were originally the same person but were divided into seemingly independent individuals due to internal contradictions.

A series of events flashed uncontrollably in Xie Bai's mind. After hastily recalling them, he found that the latter possibility seemed more likely—because upon careful consideration, the mutual conflict between these two had long exceeded normal bounds.

According to Yin Wushu's words, the reason why the Icebound Man had an influence on Xie Bai's physical condition was because he had inserted something into the Hundred Ghosts Nurturing Formation. This indicated that if one person was to be connected to another completely independent person, there must be some kind of trigger point or intermediary.

When the Icebound Man set up the Hundred Ghosts Nurturing Formation for Xie Bai all those years ago, Xie Bai was just a newborn baby who had died, and he had no resistance at all. But the two people currently in confrontation were obviously not easy to deal with. It would be almost impossible to set up a connection similar to the Hundred Ghosts Nurturing Formation on either of them.

However, if one of them let their guard down even slightly, the other could directly occupy their consciousness for a moment, or even control their actions.

If this yin and yang had existed as completely independent entities from the beginning, how could they have such a deep influence on each other? Unless they were originally one and the same...

He suddenly remembered the various rumors he had heard about Yin Wushu when he was a child. Some said Yin Wushu was unpredictable, sometimes good, sometimes evil; some felt he was emotionless, while others were extremely fearful of him, as if he was a scorpion.

At that time, he couldn't understand it and thought it was just alleging that demonized Yin Wushu. Now, seeing these two identical yet completely different people in front of him, he finally understood where those rumors came from.

As Xie Bai freed himself from the constraint with five scattered soul talismans, he had only two thoughts in his mind—kill the other and let Yin Wushu live.

But when he stood face to face with them, he suddenly felt uncertain whether he could attack someone with such a face without hesitation.

Just as he was lost in thought, the Icebound Man on the opposite side tilted his head slightly. His gaze still fixed on Yin Wushu, seemingly unwilling to miss any subtle movements from him, but his words were directed at Xie Bai, "Quite determined, risking your soul to come here, afraid he couldn't suppress me and would be sealed by me for a hundred or a thousand years?"

Listening carefully, this person's tone and pace were exactly the same as Yin Wushu's, with the same casual laziness. However, while Yin Wushu's casualness was mostly genuine indifference, this person's casualness seemed intentional provocation, because if you listened carefully, he couldn't help but reveal a hint of gritted resentment when he said the last few words.

This person's emotions seemed much heavier than Yin Wushu's...

Thinking so, Xie Bai retorted coldly, "From what I've seen, it seems like three days ago, it was you who got sealed in the Tianshan Mountains."

The man's brow furrowed at the jab, then quickly relaxed, a hint of mocking smile in his expression, as if he found Xie Bai's words amusing, "Fortunes change, just because he could seal me back then doesn't mean he can now. After all, his advantages no longer exist..."

After saying this, trailing off with a slight tilt of his head, he turned to Yin Wushu with a hidden message in his words, "Isn't digging out your heart useless now?"

Even though Xie Bai had transcended the physical body, he still felt his heart skip a beat at the meaning behind those words—what did he mean by that?!

 

Translator : DarNan