Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 148: Chapter 121: Two-in-One

Miss Ling was currently in a state of sleep, very quiet, maintaining a posture for Breath Regulation.

The smoke emanating from the Three Gods Incense continuously flowed into the space between her eyebrows.

’The space between her eyebrows?’

He thought of his own wrist... and silently noted the difference.

’She... succeeded.’

But the thought had just surfaced when it was quickly replaced by another question.

’Since she succeeded, what is she experiencing right now?’

’Is that world the same place he saw during his three previous ”descents”?’

’But why were his first two descents different from the third?’

He glanced at the stick of Three Gods Incense in the censer nearby, now one-fifth burned, and naturally concluded it had to be related.

’But... why?’

He still hadn’t figured out the reason.

Just then, Miss Ling’s breathing suddenly quickened. Her chest heaved violently, and her expression twisted in pain.

Wan Ze shot to his feet.

He crossed to the censer in a single stride, plucked the stick of Three Gods Incense with two fingers, and pinched it hard.

The wisp of smoke broke.

The glowing red tip of the incense was instantly extinguished.

Wan Ze didn’t even feel the pain in his fingers; he just turned to look back at her.

The pain on Miss Ling’s face didn’t immediately subside. Her eyelids trembled violently, as if she were desperately trying to open them but was being held down by a nightmare. Her lips quivered, muttering incoherent, broken words that were impossible to make out.

Then, she snapped her eyes open. Seeing Wan Ze, she immediately cried out.

”Wan Ze!!!”

Miss Ling was gasping for breath as if she had just been pulled from water. Her eyes were filled with terror, but upon seeing Wan Ze, it was as if she had found a lifeline.

”I’m here.” Wan Ze walked over, handing her the glass of warm water from the table. ”What happened?”

Miss Ling didn’t take it.

She was still panting, her chest heaving. Her hands gripped the fabric of her pants, clutching them so tightly it seemed what she had just experienced was more terrifying than any nightmare.

”I... I saw so much blood... red blood... It was everywhere...”

Miss Ling swallowed, her voice laced with bitterness as she looked up and added, ”Those... were all bodies.”

Wan Ze nudged the cup toward her again, his voice gentle. ”Slowly. There’s no rush.”

Miss Ling lowered her head and took a sip of water from the cup he held out for her. Her throat didn’t feel as dry and hoarse anymore.

Finally regaining some of her composure, she couldn’t help but ask, ”...Where is she?”

Wan Ze froze.

Only then did he realize this was Miss Ling herself, not her second personality.

His expression shifted. Understanding the reason for that momentary vulnerability, he spoke slowly, ”So, the one who experienced all this... was you?”

Miss Ling hesitated, her gaze dropping as she seemed to struggle to remember. ”I... I don’t know what happened... I just felt so sleepy, and then I fell asleep. The next time I opened my eyes... I was in a bunker. The kind made of stone. It was old and cold... and I was all alone.”

Wan Ze said nothing, listening quietly.

”Then I walked out... There were stone steps outside, a very, very long flight leading up. I don’t know why I was walking, but I just... felt like I had to go up.”

Miss Ling’s voice gradually steadied, but she still had the dazed quality of someone talking in their sleep.

”At the top of the stone steps was a prayer hall. There were buildings on either side, with a path between them leading straight to the entrance... There were three doors, and only the one on the far left was open.”

Miss Ling paused, the memory apparently vivid.

”A fragrant scent was drifting out. It was very sweet, almost cloying, like... like the incense they burn in temples, but much stronger. After smelling it, I wasn’t as scared anymore.”

She looked up at Wan Ze. ”I thought someone was inside chanting scriptures, so I went in.”

”And then?” Wan Ze asked.

Miss Ling’s gaze became unfocused, as if she were being pulled back to that place. ”A lot of people.”

Her voice dropped lower. ”Kneeling on the ground. On prayer cushions, row after row. I called out to them, but no one responded. I walked over and pushed the person closest to me...”

As she said this, she shivered and uttered a bone-chilling line: ”He had no eyes.”

Wan Ze’s brow twitched.

He listened as Miss Ling continued, ”His eye sockets were empty, like two black holes... But... the terrifying part was that his hands were still pressed together in prayer, and he was kneeling perfectly straight. I looked to the side, and the next person was the same, and the one after that... They were all like that.”

”Then...”

”I ran out. I ran as fast as I could, to the door, onto the stone steps...”

She stopped.

Wan Ze watched her.

Then Miss Ling added, ”...I went back.”

”Why?” Wan Ze arched a brow.

Miss Ling looked up, something unreadable in her gaze. ”Because I realized they were all kneeling in the same direction... At the very front, there was one person. He was very old, also kneeling, with his head bowed, holding...”

She seemed to see something in Wan Ze’s expression and finished her sentence.

”...a book.”

”A book?” Wan Ze suddenly had a feeling. ’This book could definitely bring me a lot of Magic Sense!’

”I remembered you like reading these kinds of books,” Miss Ling said softly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. ”I thought at that moment that it would be great if I could bring it back for you.”

”So I went back.”

”And then?” Wan Ze asked softly.

Miss Ling’s voice grew tense. ”I reached out for the book. The instant I touched it... something... shot into me from where I’d touched it. It was incredibly fast, like it wanted to take over my body.”

Miss Ling took a deep breath and looked at him. ”It had much more Strength than me. I couldn’t fight it at all. Just as I thought I was about to be devoured... I opened my eyes and saw you.”